Rethinking VC: Klaus Hommels’ Investment Insights

"I'm a big believer. If you are ethical in the things you do and you're friendly, then luck comes to you and you can make a positive thing also from a lot of losses."

• Klaus emphasizes the importance of ethics and friendliness.
• Founders should focus on integrity in their dealings.
• Strong relationships can turn challenges into opportunities.

"You still can. I would say also because yes, you are an ambitious entrepreneur, but it's not everything in life. So you are also a human being, you have friends, you have family."

• Klaus believes Europe offers a balanced environment for founders.
• Founders should consider both professional and personal factors.
• Europe's ecosystem can support ambitious startups.

"My biggest nightmare... a company called Wunder... I worked with a friend of mine 3.5 years just to lose 60%... during the process, I got to know somebody... we decided to found Maktay together... sold for 150 million."

• Klaus turned a significant loss into a new opportunity.
• Founders should view failures as learning experiences.
• Networking and resilience can lead to future successes.

"I made a rule for a long time that when I had an exceptional hit, I would stop investing for three months because success makes you fear that you can walk over water... you need to force yourself to have these humbling moments."

• Klaus advocates for taking pauses after success to maintain humility.
• Founders should stay grounded despite big achievements.
• Reflecting after success can prevent overconfidence and mistakes.

"I do think that you need to have ownership in that sense that some of the crypto funds that I'm seeing, they invest many, many companies, very small sums. So it never makes a difference if you are right."

• Klaus emphasizes the need for significant ownership to make a difference.
• Founders should consider investors who seek meaningful stakes.
• Aligning on ownership expectations leads to stronger partnerships.

"I was on my way to Munich... Daniel said... he was contemplating opening it up to investors... I changed direction and flew to Stockholm... issued the term sheet the same evening."

• Klaus acted quickly to invest in Neko Health.
• Founders should be prepared to seize opportunities promptly.
• Speed can make a difference in securing key investments or partnerships.

"I was lucky to be an investor in Stardoll... Daniel Ek was CTO there, and we got to know each other... So when he started Spotify, he asked me whether I would be willing to be on board again."

• Klaus's investment in Spotify came through prior relationships.
• Founders should build and maintain strong networks.
• Personal connections can open doors to investment opportunities.

"I'm not so keen of building portfolios. If I find cool companies that make a difference, that is where the beef is. If you have one or two of them, every portfolio looks great."

• Klaus believes in the value of impactful companies over a large portfolio.
• Founders should aim to build companies that make a difference.
• Success comes from depth and impact, not just quantity.

"If you now look at ETH or the Technical University Munich or the KTH in Stockholm, the quality of the founders is very, very different. You barely have any copycats anymore. You really have genuine technological innovation and ideas."

• Klaus notes the increasing quality of technical founders in Europe.
• Founders should focus on genuine innovation rather than copycat models.
• Leveraging Europe's strong technical talent can lead to success.

"Today, the only regulatory compliant way of financing innovation is venture. And in Europe, we are at 0.5% of GDP. So we are underfinancing innovation by factor eight in comparison to the levels that made us wealthy in the fifties, sixties, seventies."

• Klaus emphasizes that venture capital is essential for financing innovation due to regulatory changes.
• Founders should leverage VC funding to scale their startups.
• There's significant underinvestment in innovation in Europe compared to historical levels.