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Invest Like the Best · July 14, 2026 · 50m
John Kim - How to Raise a Few Billion Dollars
John Kim, one of the world's most prolific fundraisers, walks through the mechanics of raising billions of dollars. Kim served as chief client officer at General Catalyst and is now chairman and president of corporate development at Lila Sciences. The conversation covers the psychology of persuasion, the difference between belief and trust, and the specific laws and frameworks that move large pools of capital.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Highlights
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There is a critical distinction between belief (intellectual agreement with a thesis) and trust (willingness to commit capital). Many fundraisers confuse getting someone to believe in the idea with getting them to deploy capital.
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Consensus-Building Across Dispersed Capital
Raising billions requires building consensus among many independent decision-makers—LPs, boards, limited partners—who must all move toward the same conclusion at roughly the same time. This consensus-building is the actual core skill of fundraising at scale.Editorial
References
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The Tao of Fundraising — John Kim — Kim's own book on fundraising frameworks and principles
Misc
✧Kim has raised several hundred million dollars at Lila Sciences alone
✧Chief insight: persuasion = desire minus fear; reducing fear is often more powerful than increasing desire
✧Fundraising is fundamentally about consensus-building across dispersed decision-makers
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