How to Build a Top European VC Firm?

About this episode

What does it take to build one of Europe’s leading VC firms from the ground up?

In this episode of the VNTR Podcast, Oliver Holle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Speedinvest, shares the full story about bootstrapping his first startup to managing €1.4B AUM and 400+ investments across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

We talk exits, team building, LP dynamics, secondary markets, and what makes a winning founder in 2025.

– How to raise your first fund (when no one believes in you)

Chapters

1. 00:00Intro
2. 00:55Welcome Oliver Holle
3. 02:10Why Oliver Holle Dropped Out of His PhD to Launch a Startup in Vienna
4. 04:38Building a Startup in Vienna and the Hard Lessons of Choosing Co-Founders
5. 05:59Lessons from Raising $5M Before the Crash
6. 07:57How We Turned 8 Years of Struggle into a $60M Exit
7. 09:13Why Optionality and Timing Define a Successful M&A
8. 13:05How a Public Company Wasted $1B on Mobile
9. 14:27Europe vs. Silicon Valley
10. 15:58Speedinvest Wasn’t Meant to Be a Traditional VC
11. 21:22Early Liquidity, Small Market Advantage, and the Rise of Speedinvest’s Second Fund
12. 25:10The Power of Vertical Funds: FinTech, Marketplaces, and Industrial Tech at Speedinvest
13. 27:54The Internal Economics Behind Speedinvest’s Fund Architecture
14. 30:59Why the Traditional 10-Year VC Fund Model Is Broken
15. 32:36The Hidden Value of Community and Trust in Venture
16. 34:02How Speedinvest Builds Community Across 400+ Startups
17. 37:23The Most Dramatic Shift Since Mobile: How AI Is Reshaping VC
18. 38:52Speed, Trust, and Vertical Knowledge: Secrets to Leading Early Rounds
19. 43:09The Power of Signaling in Early-Stage Fundraising
20. 45:23Why Founders Still Have a Say
21. 47:08Speedinvest’s Follow-On Strategy Explained: From Seed to Series B
22. 47:56The Exit Strategy Playbook
23. 49:43A Full Infrastructure for Investor Liquidity
24. 52:49Work-Life Balance in Venture Capital