Burn the Playbook: EWOR's Launch and our Emerging Manager Diary Part 5.
Six unicorn founders raise a fund in 36 days to rewrite the rules. Another fights to break into venture’s closed ranks. Truly one you don’t want to miss.
Today, we’re bringing you two wildly different emerging manager stories.
The fifth installment of our Emerging Manager Diary — a raw and honest look into the grind of breaking into the industry’s middle tier while raising Fund I.
But also the story of Daniel Dippold and the EWOR team, who raised Fund I in less than a month and came out guns blazing with a claim to rewrite the rules of venture. Part of me always rolls my eyes at that kind of pitch — but another part gets deeply curious.
The truth is, when you look at the data on venture returns and startup outcomes, it’s obvious that new models are needed. But too often, the supposed “solutions” fall flat.
So when I first got the pitch to bring Daniel on the pod, I was skeptical. Slow to respond. Didn’t prep like I should’ve. I messed up.
Then Daniel came on 3 days ago and blew me away. We reprioritized the pipeline, got the show in production asap and are putting it out for you today.
He and the EWOR fellowship aren’t just tinkering with the edges. They’re flipping the model — from how they back founders to how they build their fund. Strategy, structure, incentives — all rethought from first principles.
I’ll shamelessly paste Ole Lehmann’s killer LinkedIn thread below to give you a quick overview. But seriously, don’t skip this episode. Daniel is an outlier — not just as a founder, but as a VC. This one left me fired up. I hope it does the same for you.
with 💖 Andreas
🎙️ Rewriting the Rules of Venture with EWOR’s Daniel Dippold
In this episode, Andreas sits down with Daniel Dippold, co-founder of EWOR, on the very day of their Fund I announcement — a fund that was raised in just 36 days and launched with a staggering 2M+ social media impressions.
Daniel and his team at EWOR are on a mission to build a virtual Silicon Valley for the next generation of rebels, nerds, and visionaries. But this isn't another vague “we're rewriting venture” pitch. It’s deeply thought out, structured from first principles, and grounded in execution.
Listen or watch the whole episode below 👀
🔥 What You'll Learn
Why EWOR exists
Born from frustration with traditional venture and the belief that top-tier founders exist everywhere — not just in San Francisco. EWOR aims to recreate that ecosystem virtually, giving global outliers access to the same compounding advantages.Full-time unicorn firepower
The team behind EWOR isn't just listed on a slide. They're full-time serial entrepreneurs, unicorn and decacorn founders working 1:1 with portfolio companies every week. This is operator-led venture — for real.Modular founder support
No rigid cohorts. No one-size-fits-all curriculum. EWOR ditches the accelerator model and instead offers highly tailored support across hiring, fundraising, deep tech, and more — delivered exactly when founders need it.A new kind of VC structure
With $35M+ in founder capital and another $30M in LP commitments, EWOR is structured more like a company than a traditional fund. The goal? Long-term platform value and alignment with the founders they back.Underwriting founders, not markets
EWOR’s thesis: you can — and should — underwrite at the founder level. Markets and models can change. Outliers will win anyway. It’s bold, and based on Daniel’s own operator logic and track record.Contrarian takes on venture capital
Daniel gets brutally honest about today’s VC landscape — why most funds are mediocre by design, why the power-law cuts both ways, and why the future belongs to those who build real firms, not slide decks.
Here’s what’s covered:
02:47 The Origin of Ewor: Lessons from Building Momentum
07:12 Understanding the LP Journey
11:25 The European LP Landscape vs. the U.S.
15:33 Structuring EWOR as a Flywheel, Not a Fund
21:10 Solving for LP Education and Community
26:45 Why Now: The Timing Behind EWOR’s Launch
30:30 LPs as Builders: Shifting the Narrative
35:18 How EWOR Aims to Serve GPs
42:14 Storytelling, Visibility, and the Next Chapter
I know... the title is exciting - but let’s hit pause for a second and do a quick retrospective revision, just to set the right tone. Honestly, we consider ourselves insanely lucky to have bagged a 100k commitment right after our very first serious LP meeting. Reading back my previous entries, though, I realised that diving straight into our fundraising win wouldn’t quite do justice to the brutal struggle we went through to get here.
So here’s the pause... and a friendly reminder of the reality behind this milestone: We spent endless hours staring at Excel sheets until the cells started dancing, practically earned an unofficial master's degree in fund-related law, and somehow became amateur therapists, HR managers, and key strategists while navigating internal team dramas. But eventually, there it was -something presentable enough for LPs. (At least this is what we thought at that point in time.)
We faced the next daunting question: who exactly would be crazy enough - I mean, lucky enough - to join us on this journey? And how would we even find these elusive, new wealthy BFFs?
Yes, BFFs – as institutional investors, the big guys are off the table for first-time fund managers – cruel world it is!!
We had to start somewhere. So we did what everyone does - we made a list.
A list of people we knew, we thought might know something, or at least people who could politely give feedback without laughing at us.
Quickly, it became painfully obvious that our network’s “wealthy” contacts were few and far between - and that even the fanciest angels seemed alarmingly poor once we factored in VC-scale numbers. (Referring back to my previous log while highlighting the differences between the US and EU tech scene.)
But we didn’t give up, combing through LinkedIn, shuffling through old business cards, and silently wondering, “How on Earth did we ever think we knew anyone with money?”
The list was depressingly short… so we decided we’d be strategic about our outreach, carefully warming up with those safe "feedback-only" types first, and gradually moving toward people who might actually consider becoming LPs.
Initially, we planned a few safe test runs with knowledgeable-but-broke contacts, just to practice and make sure we wouldn't embarrass ourselves too badly.
Keep it gradual, right?… Absolutely not.
Okay - maybe with a little patience: I think we did exactly two dry runs before approaching our first Family Office..
She was a friend of my business partner, we liked her, trusted her - and thought, “Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?”
She listened carefully to our pitch, threw a bunch of thoughtful questions our way, and then casually said "yes"—seriously, that was it. Well, we did have to resend the materials (because, of course, who gets it perfect on the first try?), but honestly, that was the extent of the process.
Lesson learned: fundraising outreach boils down to actually doing it.
Sure, it wasn’t exactly an anchor LP, but it was more than enough to launch our confidence through the roof. Not bad for the 3rd meeting.
Next time, I'll dive into the opposite end of the spectrum—the soul-crushers. The ghosts. The masters of silence. The "seen-but-no-reply" legends who vanish without a trace. Stay tuned!
XoXo, Venture Whisperer (The VC Gossip Girl)
Upper East Side Ventures