Not Boring Capital Fund II Financial Model

• Solo GP venture fund anchored to the "Not Boring" newsletter (~90,000–98,000 subscribers at time of raise).
• Invests in companies with stories to tell; provides marketing/narrative value-add via newsletter deep dives, Twitter (125k followers), podcast, and syndicate (1,500 backers, $4M deployed across 25 deals).
• Does not lead deals, does not take board seats - piggybacks on larger lead funds' diligence while providing media distribution as a differentiator.
• Fund II check size target: $100k–$500k, with ability to flex. Fund I range was smaller.
• Stage mix target: ~1/3 Pre-Seed/Seed, ~1/3 Series A, ~1/3 Series B+.

• No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM framing for the VC market is presented.
• Market context provided: 994 unicorns tracked by Crunchbase as of Q3 2021, worth $3.4T combined; 132 new unicorns in Q3 2021 alone - more than 1 per day.
• 83 unicorns went public in first 9 months of 2021 at combined $958B market cap, average IPO valuation $11.5B.
• YTD 2021 unicorn debut valuation ($958B) exceeded the prior 3 years combined.
• Implication: the fund's opportunity set is described as historically large and growing; no formal VC market TAM stated.

Standard 2-and-20 venture fund structure:

• Management fee: 2% per year for 4 years, then 0%. On $25–30M fund, this implies ~$500k–$600k/yr management fee for years 1–4.
• Carried interest: 20% of profits above return of capital (standard waterfall; hurdle rate not specified in deck).
• GP Commitment: $500k (mix of fees and cash).
• Reserves: 10% of fund for follow-ons; most follow-ons via SPVs.
• Syndicate revenue (separate from the fund): Not Boring Syndicate has deployed $4M across 25 deals with 1,500 backers; carry/fees on syndicate deals are an additional revenue stream not broken out.
• Sponsored deep dives: Companies pay Not Boring to write about them (separate newsletter revenue; not quantified).

Fund I:

• Raised: $9.9M (target was $5–7M)
• Deployed: In ~6 months (target was 12 months)
• Companies invested (Fund I, through Q3 2021): 79 closed + 16 in process/Q4
• Total $ deployed as of end of Q3: $7,827,762 across tracked portfolio
• Stage allocation actuals: Pre-Seed 13.41% ($1.05M), Seed 31.79% ($2.49M), Seed+ 18.20% ($1.43M), Series A 20.30% ($1.59M), Series B 2.87% ($225k), Series C-D 5.75% ($450k), Series E+ 7.66% ($600k)
• Largest vertical by $ invested: Fintech - $1.36M across 13 companies
• Second largest: web3 - $1.01M across 12 companies

Traction/marks:

• Braintrust ($BTRST) token launch: fund's investment marked at 13.9x in "a couple of months"; Braintrust valued at $2.3B at time of screenshot (peaked at ~$11B, settled ~$2.5B)
• Multiple other investments described as "closing with signed term sheets or offers on the table" - no specific marks given except Braintrust

Newsletter / distribution:

• Newsletter subscribers: ~90,000 (slide 01) / 98k (slide 03)
• Twitter followers: 125k
• Podcast listeners: ~3–7k per episode
• Syndicate: $4M invested, 25 deals, 1,500 backers

• Average Fund I check size: $7,827,762 / ~79 deals ≈ ~$99k per deal
• Fund II target check size: $100k–$500k
• Management fee economics: 2% × $25–30M = $500k–$600k/yr for 4 years (~$2M–$2.4M total management fees)
• GP take on carry: 20% of gains above return of capital on $25–30M fund
• No CAC, LTV, or margin data stated - not applicable to a VC fund in standard operating sense

• Moat framing: newsletter is the "unfair advantage" - without it, Packy states he would be "a very average venture investor at best"
• Does not compete with large funds for deal leadership; instead co-invests alongside them (explicitly positioned as complementary)
• Distribution moat: 90–98k newsletter subscribers, 125k Twitter followers providing organic dealflow and LP outreach
• Media value-add: Sponsored deep dives (companies pay to be featured), public investment memos, podcast generate goodwill and differentiation with founders
• Structural advantages listed: no board seats, no deal leads = more investments, faster deployment, broader portfolio
• Risks acknowledged: missing winners despite high volume, less time diversification, inability to raise future funds, reputational risk from over-extension, conflicting out from competitive investments

• GP: Packy McCormick (solo GP) - writer of Not Boring newsletter
• No other named team members in the deck
• Funding ask: $30M for Fund II
• Use of funds: Deploy into Seed to Series B tech startups; $100k–$500k checks; ~1/3 pre-seed/seed, ~1/3 Series A, ~1/3 Series B+; growing web3 allocation (was ~11% in Fund I, expected higher in Fund II)
• 10% reserves for follow-ons; most follow-ons via SPVs outside the main fund
• GP Commitment: $500k
• Terms: 2% mgmt fee for 4 years then 0%, 20% carry

• Archetype + why: Venture fund economics model (management company P&L + fund-level return waterfall). This is not an operating startup - it is a closed-end fund raising from LPs. The appropriate model has two layers: (1) a management company P&L (management fees as revenue, GP operating expenses, solo GP comp) and (2) a fund-level return / DPI / TVPI waterfall (committed capital → deployed capital → portfolio MOIC → carried interest → LP net returns). No 3-statement operating model is appropriate. No revenue forecast for a product/service. If a simpler model is preferred, use a VC fund cashflow and carry model.

• Forecast horizon & granularity: 10-year fund life (standard for VC); annual granularity for management company P&L; quarterly or semi-annual for deployment schedule; single-period waterfall for carry calculation at exit scenarios.

• Key drivers & assumptions:

Fund structure:

• Fund size: $30M (note: Terms slide shows $25M; model both, flag discrepancy)
• GP commit: $500k
• Management fee: 2% × 4 years, then 0%
• Carry rate: 20%
• Reserves for follow-on: 10%
• Investable capital: $30M × 90% = $27M (net of reserves)
• Deployment period: 6–12 months per Fund I pace; 18–24 months for Fund II given larger size

Portfolio construction:

• Average check size: $100k–$500k target; $250k blended average
• Number of investments: ~27M / $250k avg = ~108 companies (upper range); or ~54 at $500k avg
• Stage mix: ~33% Pre-Seed/Seed, ~33% Series A, ~33% Series B+
• Web3 allocation: ~20–25% of Fund II (up from ~11% in Fund I)
• Follow-ons: mostly via SPVs, not from fund

Return assumptions (all - no realized return data except Braintrust):

• Power law portfolio: ~2% of investments return 50x+, ~5% return 10–50x, ~15% return 2–10x, ~78% return <2x or write-off (standard VC loss ratio heuristic)
• Braintrust: 13.9x mark noted, but locked up 12 months - cash multiple unconfirmed
• Blended MOIC target: 3–5x gross on fund (consistent with top-quartile seed/multi-stage fund)
• Exit timeline: 5–7 years average to liquidity for typical investment

Management company:

• Annual management fee (years 1–4): $600k/yr (if $30M fund)
• Annual management fee (years 5–10): $0
• GP operating expenses: ~$300–500k/yr (office, legal, admin, Packy salary - not stated)
• Newsletter/media revenue (separate P&L): not modeled in fund entity

• Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
• Base: $30M fund, 90 investments, 3.5x gross MOIC, ~12% net IRR to LPs
• Bull: $30M deployed faster, 1–2 breakout web3/token investments (20x+), gross MOIC 6–8x
• Bear: Market correction post-2021 (relevant given deck is from late 2021 peak), write-off rate 40%+, gross MOIC 1.5–2x; carry = $0; management co. burns through fee income
• Flex variables: fund size, number of investments, blended check size, MOIC by stage cohort, web3 allocation %, exit timing

• Required sheets / outputs:

1. Assumptions - fund terms, deployment schedule, portfolio construction
2. Management Company P&L - annual management fees, operating costs, GP net income years 1–10
3. Portfolio Construction - investment count by stage, average check, total deployed
4. Return Waterfall - gross portfolio proceeds by scenario → return of capital → preferred return (if any) → carried interest → net LP proceeds
5. Fund KPIs - DPI (distributions to paid-in), TVPI (total value to paid-in), RVPI (residual value to paid-in), gross/net IRR by year
6. Carry Schedule - GP carry $ by scenario, timing of carry realization
7. Sensitivity - MOIC vs. fund size; carry $ vs. gross MOIC