Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Christian Tang-Jespersen, Partner at San Francisco–based ACME, and Claus Gregersen, CEO of the 275-year-old evergreen investor Augustinus Fabrikker, explore what global ambition really means in today’s venture landscape.
From recalibrating US expansion strategies to navigating sovereignty, trade tensions, and structural resets, they unpack how investors and founders must adapt to thrive in a more complex but still interconnected world.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
02:00 Structural reset, not just another downturn—why waiting for “normal” is not an option.
03:30 Investors as navigators, not moral arbiters—what it means in practice.
04:15 Why the US remains critical: learning, scaling, and surviving tough competition.
06:00 Page nine of every pitch deck: the inevitable US expansion slide.
07:20 Trade tensions vs. venture building—why early-stage models aren’t derailed by politics.
08:30 The importance of value-adding capital—choose partners for impact, not geography.
09:15 Lessons from COVID and defense: building lean, fast, and resilient.
10:00 Closing thoughts: capital may be scarcer, but ambition must remain global.
You can listen to the full session on Apple Podcasts and Spotify 🎧
✍️ Show Notes
Structural Reset, Not a Downturn
The uncertainty today is systemic, not cyclical.
Investors and founders must adapt rather than wait for a return to old norms.
Global Ambition & the US Market
Eight out of ten top opportunities still come from the US.
Beyond business, the US provides unmatched learning and scale environments.
Success in the US is the ultimate proving ground for global ambition.
Politics vs. Venture Building
Trade wars and tariffs matter for industrial incumbents, less so for early-stage startups.
Venture models thrive on resilience, adaptability, and optionality across markets.
Choosing Capital Wisely
Founders should seek the most value-adding capital, regardless of geography.
Ideology should not override pragmatism when building resilient, globally competitive companies.
Key Takeaways
Build lean (COVID lesson), build fast (defense lesson), and above all, build resilient.
The biggest challenge today is not geopolitics—it’s scarcity of capital compared to just a year ago.
💡 One-liner takeaway:
Global ambition isn’t optional—founders must embrace resilience and pragmatism to win in a sovereign, uncertain, yet interconnected world.
