Sourcing Culture¶
Overview¶
How firms build and sustain a culture where sourcing is a shared priority — not just the BD team's job. Covers hiring, incentives, leadership behavior, and what makes sourcing feel like a team sport rather than a grind.
Key Perspectives¶
- Jake Colognesi argues that culture is built by doing, not by writing values on a wall. Senior partners must lead from the front: join cold calls, get on planes at a moment's notice, show up to meetings prepared and with intensity. He hires competitive people — often former athletes — who are genuinely curious about entrepreneur stories. (Ep. 20)
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Jake emphasizes publicly celebrating non-obvious contributions: when a team member who isn't on a deal makes a great customer introduction, call it out internally and even relay it to LPs. This reinforces that sourcing is everyone's job. (Ep. 20)
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Glenn Oken builds culture through IC inclusion, equity compensation, and modeling resilience. All 14 Mangrove team members attend IC. When deals fall apart, Glenn models the response: "That was a good at bat." He hires people who are analytically competent and "preternaturally human" — technical capability plus genuine curiosity and relationship skills. BD partners receive equity, not just bonuses. (Ep. 21)
- Ryan Murphy describes Norwest's culture through the lens of his manager Mary Miller — "very much like people first," optimistic, remembering personal details about everyone she works with. Ryan internalizes this as: "it ultimately is a relationships business. If people like you more, they're gonna be more excited to get on the phone with you." The culture values sponge mindset from juniors and rewards consistency of personality over peaks. (Ep. 22)
Frameworks¶
- Mamba Mentality — Embracing the unsexy, high-volume, gritty work as the path to proprietary deal flow
- Precision and Discipline — Systems thinking applied to culture: the discipline of consistent follow-through
- Lifestyle of Success — Habit-level infrastructure that supports sustained sourcing output
- Consistency of Personality — The behavioral output that reliable sourcing cultures reward
Episode Coverage¶
| Episode | Guest | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| Ep. 20 | Jake Colognesi | Building sourcing culture at a new fund: hiring, leading from the front, celebrating wins |
| Ep. 21 | Glenn Oken | IC inclusion, equity comp, modeling resilience, hiring for analytical + human capability |
| Ep. 22 | Ryan Murphy | Junior view of relationships-first culture under Mary Miller at Norwest |