The documents discuss various types of investment funds such as hedge funds, mutual funds, venture capital funds, and their key performance factors. For top impact funds specifically, some key success factors seem to be efficient economic engines, strong founder-market fit, contrarian approaches, and picking big markets or demand trends early on. Some examples of top impact funds based on the market cap of their portfolio companies include Founder Collective Fund I, First Round Capital Fund II, Initialized Fund I, Felicis Ventures Fund III, and Susa Ventures Fund I.
Efficient economic engines drive top performance
The Founder Collective partners highlight the importance of startups building efficient economic engines focused on customers from the start to drive growth and long-term success, enabling them to control their own destiny rather than rely on constant fundraising. Many of their top investments like Uber, Coupang, and The Trade Desk centered on very efficient engines.
Contrarian approaches identify hidden opportunities
IA Ventures took a contrarian approach with their seed investing strategy such as having a concentrated portfolio and large follow-on checks. This allowed them to spot hidden opportunities earlier like The Trade Desk which became a multi-billion dollar company.
Key factors for top impact investment funds include identifying efficient scalable business models early on, taking contrarian approaches to spot hidden opportunities, and having patience to see long-term value realized.