Key takeaways from this year’s VC Platform Global Summit in Miami Beach
In April, Katie Birge, VP Platform, and Ruth Brungard, Platform Associate, attended the VC Platform Global Summit where they joined 500+ peers from hundreds of firms to talk shop, swap ideas and dig into what great portfolio support looks like. From KPIs to the best AI tools, this year’s conference offered a behind the scenes look for Platform teams around the globe in this ever-evolving VC climate.
Portfolio Goals, Milestones and Success
Tracking the health of your portfolio and community isn’t just a nice to have, it’s one of the strongest leading indicators of long-term success. We’ve seen that the best firms are the ones who don’t just track valuations quarterly, they’re watching KPIs and performance monthly, using these insights to help founders course correct in real time. Portfolio support isn't just about how the CEO is doing; it’s about tracking engagement at every level, from founder participation to coaching conversations, advisory connections and even support requests. One big unlock? Asking the question: “What does success look like for you?”
The evolution of firm operations has gone from spreadsheets to systems. At some of the top VC firms, the shift from what they called “the stone age” to “the bronze age” involved implementing structured reporting systems, centralized dashboards and monthly data submission pipelines. Much of this relies on founders inputting data themselves. One key tactic: using unique identifiers like email to track advisor intros or outcomes and also integrating standard financial metric check-ins. This not only ensures up-to-date reporting but helps catch red flags early.
More platform teams are now incorporating proactive support into their tracking—offering mental health resources, coaching connections and peer intros—and monitoring how those resources are used. Some are even automating those warm intros, logging them in a CRM and following up via email a month later to see how it went. Instead of soft intros and long ramp-up periods, founders are given a range of expectations from day one, paired with benchmarks and live dashboards to guide their progress. These efforts are bringing platform teams to the table alongside the investment teams within firms, and everyone is benefiting from it.
Building Your Acquirer Pipeline for Portcos
While all of this is happening behind the scenes, some firms are also building out their acquirer networks to set portfolio companies up for successful exits. With the IPO window more or less closed, late 2023 saw a huge push to map out potential corporate acquirers and strategic investors, especially across the U.S., Canada and Asia. Teams leaned on tools like Pitchbook and Crunchbase to download public company lists and identify key titles like Head of M&A, Innovation, Corp Dev, or Strategic Ops. If none of those were available, they dug one layer deeper to find partners with adjacent mandates. From there, they built internal databases to track contact info, conversation notes and feedback loops.
This approach helps founders connect with potential acquirers early—ideally around the Seed to Series A stage—without signaling that they’re looking to exit. In-person interactions are particularly helpful here, making acquisition conversations feel more natural. Founder/CVC dinners, GCVI events and themed demo days provide low-pressure entry points. One tip that was shared at the Summit: uploading earnings calls and corporate reports into an AI model to summarize innovation priorities, then matching those to your portfolio to proactively suggest intros. Not every match will be perfect, but it increases your hit rate significantly. The goal isn’t to push anyone out early, but to make sure founders are building relationships that might become relevant in 18–24 months. When there is a need for a quick exit, firms can still bring in bankers at the top of the funnel, while already having a warm set of corporate relationships in place to optimize valuation and speed.
AI Ghostwriting & Low-Code Tools
Content marketing is another area where automation and AI are having a moment. Some firms are now using AI ghostwriters for everything from LinkedIn posts to longform blogs. Nothing is fully automated, everything runs on a "sandwich model:” Human in the loop at the start, AI in the middle, human at the end. Claude is often the tool of choice for writing, especially since you can save voices for specific types of content. ChatGPT works better now for both text and image generation, while Gamma is gaining popularity for presentations. The key is making sure your voice remains intact and every end result still reflects your brand.
The AI content workflow usually starts with topic generation: AI can analyze past content and suggest ideas. Some firms are now using tools to streamline collaboration and approvals, making sure every piece of content has voice consistency and is fact-checked before publication. Old blog posts can be repurposed for social content and interview transcripts can be edited with AI to save time while preserving tone and story.
On the operations side, more VCs are turning to low-code tools to automate everyday workflows. Whether it's a Google Form that automatically builds an executive newsletter or a Glide interface that syncs with CRM data, low-code platforms can save hours of time each week. It’s especially powerful for platform teams handling content, intros or check-in workflows. Tools like SmartSuite and Airtable let you build robust databases, then layer in automation for tasks like data requests, benchmark generation or warm intro emails.
In Summary
Great platform teams are adding tangible value: helping founders hire better, sell faster, raise smarter and exit stronger. Whether through health tracking, strategic intros, automation or AI-enhanced storytelling, it’s about enabling founders to build better companies—while scaling the firm along the way. With uncertain economic roads ahead, a firm’s ability to provide more customized support while maintaining efficiency, extend runway for companies by providing more tangible value and making more data-informed decisions post-investment will prove to be critical to a firm’s long-term success moving forward.
