Jim Jones and Steve Taubman, HighGear Ventures

Jim Jones and Steve Taubman join Alexandra Daly to discuss the
secondary venture space amid the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on
their extensive experience to share unique insights into Silicon
Valley during previous macroeconomic downturns.


Jim’s experience has spanned all phases of venture capital, from
seed and early stage investments to later stage and secondaries
in venture-backed companies. Jim’s portfolio management includes
more than $150 million of primary and secondary capital
commitments.


Steve Taubman has been an active private equity secondary
investor since 1998, purchasing limited partner interests in
venture capital and buyout funds, organizing fund restructurings
and corporate spinouts and acquiring direct interests in
venture-backed companies. Prior to joining HighGear Ventures,
Steve was Managing Director with VCFA Group where he was actively
involved in originating, evaluating, negotiating and closing new
secondary investments for funds having an aggregate of $650
million of capital commitments.





What is a secondary?


A venture capital secondary represents the purchase of common or
preferred shares in venture backed companies or limited partner
interests in venture capital funds by a new
investor, replacing an existing investor in the company or
fund. For sellers, a secondary provides another means to obtain
liquidity from an investment absent M&A or an IPO. For the
secondary buyer, these purchases offer the opportunity to
price investments at a discount to current fair value and offer
the promise of a shorter time to liquidity than most investors in
the asset class (because the purchases occur later in a
company’s lifecycle). Secondary investments may provide the
opportunity to achieve strong returns in venture capital but with
lower risk.