Munich Startup: What do you do differently at caesar. Ventures compared to other investors?
Carolin Gabor, caesar. Ventures: Our team is distinguished by founding and investing in unicorns and category champions, and we bring a broad range of experience from many different industries.
“We invest before investing!”: Teams that convince us often receive constructive feedback on their business model from us long before we invest, as well as relevant introductions to value-adding business angels and industry experts. Once we’ve invested, we actively support the planning and implementation of the next funding round. We act as “professional super angels” and are engaged, disciplined, and well-networked.
Getting to know startups as early as possible
Munich Startup: Why Cashwalk? Startups probably write to you anyway, don’t they?
Carolin Gabor: Cashwalk has special significance for us because we have the opportunity here to get to know founder teams personally, and we place great value on doing this as early as possible. Our positive experiences at previous events as well as getting to know some of our current portfolio companies have convinced us of the high quality of the selected startups.
Munich Startup: How do you see yourself in relation to startups? Are you really “share-devouring lions”?
Carolin Gabor: We see ourselves as “professional super angels” and strive to be the kind of investors we always wished for as founders. We’re happy to support when needed, and otherwise we like to let our teams do their thing. We act as facilitators for the next funding round and are seen by other VCs as a differentiator rather than competition. Through our extensive network of investors, we can identify the ideal co-investors for our portfolio.
Wanted: Disruptive & scalable solutions
Munich Startup: What should a startup bring when seeking funding? What do you look for?
Carolin Gabor: For startups seeking funding, it’s important to have complementary profiles within the team as well as strong execution capability. We also pay attention to the “ability to raise,” i.e., the team’s ability to communicate with investors and, for example, provide proper pitch materials. It’s very important to us that startups address significant relevant problems, their product is genuinely disruptive compared to existing market solutions, and the business model is scalable. And of course, the startup should be able to achieve high revenue and results in a few years so it’s attractive for acquisition by a strategic buyer or IPO.
Munich Startup: Tips for the pitch? What can’t you see or hear anymore? What would you like more of?
Carolin Gabor: In pitches, we want to see well-thought-out business models and sufficient market validation that we can ideally understand directly – numbers and facts are always helpful here. Startups should ideally be able to describe in a concise sentence what they do and what their solution’s unique selling point is. We appreciate pitches that take these content aspects into account while also communicating convincingly.
What happens after the pitch?
Munich Startup: Startup and investor meet – e.g., at the pitch event Cashwalk – and it clicks. How does it proceed?
Carolin Gabor: When we find startups exciting at an event like Cashwalk, the next step is usually an exchange of documents that we review in detail and a follow-up call. The startup then gets to know our deal team, while we want to get to know the entire founding team more closely. If interest continues on both sides, we start our due diligence process, in which we always integrate a joint workshop on selected topics with the team in person. Finally, a pitch takes place before our entire partner circle, after which we make a decision promptly.
Munich Startup: Nicest or funniest story from investment everyday life?
Carolin Gabor: Funny: A strong team of New York investment bankers sells dog macarons via Amazon. Nicest: When startup founder teams work on such cool and exciting topics that even our teenage kids want to be present at the pitch.
Munich Startup: As an investor, women are underrepresented: Is anything changing? And what’s the situation like at startups based on your experience?
Carolin Gabor: The shift toward more diversity in terms of gender is slow, but we’re seeing progress on both the investor and startup sides. However, we still frequently see exclusively male teams at startups, which is why we’d like to encourage founders to reach out to us! At caesar., we place great value on diversity across all diversity dimensions and want to actively contribute to promoting and supporting it. Because we know firsthand how valuable controversial discussions are for our investment decisions.
