EUVC #247: Colin Daymond Hanna, Balderton on purpose, empathy and prioritization

Today we have Colin Daymond Hanna with us. Colin is a Partner at Balderton. And I think it goes without saying that I need not introduce this firm; but just in case anyone listening in has just started in venture, I’ll say that in the two decades since Balderton’s founding, they have worked with hundreds of extraordinary European founders, and have raised eight funds totalling more than 3bn Euros.At Balderton, Colin invests in purpose-driven, product-focused founders spanning verticals including Cloud, Consumer, Crypto, and Fintech. Colin has led the investments into Fuse Energy (formerly Tesseract), Ory, Supernormal, AnyType, Clue (note: the links go to Balderton’s annoucements, interesting reading!). Colin is also part of the team at Balderton responsible for driving the firm's Sustainable Future Goals initiatives.Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to Colin Daymon Hannah00:02:54 - Growing up in Asia & the US and transitioning to venture00:07:28 - Taking a Leap of Faith to Berlin00:09:51 - The Role of Luck in Decision Making00:12:05 - Prioritization and Communication00:14:27 - Balderton's Purpose as a Partner for European Entrepreneurs00:16:38 - Clue: Empowering Women's Health00:18:56 - The Local First Mentality and Censorship Resistance00:21:31 - Lack of Empathy in VC and Overstretching00:23:40 - Importance of Investor Alignment 00:26:03 - On Purpose and Prioritization00:28:35 - Prioritization & Portfolio Management 00:30:49 - Transparency in Investing00:32:54 - Building Networks with Investors00:35:10 - The Importance of Strong Communication and Vulnerability00:37:17 - Communication and Gratitude00:39:12 - How Sports Shape Your Path00:41:31 - The Importance of Trusting the Process00:44:01 - Transparency in Achieving Global Goals00:46:07 - Investing in companies aligned with SDGs00:48:32 - Express Championing of Positive Externalities00:50:26 - Tips for Emerging VCs in Europe00:52:46 - Focusing on the Purpose, Not the Valuation