Reflecting on your journey as an investment fund CFO, what strategies have you employed to invest in your own professional growth and leadership development? Join us for The F Suite’s inaugural Investment Fund CFO Offsite, co-chaired by Jennifer Randle (CFO, MaC Venture Capital) and Harold Friedman (CFO, Polaris Partners), on June 17–18 at The Lodge at Sonoma.
Set amidst the tranquil beauty of California's wine country, you'll engage with your closest fund CFO peers in candid discussions on executive presence, self-advocacy, and strategies to both enhance your role and ultimately be seen as a pivotal business partner. This offsite provides a unique opportunity to forge relationships that will extend well beyond our time together, equipping you with a renewed approach to maneuver volatility & advance your career with confidence and clarity in 2025 and beyond.
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Lodge at Sonoma
1325 Broadway
Sonoma, CAÂ
We have negotiated a reduced room rate of $444. Click HERE to make your reservations. The rate is valid until May 23rd when the block fills up (whichever happens first).
Coaching: Your Secret Weapon for Strong Leadership
Location | Stone Building
In this engaging kickoff session, Danielle Vidal, leadership expert with over 20 years of executive coaching for C-Suite Executives, introduces coaching as a strategic tool suited for the high-stakes world of fund CFOs. Through real-world case studies, and crisp actionable insights, you’ll explore how to shift from gut-driven reactions to clear intentional responses. Using frameworks like A + B + C = D to create space, gain perspective, and make wiser decisions under pressure. In this introductory session we will begin to identify what’s in your own leadership toolkit and how coaching can help you expand it.
From Insight to Action: Leading Through Complexity
After exploring personal leadership and coaching techniques in our interactive keynote, this discussion will bring those ideas into sharper focus through the lens of firm dynamics, organizational complexity, and high-stakes decision-making.
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This session is an opportunity to step back and examine how we lead—whether that’s navigating friction with partners, managing up across the investment org, or tackling ambiguous legal and structural questions that fall in your lap without clear ownership.
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We’ll use real scenarios and peer discussion to help you move from insight to action. Expect tactical dialogue around how CFOs can support others without over-functioning, coach their teams through change, and bring calm, confident leadership to the murkiest corners of the business. Leave with a clearer sense on how to protect your time, authority, and legal footing along the way.
Advocating for YourselfÂ
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For many Fund CFOs, compensation conversations are opaque, awkward, and often deferred until a raise—or a resignation—is on the table. In this candid session, we’ll tackle the realities of advocating for yourself inside the partnership, especially when you're not on the deal team or directly tied to carry.
We’ll explore how to approach high-stakes conversations around annual reviews, compensation adjustments, and title progression—including the pros and cons of using external benchmarking data. What’s the right timing and tone during a fundraise, when comp decisions are most likely to shift? How do you balance firm dynamics with your own ambition—and what legal or structural constraints should you be aware of when negotiating employment terms?
Whether you’re building the case for a raise, navigating complex power dynamics, or simply looking to be heard, this session will offer strategies, language, and insights to help you advocate for your value with clarity and confidence.
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Mainstage Session | Uncertainty of It All: What to Expect When You Don’t Know What to Expect
How do you guide your firm forward when the macro signals are mixed—and changing by the day?
Between evolving fundraising conditions and global instability, today’s environment demands more than just awareness from Fund CFOs—it requires sharp judgment and forward-looking strategy. These pressures impact everything from LP communications and portfolio valuation to liquidity planning and firm-level decision-making.
In this closing session, we’ll cut through the noise to spotlight the trends shaping our domains, with an emphasis on what CFOs at growth-oriented investment funds need to track now—and how to prepare for what’s next. Your peers will discuss how they're interpreting these shifts at their own funds—sharing real-world strategies, best practices, and decision-making frameworks that are helping firms stay agile and prepared. Leave with a clearer framework for interpreting external risk, advising your partners, and navigating firm-level decisions when visibility is low but expectations are high.
