Bruno Lussato

Watching the Roland-Garros French Open over the weekend and saw this motto: Victory belongs to the most tenacious. The failure rate of startups is high. According to recent statistics, approximately 90% of startups fail, with around 10% to 20% achieving long-term success. Various sources attribute this high failure rate to multiple factors, including under capitalization, poor product-market fit, inadequate marketing strategies, and team issues. Different industries exhibit varying failure rates. The failure rate for technology startups is around 63% within the first five years , while the failure rate for e-commerce startups is about 80%. HealthTech startups also face a high failure rate of around 80%, largely due to challenges in determining value propositions and strategy. Despite the high risk, some startups do succeed, sometimes making up for the losses of the many failures, which is why investors continue to support them. As the early stage investment market stands currently, a founder should not expect an investment based on the relative merits of a company. In other words, you may be building a great company but there’s no guarantee of an investment. This predicament requires both defensive and offensive strategies to navigate. One that we are seeing increasingly is the move toward cash flow neutral/ cash flow positive operations.

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🌫️ 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗖 𝗗𝘂𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 ❗ I would like to continue on the journey of demistifying the VC world, providing startups with info to maximize their success potential. ❓ 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘝𝘊 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦? The VC due diligence process is often seen as a black box, but it doesn’t have to be. For startups, knowing how VCs evaluate investment opportunities allows you to tailor your pitch, anticipate their questions, and provide the right data that will ultimately make it easier for VCs to convince their Investment Committees to say "YES." At the Innovation Office University of Basel , where we focus on empowering innovators to achieve impact, we see this knowledge as a powerful tool! Here’s a breakdown of the five critical factors VCs consider during due diligence, taken from the detailed guide (in attachment) designed to help founders navigate this process. 1️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 💼 Is your business scalable? VCs will dive deep into your market potential, business model, and competitive advantage. For biotech startups, for instance, this could mean showing a large and/or growing market, and strong IP. 2️⃣ 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 👥 The team is a key focus. Do you have the right mix of experience and expertise? In life sciences, a leadership team with both scientific credibility and commercialization experience is often what makes the difference. 3️⃣ 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 ⚖️ What could go wrong? VCs will assess technology risks, regulatory challenges, and market dynamics. In life sciences, this could involve a clear regulatory path, your ability to execute, or your ability to fend off future competitors. 4️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 🎯 How does your startup fit with the VC’s investment thesis and strategy? Ensure alignment between your vision and their goals. If a VC is heavily focused on impact investing, for example, showing how your biotech solution addresses global health challenges is critical. 5️⃣ 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 💸 How do your financials stack up? VCs will analyze your financial projections, burn rate, and path to profitability. In sectors like deep tech, demonstrating cost-efficiency in scaling complex technology can win investor confidence. Knowing and addressing these five key elements in your discussions with VCs can make the difference for your pitch from a hope to a success! Follow me for a new post, every Sunday morning 8h30 CET. 📣 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬! #VentureCapital #Startups #Biotech #DeepTech #Innovation Credits: 𝗣𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘇 𝗔𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘇, 𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘇 𝗜𝗯𝗮𝗿, 𝗚𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗺 𝗞𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿

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A History of Venture Capital: Venture Capital (VC) has been a driving force behind some of the most innovative companies in history. From its early beginnings to the establishment of major funds, the evolution of VC has been marked by significant milestones that have shaped the industry. Here are some key insights from Hervé Lebret's detailed study: 1) The Early Days: The concept of VC began to take shape post-World War II but gained significant traction in the late 1950s with the founding of companies like Fairchild Semiconductor by the Traitorous Eight, which was financed by venture capitalist, Arthur Rock. 2) 1970s Growth: The 70s saw the emergence of major VC firms like Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, which played pivotal roles in funding the growth of technology and biotechnology sectors. 3) Government Influence: The Small Business Investment Act of 1958 and changes in ERISA guidelines during the 1970s provided a more favorable environment for VC investments, contributing to the industry's explosive growth. 4) Global Expansion: Although VC started in the United States, it has become a global phenomenon, with significant growth in regions like Israel and Europe, adjusting strategies according to regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. PS. check out 🔔 for a winning pitch deck the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel https://lnkd.in/ejp-Bhnu

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‘Everything Is Not Going to Be OK’ in Private Equity, Apollo’s Co-President Scott Kleinman Says : Fewer realizations and lower returns are on the horizon : private equity industry must face up to the reality of lower valuations : SuperReturn conference in Berlin “I’m here to tell you everything is not going to be ok” Funds are now holding on to these companies and will eventually have to refinance at higher rates : means “fewer realizations and lower returns” are on the horizon in the industry : dealmaking is poised to accelerate this year as buyout and private credit funds face pressure to return money to their investors : Apollo is one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, investing across credit, equity and real estate : ended last year with $651 billion of assets under management, is targeting $1 trillion by 2026 

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in French :) https://lnkd.in/e7W5Hu6T #capitalraising #startups #fundraising #founders #venturecapital #investors #vc #vcfunding #technology #startup #tech

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To understand VC secondaries, start by understanding PE ones. Private equity secondaries stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis. Here's how Alexandre Covello from 109 Capital - Venture Secondaries coins it: "Underperforming PE general partners (GP) found themselves in a pickle. Their portfolio was underperforming and their limited partners (LP) were nervous about their return on investment. This made it difficult for GPs to raise money. Some came up with an idea: carve out their portfolio’s best performers into a new fund, a “continuation” fund, while selling the rest of the portfolio. Those sales returned some money to LPs. They could then either buy into the new continuation fund or call it a day. The GP, armed with a sexier fund and a sexier pitch, could also hunt for new LPs. Soon enough, less subpar GPs figured this was a good idea and started doing it as well. This particular type of PE secondaries is known as “GP-led”. Other flavors exist. One of them is referred to as “LP stakes”. In this scenario, one LP approaches another LP to buy out their stake in a particular fund. The GP doesn’t necessarily need to be involved. Another one is “net asset value (NAV)” financing. This is a lending play where the GP borrows money using their portfolio’s value as collateral. In exchange, the lender gets preferential payout terms on the fund’s upside. NAV financing is interesting because GPs retain equity, at the current price, while simultaneously boosting their portfolio. On the contrary, directly selling portfolio assets often implies a discount." Read the full Realistic Optimist piece on VC secondaries here: https://lnkd.in/gNrmyTDr  

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Only 4% of EU VC's have previous startup experience... versus 60% in US  In CVC in EU it will even be worse... (educated guess)  There are some more interesting insights on the low level of support by VC's, the needs from startups, .... in the article below  This confirms also the need for more VC Platform roles in the EU #vcplatform (see my previous post on VC Platform roles)  #venturecapital 

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A must read for every founder (and investor) in B2B marketplaces. ⤵️ All credits to Fabrice Grinda + FJ Labs 👏🏽 https://lnkd.in/eB7uGzyH #firstdegree #founders #investors #whyrelationshipsmatter
#alwaysbelearning #sharingknowledge

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“𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘦,   𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 ! 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 6𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 ?” Nothing unusual at this stage as I receive these messages on a weekly basis Don’t know why but it is very common in France to have current interns looking for their successors in a very short timeframe. ⏱️ If your goal is to attract the best profiles, I can’t think of a worst strategy… 😁 Managers will then complain about the lack of skills and knowledge of their interns. “𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴… ” 🫣 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 ?  Not that I like working for free, I decided to write a little message inside our community discord and I received 3 feedbacks about the bad reputation of this team with respect to their behaviour towards their interns. 🚨 GENTLE REMINDERS 🚨 1. Be kind with your interns. 😇 2. If they are not as fast and as good as you are, it is normal. They are at the beginning of their learning journey. Your unethical behaviour won’t help anyone. 😒 3. If you expect an intern to be as fast and as good as you are after a couple of months, it is probably that you are not good enough. 🤷‍♂️ #DerivativesAcademy #Support #Reputation #Training #Career PS : If you want to attract the strongest profiles in Sales and Trading, I am here to help 😎

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The average capital broker s*cks. So how am I disrupting the capital broker world with A Dream Called Rome Capital? By setting out to build an eco-system to broker capital for 0-100 mio ARR SaaS, AI or Platform companies. In 7 countries: 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇱🇺 Netherlands 🇫🇷 France 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇩🇪 Germany 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇨🇭 Switzerland Spanning 4 categories: 🟣 Venture Capital Firms 🟣 Private Equity Firms 🟣 Non-Dilutive Lenders 🟣 Business Angel Networks And what do I REALLY do there, when you'd come to me for help there? 1️⃣ Connect you via warm introductions to the right capital partners in 7 countries, according to their growth stage and size 2️⃣ Accompanying and guiding you on this journey, as founder(s). 3️⃣ By (optionally) creating the whole funding exercise, narrative and investor memo together, according to my validated templates. Now I noticed people don't like 1st line Capital Brokers, to say the least. They find that's intrusive and annoying. Often also seeing it as an indication that the founders can't represent themselves. Major red flag. The intrusive 1st line broker is a big NO. Capital partners want to meet and interact with founders first-line, without someone accompanying them or getting in the middle in any way. It also often leads to a misrepresenting of the founders, by making things appear differently than they are. If only it would be the ability of the founders to meet and deal with investors themselves. That's why we support founders and businesses 2nd-line ONLY. Because we get it. It's that simple. We're your soundboard and sherpa on the journey. Yet on a commission-only basis and in a non-exclusive way. So people are still free to continue their funding efforts themselves too outside the Capital partner network. And you only have to pay us when you get the money on your account, based on a success-based commission. I also go above and beyond to source capital partners outside the Capital Partner network, suitable for your dossier. People always say they find a lot of support in my advice, guidance and also 24-7 availability and being sincerely emotionally invested in the dossiers we broker. We don't just broker anything. We ONLY broker dossiers we believe in. And our Capital Partners know this, which is how we generate high-quality, low-volume leads, coming out of our 7 zones of operations. They also know we systematically contract top SaaS, AI and Platform businesses in the 7 countries, between 0-100 mio ARR proactively. Which enables us to generate leads they might miss or said no to a while back. I then take my red phone and call the right Capital Partners to present your dossier to and plead your case passionately - because I only broker what I believe in. Are you looking to raise funds - or are you raising? Always LOVE to help. If you're a Capital Partner, who wants to join our network of Capital Partners, and get such an occasional top lead for free, do let me know.

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Crunch Lab, a startup from our portfolio, has just raised $3.5M in a seed round led by Multicoin Capital ! Big big congrats to Jean & Arnaud and the whole team for the amazing work. I witnessed impressive dedication from the whole team to close this round and reach new heights. What does Crunch Lab la do? Crunch Lab makes it easier for big companies to unlock the value in their data by running machine learning competitions through their community, CrunchDAO, which has over 6,000 data scientists, quants, and ML engineers. These experts compete to build AI models that give companies actionable insights, mainly to the finance industry. With this funding, Crunch Lab will ramp up their operations and dive into new data-rich markets. Bravo! Link in the comments for the full article.

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pretty interesting! As this states very hard to find a seed round over $10 million yet this one came in at $220 million! Reading the article You can kind of get the idea why. Basically a who's who in AI research. What I found interesting is that in addition to Charles Cantor heading things up, they had some high level researchers Karl Tuyls and Julien Perolat that focus on game theory. I find this interesting because I'm going through a course from deeplearning.ai called multi AI agent systems. they just put it out last week but it's pretty relevant. I see how game theory can definitely be crucial in developing and designing these AI automation agents. there are many facets that game theory can be utilized in building these systems including 1 Strategic decision making Can help in multi agent (AI/and or human) environments. Game theory can provide a framework to help model interactions, predict outcomes and devise strategies. It can also help in understanding when agents should compete or cooperate, making more efficient decision making processes. 2 Optimizing interactions It can assist in optimal resource allocation among competing agents ensuring fairness as well as efficiency. It can also help with negotiation and bargaining to maximize utility. 3 Learning an adaptation Game theory can help with reinforcement learning which is used in many AI algorithms, helping to learn optimal policies in cooperative and competitive settings. It can also help with behavior prediction and understanding strategic behavior of other agents, which can lead to better models enhancing the performance of the system. 4 Handling uncertainty Game theory can help in making informed decisions in environments with incomplete data or information. This is common in real world scenarios. It can also help design robust strategies that perform well under various conditions. 5 Building ethical and fairness into AI Game theory can help design mechanisms that ensure fair outcomes, essential for deployment of ethical AI systems. It can also help in preventing exploitation by malicious entities. So it seems that incorporating game theory into developing these systems leads to significant competitive advantages. I think it is very smart to leverage these techniques and cutting edge research to push the envelope. Looking forward to diving deeper into this as well as seeing what H comes up with in the near future!

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I was honored to join a panel yesterday, moderated by Jean Rognetta and Morgan Hunault-Berret, with fellow panelist Olivier Martret. The provocative topic on our agenda: “Have French VCs already lost against US VCs in GenAI?” It was the opportunity to share our thought at daphni, here are a few takeaways: 1) Fund size matters: While it's evident that apart from BPI, French VCs lack the critical size to play a significant role in foundational models funding rounds. However, reducing GenAI startups to 200M+ seed rounds is an oversimplification. We see a clear market segmentation between foundational models - that share caracteristics with infrastructure deals - and application layers. There are probably 4 deals in the last 18 months where French VC could not positionate. The issue of the size of French VC funds is an old debate, older than ChatGPT. 2) International mindset: French startups have been criticised a lot in the past for lacking ambition and international mindset. We have been expecting what’s happening right now for a while: it's time to celebrate. Most of the world's leading VC funds are now co-investing with us in France. 3) A Seed GenAI startup still have the problematic of a seed startup: Seed has always been dominated by local actors for sourcing reasons but also because the support you can bring is really ecosystem specific. 4) Co-investment: We're actually very enthusiastic about co-investing with US VCs, who bring added value and help French startups penetrate international markets. From an exit perspective, pursuing a US IPO remains the best scenario and requires to success in the US at some point. Having the right US VC in series A is a great support. 5) Building a Top Ecosystem: France is on track to establish itself as one of the world's top three ecosystems for GenAI, a feat not possible without foreign VCs. This isn't just national pride – it's a sentiment echoed by global investors who recognize the dynamic changes occurring within our borders and knock at the door to exchange about it. More to come soon! Thanks Louis Petitjean and Matthieu Bouhelier 

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📩 How did September fly by so fast? Here’s a snapshot of what RAISE Sherpas portfolio has been up to 👇🏼 💰 🎉🎉🎉 - La Solive raised €4 million round lead by Partech. They offer short, intensive courses to retrain adults as energy renovation project managers. - Jump secured €11M to enhance the lives of freelancers across Europe, making work more flexible and fulfilling. 🤝🏼🤝🏼🤝🏼🤝🏼 - Maxime Mistretta, PhD. from Spore.Bio has been recognized as one of the most promising professionals in food safety by Stop Foodborne Illness, the leading global NGO in the field. - Osium AI (YC S23) has partnered with DECATHLON PULSE to push boundaries in material innovation through AI. - finres was at the PREVENT Project, highlighting Mediterranean climate risks like water scarcity and wildfires. Collaboration with European experts is vital for developing evidence-based solutions to enhance climate resilience in the region - Oklima and Riverse have united to support industrial decarbonization with certified carbon contribution projects. - Upway launched an exclusive e-bike series with Antoine Dupont, with profits going to charity—merging sports with social good. - Theremia is in the new cohort of SISTA Entrepreneurs x @Connect Her by BNP Paribas. We are also looking for our next star intern To support the financing of high-impact startups, from pre-seed to Series B.> https://lnkd.in/gRWPNZX9 If you're a founder, operator, or investor, evolving in impact sectors - I'd be happy to connect!

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Let me tell you what Les Echos, one of the most important business journals in France, is NOT saying (yet!): 1/ We need EUR 800 billion in investments per year (5% of UE's budget) just to keep the pace with USA and Chin 2/ The amount is twice the Marshal plan, because the problems now are twice compared to after WW2, if you can imagine this 3/ The report highlights the urgent need for common coordination in all aspects, from energy to financing. This is totally against Germany's business model as a country. We'll see if Italy and France we'll succeed in pushing this plan. https://lnkd.in/dPAXE_fu

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If you want to invest in exciting startups worldwide as an angel investor. Here are some tips & tricks on how to leverage your network from Cyril Chemla. 1. Build bridges, not silos. Cultivate relationships with angels and VCs in different regions. This opens doors to unique deals you might not find on your own. Ex: My network led me to invest in FinTech startups in Africa, even though I've never been there! 2. Start by giving. Support other investors and VCs. Offer your expertise and connections. This builds trust and reciprocity, leading to future deal flow. Investing is a community. 💙 By providing value first, you unlock a world of opportunities beyond your borders. If you want to learn more about Cyril's story and get more insights, watch the latest episode of the #SuperAngel podcast with Tom Wilson from Seedcamp and Anthony Danon from Cocoa 🍫 on EUVC . Link in comments. 🔽 #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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To encourage the emergence of true European technological giants, entrepreneurs and investors are asking for help from Brussels. In a petition launched on Monday October 14, they ask for the creation of an “EU Inc.”, a pan-European legal status for #startups on the continent. For the signatories, European start-ups are at a disadvantage. They have to deal with 27 different legal frameworks. A single legal status could represent a solution. This would be created as part of a “28th regime”, replacing the 27 national regimes and making it possible to harmonize the rules within the single market. #waterstartups SCUBIC - Smart Software SolutionsShaypWatergenicsOceanWellAquacyclWater Ledger Global

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