Matt Cohen
Contributor
Founder and managing partner at Ripple Ventures, Matt Cohen is a business operator turned early-stage investor.
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Founders must learn how to build and maintain circles of trust with investors
Matthew Mendelsohn’s accession to become Yale’s new chief investment officer marks a milestone for the rise of university endowments investing in venture capital.
Since joining the Yale Investments Office in 2007, one of Mendelsohn’s core focuses has been venture capital — an asset class that has gained traction among an increasing number of institutional investors in recent years — and Yale’s investment approach has long been a model for other endowments.
But even as endowments increasingly diversify their investments, they’re facing a growing wave of pressure to consider ESG initiatives, many of which may drive the returns they’re looking for in the coming decades.
For instance, students at many universities have been pushing endowment leaders to divest from fossil fuels. Here’s another idea endowments should consider: Invest in educational opportunities to give more people pathways to careers in venture.
In the venture world, far too few internship or fellowship opportunities exist for prospective VC investors to get hands-on experience learning the ins and outs of working in venture. This perpetuates the remarkably closed ecosystem of hiring in VC, where jobs are seldom even posted and warm introductions ar …
