This chapter guides emerging fund managers in crafting a "bankable thesis"—a specific, defensible investment strategy aligned with LP expectations. The framework centers on three core questions: Why you? Why now? Why this strategy?
A bankable thesis isn't just about having a good idea—it's about proving you can execute on it. LPs evaluate managers through a rigorous lens, looking for evidence of competitive advantage, market timing, and strategic focus.
The "Bankable Thesis" Framework
A bankable thesis isn't just about having a good idea—it's about proving you can execute on it. LPs evaluate managers through a rigorous lens, looking for evidence of competitive advantage, market timing, and strategic focus.
Why You?
Prove your competitive edge through documented access rather than future promises. Managers should demonstrate existing competitive advantages rather than promising future capabilities.
- Quantify sourcing advantages by tracking introductions per month, first-meeting conversion rates, and diligence rates. Document monthly intro counts and conversion rates from each channel.
- Make attribution legible by presenting evidence of prior decision-making influence. Show specific prior deals influenced, with supporting memos and governance structures.
- Establish clear governance structures with documented roles and responsibilities for decision-making authority.
Why Now?
Position your thesis within current market realities. Positioning the fund within current market realities matters more than macro forecasting.
- Account for institutional selectivity and growing private-wealth channel interest. Family offices continue allocating to private markets while institutions remain selective and process-driven.
- Tie timing to tangible market catalysts—regulatory shifts, distribution changes, supply-chain redesigns. Connect timing to real catalysts your pipeline faces.
- Show your pipeline currently exploits these market conditions with real examples of deals in progress.
Why This Strategy?
Constrain your focus to demonstrate expertise and repeatability. The thesis must define a constrained box with clear sourcing mechanics.
- Specific stage, geography, and 2-3 subsectors that define your investment perimeter clearly.
- Deal sourcing mechanics—owned communities and referrers, qualification screens and underwriting questions that make the operating system inspectable.
- Portfolio mathematics—check size, ownership targets, reserves, and velocity expectations. Portfolio math must align with actual conversion metrics.
Mandate Alignment with LP Priorities
Understanding current allocation trends helps you position your thesis effectively. The chapter references recent allocator research including UBS's 2024 Global Family Office Report showing continued alternative-asset interest among 320 single-family offices managing ~$600B.
Family Offices
Maintain strong alternatives exposure alongside bonds and equities. Private-wealth platforms prioritize co-invest readiness and communication cadence.
Institutional LPs
Emphasize track record, operational discipline, and co-invest capacity. They expect transparent reporting and ILPA-aligned materials.
All Investor Types
Geopolitical resilience and scenario planning matter across the board. Show how your strategy accounts for macro uncertainty.
"Spiky" vs. Generic Theses
Specificity concentrates deal quality: better introductions, higher first-meeting rates, and credible fund math. Allocators prefer managers who demonstrate:
- Tight stage/geography/subsector constraints that define clear boundaries
- Specific founder profile targeting with clear ICP definitions
- Transparent mechanics with conversion metrics showing real funnel data
The 3-Question Working Session
A structured half-day workshop guides partners through identifying key competitive advantages. Time-box three discussions with specific outputs:
1. Unnatural Access Channels
Document warm-intro sources over six months, quantify funnel metrics (monthly volume, first-meeting %, diligence %), and name top ten referrers with contact details.
Output: Create a "Sourcing Engine" memo showing real conversion numbers and two proof cases demonstrating your access advantage.
2. Asymmetric Underwriting Capabilities
Identify questions answerable in week one that competitors cannot address. Design a "day-5 package" with buyer calls, unit-economics sketches, distribution maps, and risk heatmaps.
Output: Make red flags explicit and show cycle-time advantages with data demonstrating speed-to-decision.
3. Post-Investment Value-Creation Playbooks
Define levers deployable in ninety days: customer councils, hiring benches, ESG frameworks. Assign owners, allocate hours, set SLAs ("two customer intros within thirty days").
Output: Document how portfolio work generates next-cycle deal flow. Create Value Creation OS handout for data room.
Validation Checklist
Before launching fundraising, validate these critical elements:
- ~80 founder conversations in your exact focus area over 6-9 months (heuristic benchmark for thesis validation)
- 30-40% fit rate within mandate—companies that match your stage/geography/sub-sectors
- Conversion math supporting proposed fund size with recent conversion rates backing the fund you're proposing
- Third-party validation from founders, advisors, and early LPs who can validate your edge
- ILPA-aligned data room with reporting samples and diligence-ready materials
Common Thesis Mistakes
Avoid these pitfalls that frequently derail emerging manager fundraises:
Too Broad: "Sector-agnostic, early-stage everywhere" fails modern diligence. Overly broad mandates lack the focus LPs need to evaluate your edge.
Experience Misalignment: Thesis should amplify, not contradict, your career evidence. Unproven attribution without supporting documentation fails scrutiny.
Unsustainable Sourcing: Paid lists decay; replace with owned communities. Relying on purchased deal flow signals lack of genuine access.
Missing Fund Mathematics: Check size, ownership, reserves, and loss rates must tie to conversion metrics. Portfolio construction without data fails.
Unsubstantiated Impact Claims: Publish frameworks and historical reporting samples. Impact claims without measurement methodology lack credibility.
Non-Standard Reporting: Use ILPA templates so LPs can evaluate consistently. Custom formats create friction and slow diligence.
Thought Leadership as Proof
Publishing demonstrates operating discipline and accelerates LP diligence by showing repeatable process rather than rhetoric. Consistent, specific content proves you run a system, not a slogan.
Monthly "Seam Memos"
1,000-1,500 words on one bottleneck within your mandate; include real stakeholder quotes and actionable diagrams explaining specific market dynamics.
Quarterly Founder Playbooks
Step-by-step instructions (not opinions) for post-investment help; include templates, scorecards, and timelines for common challenges.
"What We Won't Do" Posts
Clarifying mandate boundaries shows discipline. Define mandate edges with examples and signal what's out of scope.
Content Library
Newsletter backbone housing memos, summaries, and case studies; repurpose into threads and audio briefs. Link diligence materials.
Measurement
Track subscriber growth, read time, reply volume, warm intros sourced per piece, and LP meeting references. Content that doesn't produce qualified inbound signals the topic was too broad.
Case Studies: Spiky Theses in Practice
Examples of focused mandates that create defensible sourcing advantages:
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners
Identity- and community-rooted access for Indigenous entrepreneurs. Addresses capital gaps with "decolonized" investment process. Listed in ImpactAssets 50; spans equity and innovative finance.
Lesson: Cultural moat requires institutional scaffolding (policies, reporting, governance) to scale while maintaining authenticity.
The51 (Women + Prairie Focus, Canada)
Calgary-based platform mobilizing women investors and founders. Double-focus (gender + region) produces proprietary deal flow and sticky LP community.
Lesson: Geographic and demographic focus combined creates compounding access advantages and helps build first-close momentum.
Amplify Capital (Impact: Health, Education, Climate)
Toronto-based with integrated impact measurement and B Corp support. Annual impact reports detail UN SDG alignment. Listed in ImpactAssets 50.
Lesson: Transparent reporting differentiates sourcing and LP engagement. Impact measurement integration creates both deal flow and LP retention advantages.
Sourcing Advantage Audit Structure
Document in slides and data-room exhibits. This one-page slide and memo should display:
- Inputs: Named sourcing channels with monthly intro volumes. Communities generating predictable intros with monthly counts.
- Qualification: Five-factor screen applied in week one with hit-rate metrics showing qualification rigor.
- Conversion Math: Actual conversion metrics—intro→meeting→diligence→term sheet rates from recent activity.
- Flywheel: Post-investment assets generating next-cycle deal flow. How portfolio work compounds access.
- Evidence & Governance: ILPA-aligned DDQ responses, reporting samples, policies demonstrating institutional readiness.