How a Cup of Coffee Can Turn You Into a VC Investor with Karol Szubstarski | #TheRecursivePodcast E100

For today’s episode, we talked with Karol Szubstarski, a venture investor at OTB Ventures. With over a decade of experience in the realm of venture capital, Karol brings a blend of traditional and corporate VC expertise to the table. He spent five years as an Associate and Investment Analyst at Intel Capital, identifying opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, to name a few.In his current role at OTB Ventures, Karol spearheads investments in Series A opportunities, focusing on deep tech. In this episodes, he shares about: How personal experiences fuels his professional careerHis transition to the VC world under the guidance of Marcin HejkaThe advantages and disadvantages of the Polish startup ecosystem0:00 Trailer 1:33 Intro 2:25 Backpacking through Asia with two broken arms & other challenges5:19 Karol’s adventure with the VC world and DeepTech 10:41 What are the skills a DeepTech investor should have? 12:09 Karol’s skills and learnings from Intel Capital and OTB Ventures 15:52 Perspective on the DeepTech ecosystem in CEE 21:27 Strengths of the Polish startup ecosystem24:23 Challenges of European tech startups for scaling globally 27:42 How OTB Ventures assesses the investment opportunities 39:45 Striking the right risk vs advantage balance 42:19 Can CEE startups get money from US investors right from the start? 44:55 How to differentiate yourself as a VC fund? 47:17 Building the top team for OTB’s portfolio companies 51:24 The leap of faith in investment decisions 52:42 What’s needed to be a good VC investor? 55:05 The CEE VC ecosystem and the lack of private capital 57:45 How will the CEE startup ecosystem look in the future? 1:03:40 How is OTB Ventures adapting to the technological advancements 1:10:00 Outro