Why I Moved Into IR (And Why It's the Most Interesting Role in Venture Right Now)

When I tell people I work in investor relations at a venture fund, I can see the confusion.

They know I raised and operated my own fund. They know I've spent years building my own companies in the UK and US. They know I’ve worked in communications and financial PR. They're trying to figure out: why would someone with that background choose IR?

The assumption is that IR is a step down - a support function for people who couldn't cut it as GPs or didn't want the entrepreneurial risk.

IR is becoming the most strategically important role in venture capital. And for someone with my particular combination of experiences - having been a GP and spent years learning how to communicate in high-stakes environments - it's actually the perfect place to be.

Here's why.

I've Seen Both Sides of the Table

I didn't just observe venture capital from the outside. I lived it.

I raised an early-stage fund. I know what it feels like to pitch LPs, to finally close that anchor, to make those early investments with equal parts conviction and terror. I experienced the intense highs of backing founders who were building something genuinely innovative.

I learned what LPs actually care about versus what GPs think they care about. I learned how quickly LP enthusiasm can evaporate when the market turns. I learned that communication during difficult times isn't just important - it's everything.

That dual perspective - having been both the GP desperately trying to prove myself and learning how to build relationships with LPs - gives me something you can't get from an MBA or by watching from the sidelines. I understand the vulnerability, the pressure, the very real fear that lives underneath the confident exterior most GPs project.

The LP Relationship Is Where Funds Are Actually Won or Lost

Here's what I came to understand after my own fundraising experience:

Your portfolio returns obviously matter. But they're not the only thing that determines whether you raise your next fund successfully.

LP relationships compound over time. The funds that communicate well, that build genuine trust, that treat LPs as true partners - those funds have LP bases that stick with them through rough patches, increase their commitments over successive funds, and introduce them to other high-quality LPs. This compounds into a massive advantage.

Poor LP relationships create a ceiling. I've seen funds with decent returns struggle to raise because LPs felt neglected, surprised by problems, or sensed that the GP wasn't being fully transparent. Once trust erodes, it's incredibly hard to rebuild.

And this is entirely separate from investment skill. Some of the best investors I know are mediocre at LP communication. Some GPs who are brilliant at identifying great companies are terrible at explaining their portfolio to LPs in ways that maintain confidence during the inevitable difficult periods.

IR Sits at the Intersection of Everything I'm Good At

When I look at what IR actually requires - not the administrative version, but the strategic version - it maps almost perfectly to my accumulated skills:

Understanding both the GP and LP psychology. I've been the GP feeling exposed during a tough fundraising quarter. I understand the pressure, the self-doubt, the challenge of maintaining conviction when markets turn. And I've studied LP decision-making enough to know what actually moves them to commit versus pass, what creates anxiety versus confidence.

Translating between worlds. My communications and financial PR background taught me how to take complex, often uncomfortable information and frame it in ways that are honest but constructive. That's essentially what great IR is - translating between the GP's world and the LP's world in ways that create understanding and maintain trust.

Building relationships over long timelines. Venture is a relationship business with decade-long cycles. My years in communications taught me how to build and maintain relationships with institutional decision-makers, how to be valuable over time rather than transactional, how to maintain credibility through market cycles.

Handling difficult conversations. Whether it was managing crisis communications or navigating my own fund's challenges, I learned how to have hard conversations in ways that preserve relationships rather than destroy them. This is critical in IR, where you're often communicating problems, setbacks, or changes in strategy.

Strategic positioning. I understand how to position a fund in ways that resonate with target LPs, how to differentiate in a crowded market, how to build narratives that are both compelling and credible. This is increasingly essential as the venture landscape becomes more competitive.

I Believe IR Is Where the Leverage Is

Here's my contrarian take: in today's venture environment, being exceptional at IR might create more fund-level value than being an incrementally better investor.

Stay with me on this...

The talent pool for decent investors is large. There are thousands of smart people who can evaluate startups reasonably well, who have good pattern recognition, who can add some value to portfolio companies. The difference between a good investor and a great investor, while real, is often marginal.

The talent pool for exceptional IR is tiny. Very few people have both the lived venture experience and the communication skills to do IR at the highest level. Even fewer have actually lived through the full cycle of raising, investing, and experiencing fund challenges.

And IR impacts the entire fund trajectory. Great IR means you raise faster, attract better LPs, retain more capital across funds, and have a LP base that supports you during inevitable difficult periods. This compounds over decades.

The Market Is Finally Recognizing This

For years, IR was an afterthought at most venture funds. Something you figured out later, maybe hired for in once you had institutional LPs who expected it.

That's changing rapidly.

The funds that are winning right now - raising faster, retaining LPs at higher rates, attracting the most sophisticated institutional capital - almost all have exceptional IR. They've recognized that LP relationships are strategic assets that require investment.

And the market is starting to value people who can do this well. IR roles at top funds are becoming more senior, better compensated, and more central to fund strategy.

This shift is only going to accelerate. The venture funds that treat IR as strategic will increasingly pull away from funds that treat it as administrative.

I'm Building Something That Didn't Exist for Me

When I was raising my fund, I was essentially figuring out LP communication through trial and error with some guidance from a great mentor.

I'm building expertise and frameworks around something that venture capital desperately needs but hasn't really professionalized yet: the art and science of LP relationships.

Have you noticed IR becoming more strategic in venture? I'd love to hear your perspective on how this function is evolving.