Associated

We're kicking off Season 5 with a bang! We're super excited to come back from our little hiatus to speak to the marvellous Beata Klein at Creandum! We talk all about her starting a company in Asia, why she chose to join Creandum, what her first year in venture was like and how she stays productive day-to-day.  As the first investors in Spotify, Creandum know a thing or two about spotting pote...

We're ending the year- and what a year it has been!- with a bang and a bonus episode. Lois and Petra are joined by a wonderful trio this week; Finn, Annalise and Kamil from Frontline Ventures, Sapphire Ventures and Notion Capital respectively chat through everything from how to progress through the VC ranks to finding your superpower as an investor and beyond. This group doesn't hold back- you def...

This week, Hector Mason at Episode 1 sits down with Francesca and Petra- we chat about E1's strong content strategy, what boxes he needs to tick before presenting the company to the partnership and how he goes about finding the best start-ups in the market. We also discuss "The Seed Stage", the inspiration behind starting this initiative and how its win-win structure benefits the founder but also...

We're joined by Esha Vatsa, an investor at Pi Labs - the early stage PropTech fund with a corresponding accelerator. Lois and Petra find out how Esha's early career in accountancy and transaction services inspired her moves into the VC industry, and from Delhi to London! We discuss the growing importance of ESG in investing, and how Esha sees its impact in the PropTech space (ESG = Environmental,...

This week we hop across the pond and speak to Crystal and Jai at New Enterprise Associates- where both are Principals. We find out about how each approached applying for their current role and how they formulate their investment thesis now as investors at what once was the largest VC firm in the world. They tell us  what impresses them in applicants and give very specific advice on candidates...

This week Petra and Lois sit down with Daisy Onubogu at Backed VC, where she leads Network and Communities. We unpack exactly what that role entails and how it sets Backed apart as a fund. Among her recounting her journey through studying law to working at Web Summit to ending up in venture, Daisy tells us about the importance of community building and relationship management for the benefit of fo...

Lois and Francesca are joined by Hannah Redgewell, Investment Manager at Channel 4 Ventures. They get straight into Channel 4's unique model of exchanging TV advertising for equity in companies, and discuss the incredible reach TV coverage still has. Hannah candidly shares the details of her journey into VC and explains how her time as a Strategy Consultant shaped her passion for media and consume...

This week, our guest Rodrigo Mendoza-Smith joins us from Mexico City to chat about his unique journey as a mathematician in VC to founding his own company, Quine. He explains how he uses his unique skillset in the world of venture and how investors leverage using data to benefit the fund and their portfolio. Are you a data scientist looking to get into VC? Rodrigo talks about that as well!...So- t...

We're delighted to be joined by Jessica Li in this episode of Associated. For a change of pace, in this episode, Lois and Julia get into the details of how Jessica entered the VC scene at a pretty young age, then moved to an operational role at Zageno as a Growth Marketer. We discuss how to position yourself so that you are seen and heard by the VC community, and discuss Jessica's role as Head of...

We're so excited to kick off Season 4 with the inimitable Sam Cash, Principal at Project A Ventures. Francesca and Lois dive straight in to find out about Project A's unique differentiator of providing operational support to its portfolio companies, and to learn how Sam's setting up the organisation's presence in London. They discuss his route into VC via a thrilling tenure at betaworks, and how h...

💎BONUS 💎 In this very special episode of Associated we do the unthinkable - we interview a Partner! Matt Penneycard is one of two Founding Partners at Ada Ventures, the fund investing in overlooked founders and markets. Matt's refreshing candour paves the way for a landmark episode of Associated in which we showcase the classic route into VC from the perspective of someone who went on to raise a...

Ready for a new take on the VC space? Join us this week, as we interview Shaun Hon, Director of Rainmaking Transport, Southeast Asia’s first corporate venture builder for the maritime industry. He delves into his background as an engineer and how that brought him to the VC industry and eventually the venture building space. In this episode, you’ll get a chance to learn about what venture building...

This week we're joined by Shinaz Navas, Associate at Emerge Education. During our interview we learned more about Shinaz's experience founding his own EdTech startup and how he's implementing that experience and knowledge into investing in innovative new technologies in the education space. Education goes past K-12 and with COVID19, the need for new solutions becomes more urgent. He also delves in...

This week we’re delighted to be joined by Yvonne Bajela, Principal at Impact X Capital. We hear about how Yvonne put her own spin on a relatively ‘traditional’ career path through investment banking and strategy consulting to corporate venture capital. By putting her skills to use in Ghana and Japan, Yvonne acquired a unique wealth of experience on both side of the investment table. Now she invest...

This week we have another double dose on Associated- this time, courtesy of Speedinvest! Francesca and Petra chat to Gunita and Magda who are both investors at the fund- exploring their different journeys into venture capital, the unique platform value-add Speedinvest provides to its founders- and of course, what they're currently excited about and how they contextualise the start-ups they screen...

This week we're excited to be joined by Jacob Claerhout, Associate at Partech and founder of Merit, the 'Codeacademy for VCs'! Like us, Jacob feels strongly about broadening access to venture capital which is why he started Merit; to give anyone the opportunity to earn their stripes assessing early stage companies. We discuss how building something gives you a renewed respect for all founders, and...

Paul Lehair, Investment Manager at AlbionVC, joins us this week to share his brilliant story - not only did he have the pleasure of meeting Petra back when they both worked at Viagogo, but he was also one of the first business hires at Citymapper! We discuss how Paul went from studying Politics & Economics across three countries, to an M&A role at Citi, before he moved over to startups. Fi...

We're joined by Kate and Jessica, Associates in the Investment Team at 500 Startups who took pretty different paths to get there! We talk about how each of them is motivated by getting hands-on to support companies' growth, and what makes the fund's platform model special.  Kate's LinkedIn Jess's LinkedIn 500 Startups

What do politics and VC have in common? We find out this week as Francesca and Petra sit down with Magda Lukaszewicz at Balderton (fun fact:  she was one of the youngest politicians in Sweden ever)! Magda takes us on her journey from politician to start-ups, investment banking to venture capital. She talks about what she's seen and learned along the way and explains why keeping an open mind i...

In a first for Associated, we're joined by two guests this week! Kathy and Michael are both Principals at Downing Ventures where, although they tend to look at different types of companies, they work together closely. We talk about the benefits of friendship in working relationships - how real trust enables respectful challenge and leads to more comprehensive deal assessment. Kathy and Michael als...

We're absolutely thrilled to be joined by Will Bricker, Associate at Hustle Fund, to kick off our third season of Associated! Happily, the concept of "hustle" really permeates the episode; from the way we got Will onto the podcast (an opportune Twitter exchange about how Associates can enable more efficient investments) to the way Will worked himself into his role (a masterclass in negotiating a s...

To close out our second season we’re introducing a new member of the Associated team! Julia’s been working with us behind the scenes and is making her ‘on-mic’ debut with this special episode that sees us reflect on the last two seasons of Associated. This time, Julia’s asking the questions! We talk about why we started Associated, whether we're meeting our own expectations, what we’re proudest of...

This week we're joined by Deepka Rana, Associate at Northzone, to discuss early stage investing across Europe and the United States. We chat about the joy of B2B products that delight the end user, ponder the immediate and longer term affects of coronavirus on VC, and reveal why it's always a good time to approach a fund you'd like to work at.  Deepka's Twitter Northzone

In this episode of Associated, Bastian Faulhaber chats to Petra and Francesca about his role as Venture Architect at BCG Digital Ventures- the corporate investment firm and incubator of the Boston Consulting Group. He explains what he had to learn as he transitioned from an investing role to BCG DV, how start-ups are put together and grown in-house- plus, the exciting projects he's worked on acros...

Sarah Guemouri, Senior Associate at Atomico, joins us this week to chat about what it's like to focus on research and insights for one of Europe's top funds. We discuss building a data strategy at a VC fund, how data-driven roles support the investment process, and how Sarah and her team pull together the annual State of European Tech report.  Sarah's LinkedIn Atomico   The State of Euro...