00:27:39 · Uwe Horstmann, Andre Degler
[00:27:39] S1: Yeah. Definitely. So the the first question is that we don't really care that much about geography anymore. Now, of course, corona has also helped with with everything being remote. But in all seriousness, there's no reason why a cool company shouldn't be able to start to exist, to be born, or then grow in any kind of corner of of the continent. So that's fantastic, I think. That also makes our job a little bit more complicated in terms of our radar being a bit more open, not just too narrow on on certain countries. So, yeah, I think we we we see amazing stuff now happening everywhere, and being too focused on on countries is probably not not not the right way to think about this. Sometimes, you know, any reason to think hard way is that company actually based that I'm about to speak to because, it doesn't even matter much. Plus, we think, like, a lot a lot of companies also won't see themselves as rooted somewhere that deeply anymore going forward. They will be just as international, just as remote as we are operating. And that's, I think, where it becomes really, really interesting, how a remote distributed VC firm deals with a remote distributed, startup. That's, I think, where it where it gets interesting. That's where the future also definitely is headed. [00:28:52] S0: Alright. And to the second part of the question, so still, do you actually see any particular, geographies becoming more prominent in terms of where the companies are coming from?
00:28:52 · Andre Degler, Uwe Horstmann
[00:28:52] S0: Alright. And to the second part of the question, so still, do you actually see any particular, geographies becoming more prominent in terms of where the companies are coming from? [00:29:03] S1: I mean, so for us, for example, The Nordics always have been very important, and I think, they'll just grow. The UK obviously is a market that always has been very strong and continues to be strong. Eastern Europe for us is definitely like, it will always be... Yeah. It's... It continues to be high on the agenda just because tech talent and and overall proliferation of, you know, the the start up concepts now is is reaching every corner of Europe, especially also Eastern Europe. So we're kinda looking everywhere. There's there's not, like, a real, you know, secret tip that I have. Okay. This is, this this very specific region that we see a lot of growth in. I think it's gonna be across the board. Maybe some country is growing faster at some point, but, a, we don't even think about, you know, certain geographic... Geographies that way, as as I mentioned, and, b, we think there's an overall lift up effect for for pretty much everywhere. As long as you don't take really dumb political decisions, I think you will benefit from that. If you take especially smart decisions, you will you will benefit over proportionally from that. And I think that's kind of the task that that countries are now dealing with.
00:30:15 · Andre Degler
[00:30:15] S0: Alright. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. So to to finish off or at least get closer to finishing off this conversation, one of the topics I've been talking to, some of VC firms lately is what seems to be a growing importance and growing awareness of the importance of marketing and PR for VCs. Do you do you see this happening? Do you seem... Do you think that you or, like, you as a firm are more aware of the necessity to do PR activities to raise awareness of your brand among the founders, for example?
00:30:52 · Uwe Horstmann
[00:30:52] S1: I think so. I think so. I mean, because for better and for worse, and it's actually very much for better, the market is getting more competitive. Entrepreneurs have more choice about what to look for in an investor, so we need to make sure that we get our message across what we can offer and what kind of people we are. Because hopefully whatever we do in that field is going to be based on what our core differentiator is, and hopefully it's actually so authentic that people get at least an indication what kind of people we are. That's what I would at least see as good PR, based on those two factors. And then it can actually be helpful for entrepreneurs to make a decision: Do I want to talk to those guys or not? Do I want to do business with them or not? If PR is seen as I'm just covering over everything that actually is there, so it's not connected to my substance at all, then I don't think it's helpful. But I see it as making sure that we are able to present ourselves to entrepreneurs who are looking for funding in a somewhat representative way that gives them, like, a good first indication to at least spend some time to get to know us. I mean, that's kind of what we're asking for. That's kind of what we're trying to do. I think pretty much every VC firm has to think about it that way also. If your brand is not so strong and so much based on some US successes that, you know, you've had since the beginning of Silicon Valley, then maybe you don't. That's unfortunate on us. You know, we are a startup ourselves. We're ten years old now, which is not that young anymore for a startup, but for a VC firm, we're still in the early days because it's a very, very long running game, and that's why we need to also position ourselves well in the market. Hopefully, it will work out.
00:32:39 · Andre Degler, Uwe Horstmann
[00:32:39] S0: Right. Right. And another question that I just thought of, what's your... And you were discussing, at the beginning, the whole public markets against private markets and things like that. What's what's your take on VC firms IPO ing? [00:32:55] S1: Very good question. I mean, we haven't seen it that much in Europe just yet. It's not something that we on the agenda. I'll be very curious to look at how successful it is for people. It maybe ties a bit back to the first point when we talked about Rocket and how the VC model is compatible with public markets, actually. Yeah. What exactly are you investing in? Are you investing in a portfolio of existing companies, or are you investing in a capability to find more of those companies in the future? The the the latter probably is not that easy to communicate, and then we can talk back... Talk again about [00:33:31] S0: the cash. The latter is more or less what you do when you do a SPAC, though. It's like, okay, it's a one time sort of thing, this is more continuous, but it's sort of close.
00:33:31 · Andre Degler, Uwe Horstmann
[00:33:31] S0: the cash. The latter is more or less what you do when you do a SPAC, though. It's like, okay, it's a one time sort of thing, this is more continuous, but it's sort of close. [00:33:42] S1: You are you are doing it with a SPAC, and then you have some people commit money to it, and then you still have, like, another decision point. Right? So people can still look into, hey, how successful do I actually believe in that specific asset? Yeah. But that's not always the case. If I'm just imagining an IPO of a venture capital firm in its pure sense, you don't have that second look, right? You are just committing. Now do I think this is the configuration, the consolation of finding future success? I think that's hard. But I'm, you know, I'm very much looking forward to be convinced and surprised that it's actually a genius idea. [00:34:19] S0: Well, you see, we've got Draper West Britain in The UK. We've got Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna's founder, listing his own venture enterprise. So it is so it is happening. So I guess I guess you could... You may want to you may want to think about it at some point. [00:34:39] S1: I will. I I will. Are you all in? Are you along those those stocks then? [00:34:44] S0: I think so. Absolutely. And how big is your portfolio right now? How many companies? [00:34:48] S1: I would say probably something like 70, seven zeros. [00:34:51] S0: Right. I think I think it's a it's a good time. It's a it's a good time to get out there. [00:34:58] S1: Yeah. I I learned something today, so I'll I'll take that with us for sure.