I had a chat with an investor today. Not only is he a successful venture capitalist, he’s personally invested in forty other emerging venture capital funds. I was amazed when I heard that number. Inspired by such a large number of data points, I asked him a question: What have you learned from these investments that surprised you? I didn’t know what his answer would be, but I was sure it’d be insightful.

He said there’s a high correlation between success and emerging fund managers who are disciplined about communicating with their LPs (people who invested in their fund). The fund managers who communicate best also run funds that have the highest returns (in his personal portfolio). It’s a small sample set but still a powerful insight.  

I’m a fan of founders keeping people in the loop via regular update emails. The upside to writing them far outweighs the downside. Based on today’s conversation, this appears to be a universal rule that applies not just to founders but to anyone trying to achieve outsize success.