EUVC #285 Steffen Pauls from Moonfare & 7GC on democratizing venture and private equity

Today, we have Steffen Pauls with us. Steffen is a Founding Partner at 7GC, a €400M Growth venture fund based in Berlin, and founded the firm in 2015 to bring growth investment opportunities to a network of key decision-makers, industrial families, and entrepreneurs in Europe.7GC is investing out of Fund II with a total €400M AUM and an established portfolio of 15 companies and notable investments including Jackpocket, Jio, Hims & Hers. Steffen focuses on Sars, FinTech, and AI.Steffen is a serial entrepreneur who has founded several businesses; among others, he co­founded and acted as CEO of the first five AG (sold to a PE investor). In addition, Steffen is the founder of Moonfare, a financial services technology firm, which he currently runs as the acting CEO.Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀Chapters:00:03:14 - From Private Equity to Venture Capital00:06:16 - Moonfare's Global Expansion Journey00:09:14 - The Importance of Patience in Investing00:15:15 - The Future of AI Regulation00:18:12 - Europe's Struggle to Catch Up in AI00:21:02 - The Imbalance of Data Ownership00:33:36 - Democratizing Private Equity Investment00:36:38 - Investment Pre-Selection Process00:39:39 - Moonfare: An Innovation in the Market00:42:31 - The Different Players in the Industry00:45:36 - Moonfare: Building a Community00:48:43 - Democratization of Private Equity00:51:44 - Learning from the Challenges of Starting Moon Fare00:54:49 - The Importance of Culture in Building Great Companies00:58:04 - Trends in Investor Behavior01:01:22 - The Importance of Independence and Speaking Up01:04:26 - The Dangers of Being Cyclical01:07:33 - The Value of University Education