Episode summary
Braughm Ricke, Aduro Advisors - building a fund administration business
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Braughm Ricke
Summary
Braughm Ricke said Aduro Advisors grew out of the gap he saw when venture firms, especially smaller ones, had few good fund administration options and often had to self-administer. He described starting Aduro by “fractionalizing” the CFO and operations experience he had built at True Ventures for emerging managers that needed help but not a full in-house team. What began with a handful of relationships has scaled into a platform he says serves well over 500 client relationships and roughly 140 billion in assets, with a broad base of venture clients and an expanding reach beyond early-stage funds.
He argued that technology made the business viable for smaller funds, but not by replacing service. Aduro’s model, in his view, is “service first,” with software used to automate routine work, improve LP communications, and keep a consistent experience from a $50 million fund to a $500 million fund. He said many clients now want both a modern digital interface and a responsive human team, and Aduro tries to combine both through its own tools and an open-architecture approach that can connect with other private-markets platforms.
Ricke also said the market is still early in its shift away from self-administration, especially in North America, where he estimated 50% to 60% of VC and private equity firms still self-administer. He expects more institutional LPs, more wealth-channel capital, and more AI use, but he does not think AI will replace people in fund admin. Instead, he expects scale, flexible technology, and relationship depth to matter even more as the industry consolidates.
Key takeaways
- Ricke said Aduro scaled from a few relationships to more than 500 client relationships and about 140 billion in assets by serving emerging managers first and moving upmarket later.
- He said technology made it possible to profitably serve smaller VC funds, but only when paired with a service-heavy operating model.
- Ricke said many of Aduro’s clients now have hundreds of LPs, including some with 7 or 800 investors, making scalable workflows essential.
- He estimated that 50% to 60% of VC and private equity firms in North America are still self-administered, which he sees as a major conversion opportunity.
- Ricke said AI will help automate tasks and improve service, but he does not expect it to replace people in fund administration.
Notable quotes
“I always go back and talk a little bit first about why I joined True at the outset and then how that dovetales into why I decided to start a Duro thereafter”
“the initial thesis if you will was to effectively fractionalize myself to provide them with that experience and that knowledge that I had gained at true”
“we're always going to be a service first business. We are always going to focus on service first”
“People are looking for both these days and I think that's what's hard”
“I don't see that happening especially in fund administration because there's so much nuance and so much uniqueness to every single relationship”
How the episode opens
Everybody gets a piece. We're going mainream. Everybody's going to eat.
We're going mainream. All my family see. See you on mainream.
We're going mainream. From Wall Street to Melrose Avenue. We're going mainream.
venture capitalists to athletes to creators to the person who's collecting trading cards main collision of culture and finance. Welcome back to the Algo's mainstream podcast. Today's episode features an enabler of the microVC movement who has now scaled his business into one of the industry's larger fund administrators.
Rahm Ricky is the founder of Aduro Adviserss, a leading fund administrator that has carved out a sterling reputation in the VC world. He's grown the business to over 120 billion of AUA and over 450 customers, including many leading VC funds like Lower Carbon, Cowboy Ventures, La Hoy Capital, Craft, Haststack, and many others. They've also managed to combine a high-quality service, innovative technology, and a partnership strategy that has enabled them to differentiate from other fund admins.
Prior to founding Aduro, Brahm was the founding CFO of True Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley VC fund. Brahm is incredibly knowledgeable about private markets and is also an active investor in the private market startup ecosystem, investing early in the likes of Carta, Allocate, Pass through, Arch, and others. Brah and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of fund administration.
We discussed why Brahm started with emerging managers and the unmet need he saw to serve them. Why he believed the emerging manager landscape would grow. How he's moved upstream beyond venture capital clients and how fund admin can integrate technology.
Thanks Braum for coming on the Alco mainstream podcast to share your wisdom on building a core infrastructure provider for private markets. Braum, welcome to the Alco Mainstream podcast. Thanks so much for having me.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- fund administration
- emerging manager growth
- private markets technology
- ai in fund operations
- venture capital service models
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Aduro Advisors
- True Ventures
- Lowercarbon
- Cowboy Ventures
- Ahoy Capital
- Craft
- Haystack
- Boost VC
- Carta
- Allocate
- Passthrough
- Arch
Watch the episode
Watch “Braughm Ricke, Aduro Advisors - building a fund administration business” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Alt Goes Mainstream, this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Sidgmore. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
