Brandon Sedloff sits down with Mike Boggs of Revelation Partners and Justin Burden of Industry Ventures at the Venture Secondaries Summit to explore how venture secondaries have evolved from a tool for distressed sellers into an institutional liquidity engine for private markets. The conversation examines the specialist approach required to succeed in this opaque, relationship-driven market where transactions happen by appointment rather than on open exchanges.
They discuss:
- Why venture secondaries function as a third liquidity option beyond IPOs and M&A, particularly in healthcare where billion-dollar outcomes are considered large
- How secondary buyers navigate competition from insider investors by serving as arm's-length pricing partners for founder share sales
- The structural liquidity problem created by over $800 billion in unrealized healthcare value and trillions locked in tech, with secondary funds positioned to address this overhang
- Why specialization in specific sectors or deal types is becoming essential as commoditization pressures generalist secondary funds
- How the flight to quality means focusing capital on late-stage, proven companies rather than indexing across venture portfolios
This episode offers private markets investors and operators a practical view of how venture secondaries create value in an environment where companies stay private longer and traditional exit paths remain constrained.
Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:00:29) - Guest introductions and firm backgrounds
(00:04:47) - Evolution of venture secondaries as liquidity
(00:07:20) - What happens if IPOs and M&A return
(00:11:28) - Specialists versus generalists in secondaries
(00:13:04) - Secondaries as asset class or strategy
(00:17:07) - Overcoming discount buyer perceptions
(00:19:47) - Building conviction and underwriting
(00:22:58) - Navigating competition from top VCs
(00:25:32) - Educating the market on secondary options
(00:29:52) - Liquidity challenges for the messy middle
(00:33:17) - Transfer rights and insider preferences
(00:38:22) - LP secondaries market maturation concerns
(00:40:15) - Outlooks on the next 5 to 10 years
(00:44:04) - What could stop the growth trajectory
(00:47:42) - Competition and differentiation challenges
(00:50:49) - Closing
Links:
Mike Boggs on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-boggs-7921343/
Justin Burden on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-burden-46120a/
Brandon Sedloff on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/
Revelation Partners - https://revelation-partners.com/
Industry Ventures - https://www.industryventures.com/
Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/
