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In this episode of VC Mastermind, Jacob Mullins sits down with Dan Rosen, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Commerce Ventures, to unpack the journey of building a top-tier sector-focused venture firm. With over 20 years of experience in VC, Dan shares lessons learned from spinning out of Highland Capital Partners to launching Commerce Ventures—now investing out of its fifth fund and 12 years old.

Dan discusses how he identified the commerce sector as a durable and flexible focus area, the importance of developing actionable investment themes, and how his team navigates emerging technologies. He also dives deep into the hard truths around firm-building, liquidity strategies, institutional LP dynamics, and the long, often ambiguous path to success as a solo-turned-institutional VC.

This conversation is a must-listen for emerging managers, sector-focused investors, and anyone navigating the transition from solo GP to scalable institutional fund.

Key Takeaways:

• Theme-Led Firm Building: Dan saw the opportunity to built Commerce Ventures around the thematic intersection of mobility, payments, and fintech—an expansive and enduring thesis rooted in the core infrastructure of modern online behavior and transactions.
• Sector Focus ≠ Narrow Focus: A broad sector like “commerce” allows flexibility across retail, fintech, and adjacencies like healthcare and AI—creating resilience and breadth across cycles.
• Solo GP → Institutional Firm: He shares how he scaled from a $16M first fund to a $150M+ institutional fund, and the real challenges involved in that evolution.
• Liquidity Lessons: Dan reflects on hard-earned lessons around secondaries and IPOs, emphasizing the need to prepare well in advance for liquidity events.
• Team Building: Junior hires are incredibly important. It starts with must mastering the mechanics first; long-term partner potential comes after reps and trust. Commerce’s team-building playbook reflects intentionality and humility at all levels.

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