Why Adams Street Ranks Track Record Last in VC
Adams Street's Brijesh Jeevarathnam explains why backward-looking returns fail to predict venture winners and breaks down their 3-pillar checklist.
Why Venture Is Eating Public Markets, Picking Great VCs, and the AI Boom w/Brijesh Jeevarathnam
With David Weisburd, Brijesh Jeevarathnam · Monday, November 2, 2026
Brijesh Jeevarathnam, Partner and Global Head of Fund Investments at Adams Street Partners, joins David Weisburd to break down how institutional LPs evaluate venture capital managers in a market that has expanded from 500 to over 4,000 firms. They explore why venture capital is capturing value creation that historically occurred in public equity markets, how Adams Street leverages proprietary data showing just 7% of startups drive all gains, and why late-stage power-law dynamics and early-inning AI cycles are redefining fund economics.
Key takeaways
- The institutional venture market exploded from roughly 500 firms to more than 4,000, diluting access and eroding baseline returns across the asset class. Read more →
- Adams Street Partners tracks a venture universe that expanded from 500 managers to over 4,000 firms, yet proprietary data reveals only 7% of venture-backed startups generate all industry returns. Read more →
- The venture universe expanded from 500 to more than 4,000 firms, while Adams Street Partners data reveals that just 7% of portfolio companies generate all market returns. Read more →
- Adams Street Partners analyzed 40 years of proprietary records covering tens of thousands of portfolio investments, concluding that 7% of companies generate all returns while 93% wash out. Read more →
- Institutional consensus places the AI cycle between pre-game warmups and the second inning, with zero managers tracked by Adams Street Partners viewing it past the fifth inning. Read more →
- Over the last three decades, the count of US publicly listed companies dropped by half, falling from more than 8,000 to roughly 4,000. Read more →
6 articles from this episode
Why 7% of Startups Drive All Venture Returns
Adams Street Partners explains why 7% of startups drive all returns, splitting venture capital between founder whisperers and mega balance sheets.
Brijesh Jeevarathnam on Why LP Diligence Never Stops
Adams Street's Brijesh Jeevarathnam explains continuous fund diligence, 5-year feedback loops, and auditing the anti-portfolio.
Adams Street Finds Only 7 Percent of Venture Deals Drive Returns
Adams Street Partners data reveals 7% of startups drive all venture returns. Brijesh Jeevarathnam explains why power law persists at the growth stage.
Brijesh Jeevarathnam Says AI Is Still in Inning Two
Adams Street's Brijesh Jeevarathnam compares AI to Netscape in 1993, showing why the defining winners won't emerge until compute bottlenecks clear.
Venture Capital Is Eating Public Markets as Listings Fall to 4,000
Brijesh Jeevarathnam explains why US public listings halved to 4,000 and how 7% of startups now drive all venture capital gains.
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