A working document for the team, written in the morning before the meeting.
M. KOVALEVA · DRAFT 0412 MAY 2026
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CONTENTS · 06 ITEMS
In six short sections.
01First principles & the operating thesisWhat we mean when we say "patient capital".04 / 30
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01
SECTION 01
The market.
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THE NUMBER
€4.8B
withdrawn from European VC funds, Q1 2026.
The fastest single-quarter outflow on record. Most of it flowed not to safer instruments but to private credit and direct lending — a structural rotation, not a panic.
SOURCE · ECB · Q1 2026FRAME 04 / 30
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KEY METRICS · YOY
Four numbers, in this order.
CYCLE TIME−47%Days from first contact to term sheet.
SLAIDIO · WIREFRAMEFRAME 05 / 30
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"
The fastest investor on the table is no longer the one who reads the room.
Petra Adelmann
PARTNER · KARST CAPITAL · MARCH 2026
VOICES · 01FRAME 06 / 30
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Two operating models, ten years apart.
2016 · MODEL A
Speed as moat.
The fund that returned a term sheet by Friday usually won the round, regardless of price.
2026 · MODEL B
Patience as moat.
Diligence cycles have stretched from four weeks to fourteen. Founders are picking investors who can sit with ambiguity.
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THREE PRINCIPLES
What we look for, in order.
01Cash that compounds.Margin profile that pays for the next bet. We treat free cash flow as the only durable form of optionality.
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A SHORT LIST
Five questions, every Monday morning.
Force written answers, not verbal ones.
[ 01 ]What did we learn that changed our minds?Force a written answer, not a verbal one.
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02
SECTION 02
The method.
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A CONVERSATION
The longest LP meeting we ever had ran for nine hours.
Nobody left to take a call. Nobody opened a laptop. The conversation that followed reshaped the next vintage.
image · 4 : 5
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image · 4 : 5
A METHOD
A discipline of writing things down before saying them.
Our committee opens each meeting with twenty minutes of silent reading. A pre-circulated memo, no slides, no shorthand.
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A SHORT HISTORY · 2018 — 2026
Eight years of slow capital, mapped.
2018Fund I closes · €18MRaised mostly from family offices in Munich. First three commitments in October.
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CHART 01
Returns flatten, then bend in 2024.
SOURCE · LARKFIELD · Q1 2026
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CHART 02
Distributions overtake deployment, late 2024.
SOURCE · PITCHBOOK · LARKFIELD ANALYSIS
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PROCESS · FOUR GATES
Four gates, in series, no exceptions.
STEP 01SourceInbound or warm intro only. No outbound this cycle.
STEP 02ReadThree partners read the memo, in silence, on Monday.
STEP 03DebateTwo written cases — for and against — pre-circulated.
STEP 04CommitVote on Wednesday. Three of four required.
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TABLE 01 · FUND VINTAGES
Six vintages, twelve years, one number.
Fund
Vintage
Size
DPI
TVPI
Net IRR
Larkfield I
2014
€18M
2.4×
3.1×
22.4%
NET OF FEES & CARRY · AUDITED BY KPMGFRAME 17 / 30
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03
SECTION 03
The cases.
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image · full-bleed
CASE 01 · LARK & FELLER
A logistics company that refused to grow.
PHOTOGRAPH · NAOKO MORI · 2025
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FROM THE PORTFOLIO
What our founders told us, unprompted.
"
They were the only fund that called us when we missed our number. Not to ask why. To ask what they could carry.
Hannah ReuterCEO · NORTHWIND LOGISTICS
VOICES · 02FRAME 20 / 30
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portrait · 1 : 1
"
Patience is not a virtue you summon. It is a system you build, then defend against yourself every Monday morning.
Roland LansingFOUNDING PARTNER · 22 YEARS ON THE DESK
VOICES · 03FRAME 21 / 30
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MAP 01 · PORTFOLIO
Four offices, twenty-three companies.
Concentration is a feature — we only invest where a partner can drive to the office in under three hours.
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THE DESK
Six people. No committees.
3 : 4
Marit KovalevaMGT PARTNER
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THE PORTFOLIO · 23 COMPANIES
Companies we read into long after we've left the meeting.
Northwind
PORTFOLIOFRAME 24 / 30
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HOW WE WORK
Three engagements, one philosophy.
SEED€500KFirst cheque · 6 — 12 mo runwayFor the founder still writing the memo to themselves. We co-write it with you.
ENGAGEMENTFRAME 25 / 30
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04
SECTION 04
In closing.
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A FEW LAST QUESTIONS
What you keep asking, and what we keep answering.
Q · 01Why has cycle time gone up so much?Because reading takes the time it takes. We have stopped pretending it doesn't.
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FOUR TAKEAWAYS
Four sentences, if you remember nothing else.
[ 01 ]Patience compounds where conviction holds.
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A FINAL WORDWIREFRAMEFRAME 29 / 30
Read it twice.Then write back.
The slowest way to invest, when done well, is also the fastest way to learn.