Dear SaaStr: What is the Highest Position in a Venture Capital Firm?
The “Managing General Partner” or “Managing Director” or a similar title. In tiny VC firms, 2 partners may truly be equal and both run the place. But almost all firms that are a tiny bit bigger have different types of partners. At the bottom are often plain old “Partners” which nowadays, generally have no role in true management. One level up is “Non-Managing Partners”. That typically suggests more economics, but again, a very limited role in governance. Managing Partners often have the real votes.
Then there is a question of who owns the Management Company — the related entity that collects the management fees. Sometimes, it’s equal in smaller entities. In larger ones, sometimes it’s just 1 person that owns it all, or the vast majority. The real Managing General Partner.
Look for that title on the website. You’ll often see a subtle ranking. The top dog often owns a far larger share of the economics, and often controls the place.
An as aside, in writing this, I’ve noticed a lot of the bigger VC funds have taken these titles off their websites. But they are more commonly there for growth funds and the like.
As a rough rule, the bigger the fund, the less equal the partners. Including the general partners.
(partnership image from here)
