Dakota Live! Podcast
The Dakota Live! Podcast is designed for your fundraising needs. The goal of this podcast is to help you better know the people behind the investment decisions. Dakota connects investment salespeople with leading investment decision makers, ensuring you always know who to call and how to approach the markets you are targeting. Dakota Live! presents investment sales people industry and marketing expertise to make their jobs easier.
Dakota Live! Podcast
GP Seeding Explained: How Taproot Capital Backs First-Time PE Funds | Eric Zoller
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GP seeding is one of the least understood corners of private equity — and one of the fastest growing.
In this episode of Dakota Live, Robert Morier sits down with Eric Zoller, Co-Founder and CEO of Taproot Capital, to break down how first-time funds and spin-out managers actually get launched, capitalized, and raised.
Eric founded SixPoint Partners in 2007, built it into one of the largest independent fund placement advisors in the middle market, sold it to PNC in 2019, and led private capital advisory at Harris Williams before launching Taproot in 2025.
He explains the difference between GP seeding, GP stakes, and anchoring, why emerging managers are becoming their own asset class, and what LPs are really underwriting when they back a first-time fund.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
- GP seeding vs. GP stakes vs. anchoring — and why LPs confuse them
- Why emerging managers and first-time funds outperform, and how LPs get exposure
- How to diligence a spin-out manager's track record and deal attribution
- Why DPI is holding back otherwise fundable managers right now
- The four-stage fundraise: foundational close, first close, follow-on, final close
- What's driving spin-out activity: continuation vehicles, consolidation, and stalled carry
- Building the front, middle, and back office of a new PE firm in 60 days
ABOUT ERIC ZOLLER: Eric Zoller is Co-Founder and CEO of Taproot Capital, an alternative asset manager launched in 2025 to seed first-time funds and partner with emerging private equity firms. He previously founded SixPoint Partners and served as Managing Director and Head of Private Capital Advisory at Harris Williams. He began his career as an attorney at White & Case and as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. He holds a BA in History and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Learn more about Taproot Capital: https://www.taprootcap.com
ABOUT DAKOTA: Dakota Live introduces you to the people behind investment decisions — chief investment officers, manager research professionals, and industry leaders — to help you sell in between the lines and better understand the investment sales ecosystem.
