European VC Digest: Embedded Finance. Friction. Weirdness. Virtual Communities. Learning Through Play.

Capital Call #35

This is your weekly newsletter highlighting what investors in European startups are thinking—in their own words. We are Willy Braun, Nicolas Colin and Vincent Touati-Tomas. Hit reply if you want to send us feedback!

Welcome to all our new subscribers 🤗 If, like us, you’re interested in everything that’s happening in European VC, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to be kept in the loop at all times: @CapitalCall_. Also follow our two Twitter lists: Featured in Capital Call & Female VCs in Europe.

Gunita Bhasin 🇮🇳🇬🇧 of Speedinvest shares her perspective about the latest trends in embedded finance: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Embedded Finance.

Hadrien Comte 🇫🇷 of Gaia Capital Partners shares the lessons learned during their investment in the company GetAccept.

Louis Coppey 🇫🇷 of Point Nine Capital is making the case for disrupting old industries with a combination of tech background and strategy: 3 trends to watch in Computer Vision.

Alexandre Dewez 🇫🇷 of Idinvest makes a counter-intuitive point: seamlessness doesn’t always maximize value. Read it all in Adding Friction in Your Product.

Gil Dibner 🇺🇸🇮🇱 of Angular Ventures shares (and comments on) an entire dataset about deep tech and enterprise startups: The Data: Enterprise & Deep Tech VC in Europe & Israel 2020.

Miruna Girtu 🇷🇴 of SyndicateRoom has some advice for newcomers in the VC industry: Deconstructing VC: How Emerging Investors Can Think About Their Value Proposition To Founders.

Christoph Janz 🇩🇪 of Point Nine Capital shares tips from experts at Delivery Hero, Zendesk, and more for making one of the hardest VP hires: how to hire a VP Marketing.

Cecilia Manduca 🇬🇧 of Talis Capital writes about the flourishing of virtual communities over the past year: Sourdough bread, ASMR, and subreddits: virtual communities are here to stay.

Mathias Pastor 🇫🇷 of The Family writes about why the Internet has unleashed The explosion of weirdness—and why it’s a good thing.

Ines Streimelweger 🇩🇪 of Creandum looks into climate tech startups and the role they play in positioning Europe as a global leader in the field: Europe's Leadership in Climate Tech. 

D'Arcy Whelan 🇬🇧 of Outward VC knows that founders always feel at a loss when they experience rejection by an investor: How to get candid pitch feedback from VC investors.

Stuart Chapman 🇬🇧 of Draper Esprit and Christophe Jurczak 🇫🇷 of Quantonation discuss quantum computing and why it’s a great opportunity for investors: Why investors love quantum-as-a-service.

Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 and Balthazar de Lavergne 🇫🇷 of The Family discuss venture capital at the seed stage and the SaaS landscape with Christoph Janz 🇩🇪 of Point Nine Capital: In Good Company #4.

Patrick Ryan 🇮🇪 of Odin shares a wide-ranging discussion from the passion economy to blockchain services with Parin Shah of Lego Ventures: 🎧 Learning Through Play.

Carlos Santana 🇪🇸 of EQT explains the reasons why they like buying out Spanish startups: The 2 biggest startup exits in Spain 2020 from the same relentless buyer, why?

Maren Bannon @Maren_Bannon

Profile of the typical founder who skips pre-seed: -Stanford or Harvard -Located in SF, NYC or other hub -Pattern matches to previous unicorn founders -Knows the jargon -Building in public -In a buzzy space Somehow this profile feels "de-risked" to many VCs

Fred Destin @fdestin

Savagely honest @Nicolas_Colin “In toxic environments such as Paris, traditional venture capital has in fact become a rent-seeking business: you don’t need strong performances to make a reasonable living and enjoy your power over desperate Entrepreneurs.”

Mattias Ljungman @Ljungman

A VCs reputation & brand is our main moat. Content describes who we are but i think people equate that with pure volume rather than with depth. What is the right balance?

Micah Rosenbloom @micahjay1

VC is a maturing industry. It used to be that money was in short supply so VCs had a product that founders needed. No marketing was necessary (eg in old days PE folks didn't have LI profiles). I actually like the fact that VCs (and finance broadly) have to earn the business now.

• Maren Bannon 🇺🇸 Co-Founder & Managing Partner, January Ventures, Amsterdam 🇳🇱 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Gunita Bhasin 🇮🇳🇬🇧 Associate, Speedinvest, London 🇬🇧LinkedIn | Twitter

• Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 Co-Founder & Director, The Family, Munich 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Louis Coppey 🇫🇷 Partner, Point Nine Capital, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Stuart Chapman 🇬🇧 Managing Partner, Draper Esprit, London 🇬🇧  LinkedIn

• Hadrien Comte 🇫🇷 Associate, Gaia Capital Partners, Paris 🇫🇷LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Louis Coppey 🇫🇷 Partner, Point Nine Capital, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Alexandre Dewez 🇫🇷 Analyst, Idinvest, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Gil Dibner 🇺🇸🇮🇱 Founder & General Partner, Angular Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Miruna-Ioana Girtu 🇷🇴 Venture Partner, SyndicateRoom, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter

• Christoph Janz 🇩🇪 Partner, Point Nine Capital, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Christophe Jurczak 🇫🇷 Managing Partner, Quantonation, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter

• Balthazar de Lavergne 🇫🇷 Director, The Family, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Mattias Ljungman 🇸🇪 Founder, Moonfire, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter

• Cecilia Manduca 🇬🇧Analyst Talis Capital, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter

• Mathias Pastor 🇫🇷 Director, The Family, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Patrick Ryan  🇮🇪 Co-founder, Odin, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• Carlos Santana 🇪🇸 Partner, EQT,  Madrid 🇬🇧 LinkedIn

• Parin Shah 🇬🇧 Senior Associate, LEGO Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn

• Ines Streimelweger 🇩🇪 Investment Manager, Creandum, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog

• D'Arcy Jade Whelan 🇬🇧Analyst, Outward VC, London 🇬🇧 Linkedin | Twitter