How can a sector specialist venture fund prepare a reference process for LPs?

Prepare references who can speak to specific relevant work, with their permission and without scripting an endorsement. Different people observe sourcing, judgment, collaboration, support, and reporting. Clarify what each reference actually knows.

Start with the decision

Create a reference map by question and relationship. Confirm permission, timing, and the information that may be discussed. Leave room for mixed feedback and avoid treating the process as a collection of universally positive testimonials.

The illustrative scenario

This is an educational workbook. The company or fund and all numerical inputs below are fictional. They are not ADIN results, customer claims, market benchmarks, or a forecast.

The fictional manager invests in industrial software and claims deep buyer relationships. Its portfolio spans several workflows, but many companies sell into the same capital spending cycle. Domain expertise is central to the investment thesis.

A concentrated network may improve insight while also concentrating exposure. Test both the information advantage and the conditions under which the whole segment could slow.

Turn the scenario into an evidence decision

Consider a review of a sector specialist venture fund in which a confident explanation arrives before the supporting records. Start with the first question in the table. Write down what an answer would change: the next interview, the experiment's scope, a request for specialist review, or a decision to wait. A question without a consequence can produce a longer document while adding little understanding.

Next, inspect the record named in the table and record its date, owner, permission boundary, and limitations. Request evidence of relevant access, permissioned buyer references, a complete exposure map, and examples of investments rejected on domain grounds. Separate advisory familiarity from investment responsibility. If the record contradicts the explanation, preserve both accounts and ask which definition, period, or workflow differs. Do not silently select the version that makes the opportunity look strongest.

Finish with a conditional statement: if the specified evidence supports the claim under these conditions, take the named next step; otherwise investigate the unresolved question. A candid reference process can help LPs understand both strengths and limitations. It should not suggest that a prior employer, founder, or investor guarantees the new fund's performance or endorses every claim. This worked exercise is about the decision process. It does not assert that a fictional company has met a real diligence standard or that a template can authorize an investment.

Use this worksheet

Answer the questions with a source, date, owner, and next action. Mark an unknown as unknown. Use public or permissioned information and involve a qualified specialist when a question requires expertise beyond the team’s competence.

1. What did the person observe?
2. Which question can they answer?
3. Is permission confirmed?
4. What relationship may bias the view?
5. Which capability lacks a reference?

Questions specific to this scenario

• Which buyers can verify the edge?
• What cycle affects multiple holdings?
• When has domain knowledge caused a pass?

Request evidence of relevant access, permissioned buyer references, a complete exposure map, and examples of investments rejected on domain grounds. Separate advisory familiarity from investment responsibility.

A concrete next test

Ask a relevant buyer reference about one workflow the manager claims to understand deeply. Compare the answer with a documented pass or changed investment view. Test whether the domain edge supplies better evidence while also exposing common sector-cycle dependencies.

Interpret the result

A candid reference process can help LPs understand both strengths and limitations. It should not suggest that a prior employer, founder, or investor guarantees the new fund's performance or endorses every claim.

Compare the thesis with the fund's actual sourcing and support work. Identify which assumptions are shared across holdings rather than counting sector labels as diversification.

Sources and method

These primary resources provide background for the concepts. The fictional scenario, calculations, and worksheet are ADIN educational examples; the sources do not report or validate those invented results. Reviewed October 11, 2026.

• ILPA: Due Diligence Questionnaire user guide
• Investor.gov: Private Equity Funds