This year has so far been somewhat surprising on the VC hiring front, with many funds still looking to add investors to their team.
The background of these funds are robust platforms, pre-seed to seed as their primary investment strategy with a good history of exits. Growth funds have been much more quiet but the nature of seed investing is to our minds “market neutral”. If only 19% of companies get to Series A in Europe as the statistics suggest, then the low probability of a seed-stage company becoming successful means that regardless of what is happening in the public markets, VCs must continue to invest.
The tougher environment will ensure that only the truly phenomenal founders survive. We should expect to see some of the most exciting companies for the next decade and beyond being created during this time.
After speaking to one Head of Talent at a top-tier
multi-billion dollar VC a couple of weeks back,
she mentioned that in her four years with the
firm they have never stopped hiring associates.
Associate hiring will never slow down, for the
good ones are too hard to come by. When they
do get hired by top-tier funds, they then raise the
bar for the next batch to come on board. What we
are seeing now is more of a focus at the associate
level on the need for a computer science or
technology-focused background. Being a
superstar consultant or investment banker will
hold you in great stead but if you can marry an authentic curiosity for technology trends with a
passion for business models, there should not be
a short supply of funds looking to hire you.
European VCs are continuing to build on the platform side too. LocalGlobe recently hired a Head of Talent from Meta, who also
completed stints at Gousto and Neuralink on
the West Coast. Atomico has hired a Go-To-
Market operating partner in the form of Thibaut
Ceyrolle, who was Snowflake’s first employee in
Europe. It is an interesting time for the industry
where funds such as Hoxton, 83North, Point Nine stick to a lean structure,
predominantly Partner only, and firms
such as Atomico, EQT Ventures and
LocalGlobe really build out across
their platform and positions that
directly support their portfolio. It’s not
an exact science, it’s the Benchmark
school of thought vs. Andreesen, both
have had phenomenal returns but
approach the industry in a different
way.
We imagine founders will want both types of funds on their cap table. It’s more a matter of scale than anything. If we see European institutional LPs allocate more than the sub 1% currently to venture capital over the next 10-15 years, we are sure to see more platform and portfolio value creation hiring across the industry.
Armstrong International
Armstrong International is a financial services
focused executive search firm. Founded in 1989,
the firm built it’s reputation hiring for Goldman Sachs and SG Warburg throughout the 90s
before broadening into areas such as Hedge Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate
and Private Equity. Hugh leads the VC team focused on hiring investment and
platform professionals for VC funds across Europe.
