Track
Fund Ops & Platform
CFO · controller · fund accountant · IR · compliance · platform · talent
Ops isn't a rung on the investing ladder, and it isn't one job. Fund operations is a finance and compliance discipline; platform is a talent and go-to-market one. Both sit outside the analyst-to-partner path, both are real ways into a firm, and very little is written for either. This track pulls the modules each needs from across the learning path, in reading order, and says how deeply to read each one.
The machine you're running
Context everyone in ops needs, whichever side they work on.
1.2 · The VC World
How a VC Fund Works
Read closely. Nearly every fund ops task implements something in this module: the LPA, fees, carry, fund life.
1.3 · The VC World
The Power Law & Portfolio Math
Why a handful of companies drive the whole fund, and why marks and reserves concentrate there.
3.1 · Deal Mechanics
Cap Tables & Dilution
Fund ops keeps the ownership data, so know how it moves round to round. Read the preference stack section closely too: it decides how a position gets valued.
5.2 · After the Check
Follow-ons, Reserves & Pro-rata Basics
Reserves are a cash-planning problem before they're an investment decision.
Fund operations
The core of the CFO, controller, IR and compliance seats.
7.1 · Running the Fund
Capital Calls, Distributions & the Waterfall
The plumbing. Interviews for fund accounting and CFO roles routinely ask you to walk through a waterfall.
7.2 · Running the Fund
Marking the Portfolio
You'll own the valuation calendar and the evidence file, even where partners own the judgments.
7.3 · Running the Fund
LP Reporting & Fund Performance
The quarterly package is the product fund ops ships. Know every line of it.
7.4 · Running the Fund
The Rules a Fund Operates Under
Read the Canadian section especially carefully. US-centric material won't cover it.
Platform
The core of the platform, talent and community seats.
5.1 · After the Check
Portfolio Support 101
What support looks like when individual investors do it, before it becomes a function.
5.3 · After the Check
Platform Teams
The function itself: what to build, how to show it matters, and what the job is really like.
1.4 · The VC World
What Analysts & Associates Actually Do
Skim. You'll work alongside the investment team every day; know what their week looks like.
From the library
Further reading tagged for these seats that the modules above don't already cite.
Fund operations
Education Center ↗
Plain-language explainers on fund mechanics, from SPVs to regulatory filings.
Insights ↗
A fund administrator's practical notes, including on adopting the new ILPA templates.
Resources ↗
Fund administration and investor-relations explainers from a fund software provider.
Standard Metrics ↗
Portfolio-monitoring software. Its guides cover collecting KPIs from dozens of companies.