TVPI gives you the complete picture by adding two things together: cash already distributed plus the current paper value of everything you still hold, divided by what you've put in. Invest $200,000, receive $50,000 in distributions, and hold positions currently marked at $350,000, and your TVPI is 2.0x ($400,000 of total value against $200,000 paid in). It's the most flattering of the standard metrics because it counts unrealized markups that haven't turned into cash yet.
The way to read TVPI is always alongside DPI. TVPI minus DPI is, roughly, your paper gains — the value still locked inside companies that haven't exited. A portfolio at 2.5x TVPI but only 0.3x DPI is promising on paper but largely unproven; one at 2.5x TVPI and 2.0x DPI has already delivered most of its value as real cash. Early in a portfolio's life, TVPI carries the story while DPI sits near zero; over time, the goal is to watch DPI rise to meet TVPI as paper value converts into distributions.