Does Your VC Fund Size Still Make Sense Today
Does Your VC Fund Size Still Make Sense Today
Author:
Peter Walker
Published date:
May 25, 2026
Rising lead check sizes, follow-on expectations, and evolving ownership targets are forcing fund managers to reconsider whether their current fund size still...
Major question for VCs today: does your fund size still make sense?
Three inter-related decisions
Do I lead rounds?
If I do, the median lead check is 25%-50% larger today than it was only 3 years back. Am I willing to invest into fewer companies (building a more concentrated portfolio) in order to maintain ownership?Do I follow-on?
If I lead, I'm sort of expected to (side note as Peter - kinda think this is an expectation that should fade but I get it). Well, great, the follow-on check is ALSO much larger than it used to be and if my portco gets marked up by a major Tier 1 fund, forget it there goes millions.Do I bridge companies?
A bridge here, another there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money that could have been spent on another net new bet. But I need to maintain good relationships with my founders in this business.
Tricky all the way down. But the incentives clearly point in one direction - try and raise a bigger fund next time.
Which LPs always love 😅
Peter Walker runs the Insights team at Carta, focused on discovering key data and narratives across the private capital ecosystem. In a former life, he was a marketing executive for a media analytics startup and led the data visualization team at the Covid Tracking Project.