Phillip Andrews (CPD) and Jan Pianca (European Research Center) recently met with various organizations across Europe as part of CPD’s ongoing recruiting outreach. The organizations below may be of particular interest to students interested in Entertainment, Media and Technology. These notes, as well as contact info, can be found on Career Hub in Career Actions by clicking on the “Company Insights” tab and searching by organization name.
ORGANIZATION & LOCATION INDUSTRY
London
Index Ventures (also in Geneva)* Venture Capital
Berlin
Atlantic Internet Venture Capital / Incubator
Axel Springer & Axel Springer Venture Ent/Media & VC / Incubator
Bertlesmann* & BDMI Ent/Media / Incubator
Bonusbox* Tech – internet dev (early stage)
e.Ventures Venture Capital
Earylbird Ventures Venture Capital
GoEuro* Tech – internet dev (early stage)
Heilmann Ventures Private Equity / Venture Capital
Lock 8 (based in London) Consumer Electronics (early stage)
Point Nine Capital Venture Capital
Project A Ventures Venture Capital
SoundCloud Technology
Zalando* e-commerce
* HBS alumni currently at organization
LONDON
Index Ventures – Venture Capital
Index Ventures specializes in seed stage, very-early stage, early stage, mid stage, and growth stage start-ups, series A, and series B rounds. It makes investments in information technology, healthcare infrastructure, medical devices, and life sciences companies in green technology, biotechnology, clean technology, consumer and Internet infrastructure, enterprise software, software, mobile software, commerce, cloud computing, and therapeutic companies. Index’s portfolio of 180 companies (as of Nov. 2013) is split 50%-50% between Europe and the U.S. In Europe, the focus is on Switzerland, Berlin, London, and Stockholm and also Tel Aviv. The firm can co-invest with local VCs outside of Europe. Index’s U.S. investments focus on NYC and San Francisco. The firm typically invests $3mm–$10mm and can sometimes invest as little as $500,000 in seed rounds. It may also invest $1mm or $2mm in very-early stages. Over the life of an investment, Index seeks to invest between $5mm–$20mm in a company. It targets investments in market segments with annual sales in excess of $1b. The firm seeks to have a board seat and does not seek to control its portfolio companies through ownership. It also invests into rounds for companies already in its portfolio but still young. Index Ventures was founded in 1996 and is based in Geneva with offices in San Francisco, London, and St. Helier, Channel Islands.
Recruiting outlook: Index considers its approach to managing its portfolio companies to be leaner than those VC firms that grow their services team with the purpose of supporting operations at portfolio companies. Instead, Index takes an approach that is centered on sharing of best practices, i.e., leveraging the Index portfolio/ecosystem and making connections across and among its companies. This best practice sharing is in three primary areas: (1) suppliers and data, (2) information sharing via email, meetings, and workshops, and (3) a “concierge” or agency model which responds to specific requests from portfolio companies. Index feels that a need for talent is the main bottleneck facing its portfolio companies. Specifically, this need is for engineers and product managers on the growth team. Candidates with a background in consulting would make the best fit. Dominic Jacquesson, Director of Portfolio Services, is the best point of contact (copying George). Within the actual Index investment team, turnover is very low at about 1 employee per year.
BERLIN
Overview: CPD’s outreach focused on VC firms and a handful of start-ups and early stage ventures. Overall, organizations were very eager to connect with MBA talent and almost all had immediate or near-term hiring needs (skew towards full-time but certainly summer internship opportunities as well). Since the start-up ecosystem in Berlin has expanded rapidly, early-stage companies have built their teams with talent from across Europe and around the world. Therefore in many organizations, English is the business language and German speaking ability is explicitly not a requirement (but could at the clearly be leveraged as a value-add). Candidates who possess work authorization in the European Union are preferred, although opportunities exist for individuals who are from outside of the EU. The statistics and information below help to give context to Berlin’s burgeoning start-up/early stage ecosystem:
Start-ups formed in Berlin: 1,500 since 2008, 500 of which were launched in 2012 alone.
Companies funded in Germany in 2012: 1,227 total, 61% VC stage and 30% growth financing.
IT and tech start-ups funded in Germany in 2012: 252, 73 in Berlin and 44 in Munich.
More than half of the VC invested in IT and Internet start-ups in Germany flows to Berlin, amounting to €133mm in 2012, up 200% from €34mm in 2009. This puts Berlin first among the 16 German states (Baden-Wurttemberg is second at just €24 million invested in 2012).
Foreign VC firms have increased their 2012 activity, which is concentrated in Berlin and Munich.
Focus on investments with low risk level and lower demand for capital, i.e. IT, Internet, E-Commerce versus biotech and cleantech.
The Economist recently examined the similarities and differences between the start-up scene in London and Berlin (see “Start-ups in Europe: A tale of two Ecosystems” October 2013):
“Talented people prefer inspiring urban environments. New York, Berlin, London, SF, etc. will win here. In the case of Berlin, the city itself is a start-up and that is part of its entrepreneurial DNA. Berlin is also expressive and creative which fuels cutting-edge tech.”
Two prominent VC investors offer details about and give context to Berlin’s tech start-up ecosystem:
1. Excerpts from “Berlin’s Network Effect Will Make It A Global Startup Center” a June 2013 blogpost by Matt Cohler, GP at Benchmark and lead investor in ventures including Instagram and Quora
“Throw a dart at a map. There’s a pretty good chance it’ll hit near someplace hoping to become the “next Silicon Valley. I’d bet on Berlin. I believe Berlin has the best shot in the Western world outside of Silicon Valley at becoming a place with a true tech startup ecosystem. I don’t just mean a place where one or two great companies are born — that can happen pretty much anywhere. I mean a place with an enduring ecosystem powered by a network effect that gets stronger over time. Like what Hollywood is for entertainment, London and New York are for big finance, Milan and Paris are for fashion, and Silicon Valley is for technology.”
“Where prior generations of Berlin tech startups focused on serving the German market, these new companies are global players — companies serving global markets whose teams come from all over the world and where work gets done in English.”
“My partners at Benchmark and I believe that Silicon Valley is still the best place to build a technology startup. That’s where we focus. But if for some reason you don’t want to (or can’t) come to San Francisco, then head to Berlin. All of the key ingredients are there. These are still the early days, and it’s good to be in on the ground floor.”
2. Excerpts from “Will The Real Berlin Please Stand Up? — A VC Puts The City’s Tech Boom in Context” a July 2013 blogpost by Ciaran O’Leary, Partner at Earlybird Ventures in Berlin
“Europe is right now in the middle of witnessing the creation of several tech hubs with barely an hour’s flight from each other: Berlin, London, Stockholm, Espoo (yes, Espoo, near Helsinki), etc. Heck, even Tel Aviv isn’t too far away (Israel is the world’s #2 start-up ecosystem). So I think the right way to view it is not e.g. Berlin vs. London but Berlin and London and Stockholm and…. Each have their individual strengths and weaknesses, but together Europe is really a mind-blowing different place in terms of creating global category leaders than even 5 years ago…. whereas Berlin’s ecosystem is still very young by any standards (even European ones), it is on a very promising trajectory and is already now one of the great places in the world to build a company.”
Atlantic Internet – Venture Capital & Incubator
Atlantic Internet is a Berlin based vehicle focused on building lean startups and fostering talented entrepreneurs. Founded by Christophe Maire, Atlantic invests in media and technology companies (consumer internet) at the early stage with a goal of building these ventures into market leaders, reflecting Maire’s belief in the disruptive potential of new communication technologies. In particular, Atlantic concentrates on product and on user experience innovation. The firm invests in both external ventures (see website) as well as a handful of internally grown ventures, including: a platform to connect patients with healthcare providers – global; a hearing aid app – global; high-quality diet food delivery service – Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a sports betting app – Germany; a platform for tracking vehicle maintenance – Europe.
Recruiting outlook: Atlantic is interested in connecting with students and alumni that are interested in pursuing an internship, a full-time opportunity, or for venture incubation. If the interest is particularly with Atlantic’s internal ventures, Philipp Skribanowitz is the best contact (see Career Hub for email).
Axel Springer & Axel Springer Venture – Entertainment/Media – Printing/Publishing & Incubator
Axel Springer is an integrated multimedia company providing print and digital media offerings in Europe, including newspapers, magazines, and digital information. Its Digital Media segment engages in content portals and other digital media, performance marketing, and online classifieds portals, and investments in the TV and radio sectors. Axel Springer AG was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Axel Springer Venture opens up and develops business areas in new media through direct investment in young companies (seed through early A round), the management of a new media investment portfolio, and the mediation of co-operation agreements between young companies and Axel Springer. The venture unit was formed approximately one year ago, includes six individuals who report directly to the CEO, and currently has six projects under development.
Recruiting outlook In general, if the company is hiring for full-time roles (which happens real-time/rolling), the ideal candidate has a background in media and cross-functional experience. Those that worked in global business models and/or with exposure to innovation are especially attractive. German language ability is important. For RCs, Axel Springer is interested in incubating student teams / student projects and/or accelerating existing student ventures that would like to test the European market. In some cases, Axel Springer Venture may be looking to add the “business side person” to include on 3-person “founding team” of a current incubated venture; the other two individuals being the idea-creator/founder and the tech/engineering mind. Interested students should contact Ulrich Machold.
Bertelsmann & BDMI (Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments) – Entertainment/Media & VC / Incubator
Bertelsmann is the most international media company, striving to be the world’s leader in the markets in which it operates. We provide customers with information, education and entertainment through every possible outlet and in every conceivable format. Our efforts focus on creative content, customer relations and strong return on capital. Bertelsmann is a renowned home for talent, giving artists and entrepreneurs room to grow. At Bertelsmann, we believe that our success is integrally linked to our culture of entrepreneurship. With our focus on organic growth and high return on investment, we depend on entrepreneurial talents to drive growth and innovation in both our established businesses as well as in new ventures.
Recruiting outlook: As in past years, Bertelsmann recruited ECs this past October for the company’s full-time Entrepreneurs Program (currently the sole entry point for MBA graduates). During the 18 month international rotation program, participants rotate every 3 months, both geographically and through businesses/units. Candidates take an active role determining this rotational path during their first 3 month rotation a Bertelsmann HQ in Germany. The program is exclusive and only selects a handful of candidates each year. Participants have a high degree of transparency to executive board and are mentored by a member of the board. Applicants to the Entrepreneurs Program do not need German speaking skills, however, such skills are required for any direct entry hire and of course if a Eship Program participants wishes to stays on in Germany after the program concludes. The company is considering developing an internship program for first-year students that would begin in the summer of 2015.
bonusbox – Tech – internet development (early stage)
Bonusbox is an online loyalty platform used by 1,200 partner merchants. The technology is integrated onto a merchant’s checkout webpage and helps merchants convert website visitors into loyal customers and, through data analysis algorithms, allows merchants to individually target and incentivize customers, thereby generating mutual benefits for merchants and customers alike. Founded in 2011, bonusbox has more than 4 million customers registered (as of Nov. 2013), making it the fastest growing loyalty program in its core markets. The company employs 25 professionals in Berlin – including Thomas Lueke (MBA 2013) who was just hired in Nov. 2013 to serve as COO – and 5 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In Berlin, 10 of the staff are on the sales team and another 8 are in an IT capacity. The remainder work on business development, project management, and strategy. At the moment, there is no marketing function. In the near term, Bonusbox plans to launch in the U.S. and has already hired a sales manager to build partnerships in the U.S. market.
Recruiting outlook: Currently, primary recruiting at bonusbox is for full-time sales roles. Ideal candidates have start-up/early-stage and/or VC experience. As the company develops and grows, there will be a talent need in the near future (likely summer 2014) for MBAs with online marketing experience, so interested ECs should keep that in mind. It seems the company might entertain the idea of having a RC summer 2014 intern take on some of that work. In terms of culture, personal development is encouraged as is comfort with upfront, honest, and transparent feedback. The company language is English and the team is mostly European with a few Americans.
e.ventures – Venture Capital
Founded in 1998, e.ventures, formerly known as eVenture Capital Partners – BV Capital, specializes in growth stage, early stage and mid venture investments in Internet and technology driven companies in the areas of consumer Internet, new media, digital media, cloud services, software, networking equipment and services, Internet infrastructure, Internet community services, ecommerce, mobile, mobile applications, wireless telecommunication services, commercial and professional services, and consumer service. Currently in its fifth fund generation, e.ventures has a total of $750mm under management. Geographically, the firm’s investments focus on Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, and North America. It prefers to make equity investment between $0.1mm and $10mm in its portfolio companies. The firm usual acts as a first institutional investor and first venture investor and does not require a board seat. It has the flexibility to make small investments, does not have predisposed fixed equity ownership needs, and is open to partnering with investors. E.ventures was founded in 1998 and is based in San Francisco with additional offices in Sao Paulo and across Asia (Beijing & Tokyo) and Europe (Berlin, Hamburg, Moscow). E.ventures is a “lean” firm with 30 investment professionals across only two hierarchy levels with 30 support staff.
Recruiting outlook: E.ventures has three specific talent needs:
1. Summer interns primarily in San Francisco, but also in every other office where the candidate can gain work authorization.
2. Full-time at the associate level. Every existing associate at e.ventures has previously started a company at some point in their life previous to working with e.ventures.
3. Full-time roles with e.venture’s portfolio companies, for example, as head of marketing, COO, or CFO. These are candidates who are entrepreneurial but seek less risk than would be faced as an associate in the VC itself.
Ideal candidates across the board are intimately interested in the start-up scene. Questions that will be asked in an interview: What is your favorite start-up in general? In the region? What is the worst investment e.ventures has made in its portfolio? Is you have $10mm to invest, where and how would you invest it?
Earlybird Venture Capital – Venture Capital
Earlybird was founded in 1997 and specializes in early stage, startups, late, and expansion investments. It invests in private companies and to date has raised a total of four funds – amounting to total capital raised of €650mm – the largest of which was €150mm. The firm typically invests in disruptive global consumer and enterprise internet and technology businesses, mobile services, cloud computing, software/information technology, communications, healthcare, convergent technologies, and technology enabled services companies. It also invests in internet services, cleantech, medtech, and biotech platform technologies. Geographically, Earlybird’s investments focus on Europe with an emphasis on German-speaking countries and Central Europe. It initially invests between €1mm and €5mm and can participate in subsequent rounds up to a total investment of €10mm to €15mm per portfolio company; according to one partner, “Earlybird always raises the B round.” The firm prefers to be the lead investor and seeks to take a board membership in the portfolio companies with “firm alumni in roles across the portfolio companies.” Earlybird was founded in 1997 and is based in Berlin with additional offices in Menlo Park, Milan, Munich, Hamburg.
Recruiting outlook: Earlybird is currently trying to fill an associate position in Munich, although that recruiting began in early October, with a candidate that is interested or experienced in consumer internet, has start-up(s) experience, has gone through a full fundraising cycle, has analytical skills and possibly an engineering background, with preferably some M&A experience even if by way of an internship. An associate will learn the whole cycle, from fundraising to working in a portfolio company, working for the fund, and sitting on a portfolio company board. Summer associate roles also exist and typically run 10-12 weeks. From time to time, Earlybird also seeks to fill associate level roles with individuals who are 1-3 years out of MBA. The firm is increasingly filling positions with individuals from the U.S. – and is open to anyone from the U.S. – but has faced a few issues with high demands for cost of relocation.
GoEuro – Tech – internet development (early stage)
GoEuro Corp. operates as an online travel search engine for air, rail, bus, and car rental across Europe. CEO and Founder Mr. Naren Shaam (MBA 2010) incorporated GoEuro in 2011 and in April 2012 he moved from NY to Berlin to officially launch the venture. GoEuro successfully closed on $4mm in seed financing from top-tier VCs. The company has enjoyed 70% growth month over month since launch and during the same 18 month period has grown from 4 employees to 40, half of whom are women. The team – hailing from 14 different countries – is divided across GoEuro’s three business units: marketing, technology, and product. Naren says that while the “idea is simple, execution is hard” especially given that GoEuro must manage 170+ partnerships, many of which are state run entities (ex: rail).
Recruiting outlook: GoEuro does not have an immediate need for interns but would like to hire a full-time individual for business development who would be tasked with managing the company’s 170+ existing partnerships and also building new partnerships as the company expands in and enters markets. An ideal candidate should want to “roll-up their sleeves” and should enjoy dealing with the travel industry. Cultural match is important as is an ability to thrive when it comes to relationship management.
Heilemann Ventures (associated with Sky & Sand) – Private Equity / Venture Capital
Heilemann is based in Berlin specializes in seed and early stage financing, typically investing in the digital space with a focus on the web and mobile sectors. Geographically, the firm prefers investing in companies that are based in Europe. Heilemann operates and shares a warehouse-like office with Sky & Sand, a holding company which runs online portals for purchase offers, coupons, and business consulting start-ups including: DailyDeal, Localize, pepperbill, and Heilemann & Co. Apart from its investments related to Sky & Sand, the firm takes a minority investment (under 20% share) in young companies.
Recruiting outlook: Future opportunities will exist in both the VC firm itself (Heilemann) and within the Sky & Sand portfolio – definitely in a full-time role but a summer internship could also be a possibility. Structure is not overly rigid and offers many degrees of freedom. German speakers are preferred but a lack of this skill is not necessarily a barrier as it depends on the position and the portfolio company.
Lock8 – Consumer Tech (early stage)
London and Berlin-based Lock8 is a startup that aims to make your bicycle more thief-proof. They’ve created a smart bike lock system that’s embedded with sensors able to detect attempts to hack or break it off, and even changes in temperature that might indicate freezing it or trying to get in with a blowtorch. The company was incorporated in 2012 by CEO and founder Franz Salzmann and officially launched at TechCrunch Disrupt Europe 2013 on Oct. 29, 2013, the same day Salzmann and Lock8 emerged as the winner of the competition. At the same time, Lock8 began a crowdfunding campaign to make the product a reality and surpassed its funding goal in less than one month. The device will eventually retail for $115–$199. It is also designed to be sold to municipalities to support bike sharing programs and make them more cost-effective. Lock8’s technical operations are located in Oxford, England while marketing and sales functions are based in Vienna, Austria. Lock8 is expanding in the U.S., primarily in the Bay Area and its newly hired COO for the U.S. is an MBA (unsure of school).
Recruiting outlook: Lock8 does not have an immediate need for interns but would like to hire a product manager (either a 2014 grad or an alum) who is Spanish speaking and would like to work in Oxford for up to a year before relocating to Mexico – where production will take place – and then finally settling in San Francisco.
Point Nine Capital – Venture Capital
Point Nine Capital was formed in 2009 in Berlin as a spin-off from Team Europe and specializes in seed, late-seed/startup and early, and mid venture investments. The firm is very “hands-on” and prefers to invest in internet, software-as-a-service (SaaS), marketplaces, lead generation, ecommerce, mobile companies, primarily in the B2B space. Geographically, Point Nine’s investments are focused in Germany, Eastern Europe (primarily Poland), Central Europe, North America, and Russia. The firm, with total funds of €45mm, typically invests between €0.1mm and €1.5mm in startups (1 – 2 years old) and can invest up to €3mm over the lifetime of its holding. Point Nine also co-invests with business angels and other venture capital firms. Across its investments, the firm prefers to be “under the radar on purpose so that portfolio companies get the media attention rather than the firm.” The firm’s portfolio currently numbers 35 companies. The firm operates using English, so German speaking skills are not necessary.
Recruiting outlook: Interested in incubating or accelerating existing student ventures/start-ups for the summer.
Project A Ventures – Venture Capital
Project A Ventures is a company builder focusing on Internet, advertising technology and mobile. By relying on the operational know-how of its experts and the firm’s financial resources, Project A helps start-ups build up competences in key areas such as IT, performance marketing, business intelligence and organization building, with the goal of contributing to sustainable success. Project A’s professionals, based in Berlin and Sao Paulo, have been involved in building more than 50 market leading companies worldwide within the last 15 years.
Recruiting outlook: Project A is constantly always looking for talent, including RC interns, ECs for full-time roles, and alumni for more experienced needs; most employees are centralized in Berlin. Needs exist for IT roles (which represent 60% of the functions at Project A), online marketing, and product or project management (somewhat technical in nature; goal of educating the start-up market about this role in order to drive innovation and steer Project A’s businesses while optimizing operations). In fact, Project A recently developed a 12-month product/project management training program after which participants are placed into portfolio companies. This program includes both MBAs and non-MBAs. As the company expands internationally, it expects to recruit for country managers. Project A puts a great deal of emphasis on finding candidates that match with the company culture. Project A considers itself to be a “campus for excellence” as a platform for knowledge sharing and employs the best people in the space in Germany. A desire to work in a hands-on capacity is required and ideal candidates have some sort of expertise rather than being overly general management focused. Such an individual would thrive when challenged and be eager to create in an environment that allows for a large amount of freedom and independence. Interns – which the firm is always looking for – should be German speaking since only two of Project A’s ventures are English speaking. Internships would run a minimum of two months. Across all of its ventures, Project A is managing 50 interns at any given time.
SoundCloud – Technology
SoundCloud is an audio platform that enables customers to create, record, promote, and share their originally-created sounds across the Internet. It allows sound creators to instantly record audio on the site or through mobile applications, and share them publicly or privately; embed sound across websites, social networks, and blogs; and receive feedback from the community. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Berlin, Germany with additional offices in London, NYC, and San Francisco. Currently, SoundCloud has 200 employees, 60% of whom are in Berlin, representing 31 nationalities.
Recruiting outlook: Opportunities at SoundCloud will exist for full-time roles in two groups: the Growth & Insights unit which is an analytics team that currently includes two MBAs and in product management for a product manager. English language is perfectly fine as it is the language of business at SoundCloud and the firm is highly international. Culture is the most important thing at SoundCloud and candidates will be evaluated based on comfort and fit.
Zalando – e-commerce
Zalando is a multinational e-commerce company that specializes in the online retail of apparel and shoes. Founded as a Rocket Internet venture in 2008, Zalando reached more than $1b in revenue by 2012 – making it one of the fastest European companies to do so. As part of this rapid growth, Zalando is in the process of emancipating itself from Rocket. Zalando – which uses direct sales channel for distribution and operates the two largest warehouses in Europe – carries more than 1,500 brands as well as 12 internally-developed brands (zLabels). Zalando.com currently operates in 14 European countries and “does not want to become Amazon and will never sell electronics; only lifestyle and fashion products.” The company was founded in 2008 in Berlin where the vast majority of its 1,000 employees are based; the company’s headquarters are in a huge renovated mill-like building.
Recruiting outlook: Zalando has a need to better understand and adjust its model to the new European markets it is continually entering and seeks to hire full-time talent to achieve this. Additionally, the company is looking for summer interns who would like to pursue roles that are focused on the customer. There is a preference for candidates from the EU and Zalando would like to increase its percentage of female employees.
