On building a strong marketing team for Europe's leading seed fund with Natasha Lytton, Director at Seedcamp

A conversation about the journey of being a startup operator, getting into Seedcamp, and how the fund organizez around all things marketing, networking, and branding activities.

May 16, 2024

Transcript

Today, we have Natasha Lytton with us.

Natasha is the Director of Brand at Seedcamp, where she runs all things brand, network strategy, and post-investment activities. She creates the infrastructure and runs the team to support the portfolio of the fund that stands for over +460 companies.

She loves discovering and helping to build startups that have the potential to radically change the future and who are shaping the world we want to be part of.

Seedcamp first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs in truly competing on a global scale. With investments in over 460 companies including publicly listed Romanian-founded, UiPath, Wise, and unicorns Revolut, wefox, and Pleo. Carlos is a published author, fellow podcaster and has been on the Forbes Midas List as one of the most influential VCs in Europe for more or less as long as yours truly has been alive.

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Chapters:

00:06 Journey from Startup Founder to Seedcamp Marketing
05:57 Balancing Professional Growth and Parenthood
16:04 Marketing in Venture Capital: Strategy and Impact
22:09 Communicating with Clarity: Seedcamp's Approach to Messaging
27:59 Strong Brand Identity in Venture Capital
28:12 Navigating Brand Evolution and Market Positioning
29:12 Reflecting on Seedcamp's Legacy and Future Direction
30:37 Brand Alignment and Operational Practices
31:37 The Continuous Evolution of Brand Strategy
32:54 Challenging Operational Norms for Brand Integrity
34:27 Embedding Marketing and Branding Across the Firm
37:14 Content Creation: Strategy and Execution
40:04 Supporting Founders with Seedcamp's Marketing
43:48 Seedcamp’s Approach on Performance Marketing and KPIs
57:11 Adapting to Change: The Evolution of Seedcamp's Community Engagement

✍️ Show notes

Transition from startup to VC.

Natasha discussed her pathway into venture capital, which was not planned but spurred by curiosity about decision-making processes in VC after her startup faced challenges. This transition underscores the serendipitous nature of career shifts and the value of being open to new opportunities.

"I had that curiosity and, uh, Seedcamp just so happened to be an investor in that business [...] I pinged Carlos on Facebook messenger back in those days. And I think I literally said, 'Is any of your portfolio hiring?' And he said, actually we are, how would you feel about joining us?".

Balancing professional and personal life.

Natasha shared her experiences of returning to work after maternity leave, discussing the blend of familiarity and challenge. This highlights the reality many working parents face in balancing career commitments with family responsibilities.

"It's both tough and different while also very familiar, if that makes sense. It's um, the context switching is definitely quite weird. Like I remember rushing back from a leadership meeting to go and breastfeed my child and getting sicked up on.".

Seedcamp going from Accelerator to VC fund.

The discussion emphasized the transformation of Seedcamp’s identity and operational model from an accelerator to a prominent seed fund. This evolution is critical for adapting to the competitive and changing landscape of venture capital.

"So yeah, it was one of these like amazingly serendipitous moments I was in with the whole team later that afternoon and I think got the job the next day. So yeah, that was seven and a half years ago, which is pretty, pretty wild, but it was a really organic kind of entry in.".

Brand and marketing in venture capital.

Natasha spoke about the integral role of marketing and brand in the venture space, especially in differentiating within a saturated market. This part of the conversation provides insight into the strategic value of clear, consistent branding and community engagement for venture capital firms.

You have to be intentional and also just realistic with like what. Does marketing do, what are the expectations? How bought in are you as an organization to that?".

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