Today we have Greg Dewerpe with us. Greg is a founder & CIO at A/O, a venture firm in London backing European founders that are building innovative technology companies that directly and indirectly solve mission critical problems in the Built World with a unique access to some of the largest B2B customers in the industry.
A/O has a total of 500€ MN in AUM, an established portfolio of 23 companies and notable investments including SPAN, Passivelogic, SatteliteVu, Plentific and Enter. At A/O, Greg focuses on building world technology and positive transformation (like decarbonisation, climate resiliency and digitalisation), in Europe & the US, late seed to series B.
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00:00:00 - Introduction to the European VC Podcast 00:04:12 - Overcoming Challenges in Career Transition 00:07:55 - The Power of Visualization and Positivity 00:11:44 - The Challenges of the Industry 00:15:34 - Building Europe’s biggest Solo GP 00:19:25 - Keyman Risk vs. Team Risk 00:22:54 - The Journey towards Growth and Improvement 00:26:34 - On Bullying, Balancing Work and Parenthood 00:33:59 - Being Present in Relationships 00:38:02 - Confidence, Humility, and Growth in Entrepreneurship 00:41:58 - The Challenges and Opportunities of VC in Real Estate 00:45:44 - The Impact of Technology Transformation on Asset Prices 00:49:32 - Aligning Doing Good and Making Money 00:53:35 - Risk Tolerance and Acceptance of Failure in Venture Capital 00:57:14 - The Benefits of Being a Specialist in Venture Capital
Q: What do you think about the statement by Sabina Wizander, Partner at Creandum: “VCs add way less value than they think”?
I agree that there are a lot of players in our industry who are very self centered and like to think they are incredibly helpful or smart…One of the most striking things I have seen around boards is the following: Investors usually underwrite that 50-60% of portfolio will go to zero… so when a company struggles, they are very quick to put them in this bucket and not only lose interest but also become comfortable with the idea of failure.. I have seen it time and time again. Something I will never be ok with. We fight for every single one of our companies.
Q: What’s your biggest learnings in venture?
Resilience > intelligence
The best investments are never the obvious ones.
Team over TAM
Having the ability to maintain a consistent risk appetite over the years is key. One bad investment should not lead you to be more cautious, you must accept it. If you look at the VC model there’s the concept of the power law and graduation rates. this tend to get too many investors leave the ship as soon as it seems like it might be leaking and chuck it up to the 50% that just die. My journey has taught me that you can get very close to dying and still succeed massively.
A lot of things are down to luck or randomness… be humble enough to accept that some things will always be out of your control. And embrace it.
Always look past the headlines or the appearances they hardly ever tell the truth… particularly in VC or social media where everyone wants to come across as happy, successful and smart… Focus on your own journey
Chips on the shoulders bring chips in the pockets…A quote from Josh Wolfe from Lux capital…It couldn't be more true.
Life is very short, never live with the permanent regret of what you could/should have done. Go for it and don't be scared. What's the worst that can happen? “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure”
Q: What advice would you give your 10 year younger self?
The best investment you will ever make is in yourself - look no further…
Q: What are your top tips for emerging VCs across Europe who are fundraising ?
…Don’t compare yourself to others. Always be yourself, it's tiring to try and live someone’s life.
Be a specialist, there are too many generalists out there…
Be genuine, honest, humble and direct.
Surround yourself with people who are ethnically, intellectually and gender diverse - and embrace diversity in everything you do.
Don't worry about appearing smart today or next week but rather in 5-10 years.
Don't chase headlines and don't pay attention to them either… they usually don't tell the full story, sometimes quite the opposite.
Don't take no for an answer, and don't take no personally, you never know what's going on in someone else’s life…
There is no such thing as failure, only failure to learn. Always learn. Never stop.
Find strength in other people doubting or undermining you…Use that as a fuel.
Q: What’s the most counterintuitive thing you’ve learned in venture?
The best investments are the ones where the decision is the hardest to make, or the more controversial…and we almost systematically always underestimate the upside potential of our best companies.
Q: Finally, please give some love to a fellow co-investor, angel or LP for being awesome 💖
Yaron Valler - Co-investor, mentor and friend. And founder of one of Europe's most successful VC firms, Target Global.
One of the most genuine, direct and intellectually honest guys around.
He has always been very supportive in an industry which is a lot more cut throat that people would like the outside world to know.
Europe's biggest solo GP Greg Dewerpe of A/O with 500 m€ AUM on building his firm and the opportunity of the built world 🧱