Gestire 11 MILIARDI 📈 Founders Fund, il fondo di Peter Thiel

Summary

In this insightful interview, Mathias Vantinen, partner at Funders Fund, shares his journey from Argentina to Silicon Valley, detailing his experiences with startups and venture capital. Highlighting Funders Fund's unique approach to investing, Vantinen emphasizes the importance of founder support and unconventional strategies that have led to successful investments in companies like Stripe, Figma, and Trade Republic. The conversation delves into the firm's philosophy, the European startup ecosystem, and the future of AI, offering valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Founders Fund is a prestigious venture capital firm with $11 billion in assets under management, known for investing in successful startups like SpaceX, Airbnb, and OpenAI.
• 📚 The firm was founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire, author of 'From Zero to One', and the first investor in Facebook, who also founded Palantir.
• 🌟 Mathias Vantinen, a partner at Founders Fund, has played a significant role in investing in startups such as Stripe, Figma, Scale.ai, and Trade Republic.
• 🌱 Mathias began his career at Insight, a venture capital firm in New York City, before joining a startup in Barcelona and later working at Alphabet's Google Capital.
• 🔍 The startup world has evolved since 2012, with venture capital transitioning from a cottage industry to a more established sector, popularized by movies like 'The Social Network'.
• 🤝 Mathias emphasizes the importance of building relationships with entrepreneurs and assessing businesses to identify opportunities for significant growth.
• 💡 Founders Fund's core philosophy includes backing founders all the way and never replacing them with professional management unless the company fails to progress.
• 🛡 The fund values unconventional thinking, high integrity, a strong work ethic, 'skin in the game', and low ego, fostering a team culture focused on collective success.
• 🌐 Mathias sees a significant opportunity in international investments, particularly in Europe, where the market for services like Trade Republic is vast and underserved.
• 📈 Despite the cyclical nature of retail brokerage, Trade Republic's growth during the pandemic demonstrated the company's ability to capitalize on market tailwinds.
• ⚖️ Founders Fund is selective with its investments in AI, having made strategic bets on companies like Palantir, DeepMind, OpenAI, and ScaleAI, focusing on long-term potential rather than short-term trends.

Q & A

What is Funders Fund and what makes it prestigious in the venture capital world?

Funders Fund is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco with 11 billion in assets under management. It is renowned for investing in successful startups such as SpaceX, Airbnb, OpenAI, and Asana. Founded by Peter Thiel, it is known for its unique approach of supporting founders and not replacing them with professional management teams.

Who is Mathias Vantinen and what is his role at Funders Fund?

Mathias Vantinen is a partner at Funders Fund. He has played a significant role in investing in startups like Stripe, Figma, Scale.ai, and Trade Republic. His background includes working at Insight, a venture capital firm in New York City, and Alphabet, Google Capital, before joining Funders Fund.

What is the significance of Mathias Vantinen's first job at Insight for his career in venture capital?

Mathias Vantinen's first job at Insight exposed him to the startup world and taught him essential skills such as how to communicate with entrepreneurs, identify key questions, assess businesses, and build relationships, which laid the foundation for his career in venture capital.

How did the startup world differ in 2012 compared to today?

In 2012, the startup world was much newer and less established compared to today. It was perceived as unconventional to choose a startup like Insight over traditional finance giants like Goldman Sachs. However, the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and movies like The Social Network was starting to shift perceptions.

Why did Mathias decide to join a startup he was following with Insight, Wallapop?

Mathias joined Wallapop because he was passionate about the opportunity in the secondhand marketplace and wanted to experience what it was like to be on the other side of the table, working with the management team to scale a product and achieve international expansion.

What is unique about Funders Fund's approach to investing compared to other venture capital firms?

Funders Fund is unique in its commitment to backing founders all the way, its lean team structure, and its unconventional approach to investing. The firm avoids internal competition and focuses on collective success, with partners investing personally in the companies they believe in.

What does 'skin in the game' mean in the context of Funders Fund?

'Skin in the game' refers to the personal investment made by Funders Fund partners into the companies they support. This aligns the risks of the partners with those of the clients and demonstrates their commitment to achieving excellent returns for the fund.

How does Funders Fund's investment approach differ from the traditional venture capital 'spray and pray' method?

Instead of investing in a large number of startups with the hope that a few will succeed, Funders Fund focuses on making concentrated investments in companies they strongly believe in. They are not concerned with the number of deals but rather the quality and conviction in their investments.

What qualities does Funders Fund look for in startup founders?

Funders Fund looks for founders who are ambitious, determined, relentless, charismatic, and have high integrity. They value founders with a competitive streak, a strong vision, and the ability to think from first principles to solve problems innovatively.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact Trade Republic, a company Funders Fund invested in?

The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a tailwind for Trade Republic as more people were at home and trading became more active. The company's user base grew from 60,000 to over a million within a year, making it one of Funders Fund's most successful investments.

What advice does Mathias Vantinen give to young entrepreneurs who aspire to create a big company?

Mathias advises young entrepreneurs to work at the best startup they can find to gain experience working with top talent. This experience is more valuable than starting a company without understanding what excellence looks like in a startup environment.