Key takeaways
  • Documenting all internal procedures can help young VC firms instill confidence in investors.
  • Choosing the right service providers is crucial to the success of new firms.
  • Building a cohesive company culture is essential for attracting and retaining strong talent.

Kristy Trieste is the founding partner, CFO and CCO of Motive Partners, an investment firm focused on technology-enabled companies that power the financial services industry. Founded in 2015, Motive Partners has raised $6.4 billion across two investment programs. SVB recently sat down with Trieste to discuss success factors for a VC firm experiencing rapid growth. Read the writeup below or watch the 6-minute video.

What challenges do new funds and first-time CFOs typically face?

As a first-time CFO, one of the biggest obstacles is starting with a blank slate while institutional investors expect to see structure and operational readiness. They want to know how things will work and how you'll execute what you promise. An effective strategy I implemented early on was creating what we call "the procedures manual." This is a comprehensive document that outlines every key process within the firm — from how we make investment decisions to how we pay bills. We also highlighted the controls in place for each process.

Operational due diligence has become a major focus in private equity, and having a document that clearly details how everything is done and the controls that govern each process provides a lot of comfort to investors. When investors see this level of detail and control, it reassures them that their capital will be managed responsibly, which is a powerful tool for us in building trust.

“When investors see this level of detail and control, it reassures them that their capital will be managed responsibly, which is a powerful tool for us in building trust.”
Kristy Trieste
CFO, Motive Partners

What should smaller VC and PE firms look for in selecting service providers?

Selecting the right service providers is crucial to the success of your fund, especially since private markets firms tend to operate with lean teams, and the CFO’s team is often even leaner. It’s important to consider what these providers bring to the table in terms of expertise and alignment with your business. They can be key partners, offering solutions when you're facing challenges or need a fresh perspective.

For example, I've experienced situations where I reached out to the SVB team, not for banking issues, but for broader business challenges. They could facilitate valuable connections and provide ideas if I needed an introduction to another CFO or a creative solution to a non-banking problem. This highlights the importance of service providers in helping you stay connected and informed about how others in the industry are solving similar issues. They are central to bringing in outside perspectives and resources when you need them most.

How can private funds CFOs at smaller VC and PE firms implement robust cybersecurity controls?

Cybersecurity is a huge focus for us, and since private funds are a highly targeted group, it’s important to understand and follow best practices. Our biggest priority at Motive Partners is the human element of cybersecurity. Many security breaches come down to one person’s split-second decision in a moment of poor judgment. To strengthen the human element, we conduct ongoing trainings for all employees where we do “faux phishing” exercises to see who will click on a suspicious link or download a file. Then, we follow up with those employees and walk them through how they should do things differently in the future to be more secure.

How do you build strong teams and a cohesive company culture?

At Motive Partners, our team is at the core of everything we do. Building a great team is crucial to make sure you have the right skillsets for your company’s challenges and opportunities. For a growing business, you need to have a different focus during different moments in time, which means potentially having different people around the table to help you accomplish your goals. Having the right people is essential to getting where you want to go.

In order to attract and retain a team of strong talent, building an excellent company culture is critical. Amid the pandemic, we worked to bring people together even when they were physically apart. Even small things make a difference, like sending birthday cakes to every person’s home to celebrate their birthday. Of course, there are also much bigger areas to focus on, like ensuring we are communicating well with everyone at the company so everyone is on the same page.