Case study
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How a $10B+ venture fund put investment and finance on the same page
About the fund
The fund is a storied US venture firm with $10B+ under management and 100+ portfolio companies across 9+ funds. The project was led by the CFO and the finance team.
The challenge: Investment and finance weren't on the same page
Investment and finance were working off different context. What investors knew from the boardroom stayed with the investors; finance's reasoning on valuations stayed with finance. Neither saw the other's.
This showed up most in valuations. Investors regularly disagreed with finance's marks because the marks didn't reflect what they knew about the company, and since they couldn't see finance's reasoning, they didn't trust the data behind them either.
It also slowed down quarterly portfolio reviews. Tier sheets were built by hand from finance's numbers and the deal team's updates, which took weeks, and the review itself often spent its time on whose figure was right.
"Every quarter we'd rebuild the same tier sheets from scratch, and then spend the review defending them." — CFO
The solution: One place for everything the fund knows about a company
1. All the notes on a company, in one place
PortfolioIQ is now the fund's single home for notes on every portfolio company: finance's valuation notes, investors' notes on performance, and board meeting notes. Existing notes were consolidated into it and new ones are written there. Both teams work off the same page for each company, so a mark and the context behind it sit together.
"I don't argue with finance's mark any more. I can see how they got there, and they can see what I know from the board." — Partner
2. Tier sheets for the quarterly review, generated automatically
PortfolioIQ generates the tier sheets for the quarterly review directly from the company pages: cost, funding rounds, valuation, cash and runway, and the notes behind them. Since both teams have been working off the same data all quarter, there's nothing to reconcile before the meeting.
"The tier sheets are just there now. The review is about the companies, not the sheets." — CFO
3. Every number shows where it came from
Portfolio company financials and KPIs come into PortfolioIQ in one format, each figure with its source and last-updated date. Both teams see the same provenance.
The setup: Nothing had to be replaced
Finance kept its system of record for valuations and reporting; PortfolioIQ sits on top of it and is where the numbers and notes both teams use live. Portfolio companies kept reporting the way they already did.
The result: Faster reviews, fewer arguments
Quarterly reviews now take days to prepare instead of weeks, and the time in the room goes to the companies rather than to whose figure is right. Finance and the investors start from the same picture of each company, and the marks carry the context the investors always had but finance never saw.
"For the first time, finance and the deal team are looking at the same company." — CFO
Synaptic has not received any compensation for this feedback and does not invest in funds managed by the fund. Synaptic does receive compensation for its technology services.