How VCs Actually Cash In on an IPO

The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Photo by Bloomberg.

and

Today, Uber is going public at a valuation of $82 billion, making a number of investors and early Uber employees very, very rich (or much, much richer).

Benchmark will make $7.6 billion, based on the IPO price of $45; Google Ventures will make $3 billion. (Here’s a more complete list of some of the winners.)

But how the general partners who run venture capital funds—along with their limited partners who invest in their funds—actually pocket their returns is quite complicated.