Johan Brenner is a General Partner at Creandum. He discusses European tech regulation with 20VC host Harry Stebbings, criticizing regulatory interventions in tech dealmaking.
“Too much regulations could just gonna stiffer innovation. And what we've seen here, where they just extrapolate them, making up their own opinions with CMA and in firms of Figma maybe competing in the future. I think it's totally wrong and it was stiff for competition.”
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More from Johan Brenner
Disclosure
Brenner: Creandum does not engineer lower valuations in follow-on rounds
“Honest answer. We never think about that. I mean, if the market tells us this is the valuation, this is the round, we try to participate in the winners. That's honest, Harry. If that ever would come through and be true, we would not be in business.”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 32:45Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Brenner: Creandum required restructuring Trade Republic's cap table to increase founder equity
“This was actually a deed breaker for us in the end, because we really wanted to see Christian and the team own enough to be able to have, you know, sufficient as a founder to stay with the company long-term.”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 13:02Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Brenner: All of Creandum's best startup investments were expensive at entry
“I think if we look back at all our investments and the ones that have been fantastic it's, they've all been expensive.”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 31:03Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
AssertionPartly supported
Brenner: Trade Republic had just 1,000 customers during its $10M Series A
“Well, it was five, six years ago. It was cheap in today's world. I'll tell you that. But on the other hand I felt expensive at that time, given a thousand customers in an A round of ten million.”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 31:16Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Brenner: Great fundraising is the single top trait of successful founders
“So, so I think greater fundraising is absolutely the number one trait of great founders.”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 32:09Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Brenner: Most startup boards prioritize investor seat retention over company interests
“Over time boards are mostly, you know, formed by investors and not maybe what's best for the long term. A benefit of the company and very seldom, there are some companies that do it well, but have yearly evaluations of boards and with contributions and how it …”
Johan BrennerFeb 16, 2024▶ 42:06Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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