The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: From Selling 75% of Trade Republic for €600K to Raising $1.3BN at a $5.3BN Valuation, The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN From the Best in the World; Trade Republic CEO, Christian Hecker and Creandum General Partner Johan Brenner

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Feb 16, 2024

Christian Hecker, the visionary CEO of Trade Republic, shares his journey of navigating fundraising, including selling 75% of his company for €600K. Johan Brenner, a general partner at Creandum, offers insights into the venture capital maze and the importance of a founder-friendly cap table. They discuss pivotal lessons learned from raising $1.3BN, the power of effective storytelling in pitches, and the necessity of adaptability in Europe's tech landscape. Their long-term vision for Trade Republic focuses on becoming a financial ally for future generations.

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ANECDOTE

Early Fundraising Struggles

Christian Hecker pitched Trade Republic to over 200 VCs between 2015 and 2019, facing constant rejection.
They bootstrapped, secured a Commerzbank partnership, and eventually got their banking license and first paying customers.

ADVICE

Focus on Sustainable Growth

Focus on achieving smaller, sustainable milestones rather than fixating on becoming a unicorn.
Early-stage founders should focus on demonstrable profitability with a smaller customer base.

ANECDOTE

The 75% Sale

Christian Hecker sold 75% of Trade Republic for €600,000 due to leverage from an angel investor.
Johan Brenner and Creandum saw potential and restructured the cap table to be more founder-friendly.

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Christian Hecker is the Founder and CEO of Trade Republic, the company making it easy and inexpensive for everyone with a smartphone to invest. To date, Christian has raised over $1.3BN for the company from the likes of Sequoia, Founders Fund, Accel and Creandum to name a few. Previously, Christian worked in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking department.

Johan Brenner is a General Partner at Creandum. Johan has led Creandum’s investments in iZettle (acquired by PayPal for $2.2bn in 2018), Trade Republic, Klarna, Pleo, Neo4J, Vivino and more. Johan was previously a repeat entrepreneur, founding one of the first online brokers in Europe in 1997 (sold to E*TRADE in the US), then JobLine (sold to Monster), Bookatable (Michelin) and Tradera (Ebay).

In Today's Episode with Christian Hecker and Johan Brenner We Discuss:

1. Selling 75% of Trade Republic for €600,000:

How did Christian come to sell 75% of Trade Republic for €600K?
How did Johan and Creandum solve this challenge when they invested?
What are some of Christian's biggest pieces of advice on cap table construction?

2. Raising $1.3BN From the Best Investors in the World:

What are Christian's biggest fundraising lessons from raising $1.3BN from the best in the world?
How did Doug Leone and Sequoia come to lead Trade Republic's round? What was the meeting with Doug like? What questions did he ask? How did it go?
How important of a skill does Johan believe being a great fundraiser is for founders?

3. Scaling into Europe's Next Decacorn:

What are the single biggest issues that arise when scaling so fast? What breaks first?
Does CAC increase with time or decrease?
Why did Christian decide to stop paid marketing on Google and Facebook and stop spending $100M+ there overnight?
Why is Christian so bullish on influencer marketing? What works? What does not work?

4. Europe: A Hub for Innovation or a Retirement Home:

Does Christian believe that young people in Europe work hard enough?
What are the biggest challenges to scaling teams in Europe?
Why does Johan believe the biggest challenge in Europe is the lack of exit markets?
What can Europe do to improve and increase our chances of being successful?