The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 16 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 1 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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 …”
Brenner: VCs have a duty to provide founder secondary liquidity
“But I think what investors can really do is be proactive in this matter and making sure that there is an opportunity for founders at some point to get some exit and liquidity and in order to be able to swing the whole way. And I think that's something that we …”
Brenner: European unicorns now emerge from 65 cities versus three a decade ago
“We're seeing all these new companies coming out, we're seeing new unicorns, they're coming from 65 cities, you know, 10 years ago, they came from three cities coming all over Europe, much bigger market, remote working, can put teams together that we couldn't s…”
Brenner: European regulatory intervention by CMA stifles innovation and competition
“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 com…”
Brenner: Trade Republic will hit €1B revenue and go public within 5 years
“TraderPublic is the complete financial partner to millions of Europeans. It has more than ten million customers, a hundred billion in assets, and a billion or more in revenues. It's publicly traded, and it's not only savings platform, but also the banking part…”
Brenner: Trade Republic's 2023 revenue hit 5x Creandum's Series A plan
“In 20, 23, we're five X the plan that was presented to me on the, on, on top line.”
Brenner: Founders should limit board meetings to two or three decision points
“The key points are to decide on what are the two or three points I want out of this meeting. And make pre-reads around that comprehensive so that when the board starts, you have enough information provided to everybody that you can actually have a fruitful dis…”
Brenner: Startups should establish a formal board after raising $10M–$20M
“In Trade Republic's situation, you needed a board from day one because we regulated the company and make sure that we adhere to those regulations. But I think when you've raised that, when you've raised 10 to fifteen million or twenty million or passed your A …”
Brenner: Creandum passed on Qonto due to perceived overlap with Tide
“And Konto is, is one thinking it was too, too much overlap with Tide.”
Brenner initially refused to evaluate Trade Republic in March 2019
“My colleague came to me one evening in, in, in March, nine, 2019 and said, we have this opportunity to look at a Robin Hood of Germany. Do you want to take a look? No, I said, and that was a, that was, so I said to myself, this is, this has been around for 25 …”
Brenner: Pleo has the best board due to diversity and annual evaluations
“I think Cleo is the one, and because they do actually that. It's a very diverse board. We have independent board members, not only investor board members, and we evaluate each other every year on what's, on the competences and what the lack of competences that…”