Credit, Secondaries, and 30 Years of Relationship-Driven Alpha - Aaron Gershenberg - CEO @ Pinegrove
For wealth professionals who allocate to or review private markets, the episode gives a manager's account of venture fund economics, LP relations and platform building across cycles, including how a firm rebuilt after SVB's collapse.
Summary
By the private equity & secondaries deskAaron Gershenberg, CEO of Pinegrove Venture Partners, talks with Brandon Sedloff about his path from economic development and real estate consulting to building SVB Capital and later relaunching as Pinegrove after SVB's collapse. The conversation covers fund structures such as distribution-only fee models and FOIA blockers, Pinegrove's strategies across seed through credit and secondaries, and his view of the 2024–2026 vintage and AI. It also addresses LP sentiment and structural changes in fund economics over the past 25 years.
- Gershenberg describes building SVB Capital into a $10 billion platform and relaunching as Pinegrove after the bank's collapse, backed by Sequoia Heritage and Brookfield.
- He used Monte Carlo analysis to project fund performance and justify additional capital during the dot-com crash.
- He structured distribution-only fee models for anchor LPs instead of traditional management fees and carry, and describes becoming a FOIA blocker to attract pension fund capital.
- Pinegrove positions across seed, Series A, Series B, credit and secondaries, and Gershenberg says the 2024–2026 vintage may deliver the fastest value creation he has seen.
Chapters
From the publisher’s description| Time | Chapter | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Intro | 2 min | |
| Growing up between Uganda, Kenya and New Jersey | 8 min | |
| Africa's influence and giving back | 5 min | |
| Question authority and the unstructured path | 3 min | |
| Real estate consulting and the sales pivot | 3 min | |
| Breaking into venture in the mid-'90s | 11 min | |
| Joining Silicon Valley Bank | 2 min | |
| Building community through cycling and kiteboarding | 4 min | |
| Launching SVB Capital | 3 min | |
| Innovative fund structures and FOIA blockers | 4 min | |
| Scaling through three eras: 2000–2023 | 5 min | |
| SVB's collapse and rebuilding as Pine Grove | 1 min | |
| Partnering with Sequoia Heritage and Brookfield | 6 min | |
| Pine Grove's platform and strategies today | 6 min | |
| AI conviction and the 2024–2026 vintage | 7 min | |
| What keeps you up at night | 4 min |
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