Relativity. 'Ecosystem' #23
Your weekly guide on tech news and early stage fundraising - democratizing access to the venture capital for less networked founders and junior VCs.
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Hello and welcome to issue #23!
Relativity and empathy. To understand the system we are part of, we need distance and perspective. To explain one’s behavior, we need to see the world through their eyes (and likewise, what we see is not all there is to see).
The point about perspective was touched upon during last week’s ‘Ecosystem Giants’ with Amali De Alwis MBE FRSA (Managing Director, Microsoft for Startups).
As human beings, we accept social norms based on what we see. When we don’t profile the successful outliers that may be a minority in a specific industry, we fail to normalize what people in that sector look like, thereby creating a propitious circle of underrepresentation.
This culture of underrepresentation heightens existing barriers both ‘outsiders’ and the members of a salient group ‘already in’ face. By reinforcing social norms, we reaffirm the notion of who belongs where and who doesn’t. The way to get more women to not only embark careers in STEM but climb up the ranks is to make them (us) feel not as a group in minority (and undermine themselves/one another due to internal insecurities). Happy to chat more about this in private.
As she is one of my early role models in tech, speaking with Amali was humbling on many levels. Being exposed to her story and drive to make a difference in leveling the playing field for women in technology has inspired me to: 1) be more active in my own efforts and 2) want to do the same for others - create new opportunities to pass this inspiration on.
Inspiration is contagious. The more we are exposed to it, the more we pass it on.
I hope this inspiration exchange took place during the event itself - through the pitch of Girls in Charge, that help young women build their confidence and entrepreneurial skills through gamified workshops (and who I’m very glad to be supporting as a non-exec trustee!).
Enjoy the weekend 👏 and until next week!
#EcosystemGiants
In the final ‘Ecosystem Giants’ session of the year, an opportunity to hear from an incredible VC leader - Jan Miczaika (Partner at HV Capital) who prior to joining the VC world was one of the most successful operators in Berlin. We’ll talk about startup growth, building team culture and investing in Europe’s leading software businesses at 5pm GMT (6pm CET) on 15 December 2020. RSVP here to join.
Innovation Ecosystem Updates
Whether you are an investor, a founder, an operator, a corporate or a friend. The top news stories this week you may find of interest.
Trending - IPOs. Airbnb and DoorDash raise prices ranges ahead of blockbuster week for IPOs (Fortune). During its first day of public trading, shares of software company C3.ai (led by former Oracle Corp. exec Tom Siebel) leaped 174% (Business Insider). Robinhood picks Goldman Sachs to lead preparations for its $20 billion+ 2021 IPO (Reuters).
At €34 billion, 2020 marks a record level of VC investment in European tech - more key stats in Atomico’s latest annual report. Plus a summary of the top 20 highlights (Sifted). Why the power to change the female-founder double standard rests with VCs (Fortune). And a statement appointment. Benchmark, one of the leading VC firms globally hires 29-year-old Miles Grimshaw as fifth General Partner (Techcrunch).
Big Rounds. Isar Aerospace raises $91M, the largest round to date in European space (Techcrunch). From 0 to 100 in nine months - Israeli cloud security startup Wiz emerges from stealth with $100M series A (Forbes). A16Z-backed Pave raises a $16M series A to bring more fairness in compensation to the startup world (Techcrunch).
New Funds. Highland Europe raises €700M for fund IV (Reuters). Ada Ventures closes first fund at $50M to invest in diverse founders tacking societal problems (Techcrunch). Entrée Capital with a new $125M fund to back Israeli startups (GeekTime).
Wins for women. The world’s 100 most powerful ladies (Forbes). A female leader to kickstart Sequoia’ European launch and find next $100bn moonshot - get to know Luciana Lixandru over brunch (Sifted).
Funder
The most reliable way to become a billionaire is to start a company that grows fast, and the way to grow fast is to make what users want. Newly started startups have no choice but to delight users, or they'll never even get rolling. But this never stops being the lodestar, and bigger companies take their eye off it at their peril. Stop delighting users, and eventually someone else will.
Paul Graham (Co-Founder and Partner, Y Combinator) on acing the Y Combinator interview, startup success and lessons from (tech) billionaires
Listen closely for the next phase of social - audio. Andrew Chen (General Partner, A16Z) maps out the current product landscape, future trends in content format/business model and discusses why audio innovation of the next decade will rival what took place video apps over the past years
Are you building a B2B marketplace? Julia Morrongiello (Associate, Point Nine Capital) digs into the key components making up these type of businesses (from curating the suppliers to providing value-added services) and the tech stack to use
Founder/Operator
Katrina Lake (Founder and CEO, Stitch Fix) on building a $3 billion-dollar capital efficient business (with an equity raise of only $42 million!), self-doubt and effective board management
Is the best growth strategy to focus all energy on achieving a single key metric? Brian Balfour (Founder and CEO, Reforge) explores OMTM - why it is misleading and how optimising for a single North Star metric may do more harm than good to your business (featuring examples of Pinterest, Slack)
Even when we are at our most successful, isn’t there ALWAYS something about ourselves we could probably work on and improve?
Miriam Feyer (Head of People, Speedinvest) brings to light the value of coaching for founders’ personal development
Twitter Highlight(s)
Amy Sun, Former Partner, Sequoia
Beata Klein, Associate, Creandum
Startup of the week
Offset your carbon footprint (and turn it into a mass movement) to solve the climate crisis
Klima, an app that allows anyone to become carbon neutral with the tap of a button. Calculate your carbon footprint and support science-backed climate projects (like planting biodiverse tropical forests) to offset these same emissions elsewhere (and track the positive effects of your commitment in real time!).
Tweet @getklima to share they were featured in ‘Ecosystem’!
Startup Go-to Resources
Talis Knowledge Hub: a one-stop shop (online library) for founders with curated resources, gathered from experts across the VC and tech sectors - from raising funds to hiring
Reid Hoffman and Chamath Palihapitiya on angel investing and the future of venture - a must-listen episode Venture Stories episode
Y Combinator's Guide to Seed Fundraising - from why and when to raise money to what not to do while communicating with investors
Signals VC Maps out the DACH Pre-Seed VC Landscape
Robinhood Founder Vlad Tenev on building one of the fastest growing companies of the decade - leadership, (team) culture and managing fear/opportunity
Remote working tips and team building activities for companies of all sizes
Apply to join Antler Berlin and launch a tech venture. Find a co-founder, receive pre-seed funding, access mentorship and expand your network.
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath - an interesting read on one's rational/emotional mind and why successful changes follow a pre-defined pattern