Episode summary
Why Great Investors Fail to Raise Capital | Jason Howard Explains "Fundability"
Dakota Live!
· · Hosts: Robert Morier · Guests: Jason Howard
Summary
Jason Howard argues that great investing skill and fundability are different things. New Catalyst Strategic Partners was built to back next-generation private markets managers with GP seeding, GP acceleration, and strategic capital, but Howard says the real job is helping managers become enduring institutional firms, not just good investors. He sees a persistent gap between what LPs traditionally do and the operational, fundraising, and relationship support many emerging managers need to get from idea to scale.
Howard’s framework for New Catalyst comes from lessons at Goldman Sachs, Disney, GCM Grosvenor, and Apollo. Disney taught him the power of brand, definitions, and the producer’s role in assembling talent; GCM Grosvenor showed him how LPs and GPs often need a bridge in the middle of the process; Apollo reinforced the value of independence paired with strategic support. He describes New Catalyst as a “sherpa” and coach that can help managers with fundraising, team building, portfolio construction, conflicts, and other firm-building issues.
Fundability, in his view, includes more than track record. It also means emotional intelligence, grit, the ability to tell a clear story in a room, and the discipline to build a platform that can survive beyond the founder. Howard expects GP seeding to become more common, fundraising to stay difficult, and AI to change how firms operate and how margins are valued.
Key takeaways
- Howard says investment skill and fundability are different, and many great investors still need help becoming great business builders.
- New Catalyst targets the “middle” of GP building—fundraising, staffing, portfolio construction, conflicts, and terms—not investment selection itself.
- Howard estimates it can take $5 million to $10 million of capital and 12 to 36 months to launch and scale an institutionally sized private markets firm.
- He believes LPs increasingly want strategic partners that can help managers start with scale, not just provide a standard commitment.
- Howard says fundability also depends on emotional intelligence, grit, and the ability to tell a compelling story in the room.
Notable quotes
“we thought that there was a lot that was missing in the middle where GPS wanted a real strategic partner”
“Capital is the oxygen that these managers need”
“We thought that providing working capital for managers could be really helpful, could provide oxygen for them to start to operate at levels”
“I think great investors either become great business builders or they can bring the right people around them to help them build businesses”
“the other thing that and I'm going to use a Hollywood term here that's really important for being fundable”
How the episode opens
Welcome to the Dakota Live podcast. I'm your host, Robert Morang. The goal of this podcast is to help you better know the people behind investment decisions.
We introduce you to chief investment officers, manager research professionals, investment consultants, and other industry leaders to help you sell in between the lines and better understand the investment sales ecosystem. If you're not familiar with Dakota and our Dakota Live content, please visit our website at dakota.com. Before we get started, I need to read a brief disclosure.
This content is provided forformational purposes and should not be relied upon as recommendations or advice about investing in securities. All investments involve risk and may lose money. Dakota does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information provided by the speaker who is not affiliated with Dakota.
Not a solicitation, testimonial, or an endorsement by Dakota or its affiliates. Nothing herein is intended to indicate approval, support, or recommendation of the investment adviser or its supervised persons by Dakota. Today's episode is brought to you by Dakota Marketplace.
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Welcome back to the Dakota Live podcast. I'm very excited about today's special episode. Every now and again when we interview a firm, we get to meet more than one representative of the organization.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- fundability
- gp seeding
- lp underwriting
- private market fundraising
- building durable investment firms
Companies and tickers mentioned
- GS
- DIS
- APO
- New Catalyst Strategic Partners
- GCM Grosvenor
- Goldman Sachs
- The Walt Disney Company
- Apollo Global Management
Watch the episode
Watch “Why Great Investors Fail to Raise Capital | Jason Howard Explains "Fundability"” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Dakota Live!, this episode and its artwork belong to Robert Morier. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
