Q&A with Zhenya Loginov: the Euro founder flywheel, 2025 IPOs, and leveling up from PLG

Nov 6, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Zhenya Loginov, an Accel partner with a rich background at Miro and Dropbox, dives into the evolving European startup landscape. He emphasizes the changes in 2025 IPOs, highlighting a shift towards profitability and strong fundamentals. Zhenya shares crucial insights on navigating the complex PLG-to-enterprise transition, which he dubs "Enterprise University." He also explores how today’s European founders—shaped by successful unicorns—bring operational prowess to innovate and drive growth in the region.

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INSIGHT

Public Markets Reopening

Public markets are reopening and becoming an important lifeline again for startups.
For some companies, accessing public capital is now cheaper than private fundraising.

INSIGHT

A New Breed Of IPOs

2025 IPOs differ from pre-2021 debuts by emphasizing profitability and sustainable fundamentals.
Investors now favor disciplined companies with durable growth over growth-at-all-costs.

ANECDOTE

From Founder To Accel Partner

Zhenya first met Accel when fundraising in 2011 and later joined them 15 years on.
That early meeting shaped his view of the VC and eventually led to him becoming a partner.

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For our final episode of VBSR this season, Sara phones a friend. Accel’s Zhenya Loginov joins from London to talk about what defines the 2025 IPO, common PLG-to-enterprise pitfalls, and why today’s European founders look different. Plus: Zhenya’s startup green flags.

This Week’s Takeaways

IPOs are back. But they’ve changed. Not long ago, companies were going public before becoming profitable. After years of belt-tightening, 2025’s IPOs are disciplined companies with solid fundamentals, higher revenue, and durable growth trajectories.
Don’t underestimate the PLG-to-enterprise transition. Zhenya calls it “Enterprise University,” since it often takes four years to execute well. His advice: start early, be ready for a steep learning curve, and don’t forget that user love will power new customer acquisition—so keep investing in product, too.
The Euro founder flywheel is spinning. Healthy investment, a generation of unicorns, and a pandemic and AI boom that shifted the talent center of gravity have come together to reshape Europe’s startup ecosystem. Today’s founders began their careers at early-stage startups that went on to become industry-defining companies. They know how to build and understand what “good” looks like.

Conversation Highlights

2:25 - The 2025 IPO

7:02 - Zhenya’s founder green flags

8:22 - The PLG-to-enterprise tightrope

12:40 - “A leader in the global market”: today’s European startups

16:46 - What makes the European buyer different?

19:08 - The new European founder

For more on the European founder flywheel, read our Founder Factory report.

Zhenya Loginov

Zhenya joined Accel in 2023 and has a particular interest in cloud/SaaS, enterprise, and developer tooling businesses. Prior to Accel, he held roles in multiple Accel-backed companies. He ran the go-to-market teams at Miro and Segment (acquired by Twilio) as CRO and COO, respectively. Earlier in his career, Zhenya led teams at Dropbox across a number of different functional areas. He graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University and Harvard.