The 10 Keys to Investing in European Startups
European Straits #184
Hi, it’s Nicolas from The Family. Today I’m sharing my personal framework for reaching sound investment decisions regarding European startups.
With Capital Call I’ve been curating a lot of writing by fellow European investors over the past two months. It made me realize that I really do have my own vision of what investing is all about, and so I thought I would share it here as a 10-point framework.
Read along for the details and reasoning 👇 But here’s the short version:
There’s not just one framework for investing in tech startups. Beware any advice, including mine.
Have a ‘castle’ in your head; use encounters with founders to keep building and embellishing it.
Be a generalist. We’ve advanced enough in the current paradigm shift so as to see recurring patterns and draw lessons across industries. Still, mind the small differences.
The qualities that make a good founder at this point in the paradigm shift are energy, velocity, rigor, and knowledge—not unlike a jazz musician.
Favor founders t…