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Description
Most people who want to run their own fund never test the decision properly before committing two years and their savings to it. This package is the stress test. We work through whether your strategy, track record and network actually support a launch — and if they don't yet, what would have to change. I've made this decision myself: I left an institutional seat to build a hedge-fund allocation practice, then co-founded an asset management firm and took it through SFC licensing. I've also sat on the other side, running due diligence on 100+ managers and deciding which ones deserved capital. Key components include, but are not limited to: - Honest assessment of strategy capacity, track record portability and what you can and cannot claim from a previous seat - Break-even economics: the AUM you need at your intended fee structure before this is a business rather than a hobby - Structure orientation: Hong Kong SFC Type 9 manager with a Cayman fund, versus OFC or LPF, versus launching on an incubator platform - A realistic cost and timeline map from decision to first trade - The allocator's verdict: an early read on whether your proposition would survive a real due-diligence process - What to do instead, if the honest answer is not yet
What you'll get from this package
Made the decision, or defined precisely what must be true before you can
A realistic number for the personal runway required, tested against your actual circumstances
An honest view of what your track record is worth outside your current firm
If the answer is not yet: a dated set of conditions rather than a vague deferral
Additional details
Coaching delivered via live sessions and .
Services included:
Compensation Strategy
Hiring
Business Strategy Development
Legal Research
Fundraising
Go-to-Market Strategy
Market Research
Talk to a team member
Schedule a call with a Leland team member who can help you explore your options.
Schedule a call
More packages from Paul
Custom hourly · $299/hr
Get help with Ideation, Compensation Strategy, and .
Paul also coaches for Hedge Fund, Equity Research, and Life Coaching. View all.
Offered by Paul W.
Joined August 2026
5.0
2x Finance Founder — I've Also Been the Investor You Pitch
I've founded twice in finance — one of the hardest industries in which to start anything. After a decade on the sell side and a PM seat, I stepped off the institutional track and spent the next 5+ years as Founder, CIO, and Head of Alternative Investments. First came a hedge-fund allocation practice serving family offices; then an asset management firm I co-founded and took through SFC licensing as its Responsible Officer, building compliance, operations, and a team from a blank page. What began as a Private Equity and Real Estate shop grew into a Multi-strategy Alternative Investments platform as I brought my own hedge-fund business onto it and onboarded a fixed-income team — zero to one, then one to many. No accelerator, no playbook; just the unglamorous work of turning ideas into firms that regulators would license and sophisticated clients would trust. And I'm building still, though not a company this time: armed with undergraduate C++ and a beginner's Python course, I've taught myself agentic-AI development and now run an investment platform of my own design. Just as valuable to founders: I've spent years as the capital on the other side of the table. As an allocator for family offices, I ran due diligence on 100+ fund managers — and a fund pitch is a business pitch: I was underwriting the team, the edge, the operational spine, and whether the firm itself would survive, before allocating capital I could pull the moment execution slipped. Money with a redemption right is the most impatient money in finance, and learning what keeps it in the room teaches you exactly how professional capital separates a fundable operation from a good story. Add a 15+ year with institutions — ten as a sell-side analyst, five inside hedge funds as analyst and PM — spent dissecting why businesses win or fail, and you get what investors think but rarely say out loud: where your model breaks, what your numbers really signal, which narrative raises money and which quietly kills the meeting. If you're building in fintech or asset management, raising from family offices or LPs, or leaving a corporate career to found something of your own, I've walked that road — and sat across the table from a hundred-plus teams pitching for capital.
$897
3h–5h of coaching