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