🕶️ Being a startup CEO is bad business

Money talks, real talks

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Lucila Sarquis & Arturo Pardo
February 15, 2024

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The lovey-dovey day has come and gone, but guess what's back on the agenda? Money talks, folks! 💘 According to this report, being a startup CEO might not be all it's cracked up to be... unless you're based in a certain European hotspot. Can you guess where?

But hey, that's not all! Get ready to meet the UK's hottest tech unicorns, tantalize your taste buds with the latest foodtech startups, and discover the German fund that's all about sustainability ♻️

And what's waiting for you at the end of the rainbow 🌈? A pot of gold, of course! Dive into our video exploring why EVERYTHING seems to be on a subscription model now and how our online lives keep evolving.

Let's jump right in! 🚀

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Six bullets of updates

  1. 📣 Open call! Y Combinator is on the hunt for startups in AI, climate tech, healthcare, and spatial computing. Application deadline? Feb 20.

  2. 🦄 Meet the next UK tech unicorns: Sifted lists 16 startups, like Stenn and GWI, poised for a billion-dollar breakout.

  3. 🤝 AI-powered transcription service Otter.ai supercharges meeting intelligence with new 'Meeting GenAI' features.

  4. 🏡 Airbnb's $200M acquisition of GamePlanner.AI aims to build the 'ultimate AI interface' for a personalized user experience.

  5. 🔐 Demand for data privacy on the rise - 67% of smartphone users express concern amid growing digital threats.

  6. 👨‍🍳 Yummy! From AI in rice farming to gourmet robot chefs, here are 9 foodtech startups making waves in 2024 despite a decline in funding.

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Startup CEOs Take a Back Seat: Why Your CFO Might Be Living Larger

It seems that being a startup founder in the CEO seat isn't necessarily a golden ticket to high earnings. A European VC Creandum report divulged that startup Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are typically the highest earners in a startup. The CEO, shockingly?, falls in fourth place after the CTO 💸

Moreover, not all geography is created equal when it comes to founder compensation 📍UK founders are living their best life with over €90k in average pay, while our friends in the Baltics are scraping by with a little over a third of that. Hot on the UK's heels are France and Germany, Europe’s second-largest startup ecosystems.

Where bank accounts really start singing is between seed and Series A rounds, with founders seeing a 60% salary increase 💰 However, the melody may turn slightly sour as this progress comes at the cost of equity. Founders typically own just 15% of their company by Series A, down from nearly 39% at the pre-seed stage. Keep reading for more money talk!

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Click below to redeem one of our 30 FREE passes for the event.

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These companies just raised money

  1. 🇨🇴 Colombian fintech Bold nets $50M in Series C, taking its total raised to $130M, to bolster its electronic payments infrastructure.

  2. 📱 Cambridge Mechatronics bags $40M to enhance smartphone imaging with their Shape Memory Alloy tech, used in 70M+ products.

  3. 🤑 European challenger bank Finom nabs $54M in Series B, aiming to simplify SME banking and gear up its Eurozone expansion.

  4. 🇰🇪 Kenyan EV startup Roam secures $24M Series A funding to boost production of electric motorcycles and buses.

  5. 💉 Germany's Earlybird Health wraps up its second fund at $185M, ready to write bigger checks for health tech startups.

  6. 💵 FlowFi secures $9M seed funding to simplify finances for founders, boasting 100+ customers and millions in ARR.

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DeepTech & Climate Fonds: Germany's Billion-Dollar Bet on the Future

Germany's $1bn DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) will shift its focus towards backing growth-stage startups from 2024, addressing a significant funding gap for European companies post-Series B. Though government-backed, the DTCF operates like a traditional VC, with a hands-off approach from the government on investment strategy.

The fund is keen to invest in companies enabling the transition to sustainable energy, including technologies with future strategic importance like nuclear fusion and quantum computing.

This pivot comes as Europe grapples with the issue of deep tech companies needing to court foreign investors for growth-stage funding, risking a brain drain from the continent. This move is aligned with Germany's broader push for green transition, highlighted by a similar $1bn fund launched last year.

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FREE Financial Model Template

Use it to estimate your revenue, expenses, and how much money your startup needs to raise. Available to download in Excel and Google Sheets. Being on top of your Financial Model can make the difference and allow managers and founders to make game-changing decisions.

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Why everything became a subscription

Subscriptions have become a monthly tax, a monthly cost to live our internet-heavy lives. It wasn’t always like this, and many subscription services have made our lives a lot easier- but the ultimate truth is subscriptions are getting people to spend more, a lot more than they used to 🤑 Check out our Youtube channel and… SUBSCRIBE 🕶️