James Pringle

The shift from investment club to $20M venture powerhouse In the high-stakes world of venture capital, the transition from an informal investment collective to a structured institutional fund is a gauntlet that few survive. Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner of Creator Ventures, navigated this path by identifying a massive gap in the market: the intersection of content creator influence and consumer technology. What began in 2019 as a loosely organized group with a focus on early-stage deals has evolved into a $20 million fund specializing in the consumer internet sector. The genesis of the firm lies in the strategic partnership between Kaletsky, who brings a rigorous private equity background from firms like Bridgepoint and operational experience at Uber, and his cousin Caspar Lee, a prominent creator and founder of influencer.com. This blend of institutional discipline and native digital expertise allows the fund to analyze brands through a lens that traditional VCs often lack—the ability to determine if a product has lasting cultural resonance or is merely a flash in the social media pan. Why creator-led diligence is the new edge in consumer tech Consumer founders today face a monumental hurdle: the spiraling cost of user acquisition and the volatility of social media algorithms. Creator Ventures addresses this by treating creator insights not as a marketing gimmick, but as a core component of investment diligence. While many investors claim to add value, the firm focuses on the mechanics of organic growth and influence marketing, providing founders with a roadmap to navigate the platforms that dictate their success. This approach functions as a specialized form of "PhD-level" expertise for the consumer world. Just as a deep-tech founder seeks a GP with a background in machine learning, consumer internet founders are increasingly gravitating toward investors who understand the 10,000-hour mastery required to command attention in the attention economy. By analyzing how a brand uses social media to acquire users before the first check is ever cut, the firm enters the boardroom with a deeper understanding of the startup's go-to-market challenges than the competition. Inside the early bets on beehiiv and Praktika.ai The fund’s portfolio reads like a roster of the most disruptive players in the current tech cycle, including beehiiv, Praktika.ai, and ElevenLabs. The investment in beehiiv is particularly telling of the firm's philosophy. At a time when the market was saturated with newsletter tools like Substack and Mailchimp, Kaletsky saw a "super team" led by Tyler Denk. The conviction wasn't based on a finished product, but on the team's ability to execute based on their experiences at Morning Brew. Similarly, the move into Praktika.ai demonstrates a methodology of deep sector immersion. Before backing the AI tutoring platform, the team had already scrutinized multiple competitors in the AI language learning space. When they encountered the Praktika.ai team, they were able to act with speed because they already knew what a winning model looked like. This underscores a critical venture lesson: speed is a byproduct of preparation. By tracking a space closely, investors can distinguish between a standard application and a transformative one. Partner-led models vs. the bloat of mega-funds Kaletsky is a vocal advocate for the partner-led fund model, contrasting it with the multi-layered hierarchies of large-cap private equity. In massive firms, information is often lost in a game of "Chinese whispers" as it moves from analysts to the investment committee. By maintaining a lean structure, Creator Ventures ensures that the individual speaking to the founder is the same person making the ultimate decision. This proximity to the deal creates a more attractive environment for entrepreneurs who are tired of the repetitive and often bureaucratic processes of larger institutions. While the partner-only model makes it difficult to scale assets under management (AUM) or take time off, the benefit is a higher degree of decisiveness and the ability to make truly contrarian bets. For Kaletsky, the goal is not to become an "AUM gatherer" but to build the most efficient consumer internet fund with a compounding track record that spans decades. Solving the defensibility crisis in the AI application layer As the industry shifts from AI infrastructure to the application layer, the question of the "moat" has become the primary concern for VCs. Kaletsky views this through the historical lens of the S&P 500, noting that outside of regulated industries, consumer companies are the ones that survive for centuries. The defensibility in consumer AI is not just about the underlying technology—which can often be replicated—but about the flywheel effects of being the market leader. When a company like Praktika.ai or Duolingo reaches scale, they gain a data advantage that allows for better product testing and monetization. This, in turn, fuels more aggressive marketing, which leads to more users. In the consumer world, the brand and the scale of the user base become the ultimate defensive barrier. The firm looks for founders who can roll with the punches of shifting technological paradigms while building these long-term flywheels. Conclusion: The future of consumer internet and the $200M myth The roadmap for Creator Ventures is one of measured growth and radical focus. Kaletsky dismisses the idea that success is measured by the size of the fund, arguing that the $200 million fund tier often distracts from the core mission of early-stage picking. By staying small and sector-specific, the firm can capitalize on the current lack of competition at the seed stage for consumer internet, where many multi-stage funds are hesitant to play until the revenue is already proven. The future belongs to those who can bridge the gap between technical infrastructure, like the voice AI developed by ElevenLabs, and the practical consumer applications that will define the next decade. As AI continues to commoditize the "how" of product development, the "who"—the team and their ability to navigate the social distribution landscape—remains the only true differentiator in the market.

The Strategic Value of the Meandering Career Edwina Johnson, now the GM of MoneyGram%20Online%20International, challenges the traditional corporate narrative that success requires a linear path. Her journey through digital media, failed ad-tech ventures, and high-growth accelerators illustrates a vital principle for modern entrepreneurs: adaptability is more valuable than specialization. This "meandering" approach isn't about a lack of focus; it’s about collecting diverse mental models that can be applied to different business scales and industries. When Johnson joined Alloy as the sixth employee, she didn't just step into a role; she stepped into an evolving ecosystem. Rapid scaling creates what she calls "Silly Putty" holes—unstructured gaps in process and communication that appear as the organization stretches. For a startup to survive this phase, it requires generalists who possess a deep sense of ownership. These individuals don't just stay in their lanes; they treat every operational failure as a personal challenge. In the early stages of a unicorn-to-be, the most critical hire isn't the person with the most specific experience, but the one with the highest level of empathy and analytical priority. Moving from Disruptor to Established Institutional Power Transitioning from the agile environment of a series C unicorn to an 80-year-old financial institution like MoneyGram%20International presents a unique set of challenges. While startups have the luxury of building from scratch, established corporations must reinvent themselves while maintaining the engine that made them successful. Johnson highlights that the draw of such a move is the sheer novelty and the complexity of the problem. For a legacy business to modernize, it must undergo more than just a digital facelift. It requires a mandate for rapid refocus. The difficulty lies in aligning a workforce that possesses deep historical knowledge with a new, aggressive vision for the future. Innovation in this context is about speed and drive. It’s about convincing an entire ecosystem to pivot toward a new identity. The hardest decisions often involve culture: how to incentivize change in an environment where "the way we've always done it" is the default setting. Breaking the Insular Cycle of Angel Investing Johnson's foray into Angel%20Investing reveals a systemic flaw in how capital is allocated at the earliest stages. Despite the presence of diverse talent, the initial gatekeepers are often part of a closed-door network. This "referral-only" culture creates a bias that favors those who have already achieved success or have access to wealthy networks. To combat this, Johnson advocates for a strict filter in her own portfolio: backing only traditionally underestimated founders. This isn't just about social equity; it's about market inefficiency. When the rest of the industry overlooks lgbtq+ or disabled%20founders, they leave value on the table. However, she warns that simply writing a check isn't enough. Successful angel investing requires an emotional connection to the problem. If an investor doesn't genuinely care about the mission, they won't provide the high-level support a founder needs during the inevitable pivots of early-stage growth. The Case for State-Mandated Diversity Quotas While many in the tech industry champion organic change, Johnson takes a more decisive stance: she is a fan of quotas. The argument is simple—relying on goodwill hasn't closed the gap fast enough. Only 40% of VC firms have a female check-writing partner, and the disparity in funding for female-led startups remains stark. Quotas force the normalization of behavior, eventually creating a self-sustaining cycle of diversity. Beyond government intervention, there are immediate levers for Venture%20Capital firms to pull. Boards should mandate reporting on DEI metrics, not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a performance indicator. When senior leadership teams are diversified, the resulting wealth flows back into different communities, creating new pools of angel investors from varied backgrounds. This is how you break the existing cycle of capital recycling among a narrow demographic. Building Culture as a Measure of Success In the high-octane world of tech, success is usually measured in valuations and exit multiples. Johnson suggests a shift in perspective. While Alloy achieved unicorn status, she views the team's composition as her greatest achievement. Building a B2B fintech where nearly 30% of the team identifies as LGBTQ+ and another 30% from BIPOC communities is an outlier in the industry. This kind of culture isn't just a "nice to have"; it is a competitive advantage. It fosters a richness of life and connection that traditional corporate structures fail to provide. When employees feel an infectious enthusiasm and an alignment with their colleagues, they take that energy home, creating multiplier effects that aren't captured in a P&L statement. Setting this standard of what is possible allows founders to show that there is a different, more impactful way of operating a global business. The Visionary Path Forward The future of fintech and global entrepreneurship depends on the ability of leaders to embrace risk and prioritize impact. Whether it's through innovative payment intelligence startups like Tunic or through the transformation of legacy institutions, the goal remains the same: find a problem worth solving and build a solution that disrupts the status quo. The journey will be meandering, and the "Silly Putty" will inevitably break, but for those with the drive and the vision, the rewards are measured in more than just capital—they are measured in the lasting change left on the market.

The Shift from Digital Bits to Physical Atoms For two decades, the venture capital world worshipped at the altar of the smartphone, the cloud, and the social graph. But a fundamental shift is underway. George Henry, General Partner at LocalGlobe, argues that we are witnessing the end of an era where traditional software is the primary cultural and economic driver. Instead, we are entering an age where scientific breakthroughs serve as the new "software" layer for the global economy. This isn't just about laboratory research; it is about the radical shortening of the path between academic institutions and the commercial market. The evidence is visible in the market caps of the world's most valuable entities. Companies like NVIDIA and Apple are essentially science companies disguised as tech giants, built on the back of complex chip design and materials science. Even OpenAI, the current poster child for the AI boom, originated as a non-profit research lab. This transition marks a return to "hard" problems—energy, defense, and climate—where the primary value isn't just a better user interface, but a fundamental improvement in how we manipulate the physical world. For the next generation of founders, the black leather jacket worn by Jensen Huang has replaced the hoodie as the uniform of disruption. Four Themes Defining the 2024 Investment Thesis Success in this new landscape requires a refined lens for opportunity. George Henry identifies four specific pillars that represent the highest potential for growth and market disruption. The first is the rise of **consumer-grade business workflows**. Historically, enterprise software was clunky and difficult to adopt. The new winners, such as TravelPerk and Marshmallow, combine a seamless consumer-like experience with critical business logic. This approach lowers the barrier to adoption while capturing high-value transactions within the workflow itself. The second theme focuses on the **modularization of e-commerce**. The days of monolithic platforms like Shopify owning the entire stack are being challenged. As digital commerce penetrates deeper into B2B and highly specialized industries, businesses require extreme customization. George Henry points to Medusa, an open-source commerce platform, as the future unicorn in this space. By allowing developers to cherry-pick specific modules rather than adopting an entire ecosystem, Medusa solves the rigidity problem that plagues traditional SaaS incumbents. Artificial Intelligence and the Death of the Seat-Based Model AI is not merely a feature to be added to existing products; it is a force that redefines business models. One of the most provocative shifts identified by George Henry is the transition from software that aids humans to software that replaces human work entirely—the concept of the **digital worker**. This move creates a massive threat to traditional "per-seat" pricing models. If a company like 11x can deploy a digital SDR that does the work of five people, charging per seat makes no sense. The value shifts from the tool to the outcome. This creates a precarious situation for middle-ware companies that lack a clear network effect. While incumbents like Salesforce have the advantage of being the system of record, the new wave of "systems of intelligence" are winning by being in the flow of action. These tools don't just store data; they automate the response to it. The fourth investment theme—a **new stack for the physical world**—leverages these intelligent systems to manage tangible resources. Whether it is using satellite data for forestry management or designing new chips to lower the cost of solar energy, the digital world is finally being used to rebuild the physical one. The New Palo Alto and the European Advantage Geographic boundaries are becoming less relevant than talent density. LocalGlobe has championed the concept of the "New Palo Alto," an ecosystem encompassing London, Paris, Amsterdam, and the broader UK regions. This isn't just about geography; it's about a high-velocity rail connection that links the world's best research universities with global financial capitals. The data suggests this region is already the third-largest producer of unicorns globally, outperforming most US hubs outside of Silicon Valley. This corridor offers something San Francisco lacks: a deep integration with traditional industries. In the New Palo Alto, tech doesn't exist in a bubble. It is connected to politics, luxury retail, and global finance. While Brexit has undoubtedly created friction, the rise of Paris as a secondary hub has created a more resilient, multi-polar European ecosystem. Founders are no longer default-moving to London; they are choosing the city that best fits their industry, with the Danish team behind Medusa opting for Paris to be closer to the heart of global retail and luxury. Decoding the Outlier Founder Evaluating founders at the seed stage remains the most difficult—and vital—task in venture capital. While the traits of resourcefulness and clear communication remain stable, the background of the successful founder is evolving. George Henry emphasizes that the "cult of the rockstar founder" is often a distraction. Instead, he looks for **missionary purpose**. The goal isn't necessarily to find someone who can be a public company CEO on day one, but someone who has an obsessive insight into a specific market friction. There is a critical distinction between a 0-to-1 founder and a public company CEO. In a healthy ecosystem, replacing a founder with a professional CEO shouldn't be a source of drama; it should be an evolution in pursuit of the mission. The best founders are those with the self-awareness to recognize when the company's needs have outgrown their specific skill set. By focusing on the individual’s endurance and their ability to attract a world-class team, investors can navigate the high failure rate of early-stage bets and identify the outliers who will build the next decade's essential infrastructure.

The shift from Google to the warehouse floor Transitioning from the polished corridors of Google to the grit of a hardware startup is a journey few attempt and even fewer survive. Oana Jinga, co-founder of Dexory, represents a growing cohort of entrepreneurs who have traded corporate stability for the high-stakes world of robotics. While the venture capital industry often exhibits a bias toward former big-tech employees, Jinga suggests this isn't just about pedigree. It’s about the internal structures of companies like Google, which operate as decentralized product clusters, effectively training employees to manage mini-startups within the protective shell of a global giant. Building a company like Dexory, which integrates autonomous hardware with sophisticated AI analytics, requires a shift in mindset from purely digital optimization to physical execution. Jinga spent years working on the project in parallel with her role at Google, balancing the intense demands of a corporate career with the grueling requirements of early-stage product development. This duality highlights a critical reality for modern founders: the leap of faith is often preceded by a marathon of double-duty, where the safety net of a salary provides the runway to de-risk a complex hardware play before it ever hits the market. Dexory and the 12.5-meter data revolution The logistics industry has long been plagued by a lack of visibility. While we live in an era of real-time digital tracking, the internal state of most warehouses remains a black box, often managed with pen-and-paper audits and manual spot checks. Dexory addresses this fundamental disconnect by deploying autonomous robots that stand 12.5 meters tall. These aren't just machines that move boxes; they are mobile data collection units designed to digitize the physical world of logistics. By utilizing a telescopic tower equipped with sensors and cameras, these robots navigate warehouses to create a digital twin—a real-time, high-fidelity map of inventory, rack integrity, and occupancy levels. This technology solves a trillion-dollar problem: the inaccuracy of warehouse management systems. When a production line in a manufacturing plant stops because a specific part is missing, the cost is measured in thousands of dollars per minute. Dexory’s value proposition lies in the data layer rather than the mechanical labor, providing the "eyes and ears" that allow managers to see their entire operation from anywhere in the world. The fallacy of the humanoid robot shape There is a massive surge of investment currently flowing into humanoid robotics, driven by the belief that robots must mimic human form to function in a human-built world. Jinga takes a provocative counter-stance, arguing that the fixation on the human shape is an inefficient constraint for industrial automation. Humans are inherently fragile, with limbs that are easily damaged and a center of gravity that is often suboptimal for heavy labor. If the goal is maximum efficiency, building a robot to look like a person is a distraction from solving the actual use case. Instead of forcing robots to adapt to our biological limitations, Jinga suggests we should adapt the environment to suit the superior efficiency of task-specific machines. A robot doesn't need two legs and two arms to pick up a pallet or scan a shelf 15 meters in the air. It needs stability, reach, and precision. This "first principles" approach to design focuses on the end output rather than the aesthetic of the machine. The kitchen serves as a perfect analogy: we don't have a humanoid robot doing the dishes; we have a dishwasher—a specialized, highly efficient tool designed for a single purpose. The future of the automated warehouse looks less like a sci-fi movie and more like a symphony of specialized machines. Scaling the leadership leap from series A to B Scaling a workforce from 30 to over 150 people in a single year is a stress test that breaks most founders. For Jinga, the transition from an individual contributor to a strategic leader required a painful relinquishing of control. Founders often view their company as their "baby," leading to a sense of total accountability that manifests as micromanagement. However, at the Series B stage, the bottleneck is no longer the technology—it is the human dynamics of the leadership team. Building trust with a senior leadership team is the only way to transform a startup into a sustainable business. If a company cannot function without the founders in the room, it isn't a scalable enterprise; it's a personality-driven project. Jinga emphasizes that hiring for the specific stage of the company is more important than hiring for general talent. A "stage-fit" employee understands the chaos and high-pressure environment of a scaling startup and won't be demoralized by the lack of established processes. Conversely, the founders must be honest during the recruitment process, avoiding the temptation to "sell" a polished version of the culture that doesn't exist yet. Operating systems for the hyper-growth era In the race for market dominance, speed is a startup’s only real advantage. To maintain this velocity while scaling, Dexory has leaned into a "compound startup" philosophy, using platforms like Slack as a comprehensive business operating system. This goes beyond simple communication; the company uses Slack to monitor robot health, troubleshoot hardware issues in real-time, and track customer dashboards. By integrating every disparate tool into a single interface, they reduce the cognitive load on employees and prevent the fragmentation that usually kills productivity in growing companies. The investment in process and infrastructure—from robust HR systems to automated sales tools—must happen earlier than most founders think. While it is tempting to delay these costs to save capital, the cost of lost time is far higher. In a world where AI is rapidly commoditizing software, the ability to execute on complex hardware and proprietary data sets is what creates a true moat. For Dexory, the strategy is clear: capture the data, own the insights, and build the infrastructure that makes the traditional warehouse obsolete. Future outlook for the human-centric tech boom Looking beyond the warehouse, the next frontier of disruption is not found in the machines we build, but in the bodies we inhabit. Jinga identifies a massive shift toward "human body data," where the focus moves from tracking external assets to optimizing internal biology. Startups like Zoe and Flow are leading this charge, treating the human body as the ultimate proprietary data set. As we have seen with logistics, the lack of real-time visibility is the primary cause of inefficiency; applying this same logic to health and nutrition represents a market opportunity that dwarfs even the largest industrial sectors. The common thread between Dexory and the next wave of unicorns is the move from guesswork to granular, data-driven reality.

The Shift from Traditional Banking to High-Octane Entrepreneurship Akshat Goenka, now a Partner at Moonfire, didn't find his calling in the structured, process-driven corridors of JP Morgan. Despite the intellectual caliber of his peers, he quickly realized that a career in banking offered minimal room for personal input or disruptive change. This realization acted as a catalyst, pushing him toward the volatile but rewarding world of startups. At just 22, he launched a telemedicine platform, DocTalk, which eventually secured a spot at Y Combinator. This transition highlights a critical theme in modern business: the shift from being a cog in a massive financial machine to becoming the architect of a new solution. The drive to question broken processes and find scalable improvements is what separates the modern entrepreneur from the traditional corporate executive. The Y Combinator Crucible and the Art of Intellectual Honesty The journey through Y Combinator is often described as a boot camp, but for Goenka, it was a fundamental recalibration of how to think about a business. The application process itself is a tool for strategic clarity. It forces founders to confront the "nth degree of why" behind every decision. Many founders fall into the trap of chasing vanity metrics or following industry trends without understanding the underlying mechanics of their own business. The YC framework demands a level of intellectual honesty that often leads to necessary pivots. In the case of DocTalk, this meant evolving from a B2C marketplace to a B2B2C model after a deep dive into the specific power dynamics and incentives of the Indian healthcare ecosystem. Success at this stage isn't just about doing things right; it's about avoiding the distractions that lead to failure, specifically focusing on product and growth above all else. Moonfire and the Quantified Venture Capital Model At Moonfire, the investment philosophy centers on the belief that venture capital is ripe for a data-driven overhaul. While traditional firms rely heavily on gut feel and network serendipity, Moonfire utilizes software, data, and machine learning to accelerate the entire lifecycle. This isn't just about sourcing; it's about filtering millions of entities to find the most promising opportunities. The firm tracks over 4 million entities globally, using semantic search and analysis to prioritize the top 200-250 companies every week for human review. This "human augmentation" allows investors to move away from repetitive manual tasks and focus on high-quality decision-making. By automating the workflows that typically consume a VC's time, the team can spend more energy meeting founders and helping their portfolio companies scale. It’s a visionary approach that treats the venture firm itself like a tech startup, complete with internal product management roles and engineering sprints. Navigating the Challenges of Emerging Markets Building a tech company in a market like India presents unique infrastructure and cultural challenges. When DocTalk was in its growth phase, the digital economy was performing despite a lack of pervasive broadband or API-friendly infrastructure. Founders had to navigate an environment where basic digital tools were still becoming mainstream. This reality forced a higher level of resilience and creative problem-solving. Goenka notes that in these environments, cultural aversion to new technology in core services like healthcare and education can be a significant barrier. Understanding the specific "why now" for a market is crucial. Without a clear perspective on timing and the readiness of the ecosystem, even a well-funded, YC-backed company can hit an insurmountable roadblock. The lesson for global entrepreneurs is clear: local context and infrastructure readiness are just as important as the product itself. The Human Element in a Machine-Driven Future As capital allocation becomes more data-reliant, a philosophical question arises: can machines eventually replace the human investor? Goenka and his peers suggest that while data can significantly improve selection and speed, the

The structural deficit in European fund management The venture capital landscape in Europe has long been criticized for its reliance on traditional financial backgrounds. Sam Ettelaie, Co-Founder and CIO at Thema, argues that this lack of diversity in experience creates a ceiling for innovation. While the US market thrives on ex-operators and entrepreneurs turning into General Partners (GPs), Europe remains dominated by former investment bankers and consultants who often apply rigid private equity lenses to early-stage investing. This structural deficit is not merely a matter of background; it is a matter of mindset. Operators bring a first-principles approach to building businesses that many career financiers lack. They understand the visceral reality of scaling a startup, making them more attractive to founders who seek more than just a check. For Thema, the opportunity lies in bridging this gap by identifying and backing these "non-traditional" managers who possess the grit and operational DNA to disrupt the asset class. Challenging the passivity of the Limited Partner landscape One of the most provocative claims Sam Ettelaie makes is the characterization of European Limited Partners (LPs) as largely passive. Unlike the US, where top-tier funds are access-constrained from their third or fourth vintage, many European LPs do not have to fight for allocations. This comfort has bred a culture of "maybe"—a refusal to take decisive, catalytic risks on emerging managers. Thema aims to invert this model by acting as a strategic, cornerstone investor. By writing the first ticket—up to £5 million—into first-time funds, they provide the "institutional rigor" and regulatory support necessary to get a fund off the ground. The goal is to move away from the commoditized LP model, where the investor is merely a source of capital, toward a "quasi-Venture Partner" role that actively helps the GP build a long-term fund management business. The fallacy of unique sourcing and the search for true defensibility In the venture world, every GP claims to have a "proprietary deal flow" or "unique sourcing channels." Sam Ettelaie is deeply skeptical of these claims, noting that relationship-driven sourcing is rarely scalable. As a fund grows and the team expands beyond the original founders, these personal networks often become less defensible. Larger, established brands can easily move in and cannibalize a smaller fund's network once success becomes apparent. True defensibility, therefore, must come from a combination of deep domain expertise and a tangible value proposition for founders. Thema looks for managers who have an "edge" that isn't just about who they know, but what they know. This could be a background in academia, like one of Thema's recent incubations, or a track record of scaling a specific type of technology from seed to series B. The focus is on finding managers who founders actually *want* on their cap table, rather than those who are simply the highest bidders. Breaking the 10-plus-2 mold through GP seeding The traditional venture capital fund structure—a ten-year life with a two-year extension—is often ill-suited for deep tech or life sciences. Yet, many LPs continue to force managers into this box. Sam Ettelaie highlights a significant gap in the market for GP seeding vehicles that can help aspiring managers overcome the financial barriers to entry. Setting up a fund is an expensive, regulatory-heavy endeavor that can take 12 to 24 months of fundraising. For a talented operator with a young family, being out of work for two years while raising a fund is an insurmountable risk. By providing seed capital to the GP entity itself, Thema is essentially de-risking the talent. This allows managers to focus on what they do best—finding and backing great companies—rather than being bogged down by the administrative and financial weight of fund setup. The metrics of success and the importance of humility When evaluating first-time managers, Thema looks beyond traditional metrics like TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In) or DPI (Distributed to Paid-In). For someone who hasn't been a professional investor before, these numbers are non-existent. Instead, the focus shifts to qualities like conviction and humility. Sam Ettelaie notes that many first-time GPS drift away from their core strategy as they face the pressures of the market. High conviction is required to stay the course, but it must be balanced with the humility to admit what they don't know. Whether it's understanding the nuances of portfolio construction or knowing how to report to an LP advisory committee (LPAC), the best managers are those who view their fund as a startup in its own right, requiring constant iteration and growth. A future defined by specialization and collaboration The future of the European venture ecosystem depends on a more collaborative LP community. Sam Ettelaie laments the lack of information sharing among LPs, noting that several funds with similar strategies often struggle to reach their minimum close because LPs aren't talking to each other. As the market matures, the differentiation between funds will become even more critical. Managers who can prove they add tangible value to founders—not just through marketing but through actual operational support—will be the ones who survive. For Thema, the mission is clear: find the outsiders, the innovators, and the risk-takers, and give them the platform they need to ignite the next generation of European tech.

The commercial incubator model for disruptive brands For most founders, television remains a fortress protected by massive media agencies and seven-figure entry costs. Callum Taylor, Head of AdVentures Ignite at ITV, is dismantling that perception. Since 2019, the broadcaster has pivoted from being a passive screen for legacy giants to a strategic partner for high-growth challengers. The AdVentures brand functions as a commercial incubator, offering two primary pathways: Ignite, a non-equity program providing matched funding, and Invest, a media-for-equity model where ITV takes a minority stake in promising businesses in exchange for advertising inventory. This shift isn't just about selling airtime; it is a calculated gamble on the next generation of market leaders. By aligning incentives, the broadcaster ensures that a startup's success directly correlates with their own. This partnership model targets brands that have hit a performance plateau on digital channels—the "demand pool"—and need the sheer mass of broadcast reach to break through to a broader audience. It represents a fundamental change in how media giants view their role in the ecosystem, moving from a wholesale model to a vested interest in founder success. Media for equity offers a non-cash scaling lever One of the most potent tools in the ITV arsenal is the media-for-equity model. This mechanism allows a broadcaster to diversify its revenue streams beyond traditional cash advertising. For the startup, it is a way to preserve precious cash runway while gaining access to the UK's largest commercial reach. Callum Taylor notes that this space has matured significantly, following the lead of early movers like Channel 4 Ventures and UKTV Ventures. By trading equity for inventory, founders can achieve what Taylor calls "big budget energy." This allows a challenger brand to sit in the same ad breaks as McDonald's or Apple, instantly borrowing the gravitas and trust associated with ITV1. The model works best for products with broad appeal that can handle the sudden surge in demand that follows a national campaign. It is a strategic move for venture-backed companies that need to accelerate brand building without a massive cash outlay, effectively using their valuation to buy market share. Challenging the myth of million-pound entry costs A persistent barrier to TV adoption is the belief that a campaign requires a million-pound commitment. Taylor argues that for many, a regional approach provides a much cleaner, more affordable read on performance. Using ITV's regional footprints, a brand can test the water in specific areas like the North or Anglia for as little as £30,000 to £50,000. When paired with the Ignite program’s matched funding, the cash cost to the founder is effectively halved. Even more surprising is the accessibility of niche channels like ITV3. Taylor cites an example of an app targeting the 45-plus demographic that launched a national campaign for under £10,000. This level of transparency is rare in traditional broadcast. By breaking the national pie into smaller, regional, or demographic bites, ITV is making television a viable channel for Series A and even seed-stage companies that have found their product-market fit but lack the capital for a massive national rollout. Digital precision meets broadcast scale via Planet V Modern television is no longer just a one-to-many broadcast tool; it has integrated the surgical precision of digital marketing. ITV has scaled ITVX to over 40 million registered users, transforming it into a data-rich streaming platform. Through their programmatic video platform, Planet V, founders can book campaigns with the same self-service autonomy they use for Instagram or Google ads. This tech stack allows for highly sophisticated targeting, such as the Matchmaker tool developed with Tesco Dunnhumby. This allows brands to serve ads based on actual shopping habits—for instance, targeting users who have previously purchased pet food. Furthermore, automated contextual targeting (ACT) uses subtitles to analyze show content in real-time. If a dog appears on screen, a pet food brand’s ad can be cued for the very next break. This level of synchronization ensures that the ad feels like a relevant extension of the viewing experience rather than an intrusion. Breaking the performance plateau and the multiplier effect A critical insight for founders is the "multiplier effect" that TV has on existing digital spend. While many startups obsess over short-term attribution windows, Taylor explains that injecting TV into the mix makes every other channel work harder. It builds a foundation of trust and awareness that lowers the cost per acquisition (CPA) on social media and search. When a consumer sees a brand on ITV, the subsequent Instagram ad is no longer a cold pitch; it is a reminder from a trusted entity. Taylor points to Spoke, a premium menswear brand, as a prime example. Initially focused on short-term spikes and immediate CPAs, the Spoke team eventually realized that the true power of TV lay in brand building that fueled the entire funnel. By moving away from purely transactional metrics and viewing TV as a long-term growth engine, they were able to bust through the performance wall that often stalls digitally native brands. Measuring what matters beyond the click Measurement remains the greatest hurdle and the greatest opportunity. Taylor warns against the danger of evaluating a brand awareness campaign using short-term sales metrics. This misalignment often leads to the false conclusion that TV isn't working. To counter this, ITV utilizes tools like GeoX to provide clean reads on regional tests. By comparing a region with TV coverage against a control region without it, founders can see the true incremental lift in business performance. This approach requires a mindset shift from founders and their boards. It’s about moving from a "click-through" culture to one that understands the value of being talked about when you aren't in the room. As Taylor notes, ITV will often tell a brand they aren't ready for TV if the budget or product isn't at the right stage. This honesty is central to their strategy of building long-term, high-value partners rather than one-off sales. For the visionary founder, the message is clear: television is no longer out of reach; it is the ultimate scaling tool waiting to be ignited.