Arnaud Bonzom, Managing Director of Black Mangroves, discusses why venture fund managers are incentivized to raise larger funds regardless of market discipline.
Disclosure
Bonzom: Repeat Singapore founders intentionally take smaller rounds at lower valuations
“I'm seeing now, like, people that are building their second or third company here, even if one of them got an exit with Google here in, in Singapore they're only raising one, 1.5 million at an eight to ten million valuation, where they can, even if today still…”
Insight
Bonzom: Startups Should Arbitrage European Engineering with US Go-to-Market Teams
“They do what I like, the arbitrage between, let's keep technical talent in Europe because there's great people, And less expensive than the US and maybe easier to retain. And let's get the market in the US. So let's move the CEO there. Let's have the marketing…”
Opinion
Bonzom: Emerging market VCs favor profitability because they have PE mindsets
“In emerging markets, some VCs may care about you being profitable because they have way less risk adverse, and a lot of them have more a PE mindset than a VC mindset. So on a PE mindset, profitability matters a lot. On a VC, way less because you look at very d…”
Assertion Not yet assessed · timeframe May 2024
Bonzom: Fabrice Grinda Signed First 100 Term Sheets Without Reading
“Fabrice Grinder, he often do a deal just by one hour call, or even shorter, and he commit, and he admitted that I think his first Android term sheet, he didn't read anything. He just signed.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Bonzom: Southeast Asia tech M&A will remain limited to cheap acqui-hires
“So you may have more, very opportunistic, and it looks like more a key hire for a very cheap price, so you may get those kind of acquisition in the next few months. But very large one is, no one is, With so much troubles to run the company these days, the publ…”
Insight
Bonzom: Unusually small VC checks mean the fund is paying to learn
“You know, you have been getting a check that is way lower than usual check. So they may be paying to learn. So you're not in the same category that a core deal or deal that have been going to put way more than usual.”