It's hard to put so much capital at work, especially if the first task is building a team
Over the last few years, investors have poured billions of dollars of capital into some two dozen mega-sized startups - with decidedly mixed results. Dinakar Singh's TPG Axon Capital, the largest of the new generation of overnight über funds that raised close to $5.5 billion, and several funds offered by William von Mueffling's Cantillon Capital Management, have managed a strong showing right off the bat.
But Eric Mindich's $3.5 billion Eton Park Capital Management and Steve Mnuchin's $1.6 billion Dune Capital Management have been a bit of a disappointment, which has led some to question why investors flouted their own rules and best practices guidelines and rushed into these funds that had no track record but did feature marquee-name portfolio managers.
"Some of these startups were able to draw in huge...