Work For Humans with Dart Lindsley

Episode: Investing in the Future of Work: A New Path for Venture Capital
Guest: Virginie Raphaël, Founder, Full Circle Venture Capital
Date: December 30, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores how the structure, incentives, and values of venture capital shape the evolution of work and society. Dart Lindsley sits down with Virginie Raphaël, founder of Full Circle Venture Capital, to discuss her unique approach to early-stage investing through a perpetual fund model aimed at creating a more equitable and sustainable workforce. Their conversation delves into how money amplifies change, the challenges and opportunities for impact-driven funds, the realities of aligning long-term outcomes with financial returns, and the effects of AI and geography on the future of work.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Venture Capital as an Amplifier for Change

• Venture capital is a powerful amplifier: Dart draws parallels between money, academia, and consultancy as sources that "amplify" big ideas ([00:55]).
• Follow the money to understand systems change: "If you really want to understand how any system, including work, changes at scale, you have to follow the money and see which ideas it equips to grow. Or by ignoring them, lets wither away." — Dart Lindsley ([00:55]).

2. Traditional vs. Perpetual (Open-Ended) Fund Structures

• Traditional VC funds: Typically 10 years, with 2% annual management fees and 20% profit sharing (carried interest). This structure pushes companies to exit in the fund’s time frame, misaligning incentives ([04:52], [09:21], [10:33]).
• Perpetual/Full Circle model: Full Circle is structured as an "open-ended", perpetual fund. This avoids forcing founders into premature exits due to investor time cycles, and allows for long-term support and alignment ([00:04], [20:46], [22:50]).
  • Quote: “I really started thinking about... why isn’t there more venture funds that are structured as open-ended funds?... I just wanted to not have my founders be subject to my own fundraising cycles because I thought that could lead to much stronger alignment and much better results.” — Virginie Raphaël ([00:04], [22:50])
• Unique LP shareholder model: Investors (limited partners, LPs) are perpetual shareholders, maintaining exposure to future upside as the fund grows and new LPs join ([29:56]).

3. Investment Philosophy and Criteria

• Outcome-driven, not category-driven: Full Circle invests broadly for the structural transformation of the workforce, with a holistic, human-centric approach ([15:22]).
  • Quote: “We want everyone to have the mode of work that suits them best… That is not a choice. And so investors try to put us in a neat little box and category called ‘future of work.’ And that to me doesn’t quite feel right because we are broader than this… as defined as broadly as possible.” — Virginie Raphaël ([15:22])
• Early-stage focus: "Pre-seed" investing, often in teams with just an idea and no product yet, commonly in tech or tech-enabled companies for scalability ([17:44], [17:47]).
• Co-investment norm: Usually, Full Circle does not invest solo, but prefers to enter rounds alongside other investors. Sometimes they do lead ([20:16]).

4. Incentive Alignment and Management Fee Innovation

• Standard VC incentives can misalign: The 2% management fee on assets under management distorts incentives toward raising bigger funds, even if performance is mediocre ([37:10]).
• Full Circle’s alternative: Operates on a budget-based management fee, rejecting the AUM incentive. Virginie is personally motivated by returns generated for both founders and LPs ([37:10], [40:25]).
  • Quote: “If you entrust your money to me... I do not want to have any other incentive than to do just that and to be in the profit share. I want to make excellent investments… and that’s how I will make money. I do not want to make the game harder on myself…” — Virginie Raphaël ([37:10])

5. The Impact-Return Spectrum & "Venture Philanthropy"

• Gap in outcomes orientation: There’s a spectrum from purely philanthropic “impact funds” to pure returns-focused funds, with few hybrid models surviving or thriving.
• Social good and financial gain can coexist: Full Circle is a "market rate return fund" but measures impact by workforce outcomes (e.g., jobs filled, caregiving enabled) ([28:03]).
  • Quote: “Every single investment I make have an impact, negative or positive. To me that impact needs to be that outcome that I want to drive—which is: have we created a structural change in the workforce?” — Virginie Raphaël ([28:03])
• Challenges in “venture philanthropy”: Virginie notes wealthy donors struggle to see the value—and legitimacy—of impactful, return-seeking investment versus philanthropy ([34:27]).

6. Trends in the Future of Work & Investment Opportunities

• Geography matters less, but overlooked markets are rising: Post-COVID, remote work is normal, but Virginie sees particular opportunity in the U.S. heartland (Atlanta, Charlotte, Midwest) where tech adoption can be stickier and more capital-efficient ([42:49]).
  • Quote: “The middle of the country is going to be a much better testing bet for all the tech… In those geos… you can build very solid, highly cash flow generating companies relatively capital efficiently.” — Virginie Raphaël ([42:54])
• AI and labor market transitions: Big, slow-moving transitions create opportunity; AI is overhyped for labor displacement in the short term, but presents massive opportunity for upskilling and augmenting workers rather than replacing them ([46:36], [50:24]).
  • Examples:
    • Auto technician shortage: VR/AI training to shorten the time and widen the talent pool for high-demand skilled jobs ([46:36]).
    • Speech therapy in schools: AI to assist therapists, automate repetitive tasks, and let professionals focus on high-value work ([50:24]).
• Alignment of incentives: Both fund and portfolio companies are analyzed through the lens of who benefits, and if their incentives match the desired outcomes ([37:10]).

7. Investment Ecosystem Dynamics

• Networking & trust as core currency: Reputation and social proof are essential in connecting founders, co-investors, and LPs ([12:44]).
  • Quote: “It is a highly, highly people business through and through. Reputation and credibility is everything in this business.” — Virginie Raphaël ([11:25])
• Seed market shift: Pre-seed rounds are getting bigger, sometimes skipping traditional "seed" and moving straight to growth rounds; founders must remain sufficiently incentivized ([53:51]).
• AI and job market anxieties: Virginie is skeptical of claims about mass AI-induced unemployment, citing historical patterns and the U.S. work culture’s tendency to increase worker output instead ([58:59]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Virginie on fund misalignment:
  “To me, the misalignment that starts existing when you're a 10 year fund is you get toward the fund life end and you push your companies to sell even if they're not ready for it.” ([00:04])
• Dart, on money as amplifier:
  “Money amplifies the ideas that people choose to back.” ([00:55])
• Virginie on investor impact:
  “Have we put someone into a job that they otherwise wouldn’t have known existed? Have we prevented a caregiver from leaving the workforce?” ([28:03])
• Virginie on management fees:
  “To me, that's a terrible misalignment... and so we've taken away that piece… I do not want to have any other incentive than to… be in the profit share.” ([37:10])
• Virginie on the geography of innovation:
  “An exit for any company that can really serve a very particular geo with a very specific identified needs doesn't need to be a $10 billion exit for it to be extremely meaningful… That’s something that excites me.” ([42:54])
• Virginie on work and purpose:
  “Anything short of [work as agency and pride] is a waste of human potential. It's truly pathetic. Nobody should be in the miserable job, nobody should be in a boring and unsafe job. AI can automate those jobs away and take them by all means.” ([60:56])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:04] Virginie describes her move from traditional VC to creating Full Circle’s perpetual fund.
• [09:21] Explaining traditional fund manager compensation and incentive misalignment.
• [15:22] Full Circle’s outcome-driven and human-centric thesis.
• [17:44] What “pre-seed” means and why Full Circle invests so early.
• [22:50] Perpetual fund structure explained; no forced exits.
• [24:53] Mix of institutional and individual investors and aligning with their motives.
• [28:03] Market-rate returns and measurable social impact.
• [29:56] Detailed explanation of the unique LP shareholder model.
• [37:10] Why Full Circle refuses AUM-based fees.
• [42:49] Geography and the emerging importance of “middle America.”
• [46:36] How AI can address real labor market shortages.
• [50:24] AI’s role in augmenting, not replacing, skilled human workers (speech pathology example).
• [53:51] Evolution in the funding pipeline from pre-seed, seed, to growth.
• [58:59] The myth (and reality) of AI-driven mass unemployment in the U.S.

Closing Reflections

Virginie Raphaël’s model for Full Circle upends longstanding venture capital norms to create more stable, authentic alignment between founders, investors, and the larger society. Rather than chasing short-term returns, Full Circle prioritizes durable, positive change in the workforce, leveraging the power of venture money as a true amplifier of societal progress. Virginie’s clarity about how incentives shape outcomes—among fund managers, founders, and even local labor markets—is essential listening for anyone interested in the future of work and ethical investing.

Find out more:
Website: fullcirclefund.io
LinkedIn: Virginie Raphaël
Substack: Closing the Loop – Virginie’s thoughts and calls for solutions