(VC) Ciaran O’Leary, co-founder and general partner of BlueYard Capital on: Approach to Investing; What Europe Still Lacks; What VCs and Startups Need To Do Differently Post-covid
My guest today is Ciaran O’Leary, co-founder and general partner of BlueYard Capital, an early-stage VC focused on transformational technology with a big focus on fostering innovation across Europe. In this episode, Ciaran talks to me about the importance
Show Notes
- [1:46] - Why BlueYard and the vision for the fund
- [3:33] - How the thesis received by the LPs and people you were trying to raise funds from?
- [5:10] - Is there a breakdown of where the current funds come from and does it impact your investments?
- [6:22] - Your investments by region
- [9:44] - What stage do you invest in and why are there no multi-stage VCs today?
- [12:06] - What kind of VC are you and how many investments do you make?
- [13:53] - How do you develop depth and expertise in niche areas you invest in?
- [16:40] - What kind of companies and entrepreneurs are you finding across Europe and Why?
- [18:58] - Why has entrepreneurship in Europe gone native and what is still missing?
- [25:00] - How has the crisis impacted your business? What are you doing differently now?
- [30:35] - Are US VC doing something different?
- [32:51] - In the short term will money from the US and Asia continue to flow into Europe or will European VCs have to come together more?
- [34:35] - Effect of Brexit
- [35:56] - As an entrepreneur looking for funding, does your pitch need to be different in today’s environment? What should entrepreneurs know?
- [37:46] - What should entrepreneurs look for in a VC?
- [40:56] - What are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when looking to raise money?
- [43:26] - Talk about 3 of the portfolio companies - protocol labs, Pitch.io, Bitbio
Links:
Listen On
New to The European Startup Show?
Introducing The European Startup Show
This is a show about startups in Europe. It is for startups in Europe or those looking to expand into Europe.
Sujata Bhatia, COO of Monzo Bank on - Navigating the Pandemic; How Sh…
This is the last in my March Women’s Series and I am delighted to finish the series with Sujata Bhatia, Chief Operating Officer of neobank, Monzo. Few people need an introduction to Monzo, which was an early market leader in …
Anthony Deighton, Chief Product Officer at Tamr on: Leadership and Ho…
Anthony Deighton is a poster child for what it means to be a leader. He became a leader of the ERM product line at Siebel early on in his career and then at Qlik he took on various leadership roles …
Jeetu Mahtani, SVP Sales and Managing Director, International for Hub…
All startups have to expand beyond their native country at some point. In this episode, I sat down to talk to an expert on this topic. Jeetu grew Hubspot’s operation to 7 countries which contributes to 40% of overall company …