Thought personal blogs written by startup founders were a good read?
Then you might be pleased to learn that blogs penned by European investors can be equally insightful, inspiring and amusing.
You'll notice there's a stark imbalance in our list though. While researching investors and VC firms of all sizes from across Europe, it was clear that men still typically dominate core investment teams while women mostly appear in operational or assistant roles.
The good news is that the gender disparity seemed to narrow at Scandinavia-based firms such as SEED Capital and Northzone. The bad news: almost none of these investors maintained a blog (in English).
If 2014 is the year that "women's voices assumed an unprecedented power", then hopefully 2015 is a year that more women are moved to talking, refusing to be silent – including in the realm of investment and entrepreneurship.
From outlining investment criteria in-depth to jotting down inside perspectives on the venture capital landscape in a particular tech ecosystem, investor blogs can be a valuable resource for entrepreneurs and fellow VCs alike.
Here's our roundup of top European investors to follow (in no particular order):
1) Angel VC by Christoph Janz
Currently a Managing Partner at Berlin-headquartered VC firm Point Nine Capital, Christoph Janz has a ton of experience when it comes to entrepreneurship and angel investing. He co-founded DealPilot.com and PageFlakes – both were eventually acquired. Janz's blog, which he's been regularly updating since 2005, focuses mostly on SaaS-related themes.
2) Thinking Out Loud by Ophelia Brown
As an investor at Index Ventures (which also has a blog worth checking out) in London, Ophelia Brown focuses on the realms of digital health, financial services and e-commerce. Previously, she supported investments in Socialbakers, Supercell and Transferwise. Brown's blog features insightful posts on innovation and why Bitcoin needs women.
3) A personal view on venture capital by Thomas Grota
Based in Germany, Thomas Grota is Investment Director at T-Venture Holding, the corporate VC arm of Deutsche Telekom. He has worked in the venture capital and IT/telecoms industry for over 15 years and is a mentor for Seedcamp. Grota's blog is a mishmash of commentary, industry event recaps and news on the corporate VC landscape and European tech scene.
4) Innovation Nest blog
With offices in Krakow and New York, seed and VC fund Innovation Nest started out focusing on the Polish market. Now, the firm is investing in B2B technology companies across Europe. From things you need to know about business in the US to lessons on sales for a startup, the Innovation Nest blog has got you covered on a diverse range of entrepreneurial/investing issues.
5) Techbytes by Jason Ball
Based in London, Jason Ball is a Senior Director at Qualcomm Ventures Europe. With more than 10 years working with Internet and mobile software startups, Ball has led Qualcomm investments in Videoplaza, We7 and YPlan. From 3 traits of successful founders to women in tech, Ball's blog provides commentary on an array of topics.
6) Berlin VC by Ciaran O'Leary
Working out of Berlin, Ciaran O'Leary is a VC at international VC firm Earlybird (see our recent interview). O'Leary's latest blog post is about how early traction can affect product decision-making in a negative way. He updates frequently as well as offers an interesting POV on the Berlin startup scene and the idea of a 'Venturesociacapitalist'. Also: Most posts are accompanied with snazzy memes.
7) Open source venture capital by Fred Destin
Fred Destin is back in Europe... with Accel Partners in London. With more than 14 years of experience investing in tech startups, his blog offers a candid take on funding innovation. Not only that, each post is served up with an fascinating image of a fractal "to remind ourselves of the complexity of the systems we operate in and the need to think non-linearly..."
8) Creandum blog
With offices in Stockholm and Palo Alto, Creandum is a venture capital firm that has invested in Spotify, iZettle and TicTail among others. Unlike many VC company blogs, which mostly consist of press releases, Creandum's blog also offers insight on interesting topics including employee incentives in Sweden, a day in the life of a VC and Nordic investment activity.
9) Notes of a global venture investor by Gil Dibner
After eight years of VC experience from in the US, Europe and Israel, Gil Dibner joined pan-European venture capital fund DFJ Esprit last year. Prior to that, he worked at Index Ventures focusing on seed/early-stage investing in Europe and Israel. Dibner's blog provides a global perspective on prevailing startup attitudes and what 'awesome deal flow' really means, among other things.
10) Notes of a VC in Berlin/Europe by Pawel Chudzinski
Based in Berlin, Pawel Chudzinski is the other co-founding half of Point Nine Capital alongside Christoph Janz (mentioned above). Previously, he was a co-founder and partner at German company builder Team Europe. On Chudzinski's blog, you'll find in-depth posts on what VCs like, global vs (multi-)local startups as well as why context is key when approaching VCs.
11) Entrepreneurship at Work by Roberto Bonanzinga
In July 2014, Roberto Bonanzinga announced his move from Partner to Venture Partner at European VC firm Balderton Capital in order to take on more activities as an angel investor. His blog on Medium covers a variety of topics focusing on "the Internet as an engine for entrepreneurship", including The Venture Capitalist Struggle and Artist vs Entrepreneur: Genesis of innovation.
12) Frontline Ventures blog
Based in London and Dublin, Frontline Ventures is an early-stage VC firm investing in software startups across Europe. Written mostly by Frontline Ventures's Head of Platform, Kim Pham, the company's blog features refreshing posts on the Irish tech scene, inside looks on industry events as well as how to get a startup job.
13) Unvalidated Learnings by Martin Mignot
Originally from France, Martin Mignot is an early-stage investor at Index Ventures in London specialising in SaaS, marketplaces, bitcoin and mobile. He's worked on more than 50 transactions including Codecademy, Farfetch, and Just Eat. Mignot's blog is a mix of personal commentary, business quotes and links to interesting tech reads.
14) Dilek Dayinlarli
Born in Germany and raised in Turkey, Dilek Dayinlarli is Vice President at Istanbul-headquartered venture capital firm 212, where she focuses on investments in the realm of Internet, telecoms and tech. At the moment, her blog is only in Turkish, but it's still worth Google Translating for insights on entrepreneurial motivation and the importance of story-telling for a CEO.
15) The Equity Kicker by Nic Brisbourne
With more than 15 years of experience in the VC industry, Nic Brisbourne founded London-based Forward Partners – a European "startup catalyst" focused on e-commerce startups – in 2013. Although his blog may look like a blast from the past, Brisbourne is a prolific writer touching on a variety of topics, such as the fallacies of anti-tech nostalgia, UK VC market and tips on attending office hours.
Any other suggestions? The comment floor is yours!
Featured image credit: Goodluz / Shutterstock
Investor images via respective Twitter profile photos or personal/company websites
