European VC Digest: Product Managers. Communications. Lifting the Lid. Clubhouse. First Times. Stride VC.
Capital Call #43
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.
Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 of The Family warns founders that they shouldn’t overlook product management: A key part of your startup team.
Carlos Espinal 🇺🇸 of Seedcamp writes about the challenges of internal and external communications—and how to tackle them:From PPP to (p)PPP.
Benedict Evans 🇬🇧, who’s with both Mosaic Ventures & Entrepreneur First, suggests that Amazon is blind as to what happens on its marketplace: Does Amazon know what it sells?
Philippe Gire 🇫🇷 and Louisa Mesnard🇫🇷 of Elaia Partners look back on their story with Ornikar, a driving learning platform: Ornikar: the art of disruption, the talent of execution.
Rachel Grahame 🇬🇧 of Backed VC shares insights so as to help everyone get better at applying for a job in a startup: Candidates, you have got to stop using these words in job applications.
Deepali Nangia 🇬🇧, an angel investor with Atomico, shares her experience investing in a startup and then it becoming a public company: From Angel to IPO in four years — The Story of PensionBee.
Yannick Oswald 🇱🇺of Mangrove Capital Partners writes about the pitfall of enjoying hype early in a startup’s journey: You are hyped. What's next?
Chris Smith 🇬🇧 of Playfair Capital published a long essay to document how each of his colleagues ended up working in venture capital: Lifting the lid: How the Playfair team got into Venture Capital.
Peter Specht 🇩🇪of Creandum explains that there’s still a lot of value to be created by startups focused on productivity: The new wave of productivity.
Ines Streimelweger 🇩🇪 of Creandum shares the firm’s latest deep dive on climate tech aggregated with their friends from SpeedInvest: The Growth and Future of Climate Tech Startups in Europe.
Eze Vidra 🇦🇷🇮🇱🇬🇧 of Remagine Ventures acknowledges that Clubhouse might struggle at some point, yet they had a huge impact: Clubhouse put a big bullseye on social audio.
Also by Eze, check out these two recent posts: How Link in Bio became the new online real estate for the creator economy & Monetisation is the Key to unlock The Second Renaissance in the Creator Economy (a productive week at Remagine Ventures!).
Alice Zagury 🇫🇷 of The Family invites founders to journey back into their memory: How was your 1st time?
Stride VC is so young, yet they have come such a long way! Read what Fred Destin 🇧🇪 has to say in London's Stride VC raised second $138.6M seed fund, hunts for third partner.
Nicolas Colin 🇫🇷 Co-Founder & Director, The Family, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Fred Destin 🇧🇪 Founder, Stride VC, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Carlos Espinal 🇺🇸 Managing Partner, Seedcamp, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn| Twitter| Blog
Benedict Evans 🇬🇧 Venture Partner, Entrepreneur First & Mosaic Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Philippe Gire 🇫🇷Partner, Elaia Partners, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn
Rachel Grahame 🇬🇧 Director of People Operations, Backed VC, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Louisa Mesnard 🇫🇷 CMO, Elaia Partners, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Deepali Nangia 🇬🇧 Angel Investor, Scout, Atomico 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Patrick Newton 🇬🇧 Founding Partner, Form Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Yannick Oswald 🇱🇺 Principal, Mangrove Capital Partners, Luxembourg 🇱🇺 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Chris Smith 🇬🇧 Managing Partner, Playfair Capital, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter
Peter Specht 🇩🇪Principal, Creandum, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter
Ines Streimelweger 🇩🇪 Investment Manager, Creandum, Berlin 🇩🇪 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Eze Vidra 🇦🇷🇮🇱🇬🇧 Managing Partner, Remagine Ventures, London 🇬🇧 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Alice Zagury 🇫🇷 Co-Founder & CEO, The Family, Paris 🇫🇷 LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog