This is Capital Call, a weekly newsletter highlighting what investors in European startups are thinking—in their own words. We are Willy Braun, Nicolas Colin, and Vincent Touati-Tomas, and you can find out more about the newsletter and who’s featured in it here: About Capital Call.
Before we take a break in August, we wanted to share a few figures about the 9 editions that have been sent out so far and what they tell us about European investors sharing their thoughts:
A worrying 70% of the 159 articles/podcasts/threads featured were by men only. We have a growing Twitter list of Female VCs in Europe (now 107 strong & counting), but little regular content from them that is submitted. Any idea as to correct this imbalance is much welcome!
Of the 116 investors we have featured to date, only 37 are women. In terms of nationality, 35 are from the UK, and 26 from France. The next most represented nationalities are the US (13), Germany (11), and Sweden (10). (Some investors have two nationalities.)
Some firms have bet a lot on producing content and see their members featured on a regular basis as a result. That’s the case of Point Nine Capital, The Family (of which Nicolas, a co-host of Capital Call, is a cofounder), and to a lesser extent Balderton, LocalGlobe, and Atomico.
Fortunately, very few European investors are absent from Twitter. Fun fact: Not being on Twitter is typical of in-house counsels. Is there an incompatibility between having a legal background and sharing thoughts over social media? 😅
Here’s our advice for European VCs. Share more of your (original/interesting) thoughts; remember: VC’s are marketers, not financiers. Don’t stick to announcing new investments. Above all, we need European female VCs to share their ideas, theses, and advice on a more frequent basis. Have a look at the up-to-date list of those Featured in Capital Call (minus those who aren’t on Twitter 😉).
And now on to today’s edition 👇
Brett Bivens 🇺🇸🇫🇷 has been compiling historical profiles of famous companies for months and now has them all on a Notion board: The Rise of Company X.
Oana Botez 🇬🇧, who’s in charge of events at Point Nine Capital, shares tips for Hosting virtual events — how to prepare and what to keep in mind.
Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 of The Family (and co-host of Capital Call) shares his personal framework for investing: The 10 Keys to Investing in European Startups.
Alexandre Dewez 🇫🇷 of IdInvest shares an overview of European VC firms raising capital over the first semester of 2020: 💶 H1-2020 European VC Raising Capital.
Annalise Dragic 🇬🇧 of Sapphire Ventures shares her perspective on open banking and open finance in Europe in What’s Next for European FinTech Infrastructure?
Sarah Drinkwater 🇬🇧, an angel investor with Atomico, writes about Why you need to hire a Chief Community Officer (and why “community” and scale are often opposites).
We already featured parts of the “Know Your Edge as a VC” series by Ha Duong 🇩🇪🇻🇳 of Cambrial Capital. Here they are, all in one place: Know Your Edge As A VC, The Complete Series. #OpenLP.
Benedict Evans 🇬🇧, a venture partner with Entrepreneur First and Mosaic Ventures, writes about a timely topic: Regulating technology.
Lyubov Guk 🇺🇦🇬🇧 of Blue Lake Accelerator writes about finding customers being harder than finding investors: Go to market — or die.
Pietro Invernizzi 🇮🇹 went on a hunt to find all the (non-obvious) incredible angel investors that make the UK a better ecosystem: The future of UK angel investing.
Joyce MacKenzie Liu 🇨🇦 shares advice for founders who are considering fundraising: So what are you fundraising for?
Also by Joyce, make sure to check out this primer on venture debt: What is venture Debt? A complementary alternative to venture capital
Reza Malekzadeh 🇫🇷 of Partech writes about a recent exit: OpenIO exits the Partech portfolio as it is acquired by OVHcloud.
Yannick Oswald 🇱🇺 makes the case for giving employees more equity—and making them millionaires: Create 250+ millionaires with stock options. This is how.
Gabrielle Thomas 🇫🇷 of Blackfin dives into startups in financial services based on their names: Which fintech tribe do you belong to?
Eze Vidra 🇬🇧🇮🇱 of Remagine Ventures discusses Steve Blank’s idea that maybe the concept of a lean startup is passé: Is the Lean Startup concept of MVP dead?
Megumi Ikeda 🇺🇸🇯🇵 of Hearst Ventures Europe is interviewed by Sifted about startup acquisitions (or rather the lack thereof in Europe): Why big European companies need to buy more startups.
Nicola McClafferty 🇬🇧 of Draper Esprit talks about a recent investment in Decibel, a company that helps brands optimize their digital customer experience: Why Draper Esprit Invested in Decibel.
Paul Murphy 🇺🇸 of Northzone is interviewed in Protocol about the future of mobility: Micromobility doubter? Look at London’s streets, says this VC.
Deepali Nangia 🇬🇧, a London-based angel investor, shares insights about investing and becoming a scout with Atomico: 😇 Angel Interview #2: Deepali Nangia.
🎧 Joshua Olusanya 🇬🇧 of Notion Capital and Daisy Onubogu 🇬🇧 of Backed VC talk with Roxanne Varza 🇺🇸🇫🇷 about Diversity in Investment as part of the Station F podcast.
Alice Albizzati 🇫🇷 Co-Founder, Gaia Capital Partners, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter
Brett Bivens 🇺🇸🇫🇷 Venture Investor, TechNexus, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Oana Botez 🇬🇧 Event Manager, Point Nine Capital, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 Co-Founder & Director, The Family, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Alexandre Dewez 🇫🇷 Analyst, Idinvest, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Gil Dibner 🇺🇸 Founder & General Partner, Angular Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Annalise Dragic 🇬🇧 Vice President, Sapphire Ventures, London 🇬🇧 Linkedin | Twitter
Sarah Drinkwater 🇬🇧 Angel Investor, Atomico, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Ha Duong 🇩🇪🇻🇳 Principal, Cambrial Capital, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Benedict Evans 🇬🇧 Venture Partner, EF & Mosaic Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Lyubov Guk 🇺🇦🇬🇧 Partner, Blue Lake Accelerator, London 🇺🇸 LinkedIn | Twitter
Megumi Ikeda 🇺🇸🇯🇵 Managing Partner, Hearst Ventures Europe 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter
Pietro Invernizzi 🇮🇹 First-Cheque Investor, Stride VC, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Joyce Mackenzie Liu 🇨🇦 Founder, Pegafund, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Reza Malekzadeh 🇫🇷 General Partner, Partech, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter
Nicola McClafferty 🇮🇪 Investor, Draper Esprit, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter
Paul Murphy 🇺🇸 General Partner, Northzone, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter
Deepali Nangia 🇬🇧Angel Investor, Scout, Atomico 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Joshua Olusanya 🇬🇧Off-cycle analyst, Notion Capital, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Blog
Daisy Onubogu 🇬🇧 Head of Network & Communities, Backed VC, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter
Yannick Oswald 🇱🇺 Principal, Mangrove Capital Partners, Luxembourg 🇱🇺 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Gabrielle Thomas 🇫🇷 VC Investment Director, Blackfin, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Roxanne Varza 🇺🇸🇫🇷 Scout, Atomico, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter
Eze Vidra 🇬🇧🇮🇱 Managing Partner, Remagine Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
We are Willy Braun 🇫🇷, Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 and Vincent Touati-Tomas 🇫🇷. We work as investors and operators in the European VC industry. Hit reply if you want to send us feedback!