EUVC

E324 | EUVC Awards | Sarah Drinkwater, solo GP at Common Magic on community as investment focus

Jun 4, 2024

Sarah Drinkwater, a solo GP at Common Magic, discusses the importance of building communities in tech. Topics include leveraging community for market penetration, challenges/successes in blockchain investments, monetizing communities, AI in tech space, and analyzing startup pitch decks.

45:05

Creator website

Episode guests

Sarah Drinkwater

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Community is a pivotal element in startup success, fostering loyalty and user feedback early on.

Strategic focus on community-driven startups from pre-seed to seed stages provides a blueprint for commercial resilience.

Deep dives

Deciphering Community Through the Lens of Common Magic

Sarah from Common Magic sheds light on the significance of community as a pivotal aspect in startup success. Common Magic's focus on community-driven products underscores the essence of building loyalty and eliciting user feedback early on, thus permeating the ethos of successful businesses like Figma and GitHub.

Building Strong Communities for Startup Success and Investment Strategy

03:16

Exploration of Community Building and its Strategic Significance for Product Success

03:46

Balancing Paid Events with Community Engagement and Feedback

02:18

Introduction

3min

Community Building for Business Success

14min

Building and Monetizing Communities for Startups

16min

Community Building Challenges and AI in the Tech Space

5min

Analysis of Startup Pitch Decks and Challenges in AI for Education and Mental Health

4min

Status of Fund and Future Investments

3min

Celebrating one of the finalists in the Newcomer of the Year category at this year’s European VC Awards, this episode dives deep with Sarah Drinkwater, solo GP at Common Magic.

Common Magic is a pre-seed/seed solo GP fund investing in and supporting founders building products with community at their core across Europe and the US. As a small fund, they act like an angel:

fast decisions
operationally useful
comfortable being the first commitment

Sarah Drinkwater has been building communities in tech for over 15 years and building communities for fun for much longer. From advising protocols for Filecoin and Gitcoin on their ecosystem building to growing Campus, Google’s East London space for startups, and growing an angel investing portfolio of 36 startups, she built playbooks and networks that can help founders build powerful communities right from the start.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

00:24 Diving into Community

00:53 Common Magic's Investment Focus
03:07 Sarah's Journey and Achievements
04:19 Understanding Community in Tech
10:58 Blockchain and Community
17:27 Community as an Investment Focus
22:19 Fund Structure and Geography
22:47 Investment Focus and Strategy
23:27 Community and Market Assumptions
27:30 Monetization Strategies
28:29 Challenges in Community Building
35:45 AI and Community Platforms
38:38 AI Investment Trends
42:29 Fund Status and Future Plans

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.

EUVC

E324 | EUVC Awards | Sarah Drinkwater, solo GP at Common Magic on community as investment focus

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Deciphering Community Through the Lens of Common Magic

Navigating the Realm of Community-Driven Investments

Unpacking the Power of Operational Expertise in Small Funds

AI and Community: Unveiling Pathways to Innovation

Building Strong Communities for Startup Success and Investment Strategy

Exploration of Community Building and its Strategic Significance for Product Success

Balancing Paid Events with Community Engagement and Feedback

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts