Family Offices, First-Generation Wealth, and the Fundraising Playbook Emerging Managers Need
Hosted by Gui Costin, Founder & CEO, Dakota and Tim Dolan, VP Investment Sales
Watch on YouTube | Listen on Spotify
Executive Summary:
Family offices have quietly become one of the most accessible channels for emerging managers, and Episode 45 explains why. Gui Costin and Tim Dolan trace the last 15 years of private equity, private credit, and alternatives growth back to a wave of newly minted family offices run by first-generation wealth, investment professionals who actively want deal flow and are far more open to new managers than legacy, multi-generational offices ever were. The two also walk through the same operating model Dakota uses internally: city scheduling against RIAs and family offices, a quarterly webinar as free ongoing marketing, and CRM discipline powered by Claude for post-meeting notes. The takeaway: family offices don't compete with each other for capital, which makes the channel unusually referral-friendly for managers who stay consistent.
Show Notes
Products Discussed in This Episode
Dakota Marketplace - View Product The global private markets intelligence platform underlying every channel discussed in this episode: family offices, RIAs, and every other allocator type Dakota tracks, all updated daily.
↓ Download the Platform Guide | Book a Demo
Dakota Family Offices - View Product 4,400+ verified family offices in Dakota Marketplace today, up from roughly 2,000 a year ago, with a target of 5,000 by year-end. The primary channel covered in this episode, including direct-investor filtering to isolate family offices that actually use outside managers.
↓ Download the Global Family Office Report
Dakota RIAs - View Product
17,000+ RIAs, 46,000+ verified contacts, CIO bios, investment preferences, and 13F holdings data. The primary target channel for emerging managers discussed throughout this episode.
↓ Download the RIA Capital Raising Guide
Dakota Claude App - View Product A conversational AI interface, powered by Anthropic's Claude, that sits on top of Dakota's full data architecture, LP and GP records, transaction history, and RIA/FA databases, so users can query the full dataset in plain language. Included with every Dakota Marketplace subscription.
Resources & Documents Mentioned
The Dakota Way & Be Kind by Gui Costin
The only book written on investment sales: 4 core principles for fundraisers. Available on Kindle and softcover on Amazon.
Request a signed copy
a16z New Media Manifesto
Argues that founders should own their narrative and distribution directly, the way a16z's own media team does, rather than relying on legacy outlets. Referenced during the Fundraising Best Ideas segment on using new media as a brand-building tool.
Read the Post →
Mastering Quarterly Webinars: Best Practices for Investment Firms
Dakota's step-by-step eBook on planning, hosting, and following up on quarterly webinars, covering webinar structure, technical setup, audience engagement, and post-webinar follow-up strategy.
↓ Download the Quarterly Webinar Guide
Cold Outreach and City Scheduling
A past EMG Show episode covering how to structure five-meeting days across key metro areas and write cold emails that convert.
Watch on Youtube | Listen on Spotify →
Episode #46 airs at 1pm on August 11, 2026
30 mins. Practical tactics. No pitch. Build for boutique investment firms raising capital without the budget of a large firm.
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