Movers & Shakers S2E3: Entering the Venture Capital Ecosystem with Rachel Goddard, Partner at Cooley LLP

Our mini-series, Movers & Shakers, continues with Rachel Goddard, a partner at Cooley LLP for over 22 years. 

Rachel walks us through her path to becoming a lawyer before becoming a partner at Cooley. She explains why she loves her job and what she and Cooley do to assist emerging managers to start their funds. Rachel also shares some best practices on things new managers might now know, like management fees and GP commitments. 

We also get Rachel’s perspective on the next five years for venture funds in light of the past few years being a very hot market and non-accredited investors investing in venture funds.

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0:14 - Where did Rachel grow up and how did that shape her view of the world?
0:58 - Did Rachel always want to be a Lawyer?
1:41 - What was the pivot that led Rachel into law?
3:34 - How is Cooley focused on supporting venture capital?
6:04 - What comes up in early conversations with emerging managers?
8:43 - Rachel clarifies some of the terminology used to describe different stakeholders. 
10:42 - What are the four documents that Rachel always starts with?
12:15 - What are some best practices on things like management fees and GP commitments?
16:31 - What is the definition of a smaller fund to Cooley?
17:21 - What are Rachel’s thoughts on non-accredited investors investing in venture funds?
20:25 - What do you think the next five years hold for venture funds in light of the past few years being a very hot market?
22:00 - What advice does Rachel have for first-time fund managers and underrepresented fund managers?
25:41 - What is coming up for Rachel, personally?
27:35 - Who is a woman in Rachel’s life that had a profound impact on her and her career? 

The Room Podcast is sponsored by our friends at Silicon Valley Bank and Cooley.

WX Productions