(02:41) Brennan describes Frontline Ventures’ mission and his role there
(04:17) The mistakes companies typically make when moving into Europe
(09:18) How Brennan taught himself to code and found his calling as a builder
(11:13) Working at Google in the early days, and getting the opportunity to lead efforts in London and Dublin
(15:11) Observations from Google Europe, including why the best companies are always reinventing themselves
(21:02) Leading social network Yammer through its acquisition by, and learning from the practices of, Microsoft
(26:44) Discovering vulnerability as an essential leadership trait
(29:13) Technology innovations that excite Brennan and his team
In a recent article for TechCrunch, Frontline Ventures partner Brennan O’Donnell described the burgeoning opportunity that European markets offer to U.S companies, particularly in tech, pointing out that EMEA now represents 38% of the world’s GDP and is the world’s second-largest B2B software market. But in order to capitalize on the opportunity, CEOs would be wise to learn from thought leaders like Brennan, who have been through the rigor of scaling high-growth companies in Europe and seen the potential pitfalls.
In this episode, Brennan talks to Jesse about the most common mistakes he's seen brands make when expanding into Europe, what it was like to lead growth at Google Europe, reflections on guiding Yammer through its acquisition by Microsoft, how he's learned to embrace vulnerability as an essential leadership trait, and the emerging technologies he's most excited about as an investor.
Guest Bio
Based in Silicon Valley, Brennan O’Donnell has over 20 years of experience building technology businesses and scaling global teams. As a partner with Frontline Ventures, he invests in growth stage startups with a focus on helping them expand into Europe. The fund’s portfolio includes companies such as TripActions, Lattice, Clearbanc and Attentive.
Before moving into venture capital, Brennan spent nearly a decade at Google, where he held multiple go-to-market leadership roles in the US and EMEA, building teams across both the Cloud and Ads businesses. After Google, he went on to hold c-level and executive roles in several early stage and high growth SaaS startups, including Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), SurveyMonkey (IPO), Euclid (acquired by WeWork) and most recently Airtable. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Helpful Links
Frontline Ventures website
TechCrunch: Proactive CEOs should prioritize European expansion
The Irish Times: Frontline Ventures targets US tech companies with new $80m fund
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