#8 Getting into the Christmas cheer!
November 2021 | Practical content about venture capital investment and the startup ecosystem curated by and for entrepreneurs
The jingle bells have started jingling, the festive ornaments have started shining and the cinnamon scent is spreading. Little by little, we are embracing the Christmas cheer. Christmas holidays are a great time for reflection and to not be caught up in daily operations. Let's all use this upcoming break as an opportunity to slow the pace and spend time learning new things and discovering new trends.
In this eighth issue, we are thrilled to feature our colleagues from Venture Friends, a VC based in Athens and London with a sweet spot for proptech, fintech, traveltech, and Barkyn, our Lisbon-based portfolio company that is reshaping the e-commerce experience around pet care.
WORDS OF VC-ISDOM
Apostolos Apostolakis, Founding Partner @ Venture Friends
In our "Words of VC-isdom" section, good friends of ours at other top international VCs tell us about what they do, what they look for, what they think about Spain as an investment destination, and share valuable do's and don'ts with the entrepreneurial community.
ABOUT VENTURE FRIENDS
In 2016 serial entrepreneurs and angel investors Apostolos Apostolakis and George Dimopoulos identified the gap in seed funding in Greece and launched VentureFriends, the first 100% private venture capital fund in the country. The fund was created during the tough times of the Greek crisis with the mission to back ambitious tech entrepreneurs and invest in B2C and B2B startups.
Since then, VentureFriends has raised 3 funds and has expanded its scope to invest in startups in Europe, the Middle East, and Latam. VentureFriends has supported great companies such as Blueground, Spotawheel, Instashop(exited), Flexcar, Belvo, and Plum.
Introduce Venture Friends — who you are, your investment thesis including in what sectors, models, and stages you invest, what makes you different, etc…
We are an early-stage VC firm founded in 2016 by people with entrepreneurial and angel investing backgrounds. We invest in software startups and primarily in fintech, proptech, and marketplace (b2b or b2c) models. We just raised our third fund and have a broad geographic interest in investing in Europe, LatAm, and the Middle East. We have a values-based approach which, coupled with our long operating and investing experience and sector expertise, we believe, make us a relevant and helpful partner.
The European tech ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years. How do you see Europe as an investment destination? Are there any particular European geographies you focus on? How much do you invest internationally vs in your home country?
Europe is a fast-growing and very promising investment destination. Apart from the UK, France, Germany, and the Nordics, which have high activity, success gradually becomes more widely spread. We now see peripheral ecosystems like Iberia, Eastern Europe including Poland and the Balkans, as well as Greece, grow their numbers of successful companies.
We are a Paneuropean investor and one who specifically targets peripheral markets. We have always been a supporter of the underdogs, and despite significant steps forward, peripheral ecosystems still lag in terms of access to funding and successful startups per capita.
Greece, in particular, is growing but remains still a smaller ecosystem. Therefore we envision investing around 20% of our capital in our home country and the balance in Europe as well as the Middle East and LatAm. Of course, if we are positively surprised, we will invest more. It all comes down to the supply of ambitious founders who are willing to solve global problems.
Is Spain a geography you are interested in and that you are actively looking into? Why is that? What are your views on the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem as a whole and its state of development? How does it compare to those in other European countries?
We are very interested in Spain and have already invested in some strong companies like Belvo and Factory14. The Spanish ecosystem has developed very fast and we have high expectations going forward. We are impressed by the quality of teams we come across and we feel Spain has moved faster compared to other peripheral ecosystems.
In light of your broad investment track record and experience, what is your opinion about the Spanish entrepreneurs vis-à-vis those in other countries?
We feel that Spanish entrepreneurs are on average more ambitious and outward-looking compared to entrepreneurs in other peripheral ecosystems. This is a manifestation of a culture or also of the maturity of the ecosystem. There have been quite a few great success stories of Spanish startups that have inspired tech entrepreneurs and have proven to them that it is feasible to build global category leaders from Spain. Companies like Glovo, Cabify, Wallapop, Jobandtalent, Typeform, and more have played a very important role.
What is a must-have in the projects in which you invest?
Very large market.
What are the most common mistakes that you typically see among founders looking into raising capital from VCs?
They don't talk enough about the product and about why they are in the best position to solve the problem they want to tackle.
If you were to give just one piece of advice to any entrepreneur, what would that be?
Obsess about delighting customers.
What is the best way for entrepreneurs to contact the Venture Friends team?
Other founders or investor (angel or VC) referrals are best because they show someone believes in you or in what you do. However, we respond to all requests through our website: https://venturefriends.vc/contact.
LEARNING WITH…
Andre Jordão, founder & CEO @ Barkyn
In our "Learning with…" section, entrepreneurs we have backed, put some of their hits, mistakes, and learnings when building and scaling their companies at the disposal of the ¡Alirón! community.
ABOUT BARKYN
Launched in 2017 by Andre Jordão and Ricardo Macedo, Barkyn is a subscription service for pets that includes healthy food, personalized snacks, and supplements that match every dog's nutritional needs, as well as dedicated tele-veterinarian assistance. Barkyn serves customers in Portugal, Spain, and Italy and aims to deliver health and happiness to pet families around the world! The Lisbon-based startup is reshaping the e-commerce experience to make it human, personalized, beautiful, and unique, and we love it.
Tell us about why and how you decided to launch Barkyn and where you guys are today
Actually, I launched Barkyn for two main reasons: I knew the market very well from a consumer perspective and I saw a huge opportunity since the market will explode online and everyone is doing the same classic & boring e-commerce. I was always a dog lover, I own two large dogs called Lupi and Misty (still our beta testers), and I wanted to solve the issues I felt by taking care of them.
My dogs didn't like the food easily, they hate going to the vet, I was always forgetting to place an order for more food and I didn't have any advice for the right food and care. So we created a service that simplifies pet care in one single point of contact.
Barkyn is the only subscription service that delivers personalized food for each dog together with unlimited telemedicine consultations. Personalized, full care in one place and fee. We are operating in 3 countries — Spain, Portugal, and Italy — with 32 thousand active customers, who now have more than 22 thousand posts on social media about our service. I'm also proud we are the pet company with the highest Trustpilot score globally.
What is an average day like for you as CEO? How do you manage to lead Barkyn and still find a work-life balance?
I'm pretty disciplined on my calendar, splitting it into intentional moments during the day, proportionally to their impact on the business: I have slots to discuss acquisition and growth, a slot to think about innovation and research, a slot to digest data, deep work hours and so forth.
My day starts at 6h30 and I always reserve half an hour to set-top priorities for the day. Actually… I don't really think you can have a perfect balance when you're trying to be the best at something. But I learned to be fully present: when I'm working I'm 100% focused; when I'm with my family, I'm 100% there, not checking my email.
How would you define your leadership style? What are you good at? What do you need to improve? What has been your major learning in this area?
I would say analytical in the first place… but also creative — I'm obsessed with our brand for example. I stimulate the team to find a rationale and structure behind things, priorities, assumptions, and our execution methods. I tend to be very rational in measuring the cost-benefit of priorities and alternatives and I think our leads tend to go in the same direction.
On the other hand, I like to be empathetic, especially about people's issues and contexts. I'm good at seeing the high-level, more strategic direction, and translating it into execution priorities. Maybe I would like to celebrate more our small wins and milestones, I think a founder tends to focus on the "what's next" and sometimes forgets to savor every milestone of the journey.
What has been your roadmap to define Barkyn's strategic priorities over time when you have so much on the table?
We try to focus on a vision and strategic drivers. You actually need to be focused on clear strategic points otherwise you'll be lost in micro execution or optimizations. In our case, we want to become the dominant pet service, focusing on personalization, 360 care, and health. We try to make sure our roadmap and priorities map this strategy.
Also, at least twice a year we do a very helpful exercise: what I call the "self-destruction exercise". Try to answer the question: if I had to build today a business that could totally crush mine, what would I do? That's probably what you should plan to do next.
When did you decide to scale internationally? How did you define that process?
Well, Barkyn was born international almost from day one. We're based in Portugal, a small country, so we need to think of external markets from the beginning. We launched Portugal and Spain almost together because there are operational synergies between both. Later Italy because it was a clear opportunity in Europe, given data on the market size, competition, acquisition costs, and online penetration of pet players.
Of course, you try to systematize a launch in a playbook but when you're operating in a few countries… each country has its caveats, you need to be flexible and open-minded to that.
Building a great team is critical for any startup's success. What has been your magic recipe to do that? What is the greatest challenge Barkyn faces in this area?
It is a cliche but talent is critical — people build an experience and that's the only long-term growth engine — all the rest are tactical pushes but never the fundamental part of growth. What we learned over time is that having a well-structured recruitment process is the key to building a great team.
It's a never-ending challenge, we're still learning, but today most of our hires are spot on in terms of cultural and technical fit. One lesson we learned is that it's better to find a cultural fit and build from there instead of looking for the perfect technical skills but risking neglecting culture.
We have a 3 step process with an interviewer each who knows exactly what to look for and give feedback on. We focus especially on three traits in a person: curious, structured, and constructive. Curiosity is a must because if you're curious you go places.
What main piece of advice would you give to other entrepreneurs raising capital based on your own learnings?
Fundraising depends on a sum of a lot of details and that's why it's an art and difficult to summarize in a few bullet points. But if I would choose two short pieces of advice I would say:
- Storytelling is key — sell the sizzle and then the sausage, which means: sell the smell of a great growth story ahead and only then the rational benefits. Why you're the best startup deal in your space?
- All comes down to retention and a defensibility strategy — iterate on this on your model before fundraising. Have your numbers solid around LTV and evidence of a strategic-driven roadmap.
Any other recommendations you have for current or aspiring entrepreneurs?
Go frequently to the why of starting this company. That will help you go through the storms and summits of your journey. Remember you're lucky to be able to do the journey. Also, there's a quote I like that serves so many things in life: if you want something you never had, you have to do something you've never done. If you want your next level, you need your method to go next level first.
Latest AIV portfolio rounds
Just a quick note on some of the most recent transactions relating to our portfolio companies
- Jobandtalent — Recruitment marketplace and digital temping agency
Spain | Series E — $500M round led by Kinnevik with participation from SoftBank, Atomico, DN, Infravia, Kibo Ventures, and Quadrille.
- Abound — A curated wholesale marketplace that connects business owners and independent brands
USA | Series B — $36.7M round led by D. E. Shaw Group, with additional support from PointState Capital, Left Lane Capital, RiverPark Ventures, and All Iron Ventures.
- Keyway — Lease-back solution for small and medium-sized business owners looking for liquidity
USA | Seed round — $15M round led by Canvas Ventures with participation from Montage Ventures, FJ Labs, and Crosscut.
🧡 Thanks for reading! If you have enjoyed this newsletter, spread the word! You can follow us at All Iron Ventures on Linkedin and Twitter.
💸 If you are fundraising and want to share your project with us, please use this Typeform (even better if you get to us through a mutual connection, though!).
