Venture Capital Musical Chairs [excerpt from my upcoming essay]: When I first got into venture capital, I assumed that General Partners stayed at firms for most of their careers. From the outside, firms looked like stable institutions. At the very least, they felt more permanent than the startups they backed. My assumption was dead wrong. I was at Tinder at the time and was a scout for Index Ventures, which was an awesome experience. I underestimated how turbulent the inner workings of venture firms really are, but as I startred to get deeper in the industry, I realized how complex most venture firms are. That turbulence has only accelerated in the last few years. Every year, I see partners leaving, firms reshaping their strategies, and LP relationships changing. Last month, another GP at Benchmark announced he was leaving. Even a firm as legendary as Benchmark—once the definition of permanence in venture—now has just three general partners. The reaction in group chats wasn’t gossip, but more so so disbelief: 'Can you believe that?' What’s causing the venture capital musical chairs? You could blame the market cycles: COVID, ZIRP, AI, crypto, whatever era we’re in now. But that’s surface-level. The deeper truth is more more nuanced. Venture capital isn’t a cottage industry anymore. It’s a mature, competitive asset class with real pressure for general partners to differentiate themselves and perform immediately. Venture has changed more this year than any I can remember. We barely notice anymore and big GP exits flash by like another tweet in the feed. One by one, they’re gone. [full essay to be published on August 11 2025)