In this fourteenth instalment of our ‘Longview Conversations With’ podcast, CEO Chris Watling deep dives into AI themes, but instead of following the traditional Silicon Valley route (for this type of conversation), on this show we get a different perspective, that of a European venture capital specialist - Mads Jensen.
Mads is a tech and VC expert, having spent the last 25 years in the industry. He started at IBM in 2001, before leaving to begin his own SaaS company, Sefaira, the first real time simulation for energy efficiency in building design. Over the 6 years scaling before selling, he observed a glaring difference in the venture capital ecosystems between Europe and the US - with Europe late to the game, slowed down by regulation, and therefore far behind. His next move began with investing in other companies with the purpose of bringing the entrepreneurial DNA of the US into the EU space. That led to the creation, with his business partner Dan Bowyer, of their VC fund, SuperSeed. SuperSeed currently backs 35 companies (with two funds and a third opening soon) in seed and pre-seed stages in providing investment, expertise and networks to help develop a repeatable, scalable and profitable business model and accelerate the journey to Series A and beyond.
In discussion with Mads, we dive into how AI is actually and practically being applied in various industries around the world, delivering real and meaningful productivity gains. We also discuss the US vs. European Venture Capital model and pre IPO financing ecosystem, and consider the question: Is there any hope for Europe? Is it destined to be an expert in regulation and rules and not much else (as some would suggest)? Or is the European VC industry starting to come of age? And finally, is AI, more broadly, a bubble and if so, what does that mean for investing?
We hope you enjoy the conversation.