Camping Out in Europe(Part 1)
Being a relatively young investment unit, we believe it’s very valuable that we are all sitting together in our little Growth HQ in Copenhagen (it’s beautiful, right?), despite being a globally active investor (our 19 investments to date are split up across eight countries on four continents). We want to strengthen our core before flirting with remote first, as for instance advocated by Doist founder Amir Salihefendic and ridiculed on Twitter.
So we decided to leave the nest and camp-out in Europe!🚣♀
Maersk Growth is based in Copenhagen but the majority of our deal-flow originates from other ecosystems🌍
To a large extent, we can pride ourselves on a fast decision-making process because of those countless ad-hoc personal interactions to discuss a specific opportunity or a domain more broadly and to bounce-off ideas. Although today’s real-time collaboration tools are remarkable, nothing compares to the personal interaction.
However, we do realize that the same logic applies when it comes to engaging with the ecosystems that are most dear to us. Quarterly check-in calls sometimes simply don’t cut it to building relationships.
While we do look at companies globally, a large share of our deal flow comes from Europe, which is reflected in our portfolio where c. 40% of our investments are headquartered in European cities.
We are leaving Denmark (…occasionally)👋
The European startup and investment community does, of course, have its own dynamics. There is, for instance, no such thing as an interconnected European ecosystem, comparable to that in the US (yet), as our friends from The Family have rightfully pointed out. To really become a part of the fragmented ecosystems, you need to be there.
For that very reason, we’ve decided to leave our Danish beehive more systematically than we have until now and will do frequent ‘camp-outs’ in various European ecosystems. As of now, we will be focusing on Berlin, Munich, Stockholm, London, and Paris for these camp-outs. (Of course, we will continue our regular visits in other key ecosystems as before.)
So, starting this week, we’ll spend more time in the wild. Maersk Growthsters will regularly be working remotely in different cities for a week or so, scheduling meetings with entrepreneurs, fellow investors, and other games. Okay, but what’s the plan? No worries. We’ve made a simple overview for you right here:
1. The objectives
A. Establish a more active presence in our target geographies where the majority of our deal-flow originates.
B. Become “honorary-locals” — since locals know their home markets best and have unique insights into the conditions of their ecosystem.
C. Have more personal interactions and effective collaborations with our excellent portfolio companies.
2. The game plan
Eurotripping! Starting with:
🧚♀️Emelie
- Berlin from 9th and 13th
- Stockholm from April 1st to 3rd and 23rd to 30th
🧜♂️Adrian
- Munich from March 5th to 11th
- Berlin from April 1st to 8th
🧙♂️Lasse
- London from April 20th to May 1st
3. The call to action
If you’re in town and would like to get in touch with us or if you know someone who probably should, please do reach out and we’ll gladly meet over a ☕ / 🍺 / 🍹 / or [insert your preferred beverage here]…
We’ll keep you posted on our camp-out experience so stay tuned!💥
Yours truly,
💙Adrian and Emelie💙
P.S.: Yes, we are excited about Wes Andersens’ The French Dispatch release too (watch the trailer if you haven’t!).
