This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Charlotte Palmer, Vice President of Venture Capital at Integra Global Advisors.

Charlotte sits on the other side of the table as an LP, backing emerging venture funds globally. In this episode, she lifts the lid on how LPs actually evaluate VCs, what really matters beyond headline performance, and why many GPs still get fundraising wrong.

We cover:

• How LPs really underwrite venture funds and why early DPI is often misunderstood
• What matters more than performance in the early years of a fund
• Why access and ownership drive returns more than anything else
• The reality of backing emerging managers and why smaller funds win
• Team dynamics, attribution, and how LPs assess partners under the hood
• Why fewer funds are getting backed and what’s changed in the market
• The shift in venture towards early-stage and how late-stage AI impacts LP strategy
• Portfolio construction from an LP perspective and how diversification actually works
• The role of co-investments and why LPs increasingly lean into them
• How GPs can create urgency in fundraising and what actually cuts through

Charlotte also shares practical advice for GPs, including how to re-engage LPs, how to position a fund without strong DPI, and why most outreach fails to land.

A clear, honest view from the LP side on what it takes to get backed and build a fund that lasts.