How I Invest with David Weisburd
E159:How a 24-Year-Old VC Landed Cendana Capital as a Limited Partner w/Paige Doherty
Tue, 29 Apr 2025
Paige Finn Doherty, Founding Partner of Behind Genius Ventures, joins the How I Invest podcast to share how she built one of the most distinctive brands in early-stage venture capital — all before turning 25. Paige talks about the power of content and community, how her engineering background shaped her investing style, and why being deliberate about media strategy can transform access to top founders and LPs. She also breaks down her investment thesis around AI in overlooked industries, the importance of institutional-grade operations from day one, and what it really takes to build a lasting venture firm.
Chapter 1: Who is Paige Doherty and what is Behind Genius Ventures?
Chapter 2: How did Paige Doherty secure Sundana Capital as a limited partner at age 24?
You have one of the top LPs on the planet, Sendana Capital, on your cap table as a 25-year-old VC. How did you accomplish this?
three things that really differentiate behind Genius and myself as a GP. So the first is that we have a strong branding capability. I came into venture having a deep passion for educating the next generation of venture investors.
I read a children's book about venture capital, started one of the most shared venture podcasts, Seed to Harvest, and I've continued to execute on our brand, especially focusing on video for storytelling. The second is exceptional grit. For our first fund, which was a $5 million fund, probably touch base with 1,700 investors before closing on 120 LPs. And the third is disciplined execution.
So I'm an engineer by training, and the way I think about investing is very much from the first principles approach.
You're extremely passionate about venture capital specifically, not about investing, but VC specifically. What makes you so passionate about venture capital? Today, I'm excited to welcome Paige Doherty, founding partner of Behind Genius, a top pre-seed and seed venture firm.
Paige, a Gen Z investor and author, shares how she raised her very first fund at the ripe young age of 22 and her second fund at 25 with prolific LPs, including Sindana Capital and David Sachs. We'll explore her unique investment thesis, focus on backing technical storytellers and applying AI to overlooked industries. Paige, welcome to the How I Invest podcast.
Thank you so much for having me, David. It's a pleasure to be here.
Paige, you have one of the top LPs on the planet, Sendana Capital, on your cap table as a 25-year-old VC. How did you accomplish this?
Great question. Why does one of the top LPs in the world invest in a 24-year-old VC, which is how old I was when they invested? I think there's three things that really differentiate behind Genius and myself as a GP. So the first is that we have a strong branding capability. I came into venture having a deep passion for educating the next generation of venture investors.
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Chapter 3: What role does media and branding play in venture capital success?
These are the type of paradigms that we back. We want things that are hard. We want things that are out of favor. And when it comes to building great venture brands or great GPs in general, it's not about what part of the market likes you or not. It's which part of the market really likes you.
One of the things that you've done really well in terms of curating your life and your fund in a way that it only aligns with a certain amount of people that are willing to back you very heavily.
Thank you so much for saying that. I mean, I think a lot of elements of venture are quite binary. When I was doing research for the children's book I wrote about venture, one of the things I came to understand is raising a venture fund is binary. You either do or you don't. There is no in-between. And so what you have to do...
to raise a venture fund is be able to have a thesis that you have deep enough conviction in that you can align LPs around that thesis and how you're going to support founders. And then the second part is, and my North Star is like top decile DPI. How do we actually back companies that will 3x, 5x, this funds.
I would say I want to be one of the investment greats when we look back on the decades of venture to come. And then there's another third fun thing, which is building the firm and all the fun back office stuff that comes with that too.
So... Thank you for listening. To join our community and to make sure you do not miss any future episodes, please click the follow button above to subscribe. You're extremely passionate about venture capital specifically, not about investing, but VC specifically. What makes you so passionate about venture capital?
There are two really compelling elements of venture for me. So one is the ability to take a long-term vision. I think that is unique in... venture as an asset class. Because if you look at public markets, you can take a long-term vision. I think Berkshire Hathaway has done an incredible job at this. There's other firms that think that way.
But on the whole, there can be such volatility in the day-to-day of the market that it makes it challenging to zoom out and really take a long-term view of on what could be the most compelling technologies of the next 30 years and how they impact it. And then if you go down the stack to growth or private equity, those companies are already doing maybe hundreds of millions.
They're more out of class as obvious assets. I think the joy in venture for me is spotting a founder who's building something unique early on and then seeing their vision come to life. That is one of the most rewarding things to me.
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