Inside an Emerging Manager: Building from the Ground Up

Instead of sitting across from an allocator, this week we flip the table—and sit in the seat of an emerging manager building a firm from the ground up.
In this conversation with Brandon Ladoff, Founder & Portfolio Manager of Denmark Capital, we explore what it actually looks like to launch a boutique investment firm in today’s market—where every decision mirrors the exact questions allocators ask behind closed doors.

From fundraising realities to portfolio construction, from volatility to conviction, this episode is a case study in what emerging managers must get right to survive—and win.

What we cover:
• The leap from established firm to founder: “burning the boats”
• How emerging managers think about alignment, patience, and capital base
• The tension between unconstrained investing and allocators’ expectations
• The reality of fundraising when your strategy embraces volatility

Why this episode is different:
Most conversations focus on how allocators evaluate managers.

This one shows you the other side:
👉 What it feels like to be the emerging manager
👉 The trade-offs you don’t see in pitch decks
👉 The conviction required when there’s no institutional safety net

As discussed in the episode, launching a firm is less about theory and more about execution under uncertainty—a real-time test of everything we try to understand in emerging manager due diligence.