Minisode: Innovation Energy And the Future of Biotech

Before he sold his company to Veradigm, Will Manidis’s Science.io developed an AI model that allowed doctors to translate mountains of medical documents into usable data to improve patient outcomes. Today Will is the SVP of AI at Veradigm, and he sits down with Nick and Beezer to discuss how AI is impacting healthcare, how we can develop health systems with better outcomes, and what the future of venture might look like when compared to traditional merchant banking.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Veradigm: veradigm.com/For a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: subscribe.openlp.vcCHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(2:01) Human vs. AI Content (Specifically Podcasts)(6:18) AI And the Future of Healthcare(17:55) Is Merchant Banking Venture’s Future?(25:17) When Does Venture Break?(32:42) “The Only Thing We Should Care About is the Shape of the Return Curve.”(37:24) “The Constraint Is No Longer Capital.”

Origins hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, unpack their conversation with Zach Weinberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Curie.Bio. They discuss the “innovation energy” that drives new breakthroughs and take a closer look at Sapphire’s approach to biotech investing.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Curie.Bio: curie.bioSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.CHAPTERS:0:00 - Welcome to Origins1:28 -Building Something That Wouldn’t Exist Otherwise4:27 - What’s Sapphire Doing in BioTech?8:38 - The Market & BioTech10:05 - "Vitamin O"

Zach Weinberg, co-founder and CEO of Curie.Bio, is redefining early-stage biotech investing with an operator’s mindset and a founder-first philosophy. His approach combines funding with operational support and direct access to world-class drug hunters to dramatically increase odds of success. Today, Zach sits down with Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners to discuss the massive risk associated with traditional therapeutics startups, how pairing a drug discovery partner with a seed investor solves those inefficiencies, and how biotech, the global economy and the political landscape are all closely connected.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Curie.Bio: curie.bioFor a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: subscribe.openlp.vcCHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(5:08) Was Hunter High School Harder Than Penn?(10:22) Transitioning From SaaS to Biotech(20:55) Why Is Building a Biotech Venture Firm So Hard?(27:55) Building Curie.Bio(32:24) Zach on Drug Discovery(43:12) Biotech in China(49:42) AI in Biotech(54:51) "The Manhattan Project of Biology"

Origins hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, unpack their conversation with Theory Ventures’ Tomasz Tunguz,  discussing  how strategies that once set firms apart – like pre-seed or founder-centric  investing  – become industry standards over time. They dive deep on counter-positioning, adaptability, and the power of differentiation in today’s venture world. CHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(1:14) Is Tomasz an n=1?(5:51) How Do Firms Stay Relevant?(9:12) Do Founders Like Counter-Positioning?(11:50) Who Is An Emerging Manager/Nick’s Next CareerLearn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Theory Ventures: theory.venturesSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

Tomasz Tunguz, Founder of Theory Ventures, is widely recognized for his analytical approach to venture investing. Now, he’s building Theory with a philosophy rooted in research and data-driven decision-making.  Tomasz sits down with Nick Chirls, General Partner at Asylum Ventures and Beezer Clarkson,  LP at Sapphire Partners and co-founder of OpenLP, to discuss spinouts and succession in established firms and the value of running high-risk, high-reward experiments at  specialist firms like Theory. Tomasz also shares his belief that investors will need to  adapt to a future where asking the right questions of LLMs will be critical for success.CHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(4:05) Why Are So Many People Leaving Top Firms?(12:15) Getting the Probabilities On Your Side(16:01) Building Highly Concentrated Portfolios(17:33) Lessons Learned in Fund One(21:37) Tomasz’s Brand v. Theory’s Brand(27:15) Using Tech at the Core of Theory(34:31) Asking the Right Questions in AI(36:56) Predictions for 2026Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.

Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Nate Leung, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to riff on  her recent conversation with Nina Achadjian, Partner at Index Ventures. Together, Beezer and Nate walk through the steps Index took to become a franchise - the decisions they made and the mistakes they avoided, plus the firm’s ability to pick excellent companies early. They discuss the edge GPs gain by investing with a broader purpose, as well as the LP POV on the need for distributions and consolidation in 2025.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Index Ventures: indexventures.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.CHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins2:04-Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing to Build a Franchise3:43-Liquidity and IPOs(4:45) 2025 - The Year of Reckoning(7:13) Let There Be More Distributions9:34-Finding the Great Companies Early

Nina Achadjian is a Partner at Index Ventures, where she invests across seed, venture, and growth stages in AI, enterprise software, and vertical SaaS. She sits down with Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, and the two discuss Nina’s predictions for M&A in 2025, the importance of product market fit and what Nina looks for in a new hire. Plus, the two dig into Index’s recent IPO with ServiceTitan, and how they managed a high-profile exit in the difficult IPO market of 2024.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.CHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(1:49) The Trading Floors of London and New York4:54-The ServiceTitan IPO(15:22) The Exit Window for SaaS Companies in 2025(17:45) Predictions & AI(25:10) More M&A vs. IPO(30:34) Investment Lessons Learned at Index(34:59) Hiring People Who Become Great Investors(39:03) Hive & the Armenian Tech Ecosystem

Origins host Beezer Clarkson sits down with her colleague Laura Thompson, fellow LP and Partner at Sapphire Partners, to riff on her recent conversation with Thomas Kristensen, Partner at LGT Capital Partners. Together they discuss 2025’s sluggish exit market, and whether or not that’s a sign that venture is broken. They also discuss the importance of reinventing yourself to stay current with the market - even though LPs don’t love big changes - and if emerging managers can use founder product connectivity to their advantage. Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comLearn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.CHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(1:20) Aren’t We Supposed to Be Investing In Companies That Want to Go Public?(4:33) Difficulties of Maintaining a Franchise(6:24) ”There’s Gonna Be Some Really Difficult Vintages”(7:22) Being Paranoid to Be a Great Investor(10:33) Reintegrating AI

Thomas Kristensen, Partner at LGT Capital Partners, has decades of experience backing the top players in venture, but as an LP, doesn’t love the term "franchise fund.” He sits down with Bezer Clarkson,  Partner at Sapphire Partners, to discuss why GPs can’t rest on their laurels, that being a franchise shouldn’t be every VC’s ultimate goal, and how LPs can dig deep to find firms with a great founder product– and avoid ones that may look like franchises but could have already peaked. The two also share their predictions for 2025 exits and why they think a lot of founders don’t want to be public company CEOs.Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about LGT Capital Partners: lgtcp.comFor a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter – delivered straight to your inbox: subscribe.openlp.vcCHAPTERS:(0:00) Welcome to Origins(2:00) Are Franchise Funds Really Franchises?(7:49) What Counts As Performance?(12:03) How GPs Create (And Spend) Goodwill(15:45) A Consistent Founder Product(19:35) “There’s Plenty of Good Firms Out There That I Wouldn’t Necessarily Call Franchise Firms.”(27:08) Franchise Funds and Succession(35:43) Resting On Your Laurels(39:17) “A More Critical Year In Venture Than We Want It to Be.” 

Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, revisits her conversation from 2023 with David Clark, Investment Director at VenCap International plc. In this episode, she and co-host Nick Chirls, Partner at Asylum Ventures, dive into David’s nearly four decades of experience in investing in some of the most established VC funds across the US, Europe, China and India. David shares historical figures on where to find performance in venture and his findings from a recently uncovered 30 year trove of data from 400+ funds with 15,000+ underlying portfolio companies. In this data set, he found that 50% of VC investments don’t actually return capital. So how does an LP unlock performance and find the enduring managers?Learn more about Sapphire Partners: sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partnersLearn more about OpenLP: openlp.vcLearn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vcLearn more about Top Tier Capital Partners: ttcp.comSubscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox.CHAPTERS:0:00-Welcome to Origins2:46-30 Years of Data at VenCap6:10-Almost Always Working With Established Managers11:19-A Very High Breakage Rate Between Funds One & Two16:01-Figuring Out Who the Next Great Ones Are24:41-Having At Least One Company That Returns the Entire Fund31:26-Building an LP Program36:18-Building a Program Where DPI Matters42:06-Looking Back On Predictions for 202450:49-Looking for GPs to Get Ahead of the Curve