In this episode of "20 minutes VC," host Harry Stebings interviews Antoine Nussenbaum, a principal and founding member of Felix Capital. Nussenbaum shares his journey from starting a software business and working in M&A to venturing into the investment world, where he now focuses on early-stage digital startups. He discusses Felix Capital's approach to investing in the intersection of creativity and technology, emphasizing their passion for brands and enabling technologies, with a preference for Series A and B funding rounds. Nussenbaum highlights the importance of backing entrepreneurs with a mission and global vision, who can scale efficiently and leverage technology. He also touches on the European tech scene's strengths, especially in fashion, luxury, and consumer sectors, and the rise of digital brands. Additionally, Nussenbaum shares insights on productivity tools, the impact of brand loyalty among millennials, and his personal practices like yoga and meditation. Felix Capital stands out for its thematic focus and entrepreneur-friendly ethos, encapsulated by their motto, "work hard and be nice to people."
Now I'm super excited today as I am delighted to welcome Antoine Nussenborm at Felix Capital.
This quote introduces Antoine Nussenbaum as the guest on the podcast, highlighting his role at Felix Capital.
And over the past five years he's worked closely with various early stage digital startups, including Jelly Note Miracle, which Antoine helped to Bootstrap, and only recently in July raised a fantastic 20 million in series B, funding Reed Z and 31 Dover, and actively helped them launch their businesses.
This quote summarizes Antoine's experience with early-stage startups and his success in helping them secure funding and launch their businesses.
Sure. So in a way, I guess I have a kind of traditional path.
Antoine describes his path to the VC industry as somewhat traditional, implying a progression through relevant educational and professional experiences.
And it's by doing these kind of angel deals that I end up doing a seed deal called Jelly Note with Frederick, which was a managing partner of FedEx, and that was three years ago.
This quote explains how Antoine's angel investment activities led to his partnership with Frederick and the formation of Felix Capital.
One of the big difference is, with Felix, there's much more money to deploy, and ourselves, like entrepreneurs with us, have to report to someone.
Antoine discusses the increased responsibility and the need for thorough risk assessment when investing larger sums of money for Felix Capital.
So you're more backing someone that you believe has a capacity to go all the way through rather than specific metrics.
This quote contrasts angel investing with VC, emphasizing the importance of the entrepreneur's potential in the absence of extensive data in early-stage investments.
And a huge congratulations to you on raising the fund with Felix. 120,000,000, was it?
Harry Stebbings congratulates Antoine on the successful fundraising efforts for Felix Capital, highlighting the impressive amount raised.
"We were very lucky that the fundraising went well. We had investors from us and Europe trusting us, and we end up closing the fund at our hard cap, set up by our cornerstone investor, and it's indeed under $20 million."
The quote highlights the successful completion of Felix Capital's fundraising round and establishes the final size of the fund which is under $20 million, indicating a strong level of trust from investors across the US and Europe.
"The snapshot is that we are a venture firm investing in digital lifestyle. So the way we define it is we tend to invest at the intersection of creativity and technology."
This quote summarizes Felix Capital's investment thesis, which centers around digital lifestyle businesses that blend creativity with technology.
"There is an element of what you say that we've seen, and I think one of the big reason for this is that a lot of segments are becoming more and more competitive with lot of great guys, great entrepreneurs and great startups competing against each other."
The quote explains the observed trend of increasing Series A round sizes, attributing it to heightened competition and the pursuit of rapid scaling among startups.
"One of our big differentiator might stand on the fact that we have, again, a real focus on the creative side of what people entrepreneurs build."
The quote describes Felix Capital's unique value proposition, which lies in their emphasis on the creative and brand-building aspects of the businesses they invest in.
"One other element, which I mentioned earlier, is, again, that our thematic approach, our long term and flexible capital, and finally, and it's quite important element, is our venture advisory team."
This quote emphasizes the strategic role of Felix Capital's venture advisory team and their thematic, long-term approach to investment, which is a significant part of their operational model.
"There's different elements to this. I don't know if it's properly edge, but definitely Europe has a very strong heritage in specific sectors that are a big focus for us and specifically around fashion and luxury, retail and consumer, or even on the media side on these specific spaces, specific sector."
This quote highlights the strong heritage and focus of Europe in certain sectors, which has contributed to its edge in the tech community.
"It's definitely a better cycle to raise money than it used to be a few years ago."
Antoine Nussenbaum indicates that the current funding cycle is more favorable than in the past, reflecting a positive shift in the funding environment.
"We invest very early and one of the biggest thing we try to do is back entrepreneurs that we think are truly on a mission, that have a capacity to go from a to z, that have a global vision."
Antoine Nussenbaum emphasizes the importance of backing entrepreneurs with a clear mission and the ability to execute a global vision.
"I'm not sure that the millennial as per se less loyal. I think the focus have shift from traditional brands to digital brands and typically digital brands that end up being much more agile, much more tech savvy."
Antoine Nussenbaum discusses the shift in millennial brand loyalty towards digital brands that are agile and understand how to use technology effectively.
"That was a great thing of starting a new vc. We could spend quite some time thinking about that."
Antoine Nussenbaum reflects on the benefit of being able to carefully consider and choose productivity tools when starting a new venture capital firm.
I'm a huge Fred Wilson fan, I have to say. And obviously the ABC, which is kind of a classic and I just love the consistency. There's obviously the typical usual blogs, but I really like what Product Hunt has been doing and it's very same thing. This newsletter every day end up being 15 minutes of distraction at least. I love a thematic approach. Yesterday, actually, I think it was about the VC tools.
Antoine finds the daily consistency of Fred Wilson's blog and Product Hunt's newsletter to be valuable for staying informed and engaged with current trends and tools in the venture capital space.
We love marketplace. I perspire myself specifically too. But now, right now, the themes where I'm spending most of our time are around, well, being around food and also the mindfulness sector and the activewear.
Antoine's enthusiasm for marketplaces reflects a broader interest in lifestyle-oriented sectors that are experiencing strong trends, such as food and wellness.
Yes, I do. I don't communicate so much about it, but yes, I do. I'm a big yoga and practicer and I do meditate also. I benchmark headspace, so I use it. But not only headspace.
Antoine's personal practices include yoga and meditation, which align with his professional interest in the mindfulness sector. He also uses Headspace, indicating an engagement with digital tools for wellness.
It's the hard thing about the hard things on Ben Horowitz. There's a book called the Capital in the 21st century from Thomas PKT.
Antoine recommends Ben Horowitz's book for insights into the entrepreneurial journey and Piketty's work for its analysis of economic growth and wealth distribution, both providing valuable perspectives relevant to the venture capital industry.
It's going to be, again, Larouche Kidiwi. It's called the food assembly in the UK. We really like this business because it's a good illustration of our positioning with Felix.
The investment in Larouche Kidiwi represents Antoine's strategic focus on marketplaces that contribute to better living and have a strong community element, resonating with Felix Capital's investment philosophy.
So amazing to hear the origins of Felix and the incredibly exciting future that lies ahead. And very excitingly, you could be a part of that future as Felix are hiring an associate and a principal.
The announcement about Felix Capital's hiring plans suggests growth and opportunity within the firm, inviting applicants to become part of Felix's future.
Well, Antoine, thank you so much for coming on the show. I've hugely enjoyed chatting with you. And as always, all the resources and items mentioned in today's show can be found on the blog at www. Dot the twentyminutevc.com.
Harry's closing remarks serve as a gesture of appreciation towards Antoine and provide listeners with information on how to access further resources and support the podcast.