8VC is a venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Joe Lonsdale focused on investing in early stage technology companies that are transforming their respective industries. With over $3.6 billion under management, 8VC has invested in some of the fastest growing companies including Palantir, Wish, Oculus and Deliverr. 8VC’s investment thesis bleeds into its own firm’s operations where it leverages technology to optimize workflows, eliminate inefficiencies and improve communication.
The Problem
8VC has relied on legacy software to manage their investor relations. This has created numerous operational inefficiencies throughout the firm.
Manual and Time-consuming Information Collection
8VC employees spend over 50 hours per quarter sending out individual information requests to their 100+ portfolio companies. It can take over a month for these companies to gather this information and send it back to 8VC. Because of this, 8VC wastes more time chasing after information rather than doing what they do best: helping their portfolio companies grow and scale.
Inconsistent Data Sources
The data that 8VC receives is often inconsistent and unorganized. There are hundreds of spreadsheets, emails and pdfs spread over multiple different sources each with their own naming conventions, making this information extremely difficult to track. As a result, employees are spending hours scrambling to find data and relevant information where time-sensitivity makes a big impact.
Managing Portfolio Data at Scale
As 8VC continues to grow it becomes increasingly difficult to manage its portfolio companies and give them the individual attention they require. Staying on top of company data, conducting deep analysis and recalling information when required becomes a challenge. Without a proper system in place, it is not only hard to track portfolio progress, but also the own firms progress over time, which for 8VC is an integral part of their operations.
The Solution
Standard Metrics transformed 8VC’s operations by automating manual workflows and creating a centralized data platform in which 8VC could effectively manage and track their portfolio companies.
Automated Information Collection and Management
Instead of re-creating individual information requests each quarter, 8VC now uses templates to send out recurring requests to its portfolio companies. Standard Metrics automatically tracks their progress and follows up with companies on outstanding requests, saving 8VC the time and hassle of managing over +100 information requests. Furthermore, any documents submitted by the company are filed and stored within their respective dashboard. Automating these processes helped reduce time spent on information collection and management by 95%.
Data Centralization
Standard Metrics’ centralized dashboard makes financial documents easily accessible across the firm, eliminating the need to sift through spreadsheets to find a single metric. PDFs, emails and spreadsheets with different naming conventions are standardized so that files are easily searchable. By centralizing and standardizing financial data, Standard Metrics brings more transparency and clarity around portfolio company health and performance. This allows 8VC to gain a better understanding of their businesses and offer more relevant advice and help.
Building Scalable Infrastructure
More than automation and workflow optimization, Standard Metrics offers 8VC a system that grows with the firm. With all of their company, bank and firm data in one place, 8VC can fully grow and scale its operations without having to worry about how it will manage all its information. As the firm increases its portfolio size, 8VC can easily add company data, conduct deeper analysis and quickly retrieve information, and with access to historical financial data and institutional knowledge, it becomes easier to onboard new members as the firm grows.
Results
8VC’s switch to Standard Metrics transformed the venture firm’s operations by cutting out inefficiencies and enabling better data collection and visibility. The platform reduced time spent on data collection by 95%, allowing 8VC to focus more on monitoring portfolio progress and adding value to their companies. With Standard Metrics in place, 8VC can grow to its full potential with peace of mind that its system will scale with it.