E186: Where’s the Alpha Opportunity in VC in 2025? w/Abe Finkelstein

What’s the playbook for building a resilient, multi-billion‑dollar venture firm that weathers every market cycle? In this episode, Abe Finkelstein, Co‑Managing Partner at Vintage Investment Partners, shares how they underwrite managers, navigate funds‑of‑funds and secondaries, and spot next‑gen innovation—all while maintaining LP confidence across turbulent times.

Highlights:

• How Abe began his career in equity research and transitioned into institutional analysis
• The origin story of Vintage Investment Partners and how it grew to manage over $3B
• Why Vintage operates across fund-of-funds, secondaries, and direct growth investing
• How he evaluates managers and pricing across public and private markets
• What it takes to build long-term trust with LPs in an increasingly competitive market
• Abe’s thoughts on gaming, crypto, and Israel’s next big startup wave
• The decision to relocate to Israel and how that shaped his worldview

-- Guest Bio: Abe Finkelstein is a Co-Managing Partner at Vintage Investment Partners, a global venture platform investing in fund-of-funds, secondary, and direct growth-stage opportunities. Vintage manages over $3 billion across its strategies and partners with leading venture firms and startups globally.

Before joining Vintage, Abe was a Senior Equity Analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he covered Israeli technology companies. He began his career at Brown Brothers Harriman and later served as Vice President at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Abe holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email David Weisburd at david@weisburdcapital.com.

#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP #assetmanagement

-- Stay Connected: X / Twitter: David Weisburd: @dweisburd

LinkedIn: David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/ Abe Finkelstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-finkelstein/

Links: Vintage Investment: https://vintage-ip.com/portfolio/

-- Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at david@weisburdcapital.com.

(0:00) Episode preview (4:03) AI, regulation, and its impact on European venture (7:38) Vintage's investment strategy and focus on emerging managers (12:42) De-risking and advantages of investing in fund ones (23:49) Adapting investment strategies and annual evolution (25:20) Annual off-sites: Key topics and implementing lessons (30:31) Consistency in team across investment strategies (33:06) Generational transfer and firm resilience (37:30) Israel's investment ecosystem and potential peace premium (42:34) Impact of peace on Israeli entrepreneurs and market dynamics (44:43) Advice for aspiring venture capitalists (47:29) Celebrating venture wins and managing the professional-personal balance (48:06) Reflecting on past deals and closing thoughts (48:51) Closing remarks