Julian Collin

Ep.17 Drop #20Angel 🎙 The one & only Philipp Moehring, Co-Founder of Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company, joined me in the hot seat for a rare public appearance 🔥 👉 Introducing Tiny Supercomputer Investment Company FUND III ✍ 👉 Higher valuations = higher expectations 💣 👉 Giving Founders the freedom to be extreme 🤪 👉 Your access gives you your price 💰 Some Founder References on Philipp: dennis müller (Amie): "More than most, pmoe is a cheerleader. The journey is already hard enough, some VC's make it harder by sending unsolicited articles with "seen this?". He's the opposite. always fun to brainstorm ideas with him. Differentiated intros relative to others." David Budde (trawa): “He‘s been a great sparring partner and has a ton of experience. I remember, the night before our Pre-Seed closing, we found a minor but important error in our cap table. Unsure what to do, we called Phil late that evening for guidance. To me, it‘s super important to know that I can reach my investors, if it actually matters, and that they‘ll be able to help! + he’s just a really nice guy.” Milos Rusic (deepset): “Phil is amazing! He was actively involved in assembling each of our funding rounds - even in the first round where he committed before we had settled for a lead investor. He actively helped to construct our favourite setup of lead investors for that initial round. He knows everyone and his support is not limited to great intros - he really helps founders to assess and identify which investor could be a right fit for them. 100% reliable, massive value for every company. What they do is really unique.” This was a special one to do, hope you enjoy 🍿 https://lnkd.in/gTRT_SmJ 20VC, #AngelInvesting, #technology, #podcast, #entrepreneurship, #VC, #Founder, #Investing

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How do I actually get proper money as a founder? I spoke about this in the Für-Gründer.de Podcast with editor Elena Todeva. What financing options are there? How do I find the VC that really suits me? When should I bootstrap? Which financing has which consequences in the end? My personal tip for founders: Do some real networking, exchange ideas with other founders, get tips and advice from everywhere, be brave, talk to experienced founders and ask really deep questions and learn always from the experiences of others. Please listen and feel free to write me feedback. https://lnkd.in/de_ZmdZq

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The best part of work is always at the terminals. Yesterday at the HHLA Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG Container Terminal Tollerort. Supporting the incredible works of founders Marcel Wiegand and Nico Marks and their exciting venture passify that secures and automates gate processes. The roll-out was a blast. Speaking with hundreds of truck drivers all day long and showing them the easiness of the gate process via smartphone App. This is another great example why founders who have years of terminal work experiences make the difference when it comes to gate integration, process knowledge and smooth software roll-outs. And this is just the start. passify simplifies and streamlines the access management process for both truck drivers and facility operators, while providing real-time information on pick-up and delivery availability. Definitely a startup to watch on an exciting growth path. #smartport #terminalaccess #startup #truck #gateprocess

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🟠🟣 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳! At WECONOMY, founders win what money can't buy: The competition brings founders together with experts and managers right up to the executive boards of the German economy. Are you a tech start-up and want to take your business to the next level?  This is your chance! ✔️ 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆? Start-ups in the early stage / pre-seed phase as well as start-ups that have not yet been founded with proof of concept or pilots. ✔️ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀? We are looking for startups with a focus on STEM and technology. MedTech, FinTech, AgriTech ... the possibilities are endless! ✔️ 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺? Not a must, but all the better. After all, it has long been known: More diverse teams are more successful. Any questions? Message Christine Heuwing or comment below! ⏰ 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟰! WECONOMY is an initiative of Wissensfabrik - Unternehmen für Deutschland e.V. in cooperation with UnternehmerTUM and Handelsblatt.

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Thrilled to be featured in #Handelsblatt discussing the state of the Asset Management industry. It's a challenging time for Asset Managers, and here are a few reasons why: - While AuM are up 12% after a turbulent 2022, the industry’s profit pool is down 8%. - Flows are either seeking lower margin products or specialized alternative asset classes. - New clients (e.g., Gen Z) are not that easy to capture for traditional asset managers. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on these developments! What do you think the future holds for our industry? #assetmanagement #mutualfunds #innovation

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Start-ups in Europe: a light at the end of the tunnel - finally!    This article by Nadine Schimroszik in Handelsblatt gives reason for hope for the tech ecosystem, as it summarises a development that has been tentatively emerging for some time: The number of new #start-ups in Germany is growing again, by 17 per cent, as shown by a comparison of the first quarter of 2024 with the same quarter of the previous year.   💡It is particularly interesting to see that most investments are being made in AI. An unmistakable sign that they continue to be a driver of innovation for the German startup ecosystem.   We recently came to a similar conclusion with my team, as part of our analysis of the German startup landscape. Our conclusion: more and more funding are being mobilised for ♻️ #Greentech business ideas that are based on AI-based technologies and have a positive impact on our planet. More info on our research at IRIS can be found in Startup Insider`s Investors Report 2024: https://lnkd.in/dU-5AMPz More info on Nadine’s insightful article here: https://lnkd.in/depicwGA

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Fundraising is definitely not a walk in the park 😅 I’m still rather far away from being en expert in this - but the past months taught me a lot! It was a pleasure to share some of these lessons with Nicole Plich from Gründerszene. I want to share especially one insight, that is very specific if you’re fundraising as a woman. Women are typically asked risk-focused (prevention) questions by investors, while men are questioned about their potential (promotion). The challenge for us is to not get overshadowed by these risk-centric questions. Instead, and to pivot the conversation to emphasize our potential and vision. This is one of the crucial lessons I’ve learned over the past months - and I’m working on getting better at this. Dear early stage founders - what would be your key lessons to share? Cesar Hussmann Stefan Balg Bastian Meyer Cassie Yusofi Nikolaus Ridder Sufyan Osamah 🐾 Federica Moreno Jen Godderidge Anna Maria Ullmann Evoléna de Wilde d'Estmael 🌱 Susanne Krehl Viktoria Lindner Valeriy Bykanov 🇺🇦 Jana Maria Weinand Jessica Droujko

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ICYMI: Speedinvest was granted a full AIFM licence by FMA Finanzmarktaufsicht Österreich. 😎 🙏 Another milestone on our journey of pioneering VC in Austria🇦🇹: 🔸 2011 first VC fund launched in a decade (AuM 10m) 🔸 2015 first EuVECA fund (AuM 100m) 🔸 2024 first VC fund with AIFM licence (AuM 1b) A big step in our efforts of further professionalizing VC in Austria: There are only 22 other domestic firms with such a licence and we are the only VC in this group. This puts us on the same level with firms such as Allianz Invest, Erste Asset Management GmbH, Gutmann KAG, IQAM Invest GmbH, KEPLER-FONDS Kapitalanlagegesellschaft m.b.H., Lansdowne Partners, LLB Invest KAG, Raiffeisen KAG, Schoellerbank Invest AG, 3 Banken-Generali Investment-Gesellschaft m.b.H. invest.austria Invest Europe Industriellenvereinigung #venturecapital #risikokapital

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Strong founders are like benevolent dictators. 👑🤝 How do personality profiles of successful early-stage founding teams differ from those who are not so successful? We analyzed our 83 early stage founders in our Techstars Berlin portfolio to understand the secret recipe of successful founding teams at the early stage. Our founders took an assessment called Profile Dynamics®, which is an assessment designed to analyze people’s individual driving factors and motivation. Cornelius Schaub and Robert Siegers were so kind to introduce this to us. Profile Dynamics breaks personality factors down into 7 main categories 👉 💡 Yellow: Inspires with visionary ideas, forward-thinking, optimism, and is analytical 🏆 Orange: Competes, plays to win and to be viewed as successful 🏎️ Red: Executes quickly and decisively, and not afraid to be confrontational when necessary 💜 Purple: Stays loyal and dedicated to a cause or people, seeking security and safety 📘 Blue: Thrives in a structured environment, seeking stability and reliability 🌿 Green: Seeks harmony among people, listens empathetically, and desires consensus 🌐 Turquoise: Sees situations holistically, integrates difference in perspective, connects dots Here is the pattern in most of our founding teams that were successful in early-stage fundraising: 🏎️ More Decisive Red 🔴 Successful teams have on average 10 more points on their red score than unsuccessful ones. Takeaway: Strong founders are masters of execution. They cut off discussion to act quickly and decisively. They are relentless in working toward their goals, even if it sometimes means stepping on some toes. 💡 Lots of Visionary Yellow 🟡 100% of our most successful teams have at least one co-founder with a score of yellow higher than 10 points (average difference is 7 points). Takeaway: Successful founders are insanely ambitious with a vision for a new future. They can set a clear and inspiring Northstar for their company. They push for data to back up their vision and set the course. 🌐 Some integrative turquoise 🌐 Successful teams have on average 4 more points on turquoise than unsuccessful ones. Takeaway: While being decisive and visionary, it is critical to be able to integrate a diverse set of opinions around the (leadership) table. Strong teams tend to think in “and” not in “or” (e.g. growth AND profitability). 🌿 Less Harmonious Green 🟢 Unsuccessful teams have on average 8 points more in green. Takeaway: Unsuccessful founders often focus too much on building internal alignment instead of making decisions quickly and executing them. Therefore, don’t feel bad about being assertive and making decisive choices from time to time. We define successful as having raised a (pre-)seed round from institutional investors. Our sample size is 83. While this does not qualify for a scientific publication, is should give some practical advice.

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Salary Guide 2024 - Venture Capital DACH The last two years were crisis years for many start-ups. The volume of financing fell by almost two thirds. The reasons for this are persistently high interest rates and high inflation, coupled with a recession and a difficult geopolitical situation. Added to this is the further withdrawal of foreign investors from financing German start-ups, particularly from the USA. Nevertheless, experts are optimistic about the current year, not least because of the enormous potential in the artificial intelligence and clean tech sectors. This optimistic outlook for 2024 is also reflected in the salaries of VC company employees. These have remained relatively stable and, in some cases, have seen a positive upward trend. #investmentbanking

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𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲! 🪑 Today we are going to launch the “Round Table – Founder-Friendly VC Feedback”. 🚀 This format will take place on the first day of the check-in event alongside two workshops on the topics of “Pitch Founder Personality” and “Start-up Valuation Methods”. What exactly is this “Round Table”, how does it work, who is involved, and what is the point of it? 🟠 Who? We will be welcoming four venture capitalists and seven teams from Phase 1 to the round table. The format will be moderated by Kathrin Schelbaum. 🟠 What? After an introduction and conversation with the representatives of the VCs, all start-ups will pitch for 3 minutes and then receive feedback from them. 🟠 Why? The aim of the format is to familiarise the start-ups with the topic of pitching and to prepare them for potential financing rounds in a fun way. They achieve this by receiving valuable feedback from the VCs on what they can improve regarding content and how they can communicate better in order to be more convincing verbally, for example. The primary aim is therefore not securing funding, but learning from representatives of real VCs and practising their pitches. And who knows, maybe there will be one or two opportunities after all ... 😉 We are very happy and grateful to have venture capitalists Dr. Maximilian Ochs, Emilie Cousin, Varun Gupta and Sebastian Büchte on board this time and therefore took the chance to dive deeper into the world of VCs. Swipe to the left to take a look behind the scenes of the VCs and read extracts from our #interview with them. 🙌 ➡️ Would you have expected these answers? #maximizeincubator is the official start-up incubation program for the Max Planck Society by Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH.

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#Exciting news! Our caesar. partner Sebastian Büchte is participating in the session "Round Table - Founder-friendly VC feedback" of the MAXIMIZE incubator for Max Planck startups 💬 💡 The format is designed to familiarize founders with the topic of pitching and prepare them for possible financing rounds. Sebastian is looking forward to the pitches and is happy to share his constructive feedback, as he is not only an investor but also a founder himself and therefore very familiar with the other side of the table! 🙌 Take a look below to see what he had to say in advance about sustainability and values when evaluating start-ups at caesar. 👇 🔎

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A business lesson that took me a few years to learn: 🗓️ 2020: I was part of the RBF hype from 2020-2022. RBF is short for Revenue-Based Financing. The RBF hype was a period of exceptional innovation in the dusty VC world. Together with Christian Stein, I built the business of a US fund in Europe from scratch. To many of my friends’s dismay, I posted a ton about RBF here on LinkedIn. I even co-authored a chapter on RBF in an investment book published by Springer 🤓 It was a *super competitive* time to be in the market! New funds entered the market every week. We expected unicorns and fairytales. All of us would flourish and continue to grow for years to come. Taking a bite out of that delicious VC cake. If there was a choice, my default decision was the faster, riskier, bolder bet. Being 26 years old, I only knew one direction of the market: up 📈 🗓️ 2024: A few years later, almost every single one of our old competitors is gone 💀 They went bankrupt, exited in a fire sale, or changed their business model. My old fund, Riverside Acceleration Capital, is still around. They played a different game all along. Focused on long-term viable partnerships. True better-together stories, even if that meant sacrificing hyper-growth. Back then, I didn’t understand how exceptional the market was that I found myself in. I didn’t understand that ZIRP was driving +99% of the investment decisions. I didn’t foresee that the shining stars of our industry would go down in flames in just a few years. Today, I am in the middle of a completely different trend. Again, I see competitors popping up left and right. Gitpod has become so successful that it inspires others to take a bite out of the CDE cake. 🍰 But I’ve learned my lesson. They truly don’t matter. Most of them will not be around 5 years from now. But one company will be there: Gitpod. If you are selling a product or service, keep that in mind: Being long-term viable is extremely important. Price accordingly. If new entrants underprice the market and sell at a loss, don’t worry. You are building long-term partnerships that require a business model that works. Make it real and share this idea in conversations with business partners and customers: smart buyers will value long-term viability over saving an extra 5%. Today, I am ready to explain and defend our long-term viability at any moment. I love collecting these business adventures. I’ve spent more time in Excel sheets than I care to admit. But some lessons need to be hard-won over the years :)

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How much of a global #fintech (as in fin+tech) hub is #Berlin? There’s probably not much doubt in this direction.  I'm also quite convinced about it. Here is why.   Seven years ago, when with my wife we decided to move to Berlin (Germany) from Bucharest (Romania), the plan was to move to a city with a dynamic fintech ecosystem. Also a family friendly city. And a cool city, too.   A bit less than a year ago, I created morphiq, incorporated it in Berlin, in a matter of days. Yes, in a matter of days, with a single trip to an English-speaking notary. I immediately opened the company account, all online (with Qonto).    Two days ago, I had a call, in English, with Markus Becker-Melching, the General Manager of the support association of House of Finance & Tech Berlin (HoFT.Berlin) . He approached me, in my quality of morphiq founder. Markus was after listening to my wishes and expectations from HOFT. Yes, you are reading it right. Towards the end of the call, he made sure he noted it all well: 1. HoFT.Berlin to be a place that offers a real roof above the head – in early stages, having access to a meeting room for a few hours, or to a decently priced workspace makes a difference for young start-ups such as morphiq.io; 2. HoFT.Berlin to introduce to the entrepreneurs all the public programs (Berlin Senate, Federal Government, EU funded) dedicated to start-ups – yes, there’s more than VC funding available out there; 3. HoFT.Berlin to be a matchmaking platform between the already settled financial industry players, investors, public programs representatives and start-up founders; early stages start-ups need first and foremost access to potential customers, for an effective product market fit; then to funding, talent and more customers; 4. HoFT.Berlin to be bilingual (German and English) – Markus mentioned that #English shall be the working language at HOFT; 5. HoFT.Berlin to find ways to promote and help expand abroad #MadeinBerlin start-ups; 6. HoFT.Berlin to promote itself abroad, to attract business ideas (and their founders) from abroad; I must have been approached in Paris (at Viva Technology), by the UK London & Partners and by the Choose France representatives, in Amsterdam (at Money2020), by representatives of IDA Ireland; 7. HoFT.Berlin to back excellent initiatives such as FIBE Berlin; it will spare Berlin based entrepreneurs the non-marginal cost of getting to large events located abroad.    Markus gave me preliminary good news, as the above list pretty much overlaps with HoFT.Berlin plans. Wonderful!   Bottom line, #Berlin feels like the right place for growing and expanding morphiq.io, and for fintech start-ups, in general. It equally feels the right place to be for my family. And it’s a cool city, too 😉 #berlin #fintech #startup

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It's the ecosystem, stupid. Building robust ecosystems is crucial for the success of startups. Max Meister’s article in Handelszeitung highlights the current exit challenges and the importance of strong financial health and market readiness. In the US, a well-established exit culture fuels continuous reinvestment, but in Europe and Switzerland, this is just emerging. As a serial entrepreneur and investor, I see it as both a privilege and responsibility to actively shape this ecosystem, fostering growth and innovation. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/er3Y3-84 #ecosystem #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #venturebuilding

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Another small step...    ...towards closing the #growthfinancing gap in DACH. I am really excited to announce that we raised €200m for our inaugural Armira Growth Fund I.    We are beyond thankful for all the trust and support received from our investors and existing portfolio firms osapiens, Wemolo, Workwise, and yoummday. This would not have been possible without our stellar team at Armira Growth and the broader Armira family that has supported our mission from day 1 across all dimensions (#NextGenGP).    Why should you as a scale up founder consider to partner with us?   ➢ As a small entrepreneurial team, we can move fast and deliver on our handshakes, from investment all the way through exit,  ➢ We will only back a few handpicked companies investing €10-50m each, and therefore have the bandwidth to support you every step of the way, with a true minority partnership mindset,  ➢ Our sparring across all strategic and tactical dimensions leverages a wealth of experience on what has proven effective (and more importantly what has not), and,   ➢ We provide unparalleled access to the #GermanMittelstand with our unique investor base of more than 100 entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial families.    We cannot wait to support the next generation of (not so) hidden #TechChampions and jointly shape many more entrepreneurial success stories! Florian Tappeiner Sebastian Johnston Max Berkemeier Anna Schulte Max Ammon Pieter Timmerman Tessa Bottenschein Sophie Mößmer Marco Giazzi Björn Thieme

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Excellent learning points for fintechs especially in the startup phase, thank you Martin Meyer! Particularly salient is this 'panic' to pitch, without asking what problem the solution aims to solve. The Professionals in Residence Program for startups hammers this question into participants: What problem are you trying to solve? What's more, some startups tend to think about soft rugs and gleaming artwork before laying the floor and raising a wall: fancy apps and pretty websites with all the bells and whistles. Form over substance. Financial institutions need the latter from fintechs. Brickwork first, then Botticelli. Maybe. The PiR Program puts emphasis on customer experience (CX) and how it differs from UX. Draw out the pain points and solve them. Then get out the white satin gloves. Know your customer, or KYC, is a familiar concept in banking circles. Fintechs can get inside the minds of theirs by tapping experienced finance professionals. In the digital assets space, much exciting work to be done! More fintech dialogue to the people! #digitalassets #sfta #PiR

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#Boardfocus 🔍 Many people probably think that supervisory board work is a dry affair👨🏻‍💻. This is certainly not the case at N26! For example, there is always water on the meeting tables with or without bubbles from Viva con Agua , an organization whose "purpose" is to promote the topic of water 💧 globally. But this is not the only reason, why our board work is not dry...😉 This week, the “purpose” of the N26 Supervisory Board was again manifold: in the various committee meetings as well as in the Supervisory Board meeting of N26 Bank AG and N26 AG, we had the privilege of discussing many topics with the Management Board as well as with N26 Executive Leadership Team members and other N26 Team Members. The Supervisory Board meeting is always a busy one, with lots of exciting topics on the agenda. In addition to the reports from the Chair and the CEO, there is a comprehensive business and financial update📊, as well as reports on the topics and decisions of the various committees. We place a major focus on regulatory issues, which play a key role for the management and the overall governance of the organisation. In addition to these specific topics, developments and initiatives relating to #ESG, #diversity and #AI were also discussed at this week's meetings. For a tech bank, issues surrounding the intelligent use of #data in product development and customer experience are absolutely central. Supervisory board work is never boring. I can confirm that for all my mandates. In the #fintech sector, we are experiencing a wide range of dynamic developments. Fintech companies often stand for innovation and transformation. Fintechs challenge the financial industry and seek the challenge in the market, with competition and in the interest of customers’ expectations in the overall digital society. The task of the supervisory board is to identify new and developing risks in this context. In times of geopolitical tensions, the board is even more confronted with new risks which occur not just for N26 but for the entire financial sector. For example, the topic of sanctions is at the top of the agenda when it comes to anti-money laundering measures🕵️‍♀️. The Board is addressing these topics too. Three days of "operational" Board work at N26 are behind us. The next topics, meetings, and discussions are already scheduled for the coming weeks. The Board work at N26 is never dull. It is exciting, dynamic, and varied.🙌🏽 Barbara Roth Déborah Carlson-Burkart Joerg Gerbig Julian Deutz Valentin Stalf Maximilian Tayenthal Arnd Schwierholz Carina Kozole Jan Stechele Gino Cordt Anke Ulrich Timo Meyer Juan Bongiovanni Mayur Kamat #supervisoryboard #governance #regulation #strategy #boardagenda #board

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