Deal Makers (& Fakers) Podcast

There is money in the market. What’s actually missing is someone willing to lead the round. That’s the argument Dr. Andreas Schmidt makes in this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), and interestingly, it flips the usual fundraising story on its head. Founders assume the problem is a shortage of capital. Andreas, a serial biotech founder, investor, and venture builder who has built and funded companies across the US, Singapore, and Europe, says the real gap sits earlier: not enough investors are willing to write the first check and set the terms. Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, discussed with him a lot of things surrounding the capital raising. Andreas has been on both sides of the table & being the one who knew things as a founder and also being the one writing checks, he walked through the insider signals that mostly investors look for before writing a check: * Customer validation * A team that understands its market * Real technology * Evidence that someone out there will pay for what you’re building. He explained why “Great team, come back in two years” is such a common response from investors, and why that usually means the capital raising process is broken, not the company. He also made a case that surprised us: Get early revenue if you can, because it can matter more than almost anything else in a pitch. VC isn’t automatically the right financing model for every company, and founders who treat it as the default often miss better paths, including non-dilutive funding. The most different part of the episode is how Andreas’s own investment process works. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. His team uses a swarm of AI agents, with experts in the loop, to route pitch decks to the right specialists and support due diligence. It’s a different way to think about how funding decisions get made, worth hearing even if biotech isn’t your world. If you’re a founder raising capital, an investor evaluating deals, or just curious how funding actually happens behind the scenes, this one is for you. In this episode: * Why early lead investors are the real bottleneck in startup fundraising * What investors look for before writing a check * Pitch decks, customer validation, and what makes a company investable * Non-dilutive funding and why revenue can beat a term sheet * How AI agents are being used in venture capital due diligence * Building outside the US: lessons from Singapore and Europe Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Listen to the full episode below. If it’s useful, the best way to support it is to send it to a founder who’s fundraising right now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

What do investors actually look for when they evaluate a startup? And why do so many founders get startup fundraising wrong? In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas sits down with Andreas Schmidt for a very honest conversation about capital raising, startup funding and what investors look for in a startup. We talked about what makes a company genuinely investable, how investors evaluate startups, what founders need to understand before approaching investors, and why impressive looking numbers do not always tell the full story. Andreas also shares his perspective on fundraising strategy, the financial strategy behind building and scaling a company, cash flow management, and knowing when raising capital actually makes sense. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. We get into some of the mistakes founders make when raising money for a startup * What investors want to see before committing capital * Why understanding investor due diligence can completely change the way founders approach fundraising. If you’re a founder thinking about how to raise capital, preparing to pitch investors, already speaking to investors, or simply curious about how investment decisions are really made, there is plenty to take away from this one. 👇 What’s one thing about fundraising you wish someone had told you earlier? Drop it in the comments. Deal Makers (& Fakers) is hosted by Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, a private capital advisory. Subscribe for more conversations on venture capital, angel investing, and what it actually takes to raise or deploy capital well. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Andy Goldstein has coached nine unicorns. He also walked away from Deloitte Digital Ventures, the company builder unit where Niclas Schlopsna worked for him as a consultant, to build something entirely different: a university for investors. In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Andy sits down with Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, for a full conversation on venture capital, angel investing, startup fundraising, and how to actually break into VC. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. From Deloitte Digital Ventures to Venture University Years of angel investing on his own had produced a portfolio that looked good on paper but was not converting into exits. After four quarters inside Venture University, he had six exits in 2025 alone, and two more already this year. Networking is not the skill. Deal flow is. Andy does not think networking is the core skill in investing, deal flow is. But networking is one of the best ways to get it. He described it as giving life a chance to reveal itself to you in a positive way, the kind of thing that happens when a casual conversation about a swim turns into an introduction that leads to a deal. The buzzword he hears every day Ask Andy what phrase makes him wince and he will tell you: “we’re an AI first company.” He understands why founders say it, software has gone through its own version of what happened when photography went digital, and everyone is scrambling to prove they will not get replaced. His test for whether a company is actually AI first: can they show you their large language model partners, their agentic strategy, and how AI shows up in every part of the business, not just the pitch deck Europe invests around $45 billion a year in venture capital. The US invests over $1 trillion. Andy’s read on the gap has less to do with talent and more to do with mindset. American funds, in his view, are far more stage agnostic , willing to write a $50,000 check into an early company and stay in all the way to IPO. European funds tend to be siloed by stage and fixated on ownership percentage. “I’d rather invest a couple million in a company valued at two billion that I think is very likely to go to 30 or 100 billion, than invest in a company at two million that I think might go to 10,” he said. Two changes that would change everything in Capital Ecosystem Two structural changes, in Andy’s view, would open up more capital in Germany specifically: * Letting pension funds and insurance companies allocate into venture (something many are currently restricted from doing) * Stronger tax incentives for private individuals to angel invest, similar to what France already offers. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. The three questions before Andy invests He laid out the criteria the fund uses before writing a check: * Magnitude of improvement: I s this solution two times better than the status quo, or ten times, or a thousand times better? He pointed to Uber as the clearest example of total category transformation. * Market size: If the transformation works, is the market big enough to make the company hugely valuable? He gave the example of a fertility tech company using AI to select embryos, where even a one to two percent improvement in outcomes is large enough to create a unicorn. * Unfair market advantage: What is the actual entry point, the marketing hack, that lets this company win distribution before anyone else can copy the idea? Just like Venmo’s early edge was not the payment technology, it was that all you needed to send money was a phone number. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers) above, or wherever you get your podcasts. Deal Makers (& Fakers) is hosted by Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, a private capital advisory. Subscribe for more conversations on venture capital, angel investing, and what it actually takes to raise or deploy capital well. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Andy Goldstein retired from Deloitte Digital Ventures, the company builder unit where Niclas Schlopsna worked for him as a consultant, and decided his next move would be investing in education. That decision is what led him to Venture University, and eventually to VU Venture Partners, the checkbook-in-hand fund now training Europe’s next generation of investors. Along the way he also ran: * The LMU Entrepreneurship Center in Munich for 16 years * Co-founded the German Accelerator * Backed nine unicorns In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), he sits down with Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, for a full conversation on venture capital, angel investing, startup fundraising, and how to actually break into VC. From Deloitte Digital Ventures to Venture University When Andy stepped away from Deloitte Digital Ventures, his son Remy asked what was next. Andy’s answer: investing in education. Remy, fresh off building his own startup, offered to partner up and pointed him toward Venture University, a US program that puts aspiring investors inside a real fund with a real checkbook. The shift changed how he invested. Years of angel investing on his own had produced a portfolio that looked good on paper but was not converting into exits. After four quarters inside Venture University, he had six exits in 2025 alone, and two more already this year. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers) above, or wherever you get your podcasts. Deal Makers (& Fakers) is hosted by Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup, a private capital advisory. Subscribe for more conversations on venture capital, angel investing, and what it actually takes to raise or deploy capital well. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Capital raising looks like a pitch. It is really a relationship game that starts years before anyone asks for money, and most people learn that the expensive way. Sam Tidswell-Norrish has raised close to $10 billion across private equity funds, and he has sat on every side of the table: As an operator building a firm from scratch, as an investor sourcing deals, and as a founder raising for his own venture. Few people have run the full capital raising loop at his level. On this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Sam joined Niclas Schlopsna , partner at spectup , to walk through what moves money from an investor’s account into yours. Whether you are a founder raising your first round, a fund manager raising your first vehicle, or an investor learning to source better, the same patterns keep showing up. Here is the full breakdown. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Capital Raising is a Relationship Game (Not a Pitch Deck one) The single lesson under everything Sam said: money follows trust, and trust is built long before the ask. The founders and managers who close fast are almost never the ones with the best-looking deck. They are the ones who were in the room, useful and consistent, months or years earlier. By the time the raise opens, the investor already knows them, already trusts the work, and the meeting is a formality more than a decision. That reframes the whole exercise. If capital raising is relationship-led, then the real work happens between raises, not during them. It is the quiet, unglamorous months of staying in touch, being helpful with nothing on the table, and letting people watch you deliver. From a Barclays trading floor to raising $10B Sam did not start in private equity. He started on the trading floor at Barclays, where he learned to read markets, price risk, and move quickly under pressure. That grounding shaped how he later approached fundraising, as a numbers-first discipline rather than a charm exercise. The bigger chapter came at Motive Partners, where he was a founding team member and helped build the firm and raise roughly $10 billion. Building a firm from zero taught him the part of capital raising nobody advertises: how hard it is to earn the first believers when you have no track record to point to Your product is performance: Here is the line worth writing down. In private equity, your product is not your fund. Your product is performance. Investors are not buying a legal structure or a slide. They are buying your ability to turn their capital into more capital, repeatedly and predictably. That distinction changes how you present. Instead of talking up the vehicle, you show the machine that produces results: how you source, how you decide, how you improve companies, and why that process holds up across cycles. Founders can borrow the same move. Do not sell the round. Sell the evidence that you can turn money into outcomes. Private equity fundraising vs startup fundraising Sam has done both, so his comparison carries weight. The mechanics differ, but the spine is identical. Startup fundraising sells a future that mostly does not exist yet. You are raising on vision, team, and early signal, and investors price the story. Private equity fundraising sells a repeatable engine backed by a track record, and investors price the proof. One leans on belief, the other on evidence. What carries over both ways: relationships open the door, clarity keeps you in the room, and consistency closes. A founder who understands how LPs scrutinize a fund manager will pitch VCs more sharply, because the underlying question is the same. Can I trust this person with my money, and will I get it back with more. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! It would mean a lot if you share this post The 7 Ps every investor checks before they wire a dollar Here is the checklist an investor runs before committing. They map closely to what most LPs actually screen for, so use this as the frame and listen to the full episode for his exact phrasing. * People: The team, the track record together, and whether they will stay in the seat. Investors back people first. * Performance: Real, verifiable results. Not projections, not one lucky deal, but a pattern. * Philosophy: A clear, honest view of how you make money and why that edge lasts. * Process: The repeatable system behind the results. Sourcing, diligence, decisions, and value creation. * Portfolio: What you already own or have built, and how it holds up under a hard look. * Price and terms: Fees, structure, and alignment. Investors want to know your incentives point the same way theirs do. * Pipeline: What comes next? A credible line of sight to the deals that will drive the returns you are promising. Miss one, and the smart money hesitates. Nail all seven, and the conversation moves to when, not whether. There are More private equity funds than McDonald’s Sam points to a stat that reframes the whole difficulty of raising today. There are now more private equity funds in the US than there are McDonald’s locations, roughly 19,000 funds against about 14,000 restaurants. Capital is not scarce. Attention and differentiation are. Standing out in that crowd does not come from a louder pitch. It comes from a sharper strategy, a track record you can defend, and relationships that were built before the raise. When thousands of funds all say a version of the same thing, the ones that win are the ones an investor already knows and already trusts. Keeping investor relationships warm: the pen, and one LinkedIn message This is where Sam gets tactical, and where founders can copy him directly. He runs a physical system to keep relationships warm. He writes names on his hand, an old-fashioned pen-on-hand prompt, so he follows up with the people he met before the day’s noise buries them. Low tech, high consistency. Then the story that ties it together. A single, well-judged LinkedIn message to one of the minds behind General Magic, a legendary figure in tech, eventually led to that person joining his board. One message, sent with genuine respect and a clear reason, opened a door most people assume is permanently closed. The lesson is not “spam your dream contacts.” It is that a specific, human, well-timed outreach still works, and most people never send it. Key takeaways * Capital raising is relationship-led. The real work happens between raises, not during them. * In private equity, your product is performance, not your fund. Sell the machine that produces results. * There are more US private equity funds than McDonald’s locations, so differentiation and trust beat volume and noise. * A serious raise takes around 24 months. Plan for the timeline, and let real scarcity do the closing. * Keep relationships warm with simple, consistent systems. One specific, human outreach still opens doors most people never try. * The weekend call test reveals founder quality faster than any deck. Guest: Sam Tidswell-Norrish, Partner at Access Holdings, Chair of OPUS, and founding team member at Motive Partners . Host: Niclas Schlopsna, partner at spectup. About spectup: Capital advisory for companies raising from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and need intros to Limited partners This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Capital raising in private equity runs on relationships, and few people have built them better than Sam. He helped raise nearly $10 billion across private equity funds, and his most effective deal-making tool is a pub he bought in London. In this clip from Deal Makers (& Fakers) , Sam Tidswell-Norrish sat with Niclas Schlopsna , partner at spectup , breaks down the capital raising and networking system behind a $10B career: * How he builds relationships with investors and LPs, sources deals, and turns cold outreach into warm intros? * The pens, and the LinkedIn message that put one of tech’s most important inventors on his board. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Who is Sam Tidswell-Norrish? Sam was Managing Director & Founding Team Member at Motive Partners , runs capital raising and investor relations at Access Holdings , and chairs OPUS , a global community for early-stage founders raising their first rounds. Who this is for? If you’re a founder raising capital, an investor sourcing deals, or anyone trying to understand how private equity fundraising and LP relationships really work, start here. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. Inside the full episode The full episode covers: * The 7 Ps of raising a fund, private equity fundraising vs startup fundraising * Why there are more PE firms than McDonald’s? * How to build investor relationships before you ever need money? The full episode drops this Friday. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

He dropped out of university. Then he raised $15M to build one. Christian Rebernik has now done the hard part of fundraising from both chairs. He was the CTO at N26 and helped turn it into one of Europe’s largest digital banks, secured its banking licence, and built the core banking system underneath it. Then he raised around $15M for Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences , where he’s co-founder, CEO and Chancellor. These days he also writes the cheques as an Angel investor . What Will You Learn? In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), he sits down with Niclas Schlopsna and goes through the parts of fundraising that never make it onto a slide. A few things he says plainly: * The worst time to raise funds is the moment you actually need the money. By then your leverage is gone, and investors can smell it on you. * In the early rounds, nobody is funding your deck. They’re funding you. The deck just gives them a reason to say no. * A warm introduction beats cold outreach every time, and there’s a specific way to set those intros up that most founders get wrong. * Valuation doesn’t climb in a straight line. It moves in steps, and timing your raise to those steps is most of the game. * The term sheet is where founders quietly lose control of their own company. Christian breaks down the clauses that do the damage and why Elon still holds roughly 80% of SpaceX. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Then there’s the problem he lived through firsthand: Raising for something investors don’t immediately understand. He raised venture money while the company was structured as a non-profit. He watched TechCrunch publicly tear his pitch deck apart later. Some context on why his read carries weight. Before Tomorrow University, he was CTO at Parship and Awin, co-built the UN World Food Programme’s ShareTheMeal app, and founded the healthtech company Vivy, which reached more than 20M users across 37 insurers. If you’re raising your first round or starting to build an angel portfolio, give this one your full attention. It’s the version of fundraising advice you usually only hear after the round is already lost. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers). About spectup: Capital advisory for companies raising from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and need intros to Limited partners This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

A college dropout raised $15M and built Europe’s first accredited university. Christian Rebernik was the CTO who helped N26 win its banking licence and become one of Europe’s largest digital banks. Now he’s co-founder and CEO of Tomorrow University and an active angel investor. In the full episode, he breaks down the fundraising lessons most founders learn too late: why the worst time to raise venture capital is when you actually need it, why investors back people, not pitch decks, and the term sheet details that quietly cost founders control of their own company. ▶️ Watch the full episode tomorrow. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. About us: Capital advisory for companies raising funds from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and needing intros to Limited partners. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

In this exclusive episode, we reveal why a $400M New York fund is passing on standard software loops to invest heavily in the physical industries building the future. A few days ago, Niclas Schlöpsna sat down with Denis, the visionary lead behind 2BF Global Ventures, a premier New York-based venture capital firm commanding over $400 million in assets under management. Drawing from his fifth consecutive fund and an impressive portfolio featuring market leaders like ServiceTitan and Fubo, Denis shares a contrarian investment thesis that directly opposes standard industry logic. As a former rocket scientist holding dual Master’s Degrees from the prestigious Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, he has built one of the world's most foundational global communities for SpaceTech founders. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. What You’ll Learn in This Video Podcast? You will learn how to align your goals with the expectations of an experienced investment fund manager.- The $400M Fund Thesis : Inside the capital allocation strategy of 2BF Global Ventures’ fifth active fund.- 11,000 Pitch Decks Decoded : The core patterns, fatal errors, and traction markers analyzed across 12 years of venture profiling.- The Frontier Tech Paradox : Why a trained rocket scientist focuses on heavy foundational industries over fleeting digital trends.- Building a SpaceTech Community : Deconstructing how specialized global networks help niche tech operators scale efficiently.- The Contrarian Investor Mindset : Overcoming standard analyst groupthink to capture exceptional value in uncrowded, high-barrier markets. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. About spectup: Capital advisory for companies raising from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and need intros to Limited partners Subscribe for weekly startup funding advice and analysis. Tell us in the comments which part of the venture capital strategy process you want us to cover next. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

In this episode of Deal Makers, Niclas Schlopsna sits down with Vlad Sarca, General Partner at Sparking Capital, to unlock the raw, behind-the-scenes mechanics of early-stage venture capital. What actually goes through a venture capitalist's mind when they review your pitch deck? Vlad breaks down the exact framework he uses to evaluate founders, moving past the superficial "AI" buzzwords that often ruin otherwise strong pitches. For founders navigating capital advisory and venture capital, understanding these dynamics is crucial for improving your startup’s quality of life and survival rate in a competitive market. We also dive deep into the Eastern European tech ecosystem, deconstructing the secret price arbitrage giving regional startups a massive edge and how the "EU-Inc" initiative could stop founders from fleeing to Delaware. This perspective is essential for driving regional economic development and building a sustainable legacy in global tech. What You’ll Learn in This Video Podcast? - The 10% Pass Rate : Why the vast majority of pitch decks are immediately rejected during the initial screening process. - The "AI" Trap : Why forcing tech buzzwords into your deck is killing your credibility with experienced investors. - Cap Table Death Traps : The specific equity splits, unengaged academic mentors, and broken ownership structures that make your startup completely uninvestable. - VC Syndicates & Partnership s: How venture capitalists simultaneously compete and collaborate behind the scenes to close high-quality deals. - The Price Arbitrage Advantage : How Eastern European startups leverage lower operational costs to achieve massive scalability with less capital. - Term Sheet Realities : The exact founder behaviours, unrealistic projections, and lack of responsibility that cause VCs to pull out of a deal. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. About spectup: At spectup, we provide high-stakes capital advisory for founders looking to scale their impact. Capital advisory for companies raising from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and need intros to Limited partners Check out www.spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

The wellness industry is growing rapidly, with unique sensory innovations now leading the way in sleep health. In this episode, Niclas Schlöpsna, Managing Partner at spectup, sits down with Dr. Emanuela Maggioni, CEO of Hynt Labs , to discuss how a sophisticated lab project secured €4.5M in total capital. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. Emanuela, an expert with 20 years of experience in olfactory science and neuroscience, shares her journey from researching at Sussex and University College London (UCL) to leading a high-growth deep-tech company. We explore how Hynt Labs utilises real-time scent interventions to optimise sleep stages by integrating via APIs with established wearables like: Oura, Samsung Watch, and WHOOP. What You Will Learn? - The €4.5M Funding Strategy : How Hynt Labs combined €3.5M in equity and €1 M (£1M) in research grants. - The Pivot to Sleep Tech : Why moving from general sensory widgets to targeted sleep intervention was the key to commercial success. - Davos & Global Marketing : How demonstrating technology at the World Economic Forum acted as a massive growth multiplier. - Lab to Boardroom : Overcoming the academic mindset to embrace B2B licensing and business clarity. - Deep Tech Landscape : Navigating the differences between European and US investment risks Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. About spectup: Capital advisory for comapnies raising from institutional investors (family office, VC, private equity) and for GPs raising a new fund and need intros to Limited partners Check out: www.spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

In this exclusive trailer for Episode 10 of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas Schlöpsna, Managing Partner at spectup, sits down with Dr. Emanuela Maggioni, the founder of Hynt Labs. Dr. Emanuela Maggioni reveals how she is transforming wearable data from devices like Oura, Samsung Watch, and WHOOP into real-time sensory interventions to improve sleep performance. This perspective highlights the bridge between complex neuroscience and the consumer wellness market, illustrating how economic development in the deep tech sector is set to improve the quality of life for millions. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Key takeaways of the session: - The Power of Sensory Science: How Hynt Labs uses scent as a superpower to deconstruct and optimise human rest. - A Multi-Million Euro Strategy : The breakdown of securing €3.9M in equity and €1M in grants to fuel global scaling. - Wearable Integration: How Hint's software solutions leverage the APIs of top trackers to deliver personalised interventions. - Why major global corporations are actively seeking partnerships with Dr. Maggioni's team. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. About spectup: At spectup, we provide high-stakes capital advisory for founders looking to scale their impact. We believe in building a future where innovation and responsibility go hand-in-hand For more details, visit: www.spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Raising millions at record speed is often portrayed as luck, but for serial founders, it’s a calculated play of leverage, unit economics, and deep-tech infrastructure. In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas Schlopsna sits down with Kirk to break down the transition from corporate leadership at Mastercard to navigating the Death Valley of fintech startups. Kirk shares his journey of leveraging a $45M exit to bypass the standard fundraising cycle, closing a $5M round in a single weekend. He also shared why he believes your unit economics matter infinitely more than a flashy UI. What you’ll learn in this episode: * The $5M Weekend: How to leverage a previous exit to bypass the standard 6-month fundraising grind. * Fintech Economics: Why today’s investors are pivoting away from “shiny” apps toward deep-tech infrastructure. * Stealth Mode vs. Hype: When (and why) to keep your billion-dollar ideas quiet to protect your competitive advantage. * Corporate to Founder: The raw reality of moving from a C-suite office to the startup trenches. If you’re a founder building in fintech, navigating regulatory compliance, or trying to master the art of the fast raise, this episode reveals the strategic blueprint behind the capital. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Who is Kirk Donohoe? Kirk is a serial entrepreneur and former Mastercard executive with a track record of high-stakes exits. He is currently focused on Grand, solving the deep-seated inefficiencies in global financial infrastructure. He previously founded WhenThen (acquired by Mangopay ) and held leadership roles at Mastercard . He is a veteran of the fintech space, specializing in global payment infrastructure. About the podcast: Deal Makers (& Fakers) is a spectup podcast where founders and operators reveal what actually works in fundraising, investor outreach, and building companies, plus the fakers moments nobody posts about on LinkedIn. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. Who should listen? * Fintech founders looking to scale beyond the “app” layer. * Serial entrepreneurs planning their next big exit. * Investors tracking the shift from B2C to B2B infrastructure. Visit spectup.com for more insights on fundraising strategy and startup growth. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

🚀 Episode 8 of Deal Makers (& Fakers) - with Armon Sharei, Founder of Portal Bio and SQZ Biotech. Biotech startup IPO success and raising $400M in venture capital is a dream for many founders, but what happens after you go public? In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas Schlopsna sits down with Armon Sharei, former founder of SQZ Biotech and current founder of Portal Bio, to discuss scaling cell therapy and the reality of the biotech industry. Armon Sharei shares his journey from a PhD at MIT under Robert Langer to closing a massive deal with Roche and leading a publicly traded company. Learn about the "Squeeze" technology, the biotech nuclear winter, and the death spiral that led him to start his second venture, Portal Bio. How did Armon Sharei start his journey? It began at MIT, where he developed a "cell-squeezing" technology that caught the attention of the scientific community and led him to launch: SQZ Biotech with little more than "napkin maths" and a $100,000 initial investment from professors and family. As he transitioned from a PhD student to a full-time CEO, he successfully navigated the venture capital landscape by leveraging the following: * Early academic validation * A prestigious partnership with Roche to secure a $5 million Series A. This momentum eventually snowballed into raising over $400 million, including a massive IPO in 2020, proving that a targeted, platform-focused strategy can bridge the gap between complex deep-tech research and large-scale public market success. What you’ll learn in this episode: - How to raise a Seed Round with no track record.- The secret to closing a partnership with Big Pharma (Roche & Pfizer).- Why the public market might be better than private equity for biotech.- How to identify red flags in venture capital investors. The future of cell therapy and global healthcare innovation. If you’re a founder navigating the complexities of deep tech, big pharma partnerships, or the pressures of the public market, this episode reveals what it takes to build, lose, and rebuild a world-changing company. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. 👉 Who is Armon Sharei? Armon is the founder of Portal Bio and the former CEO of SQZ Biotech. With a PhD from MIT, his work in cell therapy has been recognised as one of the "10 World Changing Ideas" by Scientific American. He is now focused on making cell therapy more accessible through his latest venture. 👉 About the podcast: Deal Makers (& Fakers) Deal Makers (& Fakers) is a spectup podcast where founders and operators reveal what actually works in fundraising, investor outreach, and building companies, plus the “fakers” moments nobody posts about on LinkedIn. Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it. 👉 Who should listen? - Deep tech & biotech founders looking to scale.- Entrepreneurs interested in the transition from scientist to CEO.- Investors wanting to understand the future of cell therapy. 👉 Visit spectup.com for more insights on fundraising strategy and startup growth.🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

€75 MRR, 3 paying customers and 15,000 signups going nowhere. Then a startup pivot changed everything. I sat down with Florian, co-founder of Weavely, on the latest episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers) . He walked me through the exact mechanics of raising €900K as a four-person team from Brussels and then going on to raise €1.2M total. He had no warm Silicon Valley network or unicorn hype. Instead, he was just a founder who treated fundraising the way he treated products as a researcher. Methodically. The numbers that forced the pivot: → €75 monthly recurring revenue → 3 paying customers → 15,000 signups, but only 400 monthly actives → Years of building a product that wasn’t working Florian knew he had to kill the product he’d spent years building What happened when Weavely pivoted? → 30% of users were using a Figma design tool for forms → Nobody asked for a form builder, but users were building one anyway → Florian followed the signal instead of ignoring it → That wrong usage became the entire company. They pivoted, rebuilt and raised €1.2M total. What was the capital raising grind that happened behind the scenes? → 60 investor conversations → 15 actual pitches → 3 angels committed → 1 accelerator joined → 1 VC said yes → Team of 4, that’s it The secret of investors’ updates that pushed his raise: → Florian sends quarterly updates to EVERY VC he’s spoken with → Even the ones who said no → Even when the numbers are bad, especially when the numbers are bad His logic: if you only share wins, investors don’t trust you. You need to share the full picture. Pivots, near-shutdowns, ugly months, so when you raise the next round, they already know who you are. It’s like building warm intros who’ve watched you survive. The rejection story that made him close the deal: One VC said the market was too competitive and he had no moat. Florian’s response: “You’re right. The moat is thin. But this team built a product-led growth engine that works. And we’re still here.” That closed the deal. We also went deep into: * How €75 MRR and 3 customers forced Florian to kill the product he’d spent years building, and why that was the best decision he ever made. * How a single Figma conference killed their original direction overnight and the signal hidden in wrong usage that saved the company. * Why 15,000 signups meant nothing when only 400 actually used the product and how vanity metrics almost destroyed them. * The quarterly investor update strategy that pre-warms every future round, even sharing bad numbers, builds more trust than only sharing wins. * Why Florian thinks his own product interface will disappear within 3 years and what that means for every AI-native startup building today. * His take on building in a crowded niche : hundreds of competitors don’t matter if you solve what users actually do, not what you think they should do. * Why a PhD founder deliberately chose speed over perfection : because overthinking is the real startup killer. The market most founders are overlooking: → $700M–$800M in 2026 → Expected to grow to $1.9B by 2035 → AI-native forms and workflows; massive and still early If you’re building in a crowded niche or still trying to educate users instead of listening to them, this episode will change how you think. About Weavely: Weavely is an AI-native platform born from a Figma-based prototyping tool that pivoted after discovering users wanted outcomes, not tools. Now serving users globally with €1.2M raised from European VCs. About Deal Makers (& Fakers) Podcast: Raw, unfiltered founder conversations about startup fundraising. No polished success stories, just brutal truth about raising capital, investor rejections, pitch deck failures, and fundraising strategies that actually work. I’m Niclas, building spectup into a new kind of capital advisory. As VC scouts and private placement deal makers, we connect high-potential companies with the right investors. Reach out → spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

He had just 3 paying customers. It looked like a product that wasn’t working. Then one startup pivot flipped everything. Full startup fundraising story of raising capital drops soon. This is honestly the startup advice that every entrepreneur needs. * 15,000 people signed up * Only 400 showed up * 3 actually paid. Most founders would keep pushing. Florian killed it. Then something unexpected happened inside his own product. Users were doing something he never designed them for. That signal changed everything. In the full episode he revealed → The moment he knew the product had to die → The user behavior nobody expected → How a 4-person team from Brussels raised €1.2M → The rejection that turned into a check → Why he shares bad numbers with investors on purpose Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Full episode dropping tomorrow. 🔔 Subscribe and hit the bell so you don’t miss it. 🎙️ Deal Makers (& Fakers) Podcast: raw, unfiltered founder conversations about raising capital. No polished success stories. Just brutal truth . I'm Niclas, building spectup into a new kind of capital advisory. As VC scouts and private placement deal makers, we connect high-potential companies with the right investors. Reach out → spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

Aquablu Aquablu CEO Marnix Stokvis reveals his startup fundraising journey of raising capital without venture capital firms. Startup advice every entrepreneur needs. One cold message. To Frans van Houten, former CEO of a $20B company. Most founders wouldn't dare, but Marnix took the risk, and it changed his whole startup valuation. Aquablu CEO Marnix Stokvis shares his startup fundraising playbook for raising capital from operators. Hardware startup building is always tricky, & he proved that you can raise capital if your direction is clear.I spoke with Marnix Stokvis, CEO & co-founder of Aquablu , the Amsterdam-based startup that's doing for water what Nespresso did for coffee. Marnix started Aquablu while still at university with his co-founder Marc van Zuylen. Now they've raised $8.19 million, hit 300% year-over-year growth three years running , and reached profitability in 2025. But here's what makes this episode different from every fundraising story you've heard. Marnix didn't raise a single euro from traditional venture capital. He built a curated round of operators, industry leaders, and believers who move fast and skip six-week board meetings. Here is his background: → Founded 2018 by Marnix Stokvis and Marc van Zuylen while at university→ Amsterdam-based smart water dispenser company→ Flagship product: REFILL+ chilled, sparkling, or still water with functional flavors, vitamins, and electrolytes→ Serves corporate offices, hotels, and hospitality→ Over 120 partnerships→ Red Dot Design Award certified→ Targeting €100M revenue by 2028 with fewer than 100 employees The fundraising story flips all the previous playbooks: → $8.19 million, zero traditional VCs→ Friends of Aquablu raise and curate operators and investors who share their speed-and-execution mindset→ Former Philips CEO Frans van Houten led the round→ €750K committed LIVE on the Dutch Dragons podcast, grew to €1.1M after it aired→ Pieter Schoen, Michel Perridon, and Bas Witvoet also joinedHe picked people who have built businesses that stood out. Mostly hardware startups don't have funds and revenue while raising capital. He had both. He proved the PMF, and these numbers made people say yes.→ 300% year-over-year growth for 3 consecutive years→ Profitable since April 2025→ Expanding internationally across corporate and hospitality sectors→ Mission to save 1 billion plastic bottles by 2030→ Clients include Schiphol Airport, Adyen, and major hotel chainsWe discussed in detail:✅ How two university students went from zero to $8.19 million and profitability, without ever pitching a traditional VC firm.✅ Why Marnix chose operators over institutional investors and how Friends of Aquablu became the fundraising model that attracted serious capital initiative.✅ How Aquablu hit 300% growth three years in a row ✅ Why they're targeting €100M revenue with fewer than 100 employees , and the operational model that makes that realistic. About Aquablu: Aquablu is an Amsterdam-based smart water startup transforming workplace and hospitality hydration. Their REFILL+ system delivers chilled, sparkling, or still functional water infused with natural flavours, electrolytes, and B vitamins, eliminating single-use plastic bottles. Learn more → aquablu.com About Deal Makers (& Fakers) Podcast: Raw, unfiltered founder conversations about startup fundraising. Just brutal truth about raising capital, investor rejections, pitch deck failures, and fundraising strategies that actually work.I'm Niclas, building spectup into a neo-investment bank. As VC scouts and private placement, we connect high-potential companies with the right investors, from Seed through Series B and beyond. Reach out → spectup.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit niclasschlopsna.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

He spent 7 years at AWS and then left to build a cloud computing startup. This week I sat with James Marks, and he shared his startup fundraising journey, and the playbook was quite the opposite of everything I had seen so far. James is a cloud and IT infrastructure broker helping companies cut 20-40% off their cloud spend. He became the youngest senior manager in AWS history, then sold his house, quit his job, and bet everything on building Canopy. "Don't spend time on your deck. Spend 100% of your time on the business." His Approach: → Sent monthly 3-4 page investor memos for months before raising → No pitching, just transparent updates showing real traction → Closed round with institutional investors in 48 hours (30% Monday, finished Tuesday) Current Traction: → Clients from worldwide → 74+ customers and growing → £400k investment raised in pre-seed round → Institutional fundraising round coming soon We Went Deep Into: ✓ How he built investor relations via monthly memos and saved significant time ✓ Why cloud is a trillions-dollar market at ~50% efficiency & how Canopy solves it ✓ How companies overspend due to lack of vendor pricing visibility ✓ Why execution speed beats everything in cloud computing ✓ Smart work over hard work: scattered 10-hour days don't compete ✓ The strategic WHY behind fundraising decisions Key Insight: 90-95% of Canopy's revenue comes from network referrals and warm introductions. For Founders: If you're building in cloud infrastructure or raising your first round, this episode is for you. About Deal Makers & Fakers: Raw, unfiltered founder conversations about startup fundraising. No polished success stories. Just brutal truth about raising capital, investor rejections, pitch deck failures, and fundraising strategies that actually work. Host: I'm Niclas, building Spectup into a new kind of capital advisory. Follow along if you're raising, investing, or just curious how the game really works. Links Reach out → spectup.com Check out Canopy Cloud → https://www.canopycloud.io/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit niclasschlopsna.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

€2M raised at €70K ARR. Only 25 customers. And he never pitched a single investor.Juanjo Mestre, CEO & Co-Founder of Dcycle, built one of Europe's fastest-growing ESG platforms, now serving 2,000+ companies across Madrid, London, and Munich with 65+ employees and ~€10M in total funding raised.His fundraising approach? The opposite of every playbook out there.No cold emails. No 100-deck grind. Just 5 investor relationships built over a year, until two of them came to him and said: "It's time to raise."Background: Juanjo co-founded Dcycle to solve a massive problem, companies drowning in scattered environmental data across teams, systems, and silos. Dcycle built one centralized platform where every department feeds data in and stakeholders pull reports out. Carbon footprint, compliance, ESG disclosures; all in one place.Every founder objection he overcame:- "ESG is a nice-to-have, not a must-have"- "You're too early with only €70K ARR"- "The sustainability market is too uncertain"Juanjo's fundraising journey:→ Step 1: Joined Lanzadera accelerator in Spain; connected with early investors→ Step 2: €1M first round from 4 Spanish pre-seed VCs (September 2021)→ Step 3: €2M pre-seed round; closed with just 25 happy customers and €70K ARR→ Step 4: €6M Series A; scaling across Europe→ Step 5: Now preparing for Series B in the next 6–8 monthsCurrent traction:→ 2,000+ companies served worldwide→ 65+ employees across Madrid, London, and Munich→ ~€10M total capital raised→ Expanding into UK and Germany markets→ Series B fundraising starting within 6–8 monthsWe go deep into:✅ How Juanjo built investor relationships for a year without ever "pitching" and why two VCs eventually came to him when the timing was right.✅ Why ESG data is becoming non-negotiable for companies — driven by regulation in the EU, UK, California, and New York and how Dcycle positioned itself at the center of that wave.✅ His take on product-market fit: why €100K ARR is just starting, €1M ARR is validation, and €5M ARR is when things get real.✅ The three forces driving the sustainability data market regulation, investor pressure, and market demand and how they compound globally.✅ Why he believes Series A is about validation but Series B is about scalable playbooks and what investors expect at each stage.✅ The honest truth about European vs. US fundraising: why the biggest exits still happen in America and what that means for European founders planning Series B and beyond.✅ The one pitch deck slide investors cared about most during his Series A — and it wasn't revenue or team.✅ How a favorable market (ESG boom in early 2022) combined with genuine relationships turned a €70K ARR company into a €2M raise — and what founders can learn from that timing.About Deal Makers (& Fakers) Podcast:Raw, unfiltered founder conversations about startup fundraising. No polished success stories, just brutal truth about raising capital, investor rejections, pitch deck failures, and fundraising strategies that actually work.I'm Niclas, building ⁠spectup⁠ into a new kind of capital advisory. Follow along if you're raising, investing, or just curious how the game really works.Reach out → spectup.comCheck out Dcycle → https://dcycle.io/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit niclasschlopsna.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com

He raised millions for deeptech hardware in the middle of a Greek financial crisis. Greece’s 10-year bonds were above 18%, investors wanted software-only, and everyone told him to leave and build in the US instead. In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers) , Niclas talks with Dr. Nick Kanopoulos, founder & CEO of Brite Solar , about how he still built a solar factory in Patras and closed an €8.6M Series A plus more than €10M in grants and R&D funding. We go deep into: How a Duke-trained engineer went from semiconductors in the US to launching Brite Solar back in Greece for family reasons – right when the macro looked worst. Why agrivoltaics and semi-transparent solar glass can boost crop yields, save water, and generate energy on the same land. How he self-funded ~€1.2M, survived years of R&D, and then convinced the ultra-selective EU EIC Fund (sub-5% acceptance) to lead his €8.6M Series A. The brutal reality of raising capital-intensive hardware money in Europe when local VCs mostly want software, platforms, and “asset-light”. How he defends against Chinese competition on price, IP, and manufacturing flexibility – and why their line was designed from day one for agrivoltaics, not generic PV. What investors really asked in the final EIC panel, including patents, China, gender balance, governance, and scaling risk. His metric founders forget to show in their pitch decks – the valuation-to-investment multiples of comparable companies – and how he uses it to shut down “your valuation is too high”. His unfiltered advice to hardware & deeptech founders: OEM vs. your own factory, when to pull the Series A trigger, and why “the name of the game is: don’t give up”. If you want to learn how to raise serious money for real-world, capex-heavy tech when basically everything is stacked against you, this is the episode. Learn more about Brite Solar: https://www.britesolar.com/ About spectup / your host: I’m Niclas, building spectup into a new kind of capital advisory. Follow along if you’re raising, investing, or just curious how the game really works. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit niclasschlopsna.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com