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Benchmark Keeps Deliberate Investing Pace After $2 Billion Fundraise
Benchmark’s five general partners took the stage at a technology conference this week to describe a firm that has grown its funds but still makes only two or three new investments per partner each year.
Peter Fenton said the core fund’s work remains closely tied to founders at the earliest stage. He described it as a 10-to-15-year commitment built on working shoulder to shoulder with entrepreneurs, a model he said does not scale.
Benchmark’s five general partners appeared together at the conference and presented a tight-knit team. The firm has enlarged its core fund and added a growth fund, but the partners said their investment cadence is unchanged: two to three new bets per partner annually.
The partners also pointed to their Monday meetings, which still have no agenda, as part of the firm’s deliberate style. Benchmark announced $2 billion across two funds this summer, the second time in its 31-year history that it has departed from raising a far smaller vehicle.
Benchmark’s roster has changed as well. Three years ago, four of its partners sat for an interview; three of those individuals are no longer with the firm. The five remaining general partners used the appearance to describe a hands-on, slow-moving approach as rivals accelerate.