August 22, 2025

E203: How Elite Endowments Invest w/John Felix

48 minutes

This episode features John Felix, General Partner & Head of Research at Pattern Ventures, a specialist fund-of-funds focused on backing small venture managers in the $5–50M range. We talk about the endowment principles that shaped John’s investing mindset, how to separate true specialists from résumé-driven narratives, why access and selection are two very different games, and the traps LPs face in co-investments. John also shares lessons on reserves strategy, portfolio construction, and what allocators consistently overlook when evaluating emerging managers.

Highlights:

Why endowments that concentrate in their best ideas tend to outperform—and how that mindset translates to manager selection.

The real difference between a “specialist” and someone with just a strong pedigree.

Access vs. selection: most lose the game on access first, here’s how to filter for the best.

Crawl → walk → run: a stepwise framework for first-time GPs.

Solo GPs versus partnerships—where each model works and where risks emerge.

How to think about reserves and portfolio construction in small venture funds.

Spotting adverse selection in co-invest opportunities.

Why operator empathy makes for better underwriting judgment.

Guest Bio:

John Felix is General Partner & Head of Research at Pattern Ventures, where he leads manager selection and research. Pattern Ventures is a fund-of-funds focused on partnering with exceptional small venture funds ($5–50M) and offering co-investment opportunities. Previously, John led Emerging Managers at Allocate and was an investor at Bowdoin College’s Office of Investments under CIO Paula Volent, after earlier roles at an OCIO and Washington University’s Investment Management Company. He holds a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email David Weisburd at [email protected].

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Stay Connected:

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David Weisburd: @dweisburd

LinkedIn:

David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/

John Felix: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfelix12/

Links

Pattern Ventures: https://www.patternventures.com/

Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at [email protected].

(0:00) Early career and market efficiency insights

(2:02) Scott Wilson as a CIO and manager evaluation process

(7:45) Balancing portfolio management with best ideas strategy

(17:14) Deep research and the transition to Bowdoin College

(23:37) Bowdoin's investment philosophy and Allocate experience

(29:03) Founding Pattern Ventures and avoiding LP error

(34:32) Early venture investing challenges and strategies

(39:00) Venture capital industry bifurcation and fund characteristics

(44:05) Mistakes and reserve strategies in venture investing

(47:21) Final thoughts and importance of LP-GP partnerships

(48:27) Closing remarks

...more

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By David Weisburd

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