Platform experience builds networks, operational skills and market insight that translate well into consulting, fund management or startups. Before leaping, secure financial runway, validate demand with potential clients and define a clear offering that draws on your reputation. Ideally, have your first paying client signed before you hand in notice.
I'm biased here. I was a startup chief of staff before I left to start Cura, so I've made a version of this jump myself. (I also had a lot of hubris when I started. Talking to customers fixed most of it.) I talk with a lot of platform people who are thinking about it, and their questions are rarely about ability. They want to know if now is the time, and what exactly they'd sell.
There's a reason it comes up so often. Platform people spend years watching founders build companies up close. They know dozens of funds. And plenty of emerging managers can't justify a full-time head of platform but still want the work done. That gap is a real market. It's also easy to overestimate from inside a fund, where people return your emails because of the logo in your signature.
What platform experience actually gives you
Be specific about your assets. They're real, but they're narrower than they feel.
What carries over:
- A network of founders, operators, investors and service providers who already trust you
- Playbooks for things funds need and few people know how to build: office hours programs, talent networks, portfolio data collection, founder events
- Market insight from seeing many companies hit the same problems at the same stage
- A reputation, if people outside your firm know your work
What usually doesn't:
- Selling. At a fund, people came to you. On your own, you go to them. I often say that if you can build a product and you can sell it, you're a unicorn founder. Most people can do one of the two.
- Pricing. Most platform people have never put a dollar figure on their own work.
- Brand cover. Some of the doors that open for you today open for the fund, not for you.
- Structure. No partner meeting, no deadlines, no team. Some people love this. Some find it harder than they expected.
Make this list for yourself, and be honest. The gaps are fixable, but only if you name them before you leave.
Three paths and how they compare
There are three common paths out of a platform role. They suit different people and different bank balances.
| Path | What it uses from platform work | Time to first revenue | Main risk | Good first step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consulting or fractional platform work | Playbooks, network, reputation | Fast if clients are lined up | Income tied to your hours | Sign one anchor client |
| Your own fund | Network, deal access, LP relationships | Slow, often a year or more | Fundraising takes longer than planned | Build a track record through scout or angel checks |
| A startup | Market insight, founder network | Uncertain | Product risk, and the pay cut | Validate the problem with 20 conversations |
Thinking about the fund route? Read what it takes to raise Fund I first. It's a very different job from platform, and for the first couple of years it's mostly a fundraising job.
If you sell to funds, think hard before raising venture
Many platform people who start a company end up selling to funds, because that's the market they know best. Good instinct. Just do the math on the market before you raise money for it.
There are only so many venture firms, and most of them are small teams with small budgets. That's a fine market for a profitable company. It's a hard one to stretch into a venture-scale outcome. I bootstrapped Cura on purpose for exactly this reason. Venture money sets a growth target, and to hit it, companies that sell to funds often move upmarket and drop the small funds that needed them first. I don't love that pattern.
A few things I've learned from selling to funds:
- Go deep on one workflow. I'd rather go deep than wide. Fund teams are wary of vendors who promise everything, and most already have more tools than they use.
- Price simply. A flat annual price beats usage credits and surprise true-ups. Fund budgets get set once a year.
- Play the long game. Platform people talk to each other constantly, so every customer becomes a reference or a warning.
- Look past your own city. Venture is everywhere, and platform teams in every region describe the same problems.
Validate demand before you resign
The biggest mistake I see is treating interest as demand. People will tell you "you should totally go out on your own" at every dinner. That costs them nothing.
So run a simple validation process while you still have a salary:
- List 30 potential buyers by name. Emerging managers, funds without a platform team, founders who'd pay for help. If you can't get to 30 names, that tells you something.
- Have 15 real conversations. Ask about their problems, not your idea. "What do you do today for portfolio support, and what's not working?"
- Write down what they'd pay for. Look for the same pain coming up three or more times.
- Ask for a small commitment. A paid scoping project, a letter of intent, or a start date. A yes means a signed agreement, not a nice comment.
- Check your employment terms. Look at non-solicit, confidentiality and side-work clauses before any of this goes beyond a conversation. Get advice if they're unclear.
You'll have to get comfortable asking people for their time and their money. I'm shameless about it now. You kind of have to be.
A simple readiness check: you're in good shape if you can say yes to at least four of these.
- I have 12 or more months of personal runway in the bank.
- I have at least one buyer who has said yes in writing.
- I can describe my offering in one sentence.
- At least five people outside my firm would refer work to me.
- My household is on board with the income risk.
Define an offering that draws on your reputation
Vague offerings don't sell. "Platform consulting for VCs" makes the buyer do the work of figuring out what you'd actually do. Use a one-sentence formula instead:
I help [type of buyer] get [specific outcome] in [time frame] by [your method].
A few examples:
- "I help Fund I and Fund II managers launch a portfolio support program in 90 days, using the playbook I ran for a 40-company portfolio."
- "I help seed funds build a talent network their founders actually use, in one quarter."
- "I help emerging managers set up portfolio reporting so their first LP update takes a day, not two weeks."
Then package it so buyers can say yes easily. Three tiers work well, and most clients move diagnostic → build → retainer:
- Diagnostic. A short, fixed-price review with a written plan. Low risk for the buyer, and it often leads to the next tier.
- Build. A defined project, such as launching office hours or a talent program, over 8 to 12 weeks.
- Retainer. Ongoing fractional work, a set number of days per month.
Your reputation does the selling here, so make sure people can see it. If you haven't been sharing your work in public, start six months before you leave. Building a personal brand in VC covers how.
Leave well
How you leave matters, because your old fund is often your best reference and sometimes your first client.
Give real notice. Write a handover doc for every program you run: the owner, the contacts, the calendar, the open founder requests. Introduce your successor to the founders and experts personally. Write down the context that lives only in your head or your WhatsApp threads, such as who owes whom a favor, so it doesn't leave with you. And tell your network directly before they see it on LinkedIn. If you've kept those relationships warm, this is when it pays off. More on that in how VC professionals maintain their networks.
How do former VC platform leaders start consultancies?
A practical path is a narrow offering for buyers you already know, such as building a platform function for emerging managers or running a talent program for a fund. Sign one or two anchor clients before you leave, price by project or retainer, and grow through referrals from those first funds.
A few details that help in the first year:
- Set up the basics early. A business entity, a separate bank account, a standard contract and a simple invoicing tool. An accountant is worth it from day one (trust me on this one).
- Price on value, not hours. Funds compare your fee to the cost of a full-time hire, not to an hourly rate.
- Ask every client for one referral at the end of each project. Referrals from funds you've helped beat any marketing you could buy.
How much runway do you need to go independent?
I'd plan for 12 to 18 months of personal expenses before you count on steady income, plus money for taxes and health insurance. Consulting revenue often arrives later than you expect, because sales cycles and payment terms stretch. Signed retainers before you leave shorten the runway you need.
Here's a worked example. Say your personal costs are 8,000 dollars a month. Twelve months is 96,000 dollars. Add a buffer for taxes and the benefits you used to get through work, and the target lands well above that. But if you start with a signed retainer that covers half your costs, your burn drops by half and the same savings last about twice as long.
Run the numbers with your own costs, and be conservative. Going independent is a lot more fun when the money isn't keeping you up at night.