Episode summary
The Fund Everyone Will Wish They Backed
Swimming With Allocators
· · 54 min · Hosts: Alexa Binns, Earnest Sweat · Guests: Trish Spurlin
Summary
Babson College’s endowment built its venture program slowly and deliberately, starting from a small asset base and using a concentrated approach to back a few managers consistently over time. Trish Spurlin says the school’s advantage came from a finance-savvy alumni network, a long-tenured investment committee, and a willingness to make small, measured adjustments rather than chase whatever was hot in the market.
Spurlin explains that Babson’s private portfolio grew from about $200 million in 2009 to about $910 million today, with a 25% private equity target and roughly 70% of that allocation in venture. She says the team’s edge is not picking companies but underwriting managers, then aligning them with Babson’s existing portfolio and long-term objectives. Her framework is team, track record, strategy, and “Babson fit,” with fit often eliminating otherwise strong candidates.
The episode also covers liquidity, concentration, and AI. Spurlin argues that recent headline exits like SpaceX do not yet change the real allocation picture, since money has not actually flowed back in and endowment targets still govern reallocation. She also sees AI as a lasting portfolio weight, while looking for “anti-AI” opportunities in consumer, physical products, and real-world experiences that may be underappreciated as capital crowds into software and tech.
Key takeaways
- Trish Spurlin says Babson’s venture results came from consistency over vintages, not from trying to time hot sectors or swing for massive exposures all at once.
- Babson’s private equity allocation is about 25% of the endowment, with roughly 70% of that in venture and about 30% in lower middle market buyout.
- Spurlin says the most important underwriting filter is “Babson fit,” after team, track record, and strategy.
- She argues that headline liquidity events like SpaceX do not automatically create more room for new venture investments because endowment targets and concentration limits still apply.
- Babson is exploring “anti-AI” areas such as consumer, physical products, retail, and in-person experiences as a possible hedge against its tech-heavy exposure.
Notable quotes
“we went into it with a clear picture of like these are the people around the table who have really good access”
“one of the the co-chair of my IC likes to describe this as like steering the Titanic”
“the dispersion of returns is very real, right? So if you are going to go into this and be like, "We can get into some pretty good stuff." Like you're going to be disappointed”
“What took a lot of reps, and I like will scream this from the rooftops forever, was the discretion and like the discernment that comes with deciding what managers to back is something that there is no shortcut for”
“the moolah is not in the cooler yet. Like we're we're waiting for the moolah to come into the cooler before we can keep doing more stuff”
How the episode opens
The co-chair of my IC likes to describe this as like steering the Titanic. Like bad analogy in that Babson's obviously not the Titanic. But like you are making very small like a big ship, right? Like you're you're very
Other boat did not sink. — Any Any boat besides the Titanic. Um — Wait, what Wait, did I miss something? What happened at the end? — Welcome to Swimming with Alligators. — The VC podcast from the LP perspective. — With your hosts Alexa bins
And Ernest stuff. You ready? Let's dive in. Welcome to our next guest on Swimming with Alligators. This is Trish Sperling at the Babson College Endowment. Hi Trish. — Hi guys. Thanks so much for having me. — Trish is overseeing a really remarkable endowment. Um the narrative behind the story of how they uh developed their venture backed uh their venture heavy portfolio is really fascinating. So we're excited to hear your story Trish and the story of the endowment that you're now in charge of.
Thank you. I'm so excited to talk about it. — Thank you. Um most folks have I I don't want to say a um clear path to their uh role managing something like a large endowment. But your story is so special. Do you mind just giving us a little bit of your narrative of how you got to where you are?
Sure. Um definitely not the traditional path, I would say. Um so I really went to college, I would say originally, to play lacrosse. I had no idea what I was going to do. At one point I was going to be an athletic trainer, but I'm like really afraid of blood and really squeamish. So that wasn't a great fit.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- venture capital lp diligence
- venture liquidity
- endowment venture portfolio construction
- ai exposure strategy
- manager selection and fund fit
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Babson College
- Sidley Austin LLP
- SpaceX
Watch the episode
Watch “The Fund Everyone Will Wish They Backed” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Swimming With Allocators
Swimming With Allocators, this episode and its artwork belong to Earnest Sweat, Alexa Binns. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
