EUVC

We're joined by the famed Al Ramadan, author of the seminal book “Play bigger: how pirates dreamers and innovators create and dominate markets” which first introduced Category Design to the world. The book has since sold more than one hundred thousand copies and been heralded by people like Marc Benioff of SalesForce and Jim Goetz of Sequoia. We’re diving deep on category design, how it has evolved since inception in 2016 and how it’s being applied by forward thinking VCs throughout Silicon Valley and the world. In this episode you’ll learn:– What is Category Design and why it’s so central to creating the major outcomes we’re all chasing in VC- What Al Ramadan would wish he had done differently when first launching the book and category of “category design” - How some of the best VCs employ category design in their work with startups- What’s next for the category of “category design” and what we should be keeping our eyes peeled for.

Today we’re talking to Luis Shemtov and Elad Verbin are two of the three founding partners behind Lunar Ventures - Europe's hands-down most technical early stage VC investing in frontier computer science deep tech. The result was an episode full of learnings packed in great one-liners for emerging managers - from a team that closed 4 Fund of Funds. In this episode you’ll learn:- What made Lunar so sexy that they managed to land four European Fund of Funds & bounds of established GPs- How months of iteration around European deep tech founders’ problems led to the founding of Lunar Ventures- Why emerging managers need to solve for the question of why LPs should invest in the first close & how Elad thinks about it.- Why raising SPVs is a poor entry route into deep tech VC & what it means to be trailblazing in the VC Twilight Zone.

Denny Chared is the founder and CEO of The DC Finance Family Office and High Net Worth Community which has more than 2 thousand high net worth individuals, family offices, and investors who collaborate with each other worldwide. In this episode, we’re diving deep on how he has built this network and learnings for VCs fundraising and engaging with family offices and High Net Worth Individuals. In this episode you'll learn:- Denny’s journey into the wonderful world of Family Offices- Understanding Family Offices from a VC perspective and do’s & don’ts in working with them- The importance of respecting privacy in the Family Office world- Why VCs need to understand that talks with Family Offices can’t be all about money

Viktor is an entrepreneur turned venture-builder turned venture investor and has hands-on experience from - as he says himself: "making all the classic mistakes" with his own startup to founding a highly successful venture builder (called VNTRS) across 4 countries and now also launching VEQ to fund pre-seed/seed founders in the Nordics and Baltics.In this episode you'll learn:- What Magic the Gathering, Kebnekaise, Fasting & VC has in common- The path from founder to venture builder to Venture Capitalist- The do’s and don’ts for venture builders- How VCs should collaborate with Venture builders- The investment strategy of VEQ & how they’re using their background as venture builders to create a competitive advantage

We're diving deep with Ron Diamond on the future of family offices, their interaction with and impact on VC. Ron is the Founder of Diamond Wealth representing more than 100 Family Offices ranging from $250 million to $30 billion AUM. Center stage for our conversation today, Ron is on the Advisory Board of the Digital Cities and Disruptive Technology Program at Stanford and is helping to launch the Family Office Initiative at Stanford to help bring together the heads of billions of family office assets to charter the future of family office investing.In this episode you'll learn:- What’s behind The Stanford Family Office Initiative and how they managed to bring thousands of family offices together - Why Ron sees an explosion of Multi Family Offices around the corner - Why Ron believes the venture industry is poised for disruption by family offices - How VCs should think about family offices, the importance of trust and ways to collaborate in the future

This is the second part of “Grilling & Myth-busting with the EIF” where we’re talking to David Dana, head of ICT investments at the EIF. In this episode we cover more wide-ranging topics and questions that our community and former guests requested. In this episode you’ll learn:– Why the EIF is raising their own private funds and how they fit in the market– Why the EIF serves to stimulate skew the market, how they do so & avoid competition with private actors– How the EIF picks emerging managers (team size, track record…) when evaluating new GPs. Notice! Herein lies the answer to why the EIF doesn’t invest in solo-GPs!– EIF’s views on GP compensation & carry distribution when evaluating VC funds– How the EIF thinks about their response times & recommendations to plan for a raise involving the EIF as an LP– How investors are chosen for the EIF’s angel program– What we can expect in the future from the EIF and David Dana

This is a very special edition of The European VC called "Grilling & Myth-busting with the EIF" as we're talking to David Dana, head of ICT investments at the EIF. The episode builds on (tough!) questions sourced from our community and former guests and the lines were hot, so the episode ended up as something truly special.In this episode you'll learn:- The EIF's investment strategy, what they look for and what they shy away from.- To what extent do member country contributions impact EIF allocation- The interplay with the EIB - the European Investment Bank and how the EIF manages their (many!) different mandates- The gaps that EIF seek to fill in the European capital market and what they're doing to improve university tech transfer - as well as what David personally loves- What the EIF is doing to solve the lack of LPs with risk appetite and understanding of VC also touching on their initiative of raising their own private Fund of Funds.

Oliver Holle is the founder and managing partner of Speedinvest with a whopping 600M€ AUM. We're diving deep into Oliver's investment strategy, his thinking behind vertically focused teams, talent development, the state of the current market and what's next for Speedinvest. All in all, an episode packed with learnings for anyone aiming to build a true VC franchise that's recognized and sought after by founders all across Europe.In this episode you'll learn:- The origin story of Speedinvest & how Oliver’s thinking has evolved as he has grown the firm from 10M€ AUM in fund 1 to now 600M€.- Oliver’s take on the current market, why he’s bullish on the future of VC & why there’s plenty room for growth- How Oliver thinks about firm brand, talent development and incentives with the firm- Oliver’s reflections on portfolio construction – everything from stage, ownership targets, price sensitivity, etc!- Why Oliver believes in the value of the Platform VC and how he thinks about building it

Enis Hulli is General Partner of 500 Istanbul. Enis has founded and manages the best performing fund in the 500 Global fund family. In this episode, we're diving deep with Enis on his experience founding a 500-fund and how he has grown it from 10 to 50 M€ and exactly what Enis believes is his secret behind his fund's stellar performance. We're of course also getting into Enis' views on the potential of the Turkish and Central & Eastern European ecosystems and his super intense approach to deal sourcing requiring all on his team - including the CFO - to source deals 50% of the time.In this episode you’ll learn:- How the 500 Global fund origination scheme enabled Enis to rapidly advance up the learning curve when he launched his first fund- How Enis has built out his fund, firm and strategy from 10M€ in Fund I to 50M€ in fund II- All about the Turkish VC & Startup landscape and how Enis thinks about winning deals by always having a prepared mind and executing with incredible speed- Enis thinking around portfolio mix and price sensitivity and how it has changed over the last few years.- Why Enis doesn't want more inbound and everyone at 500 Istanbul must dedicate at least half of their time to deal sourcing

Jeroen van Doornik is the managing partner of Rabo Frontier Ventures, a €200M FoF and co-investment fund with Rabobank as the sole LP. With Rabo, Jeroen leverages his unique access to tier-1 VCs like: Balderton Capital, NorthZone, HV Capital, Speedinvest, and Seed Camp as well as his ability to identify and move quickly on co-investment opportunities in breakaway portfolio companies. Prior to joining Rabobank Frontier Ventures, @Jeroen was an investment director at the VC firm StartGreen Capital, managing its €250m venture fund providing equity, debt and project finance. He has also held investing roles at growth stage tech investment firms in energy, mobility and software and has founded a motorsports startup for eight years after a four-and-a-half-year stint at Accenture.In this episode you'll learn:- How Jeroen has built his investment strategy around co-investing with European tier-1 VC firms- Why Jeroen believes venture is all about access & speed - for VCs as well as LPs.- What Jeroen believes are the defining characteristics of good VC firms and what mistakes he sees GPs do too often- What gets Jeroen excited about a VC