Entity Naming Pros and Cons - Management Company and Fund Series

Asked by

Nov 09, 2023

Entity Naming Pros and Cons - Management Company and Fund Series

What are some entity naming pros and cons of the management company and fund series? Consider the example below with one private fund series that has one fund series with one thesis and a second fund series with a second thesis. (Bolded text represents a classification and not an entity name standard.):

The Management Company
- X Ventures Management LLC
- X Ventures Management L.L.C.
- X Ventures Management, LLC
- X Ventures Management, L.L.C.
The Private Fund Series
- The Fund I Thesis 1
  - The Fund I Thesis 1 For LPs
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1 LP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1 L.P.
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1, LP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1, L.P.
  - The Fund I Thesis 1 For GPs
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1 GP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1 G.P.
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1, GP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 1, G.P.
- The Fund I Thesis 2
  - The Fund I Thesis 2 For LPs
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2 LP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2 L.P.
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2, LP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2, L.P.
  - The Fund I Thesis 2 For GPs
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2 GP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2 G.P.
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2, GP
    - X Ventures Fund I Thesis 2, G.P.

1 See in Base

Answered by

Haw Kuo

Nov 09, 2023

There are not really "pros and cons" for naming a Fund's entities - however there are conventions that make it easy to follow (see below).

Generally speaking though, Firms/Funds do not have "series" like SPVs might - unless one is referring to a type of Fund of Funds structure (or potentially vehicles managed by AngelList). Whether a corporate suffix has periods or no periods is also generally immaterial.

With respect to a fund thesis, a Fund 1 and a Fund 2 can have different ones - or the Fund name can specify the name of a vertical, region, etc.

Standard naming conventions:

Management Company

The Venture Capital Firm’s “Brand”

The Management Company is the entity that endures across Fund 1, Fund 2, Fund 3, etc. - it is owned by the fund managers and typically employs only those analysts and other professionals working across all of the firm’s funds.

Example Names and Conventions

Example Capital, LLC
Example Capital Management, LLC

Example Ventures, LLC

Example Ventures Management, LLC

General Partner Entity

The Entity that Manages the Fund

The General Partner entity (important to note this isn’t referring directly to the fund managers, as is commonplace) is owned (mostly) by the Management Company. It manages the activities of the Fund, in a general sense. Venture Partners and any other advisors who are working only on the specific Fund managed by the specific General Partner entity will sit on this entity’s cap table, in most cases.

*Note that a new General Partner Entity is set up for each Fund. The General Partner Entity for Fund I typically is not numbered, though General Partner Entities for subsequent funds are often denoted by arabic numerals starting with 2.

Example Names and Conventions

Example Capital GP, LLC

Example Ventures GP, LLC

Limited Partnership (the actual Fund)

The actual “Fund” where the Limited Partners sit

This is the Fund itself, where the Limited Partners invest into and portfolio investments are deployed from.

*Note that a new Limited Partnership is set up for each Fund, usually denoted by a roman numeral.

Example Names and Conventions

Example Capital Fund I, LP

Example Ventures Fund I, LP

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