I’ve been looking for data to quantify how the network problem in VC affects fund returns and efficiency of capital allocation to early-stage founders. I suspect that VCs that subscribe to the usual approach have funds that perform worse than those with diverse networks closer to ground level (i.e., network entrepreneurs are already in). I’ve read several academic papers that dive into VC networks, but they’ve all looked at this from the perspective of existing VC networks. Said differently, the papers look at how well VCs network among themselves and how that affects fund performance.

My observation seems obvious, but it’s been challenging to find research or data on this point—either way. I’m starting to wonder why people haven’t spent more time looking at things from this perspective. Maybe it isn’t as obvious as it feels to me. I connected with one other person researching VC from this perspective, and he shared that he too feels like no one else is looking at things from this angle. There seems to be a miniscule contingent that is. Others accept the status quo in VC. This makes me wonder if this a unique insight that could be the foundation of a game-changing solution.

I’m not sure right now, but I’ll be keeping this top of mind as I progress. I’ll be excited if this is a unique insight!