20VC with Harry Stebbings
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European founders are just as driven!
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-25 14:23
Entrepreneurship & Funding - European entrepreneurs are perceived as less hardworking and ambitious compared to their US counterparts [1] - Raising funds is more challenging in Europe than in the US [1] - Building a business across Europe is more difficult due to a smaller addressable market [1] Market Comparison - The US offers a larger addressable market for businesses compared to Europe [1] Ambition Level - European founders possess the same level of ambition as those in the US [1]
How To Attract Talent To Europe 🇪🇺
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-25 05:00
Talent Acquisition & Retention - Recommends offering significant tax benefits, such as five years tax-free or no taxation on stock options, to attract computer science graduates and tech professionals to relocate to Europe [1] - Suggests leveraging Europe's attractiveness as a desirable place to live to attract talent to London, Berlin, Munich, and other cities [2] Competitive Landscape - Notes that Europe faces challenges in competing with less capital, a more scattered landscape, more bureaucracy, and less talent [1] - Argues that solving the talent shortage is crucial for Europe's success [2]
Harmonic's Hot 25
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-24 17:00
Harmonic just released its hot 25 report ranking preede, seed, and series A startups based on the aggregated interest of the thousands of investors using the platform. Here are the biggest risers and fallers as we head into Q325. Let's dive into the biggest movers.Lovable claims the number one spot, overtaking last quarter's leader with its AI powered app and website platform, hitting over $75 million ARR in 7 months with a lean 50 person team. Profound jumps to number two after just announcing a $20 millio ...
Germany’s Visa Problem
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-24 14:00
Talent Acquisition & Immigration - The company hired a CTO from Netflix, Gorov Agaval, who previously led growth initiatives at Netflix [1] - The CTO's visa application process to Germany took 6 months due to appointment availability at the San Francisco consulate [1][2] - The consulate in San Francisco only offers visa appointments twice a week and was booked for the next 6 months [2] - Securing an appointment required intervention from the German foreign office [2] Tech Ecosystem & Regulatory Challenges - The difficulty in obtaining visas hinders the development of a strong tech ecosystem in Europe [3]
Why Europe Struggles to Hire Executives 🤔
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-23 17:01
If I want to hire, let's say, the next chief product officer at Get Your Guide, it's almost impossible to do that in Europe. I need to go to Silicon Valley because the density of people who have done that scale, have served tens of millions of customers a year, build a business that's 10 billion plus valuation that just doesn't exist to build the structures and the processes and everything to do That. ...
“We Almost Lost Our Company”
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-23 14:00
So we almost lost the company after raising that A round. That was the moment when I made the biggest mistakes. I remember like a year or so after raising that A round.I needed to lay off 30% of the company and completely rejuggle get your guide to refocus us on the core. It was the decision that ultimately made Get Your Guide into what it is today. I would have not raised as big of a series A looking back.I think it was too much dilution. If you have a Seoia capital or an index or a Spark capital on your c ...
Why Freemium Beats Paid Acquisition
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-22 14:00
If you build an amazing free product, it takes way longer. But what you end up building is an organic growth flywheel. Meaning you tell your friends about Dualingo.I don't know if you do, they can go experience the full thing for free. Whether they appear or not, doesn't matter. If they like it, they will also tell their friends.It just expands the entire pie of people who can use your product. And we have a lot of users that use the app for free for 5 years. Eventually, one January, they're like, "Oh, I'm ...
People Date Using Duolingo?
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-21 14:00
User Behavior - Duolingo users are already finding romantic connections through the platform, with examples of couples meeting and marrying after competing on leaderboards [1] - Users are leveraging existing social media platforms like Facebook to connect after initial interactions on Duolingo [1] Future Direction (Disclaimer) - Duolingo is explicitly stating that formal dating features are "out of the question" and not currently being pursued [1]
Can the “Old Guard” Still Compete?
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-21 05:00
Competitive Landscape - Incumbent system of record providers leverage existing customer base as a competitive advantage [2] - New entrants compete by offering solutions compatible with any system of record, avoiding displacement of legacy systems [2] - The traditional approach for established players involves adding new features to existing systems [1] Market Position - Dropbox lacks a significant enterprise presence compared to Service Now and Salesforce [3] - Dropbox and Glean operate in different market segments [3] Strategic Analysis - The success of Dropbox's product is not the primary concern [1] - Leadership is crucial for established companies to compete effectively [1]
Duolingo’s Engineer Strategy
20VC with Harry Stebbings· 2025-06-20 14:00
So you're the guy who puts ads in my Dualingo. But I did that. Yeah.Jeem Canu, CPO at Dualingo. Jeem leads product strategy for over 90 million monthly active learners. Consumer products live and die in the pixels.Product managers are sometimes viewed as I'm the mini CEO. I decide strategy and then people execute. That is like the worst definition of a product manager that I've ever heard.So if someone is actually creating more output with AI, well, they'll probably get promoted faster. Why would you write ...