How a16z WON ElevenLabs Series A: Bryan Kim, Partner at A16Z

When ElevenLabs was still fourth in the market, its instant voice cloning was already 10x cheaper and 10x faster than competitors.That was enough for Bryan Kim, Partner at a16z, to book a same day flight from San Francisco to London and close the Series A over lunch in Notting Hill. What followed was a rare transition from creator led self serve revenue to serious enterprise scale, as the company grew from seven people to 400 and became one of Europe’s defining AI businesses.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show0:08 - Bryan Kim's connection to ElevenLabs1:01 - Conviction in audio AI potential2:32 - Quick trip to secure partnership4:32 - Deepening relationships over three years5:36 - Transitioning from consumer to enterprise sales6:54 - Building a strong company culture7:38 - The importance of kindness in leadership9:50 - The urgency in competitive environments10:20 - Earning the right to work with founders11:00 - Specialization in investment sectors12:28 - Impressive growth in European tech landscape