Venture Capital is dead.!Long live Private Equity.
Lightspeed. Thrive. a16z. Sequoia.
They’re buying and rolling up companies like Private Equity giants.
*Silicon Valley is turning into Private Equity Valley👇
*Game Changer: Lightspeed becomes an RIA
Lightspeed Venture Partner has officially registered as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA).This is not just a legal formality.
It is a tectonic shift.
It means Lightspeed can now invest without limits in:
* Public stocks
* Secondary shares
*Private equity-style buyouts
* Roll-ups
They can now act like Blackstone in a hoodie.
VC Firms Are Becoming RIAs
The traditional VC model is broken at scale.
Without RIA status, VCs are restricted:
* Only 20% of capital can be invested in "non-qualifying" assets
* Can't actively manage or advise companies beyond a certain point
* Can't pursue liquidity outside IPOs or M&A
The Great Shift:
RIA since 2019 → Wealth mgmt division → Twitter buyout → Crypto empire → PE-style governance
Reorganized into a single evergreen fund model, radically different from typical VC fund structures.
Acquired a non-profit hospital system (Summa Health), built AI-native ventures, and stopped calling itself a VC firm.
Launched Thrive Holdings, a $1B vehicle to build and buy companies shaped by AI.
The traditional VC strategy
*Make 25 early bets
* Wait 10 years
* Hope for 2 unicorns
The new RIA playbook
* Launch and acquire companies
* Rewire them with AI
* Use secondaries to build long-term positions
* Own meaningful stakes, not just board seats
* Think in platform terms — not portfolios
*The Liquidity Engine
*The secondary market is exploding.
Startups are staying private longer than ever.
2012: $25B in secondaries
2025 (est.): $100B+
VCs are stepping in and buying stakes in late-stage startups before IPOs.
Lightspeed just hired ex-Goldman MD Jack Fowler to head its secondary strategy.
Operator Transformation Playbook
New strategy:
→ Building AI-native companies internally
→ Buying undervalued legacy firms and rebooting them with AI
→ Creating vertical roll-up plays using AI as a compounding force
General Catalyst: Radical Strategy Shift
Left VC identity behind altogether.
→ Acquired a hospital system
→ Building in-house AI startups
→ Created a wealth management arm
→ Rebranded as a "Transformation Company"
What Comes Next in the VC World?
Next 3–5 years:
1. AI-native roll-up strategies (across sectors like healthcare, infra, fintech)
2. More VCs acquiring real businesses (like General Catalyst did)
3. Dedicated secondaries platforms
4. Public market crossovers
5. Tech-enabled fund infra at PE scale
6. Consolidation of mid-tier VC firms
