I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jens Lapinski, an experienced investor, entrepreneur, and mentor, on my podcast. Jens shared valuable insights from his journey across academia, entrepreneurship, and investing. Here are some key takeaways:
From Academia to Entrepreneurship
Jens did his PhD in biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, which had a very entrepreneurial culture. He built technology with commercial applications that got licensed to a public company.
This exposure to bringing research into business and society sparked Jens' interest in entrepreneurship.
Lessons as a Founder and CEO
Jens started a company after his PhD. As a founder, you want to find product-market fit, grow customers, and build a great company.
But many things can and will go wrong. Other founders have likely solved similar problems before.
Finding mentors who can help you avoid mistakes is invaluable. Jens started mentoring other founders and joined an accelerator as a mentor.
Investing Evolution
Jens was analyzing biotech startups for investment opportunities and ended up reviewing thousands of private companies.
He started angel investing with his own money, while continuing to actively mentor startups without any fees.
Today Jens leads Super Angel, a VC fund with 50M euros under management and a team of 11 investing in early stage startups.
Evaluating Startups to Invest In
Jens looks for founder teams that can "not fail" and "scale". This means avoiding team conflict, finding product-market fit, and being in a position to rapidly grow.
Complete alignment of team, product, market, business model and funding has magical effects, according to Jens. But this perfect storm rarely happens.
Recommendations for Founders Fundraising
Founders should pitch investors the business and shares in their company, not just the product. Investors want to invest in the company's potential.
Avoid premature scaling before finding product-market fit. Focus resources on the search for product-market fit.
Develop coherent stories around emerging valuable categories, traction proving the opportunity, and the company's positioning.
Jens shared tactical tips for founders as well as thought-provoking perspectives on company building and startup investing. Let me know if you would like me to elaborate on any parts of our conversation.
I'm grateful to Jens for taking the time to share his knowledge and experiences on my podcast.
Key lessons for me are:
find great mentors who can help you avoid mistakes,
be strategic in fundraising by understanding what investors want, and
remain focused on finding product-market fit before prematurely scaling.
From Lab to VC Fund