The Anchor-First Fundraise
Why the first check now shapes the whole vehicle.
The blind-pool first fund is mostly extinct. What replaced it is the anchor-first raise: land one credible institution or family office on negotiated terms, then build the rest of the vehicle around them.
Economics Follow the Anchor
Your anchor underwrites you as an operator, not your thesis. Their terms — fee breaks, co-invest rights, an LPAC seat — set the template every subsequent LP will reference.
Spend your fundraising energy on the one relationship that unlocks the other twenty. Sequence is everything.
Chief economist at Cobalt Real Estate Partners. Writes the widely-read 'Built World Macro' note.
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