Venture Capital & Consulting
As one of Germany’s top internet and mobile venture capital and consulting firms we are your partner for starting and growing your business. We invest in software and service companies that make use of online and mobile technologies with disruptive business ideas and the potential to redefine established markets. We actively support our founding teams with resources and comprehensive knowledge as well as established companies in launching and spinning in internet and mobile technology business models.
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Catagonia Venture Lounge 2012
Catagonia Venture Lounge takes place as an annual networking event shortly before year end on the rooftops of Berlin. The objective is to unite investors, business angels, founders and people with an interest in venture capital in a cool and relaxed setting.
The 2012 edition gathered professionals from these different universes and we are proud to have brought them together under the motto ‘Building Bridges’.
We interviewed most of our attendees during the course of the evening and asked them a few questions including:
What is the biggest mistake that founders make?
What does ‘Mobile’ mean to you?
What are the hot topics for the future?
Watch the answers in our Videos below (In German), featuring among others Ferry Heilemann, founder of Daily Deal & Heilemann Ventures, Christoph Raethke, founder of Berlin Startup Academy, Christoph Walther, CEO of CNC, David Dean, Senior Partner at BCG, Bodo Thielmann, COO at Axel Springer and many more…!
What is the biggest mistake that founders make? - Interviews at Catagonia Venture Lounge 2012
What are the hot topics for the future? - Interviews at Catagonia Venture Lounge 2012
“Ist Berlin das neue Silicon Valley?” - Interviews auf der Catagonia Venture Lounge
Die Catagonia Venture Lounge findet als jährliches Networkingevent kurz vor Jahresende über den Dächern von Berlin statt und hat zum Ziel, Investoren, Business Angels, Gründer und Venture Capital-Interessierte in lockerer Atmosphäre zum ungezwungenen Gedankenaustausch zusammenzubringen. Der Spaß steht dabei im Vordergrund und führt oft zu den besten Ideen und Konstellationen aus einer angeregten Diskussion. Wir fragten die Teilnehmer:
a) Was zeichnet Berlin für Gründer, Investoren und Menschen mit Ideen aus?
b) Wird Berlin das neue Silicon Valley und was begünstigt diese Entwicklung?
c) Was ist bei einem Start up in Berlin zu beachten?
Für alle Interessierten gibt es hier nochmal die Einzelbeiträge der Befragten in voller Länge als Downloadlink.
Viel Spaß beim Anschauen!
“Is Berlin the European Silicon Valley?” - Interview at Catagonia Venture Lounge
Catagonia Venture Lounge takes place as an annual networking event shortly before year end on the rooftops of Berlin. The objective is to unite investors, business angels, founders and people with an interest in venture capital in a cool and relaxed setting. We asked Eran Davidson, Managing Partner and CEO of Hasso Plattner Ventures a) What makes Berlin exciting for founders, investors and people with ideas? and b) Will Berlin be the next Silicon Valley and what accelerates this development?
Enjoy watching!
Where do you see Berlin’s start-up scene going?
Anne is a French intern at Catagonia. Here’s a snapshot of her Berliner experience.
The one thing I learned about Berlin, after having lived there for the past year, is that it’s a city full of contrasts and contradictions: Berlin is a mecca for bohemian lifestyle seekers and penniless artists craving for inspiration, but it is also the capital of one of the world’s strongest economies. Berlin has one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany (14,2%), but at the same time attracts numerous people who want to set up their own business.
A lot of my friends found jobs in trendy Berlin start-ups. Zalando, Brands4friends, Mister Spex, Aupeo, eDarling, Wooga, etc. – some of the most exciting new German companies are founded here. Others, like the Swedish start-up Soundcloud, on purpose moved from Stockholm to Berlin. Yet, in this context of entrepreneurial effervescence, some major criticism has been made to Berlin over and over. Berlin, which is the cradle of creativity, oddly seemed to show more interest in establishing German copycats of successful US firms (StudiVZ for Facebook, My City Deal for Groupon, 9flats for Airbnb) than creating something brand new.
I personally wanted to work in Venture Capital and stay in Berlin. Surprisingly not such a good combination. Indeed, I rapidly discovered that if Berlin truly is Europe’s new hottest tech hub for start-ups, the main VCs are based in Munich, Frankfurt or Hamburg. You would think: where you find start-ups, you’ll find VCs. As in the Silicon Valley, where the coexistence between founders and investors creates a stimulating synergy. But it’s not the case in Berlin.
A city full of promising start-ups, but only a few VCs. A city driven by creativity, but only backing copycats. Just further contradictions. What has been described to me as the new Silicon Valley suddenly seemed to present huge drawbacks.
But after observing the local entrepreneurial scene and working at Catagonia for the last 3 months, I have to admit I’m no longer concerned about Berlin’s future as Europe’s new tech hub. There might be copycats. However, what strikes me the most, are all the exciting projects flourishing over the city. The fun one, like EyeEm, a new smart camera App. The mysterious one, like Amen, a stealth-mode start-up who already caught the eyes of a few big investors in the US. As for Berlin-based VCs, it’s a fact: more and more funds are considering settling in Berlin. The Munich team of EarlyBird recently set the example by opening a new office in the German capital.
In addition the city offers strong incentives. No need to dwell on the attractive cost of living. Even if they’re steadily getting higher, everyone knows you still find some of the cheapest rents in Europe. It’s an undeniable perk to attract young companies and freshly out of college job seekers. After a year of study in Berlin, an overwhelming majority of my classmates wanted to stay in the city for their internship, badly. Even if the salaries were lower than the ones in Frankfurt or Munich, people were willing to work for less due to the vibrancy of the city’s cultural offer. Even if Berlin doesn’t offer a lot of opportunity for business school post-graduates like us, people were willing to widen their job-hunting perimeter due to the fascination for the city’s nightlife.
No, I’m not worried about Berlin. With its army of talented founders and its geographical proximity to all the emerging markets, the city definitely is a fertile ground for high-tech start-ups. And if you look at the next 15 years, I would bet Berlin to be the world’s leading start-up hub.
EARLY BIRD CAPITAL: WHY RETURNS IN EUROPE ARE NOW OUTPACING THE U.S.
I must say that these ongoing debates about US vs. Europe that many VCs and startups like to dwell on are getting on my nerves. Most of the time people get hung up on superficialities and end up repeating the same old mantras over and over again: “it is much easier to raise funds in the US”, “Europe did not have any big exit in years”, “there is much more networking in the Valley”, ”Germans only know how to copy”, “US startups think global from the start and are risk takers” and my favorite one: ”failure is ok in the US and will make you more likely to get funding (and probably super rich)”.
Bla bla bla!
Loic LeMeur seems to be particularly apt at jumping on the bandwagon of unsubstantial spiel.
Thankfully Early Bird Capital joins the debate with some substance and concrete numbers to back up their claim. What a relief!
Too old for a startup? Is there an age limit for entrepreneurs?
Besides of being hugely successful entrepreneurs, what do Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg and Kevin Rose have in common? They all created their rising-star company at the age of 20-something. An early start in the early stage business.
Recently popularized by Hollywood, the stereotype of the youthful pimply geek coding in his Harvard or Stanford dorm soon became a myth for Silicon Valley. And this “Silicon Valley syndrome” is not confined to the West coast, nor the US. Berlin, for example, also presents a large concentration of entrepreneurs under the age of 30.
But what about Jerry M. Kennelly, 51 when he cofounded Riverbed Technology, one of America’s fastest-growing tech startups according to Forbes Magazine? Mike Ramsay, 47 when he co-founded TiVo or Mark Pincus, 41 when creating Zynga? Last year’s Newsweek magazine article “The Golden Age of Innovation” pointed out that the overwhelming majority of high-tech startup founders tend to be in their late 30s, early 40s. A recent TechCrunch article of Adeo Ressi, the founder of The Founder Institute, corroborated this assumption with factual data. So why don’t older entrepreneurs get more love?
I personally believe you can start a company or join a startup team at any age. As an entrepreneur, I founded tyntec at the age of 34. As an investor, I would equally consider a project set up by 20-years-olds or 50-years-olds. Talent and drive don’t know any age limits. But the phenomenon still strikes me. How do you explain ageism in entrepreneurship?
Younger people tend to be seen as more flexible, creative, energetic and spontaneous. They are free of family commitments and willing to show they’re capable. They’re usually interested in new technology and aware of the latest innovation. Young people definitely tend to more risk taking, as they don’t (yet) have any mortgages hanging over their heads, nor do they have to give up a confortable financial situation. Above all, I think they combine the right amount of both naivety and recklessness. Because, let’s be honest, if you rationalize, there are a hundred reasons not to start a business. It might be easier for someone young not to see this.
As to elder people, they benefit from more experience. They have acquired significant knowledge in their past jobs. They can leverage a pretty extensive network. Therefore they are more credible as expert in a specific sector. They are financially stable and can even invest their own money in their company at a seed stage.
20-something and 40-something founders both have great assets to offer. The real question is how investors perceive them. If investors believe younger entrepreneurs are better, they are more likely to fund them. And no one can deny the high correlation between getting funds and success. So we shouldn’t ask ourselves about the correlation between the age of the founder and the success of his future company. What really matters is what we as investors believe.
