Kauffman Fellows

Kauffman Fellows is a learning community and education program for venture capital professionals. Its core offering is a two-year program built around self-reflection, peer learning and a structured curriculum, intended to accelerate participants' progress in venture capital careers. The program is organized into three tracks: becoming a better leader (self-awareness, pattern recognition, reputation building), becoming a better investor (sourcing, picking, supporting and exiting investments, fiduciary duties, ethics and stakeholder alignment), and building a better firm (investment thesis and strategy, portfolio construction, platform support for portfolio companies, partnership dynamics and firm structure).

Beyond the curriculum, the organization positions its alumni network as a central benefit. Fellows remain connected after graduating through global events, sector-specific groups, regional chapters, and WhatsApp and Slack groups. Classes are numbered sequentially (for example KF 8, KF 11, KF 21, KF 25, KF 26, with KF 31 the class being recruited), and the network includes investors at firms such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Ulu Ventures, Creandum, Everywhere Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, ACV Capital, Sozo Ventures and Cake Ventures. Kauffman Fellows also publishes research on the venture industry, including "Zero to Four," a study of how VC firms evolve from emerging to established to franchise status based on firms deploying from Fund IV and beyond, and a "Fund Returner" research strand.

Business model

Kauffman Fellows recruits venture capital professionals into a cohort-based Fellowship via an application process, delivers a two-year education program, and maintains an ongoing alumni network with events, chapters and online communities. It also produces research on venture firm performance and evolution.

Traction

The organization reports 1,060 Fellows globally across 680 VC firms and 62 countries, with 80% at partner level or above, 60% firm founders and one third female; it states Fellows funded 15% of all unicorns as of March 2024 and that Fellow-exited companies total $329 billion in value.