VC10X - Why VCs are struggling to return capital to LPs - Sean Byrnes, GP, Near Horizon

Sean Byrnes is a co-founder & General Partner at Near Horizon. Sean has spent the past 20 years founding and scaling companies that have defined new categories, including Flurry—the world’s largest mobile analytics platform, acquired by Yahoo—and Outlier.ai, an automated data analysis leader. At Near Horizon, Sean partners hands-on with founders, combining deep operational expertise and capital to help launch the next generation of AI-powered startups. ⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com Near Horizon website - https://www.nearhorizon.vc/ Breaking Point Newsletter - https://www.breakingpoint.tech/ Sean Byrnes on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbyrnes/ 🎙️ Hosted by Prashant Choubey Follow Prashant on X - https://x.com/ChoubeySahab Follow Prashant on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab In this episode, we talk about - - Why Sean thinks venture capital is the most risk averse asset class? - Why VCs are struggling to return capital to LPs? - His unique approach to investing at Near Horizon Ventures - What should founders focus on in the earliest stage of a startup? - Why founders need to think small to move faster at the early stage - How can founders be more outcome focused? & lots more Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (04:13) Near Horizon's unique investment model of working with solo founders (08:28) Challenges of innovating in venture capital (09:15) Perspectives on LP (Limited Partner) resistance to new VC models (14:06) Discussing liquidity problems in venture capital (18:25) Strategies for early exits and secondary markets (22:26) Why venture capital is the most risk-averse asset class (27:03) Key focus areas when working with early-stage companies (31:26) Importance of customer research and distribution advantage (35:41) The concept of "thinking smaller" to grow faster (38:26) Why status meetings are ineffective (41:12) How founders can be more outcome-focused (43:33) Rapid fire round of questions about Near Horizon's investment approach (46:16) Closing remarks and ways to follow Sean Byrnes For sponsorship or guest appearance requests, write to prashantchoubey3@gmail.com Subscribe to VC10X on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.