Venture capital tools, in the sense a small fund means them, are the handful of worksheets and services that get a fund from its first close to its first administrator without a platform: something that computes a capital call for every investor, something that works the quarter's TVPI from four figures, a calendar for what the accountant needs and when, and a place to put the documents an investor asks for. This page lists the tools a small fund actually uses, says what each computes or holds, and is honest about which of them are free on this site and which are somebody else's product.
The capital call worksheet: one percentage, every investor
A capital call is decided once as a percentage of commitment and then computed per investor, and the worksheet that does it takes three numbers: the commitment, what has been called to date, and this call's percentage. On this site's worked example those are five million dollars, one million seven hundred and fifty thousand, and ten percent, and the worksheet returns a notice for five hundred thousand dollars, forty-five percent called after it, and two million seven hundred and fifty thousand uncalled. It is free on this site with no account, and Pro keeps the notice on the investor's record.
The investor update worksheet: TVPI from four figures
The quarterly letter's figures come from four inputs: total commitments, paid-in capital, distributions to date and the residual value of what the fund holds. From those the worksheet gives paid-in as a share of commitments, uncalled commitment, total value, and DPI, RVPI and TVPI as cents per dollar paid in. On the worked example a fund with ten million committed, six and a half million paid in, two point six million distributed and nine point four million of residual value reports a TVPI of one point eight five times, split into a DPI of zero point four zero and an RVPI of one point four five. Also free, also no account.
The tools that are somebody else's: the data room, the accountant, the e-signature
A venture fund also needs a data room for the documents a prospective investor's diligence asks for, an accountant for the return and the statement each partner is furnished, and a way to get subscription agreements signed. None of those is on this site, and this page does not pretend they are: the data room is its own category with its own vendors, the accountant is a person, and the signature is a service. Venture capital tools are a set, and a small fund assembles the set from more than one place.
Questions people ask about venture capital tools
Why are the two worksheets free?
Because the answer is what ranks, and an answer behind a login is not an answer. Pro is the record the worksheets' figures are kept in, not the arithmetic itself.
Do the worksheets replace an administrator?
No. They compute the investor-side figures a small fund produces itself before it has an administrator, and that an administrator's statements are later reconciled to.
Is a deal CRM one of the tools a small fund needs?
Not at the first fund, where two partners' spreadsheet holds the pipeline honestly. It becomes a tool at the second fund, and this site's CRM pages say which ones.