Episode 97

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Published on:

26th May 2023

Ep. 97 “Fundraising Tips for Emerging Managers” with Brian Bank, Investment Funds Group, Kirkland & Ellis

On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with BRIAN BANK, Strategy & Client Development, Investment Funds Group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Together, they discuss:

  • The current fundraising environment is challenging. Why? 
  • How LPs (including family office, endowment, pension, etc.) function
  • Mistakes GPs might make in fundraising 
  • Who to hire / how to build an effective team to fundraise 

...and so much more.

Brian Bank has more than 20 years of experience within the investment funds universe as both an institutional limited partner and as a placement agent. As an LP, Brian committed to funds across private equity, venture capital, debt, real estate, and credit strategies, served on numerous Limited Partner Advisory Committees (LPACs), executed and managed co-investments, sold assets in the secondary market, analyzed over 1,000 partnerships, attended several hundred annual meetings, and established a very deep and broad network across the private investment funds community.

At Kirkland, Brian leverages his deep knowledge and relationships to provide clients strategic and tactical advice and perspectives on commercial and business issues related to fundraising, messaging, investor relations and market conditions.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Brian headed US PE origination for First Avenue Partners, a UK-based independent placement agent. He has more than 17 years of experience advising private equity firms, including 15 years as a private funds limited partner and portfolio manager. Brian has managed LP commitments in more than 50 general partnerships and served on numerous Limited Partner Advisory Committees across private equity, real estate, venture capital, and energy, and has identified, diligenced and executed direct investments, co-investments, and secondary transactions.

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About the Podcast

Investors & Operators
A Podcast by 51 Labs
The M&A market can be boring, but everyone has a story. The Investors & Operators podcast is about discovering the stories people were holding back, didn’t know how to tell, or forgot about. The goal is simple: fresh, authentic storytelling to bring people together in the M&A community.

With over 1M organic views and counting on LinkedIn, 51 Labs is disrupting the M&A market through the use of videography and content creation. In a market that longs for authenticity, 51 Labs helps strengthen your brand and tell your story. From concept to distribution, we strategize and produce thoughtful content to be used across a multitude of channels, to help you stand out in an otherwise traditionally boring market.

New episodes every other Thursday at 6:00am Eastern.

About your host

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Jordan Selleck

Founder. Recovering Investment Banker. 3x Entrepreneur. Philz Coffee Enthusiast.

Jordan Selleck is a recovering investment banker turned 3x entrepreneur. While teaching English in China, Jordan met an investment banker in a bar and before he knew it he’d spent six years in cross-border investment banking advising global corporates and private equity firms on M&A deals up to $250 million.

As much as Jordan loved investment banking, he always knew he was meant to do something more. In 2016, Jordan founded Debtmaven, a deal management platform for debt financing in the lower middle market. It was while he was marketing Debtmaven on LinkedIn that Jordan found his true passion: building meaningful relationships in the lower middle market.

Seeing over 50% of Debtmaven’s $450million+ in deals come from LinkedIn, he realized he’d found an untapped market and began his journey with LinkedIn consulting. Dozens of clients and a handful of extraordinarily talented employees later, 51 Labs is a thriving marketing agency for the lower middle market that produces captivating content and generates organic traffic across LinkedIn.

Jordan was born in San Diego, grew up in North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill. He has traveled to 32 countries, lived in China for 18 months, trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a fourth-generation private pilot, SCUBA dives, speaks Mandarin Chinese, and is a husband and father of 2.