In the last few years, several marquee venture firms have quietly rewritten their charters by registering as investment advisers. Lightspeed, which now oversees about $31 billion, completed the switch in May 2025, following Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and others. The change looks technical, but its effect is anything but. An RIA designation liberates firms from the classic venture mandate of "Series A or bust," letting them buy public shares, participate in secondaries, and structure full buyouts. Andrew Medjuck, head of the alternative investment division at the Medjuck Family Office, calls it "a reset on what venture capital can actually do," replacing the wait-and-see posture with an ability to shape outcomes directly.
The timing is no accident. AI is outpacing the decade-long venture clock. Product cycles are collapsing, incumbents are vulnerable, and the best returns now sit where software and operating control meet. By adopting the RIA playbook, top firms can chase value wherever it emerges—whether that is a minority position in a fast-growing SaaS platform or outright ownership of a 50-year-old services business calling for an AI retrofit.
