Question 1

Why don’t you want to raise a fund?

Accepted Answer

Did you know that our first batch of company t-shirts said "it's more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy"?. Funds have certain benefits, mainly to the investment team itself, while in essence, funds are highly inflexible. As they have a fixed mandate that’s agreed on with investors, VC funds cannot deviate from certain business models, growth rates, geographies, or opportunity sizes; even though one of these outliers might just be the next Adyen.

Question 2

Doesn’t the process take much longer than for funds?

Accepted Answer

Generally not because we are lean and mean in our processes. Once we agree on a term sheet, we immediately begin raising funds and start the due diligence and legal processes. Thanks to this simultaneous approach, we can realistically go from term sheet to closing in 5 to 7 weeks, assuming there are no surprises tucked away 🙂

Question 3

Who are your investors/ No Such Friends?

Accepted Answer

More often than not, our investors are people who find fund investing to be too boring and like to bring along a great mix of experience and backgrounds. This includes many former (serial) entrepreneurs who successfully exited their companies and want to support others to do so as well, CEOs of global companies, advisors/consultants, and entrepreneurial families investing their family capital. Additionally, each member of our team personally co-invests, so we have the same level of commitment as our investors. All combined, our investor-pool has invaluable cross-industry and cross-country expertise that we’d like to share with you!

Question 4

What is deal-by-deal venture capital?

Accepted Answer

The fresh and improved way of investing! Rather than raising a big fund once every X amount of years that needs to be put to work fast and over a fixed lifetime, we raise for every individual opportunity and put our own money and reputation at stake by investing ourselves.   Our pool of 100+ “No Such Friends” hand pick the companies that fit them best and thereby provide entrepreneurs with a very interesting source of funds. Our model also allows us to be far more flexible than a fund, as we don’t have any limiting mandate or lifecycle to adhere to.

Question 5

Do you accept non-Dutch companies?

Accepted Answer

Definitely! Amsterdam is our home but the world is our playground. As we’re established in Amsterdam, we have a big network in the Netherlands but our investments in VROMO (Ireland) and Vendora (Greece/Netherlands) show that we also look to conquer the world!

Question 6

Do you have skin in the game?

Accepted Answer

A lot! Our full investment team participates personally in every deal we do. We believe that we should stand behind our portfolio as a team and therefore only invest if we all agree. We like to be hands-on investors, supporting an average of 1.5 companies per team member which is well below industry averages. We believe that we should have the same motivation as founders and other shareholders in making a company a success.

Question 7

Can you co-invest?

Accepted Answer

We like to lead the way in everything we do but we can co-invest as well. We prefer co-investors that share our values, complement our skills and expertise, and have the same level of ambition as we do.

Question 8

Do you have a particular focus on certain sectors or geographies?

Accepted Answer

Yes and no.   Yes, as internally, within our team, we have people with different expertises and most of all, we think we’re pretty good at involving experts from our own network, often our very own investors, enabling us to get to our go/no-go to submit a term sheet faster.  No, as we don’t ever want to not be able to fund great companies, just because we said at the start that we wouldn’t invest in certain countries, industries, or business types.

Question 9

What are your investment criteria?

Accepted Answer

We typically invest between €2m and €8m in for-profit companies that are revenue-generating and stand at the tipping point of scaling. To achieve this, they need growth capital to aggressively invest in sales, marketing, and growing their team (internationally). It's a pre if you always dreamt of being a pirate, prefer to disrupt rather than optimize, and want to aim for the moon together with us.

Question 10

Is not having a specific industry focus the same as being unfocused?

Accepted Answer

Many VCs focus on a certain business model, sector, or geography but we don’t believe VCs are best-equipped to predict the future. Entrepreneurs are. Therefore, we rather want you to tell us what is next and why your business will win. We love ambitious companies that have a “No Such” characteristic: something that makes you stand out (maybe even so unique that it makes you “less attractive” to other VCs). Next to that, we look for no-nonsense teams, exciting growth plans, and a clear angle for NSV (“why us” is an important question!).

Question 11

What kind of documents would you like to receive from founders?

Accepted Answer

An overview can be found here:

Question 12

Are your deal terms different from other VCs?

Accepted Answer

There are many flavours when it comes to deal terms. Living by our mission to democratize VC and by having a flexible attitude, we try to be as pragmatic as possible: We like to invest in the highest existing share class, which often are common shares.  We don’t require any liq prefs if they aren’t there already. Also, we don’t like complex governance structures or setting up boards for the sake of having a seat.  We like pragmatic decision-making processes and will try to set that up together with you.

Question 13

What is your biggest tip to fundraising founders?

Accepted Answer

Getting a VC onboard is like entering a marriage: a relationship with contracts and agreements, and the promise to support each other in good and bad times. Therefore, be sure to block sufficient time to get to know your potential investors and ensure that you can have a good working relationship for the next 2-10 years. Ask yourself a few key questions:  Ask yourself a few key questions: Do I trust them? Do I feel I can call them with good as well as bad news? Will they still take care of us when we underperform? How can they support us and how much time will they be able to spend on my company? Do the VCs you’re speaking to invest personally in your company, showing true commitment? How many other portfolio companies do they have and is their time allocation realistic considering their team size? Do they share references of portfolio founders or even companies that didn't choose them in the end?  Also, in these overheated times, we see many founders focusing on raising very large tickets. Trying to raise a too large ticket can cause your funding round to take much longer or even fail. Or, when successful, cause too much dilution for you as a founder and put unnecessary pressure on you to spend the money fast and unfocused. Make sure to evaluate in detail what amount you need to succeed for the next ±18 months and don’t fall into the “my ticket is bigger than yours”-trap!

Question 14

How do I apply to invest via No Such Ventures?

Accepted Answer

Click on the 'INVESTORS' button below to fill in your details. We will happily invite you (and/or your friends) over for a cup of coffee ☕️  or a video call to get to know you and your investment appetite, answer any questions you might have, and ultimately see if we are a good match!

Question 15

As an investor, what can I expect from you?"

Accepted Answer

Curated investment opportunities in mostly scale-ups, across diverse sectors and geographies. We will inform you in detail about each opportunity. After a deal is closed, we organize regular meetings between investors and entrepreneurs and set up meaningful connections when found useful. Also, you receive access to our investor portal and reporting systems to track your investments.

APPROACH

We support entrepreneurs

How we do things differently

We work with entrepreneurs to
help them succeed

We think like entrepreneurs

We bring more than just funding

We operate based on these values

No Such Ventures
info@nosuchventures.com