Christian Gabriel reveals why founders must build relationships with their competitors

didn't find his calling in a textbook or a prestigious internship at an architectural firm in San Francisco. He found it in the frantic, late-night hours of solving problems that others deemed too boring or too complex. Starting in 2008 in Denmark—a market he describes as the "bottom of everything" for startups at the time—Gabriel discovered that the tech world rewarded those who thought differently. His journey began not with a grand master plan, but with a promise made at a party to build

WordPress

websites. This raw, scrappy energy defined his early career, leading him to launch a theater-based accelerator in Copenhagen before he was even 21.

This early phase was characterized by what Gabriel calls "curiosity energy." It’s that specific adrenaline rush that comes from creating something from nothing, a feeling he warns will eventually fade if not protected. For Gabriel, the transition from building websites to founding

was fueled by this desire to outperform the status quo. He noticed a glaring gap in the market: while everyone was obsessed with front-end marketplaces and flashy consumer tech, no one was paying attention to the back-end infrastructure of equity. He saw that once a company sold its equity, the management of that asset devolved into messy, incoherent spreadsheets. His vision was simple yet radical: put equity on the internet.

Surviving the 20,000 Pound Seed Round

In an era of inflated valuations and massive seed rounds, Gabriel’s experience with

serves as a stark reality check. He launched the company with a meager £20,000 at a £100,000 valuation—an amount that wouldn't even cover a junior engineer's salary today. This forced a level of extreme resourcefulness. To gain traction, Gabriel and his team didn't go for the obvious targets; they hacked their way into the market by offering a free product to equity crowdfunding companies. By focusing on the sheer volume of retail investors—growing from zero to 6,000 in just six months—they created a narrative of momentum that was impossible for investors to ignore.

This scrappiness was born of necessity. Gabriel never had more than 12 to 18 months of runway, a constant pressure that forced him to recruit, execute, and fundraise in a perpetual cycle. This "street smart" approach to company building meant that every hire had to be a strategic move toward a specific milestone. He argues that you should fundraise to recruit, not the other way around. The goal isn't to hit a fundraising target; the goal is to find the people who can solve the next set of problems. This mindset kept the team lean and focused, even when competitors like

in the US were raising $10 million seed rounds at $100 million valuations.

Dealing with the Existential Threats of 2020

The path to success was littered with moments where

nearly collapsed. The most harrowing came in early 2020. Gabriel had term sheets in hand and was ready to close a Series A when the

COVID-19

pandemic hit. Suddenly, the venture capital market froze. Investors who had been eager to sign pulled away from the table, leaving the company in a precarious position just as they were trying to launch a secondary market product. Gabriel found himself balancing the immense pressure of a failing funding round with personal tragedies, including family losses that required him to pitch to VCs over Zoom immediately after attending funerals.

During these crises, Gabriel leaned into a stoic philosophy, often reading history to gain perspective on his own struggles. He credits his co-founders for being the essential support system that prevented the isolation often felt by solo founders. This period solidified his belief that most business problems are, at their core, people problems. Whether it's a budget delay or a market crash, the resolution always comes down to the motivation and clarity of the people on the pitch. He emerged from 2020 not just with a survived company, but with a battle-hardened perspective on what it takes to protect a vision when the world is upside down.

Strategic Flirting and the Carta Acquisition

One of the most unconventional aspects of the

story is Gabriel’s proactive approach to competitors. Instead of viewing giants like

Carta

as enemies to be avoided, he engaged with them early and often. He was a fan of

Carta

because their success validated his own thesis that equity management was a massive, untapped pain point. He began building a relationship with

Henry Ward

, the CEO of

Carta

, years before an exit was on the table. When

Henry Ward

first approached to acquire the company in 2020, Gabriel turned him down because the price wasn't right, but he kept the lines of communication open.

By 2022, when the market began to shift again, Gabriel used his established network of "strategics" to create competitive tension. He didn't wait for a VC to tell him it was time to sell; he engineered the opportunity himself. By telling

that other strategic players were at the table, he forced a "speed and certainty" play that resulted in an offer that blew everyone else out of the water. Gabriel advocates for building these relationships early because trust cannot be manufactured in a one-month due diligence window. His exit wasn't a retreat; it was the culmination of a decade-long chess game where he treated his competitors as potential partners in solving the global equity problem.

The Iron Rule of Advice Selection

If there is one piece of advice that Gabriel insists on, it’s a filter for whose counsel you actually follow: never take advice from people you wouldn't trade places with. This isn't just about financial success; it’s about holistic lifestyle and ethics. He argues that a person might give technically "clever" business advice, but if their team culture is toxic or their personal life is in shambles, their mental model is flawed. This selective listening is crucial for founders who are constantly bombarded with opinions from mentors, angels, and board members who may lack the necessary context or shared values.

Gabriel views advice-taking as an algorithm trained on someone else's data. To make it work for your own company, you have to understand the "why" behind the suggestion. He encourages founders to challenge their advisors, noting that as an investor now, he is more impressed by a founder who can explain why a suggestion won't work than one who blindly follows it. This level of intellectual independence, combined with a relentless sense of urgency, is what Gabriel believes separates the survivors from those who simply sleepwalk through their careers. In the end, the goal isn't just to build a unicorn; it's to stay curious enough to enjoy the ride while you're doing it.