Stereotype. 'Ecosystem' #22
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 #22!
In November, the ‘Ecosystem’ panel returned with a discussion on whether the VC pitch process is failing female entrepreneurs. A candid conversation that brought to light many overlooked factors (ie societal norms) and once again posed the familiar question around unconscious biases and stereotypes in venture. A point made by Marie-Hélène Ametsreiter, partner at Speedinvest, quoting a female entrepreneur from the firm's portfolio stood out to me:
“If you are a female entrepreneur, sitting in a room that is purely male-dominated, it affects the way you feel – you don’t feel relaxed, seen or represented. It is much more difficult to succeed in this environment.”
Indeed, our environment impacts our performance – being misjudged, stereotyped or put in a box based on over-generalized beliefs is painful. I would know.
“The problem is that the pressure to disprove a stereotype changes what you are about in a situation. It gives you an additional task. In addition to learning new skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking in a schooling situation, or in addition to trying to perform well in a workplace like the women in the high-tech firms, you are also trying to slay a ghost in the room, the negative stereotype and its allegation about you and your group.” - Claude Steele, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University (in ‘Whistling Vivaldi’)
What follows is an extreme form of multitasking that is both stressful and distracting, and shifts energy away from the core activity – to perform. Disproving a stereotype is said to be a ‘Sisyphean task’; “an activity you have to do over and over again as long as your are in the domain where the stereotype applies.”
Linking it back to the topic discussed, is it the pitch process then that is failing female entrepreneurs or is the problem at stake much deeper? *
If you’d like to chat about this or the issue of ‘stereotype threat’ more broadly, reach out.
Until next week! 👋
*If you missed the discussion (other than Speedinvest, investors from La Famiglia, Redstone and us at Amplifier joined), read the key insights shared here.
#EcosystemGiants Events
We are approaching the end of a year that has been like no other. A time that required a level of constant adaptation, grit and even creativity to push through and keep going. The final 2020 #EcosystemGiants guest is a leader with an extensive experience navigating new, challenging environments - growing a team from 0 to 80, scaling business operations across regions and being a supportive board member to close to 20 companies. I am so excited to announce Jan Miczaika (Partner at HV Capital, formerly HV Holtzbrinck Ventures) will join me for the last fireside chat of the year at 5pm GMT on Tuesday 15 December 2020. RSVP here
Jan is a partner at one of the most successful and financially strongest early-stage and growth venture capitalist in Europe that has backed internet and technology companies through various generations of funds (and most recently announced its new, 8th fund at €535 million euro!). Prior to joining the VC industry, he was one of the most successful operators in Berlin, with a big startup exit (Hitmeister to the METRO group) and as Wooga’s COO, helping the company grow from 30 to over 300 people.
Supported by Kaiku, ParlayMe and Startups Magazine.
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.
Tribute. Tech legend and former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh passes away at 46 (NPR).
Acquisitions. Salesforce buys workplace chat app Slack for $27.7 billion in one of the biggest deals in the software industry this year (The Verge). Earlier in the week, Facebook announced it is acquiring CRM startup Kustomer for $1 billion to expand into customer service tools (Techcrunch).
Big rounds. Four-year-old data labeling startup Scale AI picks up a $155 million Series D at a post-money valuation of over $3.5 billion (Pitchbook). SellerX raises $118 million to buy up and grow Amazon marketplace businesses (Techcrunch). Indian-based credit card repayment platform Cred snaps $80 million and nearly doubles in valuation in a little over a year (from $450 million in 2019 to $800 million currently) via Economic Times.
In Europe, Monzo secures another £60 million in funding (Finextra). And the demand for on-demand is here to stay - fresh food delivery startup Dija (founded by former Deliveroo employees) closing in on a pilot $20 million round (Techcrunch).
New funds. Firstminute Capital with a first close of its second $111 million fund (investors include Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt) via CNBC. Ibex Investors launches a $100 million fund focused on early stage Israeli startup ventures (BusinessWire).
Trending. Germany announces a 10 billion euro future fund for start-ups (YC News). A new UK digital watchdog to keep Big Tech in check against smaller rivals (The Guardian). Ivy League education to good use? Princeton grads 'beat the system’, with a $6 million + lottery win (ABC News).
Wins for women. Nonprofit organization All Raise raises $11 million to fuel its fight for equality in tech (The New York Times). Mastercard ranks Israel as best country for female entrepreneurs; Poland tops the chart for the EU (CNBC).
Funder
Wendy Xiao Schadeck (Principal Northzone) comically overgeneralizes a few VC archetypes to help founders better understand the various investor persona that can become a voice in the boardroom
“We didn’t see any change, we only saw acceleration. In the hubs, looking at the 10% of deal flow of startups in Europe, that have pedigree or already some sort of credibility within the VC ecosystem, there the situation has only improved and the power of the entrepreneurs has only accelerated in the 9-12 months.”
Few of Europe’s leading early stage investors including Oliver Holle (Managing Partner, Speedinvest), Jean-Marc Patouillaud (Managing Partner, Partech) and Henry Palmer (Partner, Amplifier) reflect on the 2020 fundraising landscape and share predictions for the year ahead
Founder/Operator
“Companies that invest too early in sales and marketing before nailing their product-market fit end up seeing precious dollars wasted that may have been better used elsewhere. Only invest in a true Customer Success function when the opportunity cost of both time and headcount is less than the contract value.”
Alyson Welch (Vice president of Enterprise Sales, Twilio) shares best practices when building an enterprise sales team at a developer-focused company
Chris Neumann (CEO and Founder, Commonwealth Ventures) discusses the ‘unbundling of venture capital’ and how founders can best leverage the unprecedented number of early-stage funding options available
Twitter Highlight
Shruti Gandhi, General Partner, Array Ventures
Rishi Tripathy, Chief of Staff, On Deck
Startup of the week
Making intermittent fasting a lifestyle choice, not a diet plan
Fastic, an intermittent fasting app that automatically computes your BMI and keeps track of your weight-loss as you progress through a pre-selected IF program. From a user’s perspective, I’ve been impressed with the UI 👏 - you may add me as a fasting buddy if you give it a go.
Tweet @fastic 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
Dream, Girl: A documentary showcasing the stories of inspiring female entrepreneurs
No-warm-intro-required investor list - a spreadsheet with contact details of VCs you can strategically reach out to cold
CEO and Co-Founder of AngelList Naval Ravikant's AMA is a must read - value-add tips to succeed in business and life
All Raise Fall 2020 Reading List - recommendations from inspiring female investors, founders and operators
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 Thank you for being part of another ‘Ecosystem’ newsletter!