In this episode, Dan Bowyer, Lomax Ward, and Mads Jensen reunite to talk about the stories behind the headlines - Trump’s tariffs, EU’s sluggish startup strategy, the Anthropic surge, and why Europe’s hardware design hopes might rest on Munich.
From missiles interrupting pool time in Tel Aviv to Nvidia’s record-breaking quarter, the crew tackles everything from macro trade wars to micro founder incentives—plus a healthy dose of sarcasm, realpolitik, and startup survival.
Here’s what’s covered:
04:30 Tariffs, trade wars & what it means for European startups
08:15 Harmonization vs. regulation: Why EU/US divergence matters
10:55 Tariffs & inflation: Why macro still rules the game
13:10 The public/private schism and bond market dismay
21:45 The EU startup plan: blue carpets, unicorn labs & old ideas
26:00 Talent, tax & the fight for Europe's future founders
29:30 Why Munich might be Europe’s next deep tech capital
31:00 Big tech flexes: Google, Anthropic, and the return of hardware
35:00 Vibe coding & SaaS disruption: The new normal?
41:00 AI agents, Nvidia blowouts, and the pace of change
45:20 Deal of the Week: Brightflag exits for $425M
57:00 Why the crew skipped SuperVenture to actually build stuff
Watch it here or add it to your episodes on Apple or Spotify 🎧 chapters for easy navigation available on the Spotify/Apple episode.
✍️ Show Notes
Tariffs, Trade Wars & Tech
Forget taco tariffs—Trump’s trade talk is back, and this time it’s serious. Lomax sets the scene: The EU-US trading relationship is worth $1.5 trillion, yet has never had a true trade deal.
“If you're building hardware in Europe, these 50% tariffs could be a killer.”
Beyond tariffs, the team highlights standards harmonization as the holy grail for startup scalability, especially in regulated industries such as medtech.
Macro Still Runs the Show
Mads delivers a macro masterclass: tariffs fuel inflation, inflation drives interest rates, and rates reshape the funding environment. Simple as that.
“Macroeconomics drives exits, DPI, and the dry powder we deploy. We ignore it at our peril.”
Bond markets are nervous. Equity markets are euphoric. Which one’s right? That depends if you’re betting on AI or deficits.
Europe’s Grand Plans: Blueprint or Blunder?
The EU dropped a new 21-page startup and scale-up strategy. It's heavy on vision, light on urgency.
Key pillars:
Blue Carpet for talent attraction
Lab to Unicorn initiative
28th Regime for cross-border company formation
10 B+ Scale-Up Fund (eventually...)
“Show me the money. 2026 is light-years away in AI time.” —Mads
Lomax lauds efforts on stock option reform and founder immigration but questions the EU’s ability to act fast enough.
Big Tech’s AI Arms Race
The gang unpacks Google I/O, Microsoft Build, and Anthropic’s game-changing Opus and Sonnet models.
“Seven-hour autonomous coding sessions with no context drift? We’re not in 2022 anymore.”
But with vibe-coded MVPs popping up daily, startups face existential risks from platform-level disruption.
“What used to take 6 months now takes 6 hours. But so can obsolescence.”
AI Hardware: Ive + Altman = Apple 2.0?
Dan dives into the new OpenAI–LoveFrom $6.5B stock-only deal. No one knows what they’re building. Everyone suspects it’s big.
“This is a bet on the next form factor. The iPhone was the last one. Altman wants the next”.
Will it be a pendant? Glasses? A total flop? It depends on who blinks first—Apple, Google, or the startups racing to build application layers before they get rolled up.
Brightflag's Big Win: Deal of the Week
Lomax flags Brightflag’s $425M all-cash exit as a major moment for European SaaS, especially in legal tech.
“Only raised $35 million. Capital efficiency plus a clean cap table. That’s how you do it.”
Big win for Frontline Ventures and the Irish startup ecosystem.
The Final Word: Europe Must Move Faster
From missed contact lists in the German army (thanks, GDPR) to chip design hubs in Munich, one thing is clear: Europe has talent, capital, and ideas—but it lacks urgency.
“We're talking about 2026 initiatives. The future is happening now.” —Mads
Want to learn how a top LP navigates the industry? Join us on June 12th at 12 PM WEST for an exclusive AMA session with Daniel Keiper-Knorr.
Daniel is a founding partner at Speedinvest, where he leads limited partner relations and fundraising at both the fund and portfolio levels. With a career spanning investment banking, entrepreneurship, and venture capital, he started as a stockbroker and private banker at Erste Bank in Vienna and Credit Suisse in Zurich before transitioning into the startup world.
As a co-founder of 3united, he played a key role in its growth and eventual acquisition by VeriSign.
Since 2007, Daniel has been an active angel investor, bringing hands-on expertise in sales and business development to early-stage ventures. In 2011, he co-founded Speedinvest, leveraging his extensive experience to support founders and drive investment success.
↓ Register below to attend ↓
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