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Ivan Stefunko

Team Posted On February 26, 2014

Tell us a little about your background.
I studied political science and European integration, and wanted to be a politician to change my country. By being in youth politics and then as an advisor to politicians, I saw that change through politics was practically impossible in the late 90s. I joined a political newspaper, and started to manage it, without any managerial or business experience, which was a disaster in the first few months. Then we decided to go into online publishing and got more visibility and therefore influence on the net. Business-wise, this turned out to make more sense. So this was my first contact with the Internet.

Later on, we applied for the Slovak franchise of EurActiv.com (now EurActiv.sk), then other country iterations. This is how I found out that it was easy to replicate some business models throughout Europe. I then co-founded the biggest online airline ticket reseller pelikan.sk and expanded to the Czech Republic and Hungary. I co-founded my next company to provide software programming for our Internet companies Monogram Technologies. I have invested in several tech companies and sold some of them.

Most recently, I co-founded a private technology transfer consultancy called Neulogy, whose main mission is to help research institutions and R&D companies commercialise their inventions. We gradually found many interesting investment opportunities and decided to launch our own fund to provide financing to spin-offs and startups in Slovakia. The fund is one of the many European funds backed by the European Investment Fund. The current team consisting of Michaela, Christian, Jaro and myself is going to invest more than 23 million euros in technology companies.

Why and when did you become an investor and how important is the financial return to you?
I became an investor when I saw the potential of the technological companies around me. I had already earned some money, so I reinvested into new ventures. The financial return was certainly important, but the substance and complementarity of other things was also an issue to me. During my time at Monogram Technologies, we decided not to focus on Central Europe but be a bit more ambitious. We decided to acquire Radlight.com, a Slovak media player company, which had a great video and media experience. That gave us an advantage with later companies such as StreamStar.com and ColosseoEAS.com.

Tell us about a time you failed. What made you get back on your feet?
By having built an online airline ticket engine, we thought that the next logical step would be to invest in travel content sites, which turned out to be a mistake. I would rather buy ads than manage editors and fight with a founder who doesn’t have a clue about my goals and didn’t want to work towards them.

What has changed in the investing scenefrom your first investment until now?
Founders are looking for investments and not for loans. This is a good start already 🙂 Inspired by few successes in the region, online media like TechCrunch or inventures.eu are educating entrepreneurs. The investor community has developed quite a lot. Also investors have had some returns already, so they can co-invest and they are quite intrigued by this.

What do you think about the startup scene in Slovakia? Do you think startups should go abroad if they want success?
Slovakia is the smallest market in Central Europe. Every neighbour is bigger than us, and you have several important capitals 50 to 350 kilometres away from Bratislava. This means that the necessary institutional capital was based there physically until now – our fund is going to break this tradition. Concerning the market size, 5,5 million people is too small of a market to do anything serious. At pelikan.sk, we invested into an elaborate air ticket platform, which was very sophisticated at that time and still sold just 30.000 tickets a year. With much less investment and technical skill, a similar Chinese search engine sold 30.000 tickets on their first day, 80.000 the second day and so on… Now you can see the problem. That is why Slovaks have to concentrate on foreign markets, due to the lack of domestic demand. This could be a competitive advantage. We are receiving more and more business plans that are globally targeted.

What kind of people do you work best with?
Those who are better than me. So I can delegate 🙂

What do you look for when investing in a company? How important is the technology when you’re looking at a new investment opportunity?
Of course the technology is crucial, but especially in Slovakia you have to look for an ambitious team with sales and presentation skills. Here, we tend to believe that technology is everything and forget to check the business model, size of the market or even exit potential.

What’s common across your investments to date?
Great teams and lack of ambitions, or too much modesty. We tend to complement this skill 🙂

What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about you?
That I am a businessman! I am less motivated by money than most people I know.

How do you spend your free time?
I try to spend it with my most challenging startup: my family made of one wife, two daughters and a dog.

Complete the sentence. Working with you means…
…that I like when people contradict me. It’s challenging.

Tell us about your last investment – what attracted your attention, and what made you close the deal?
My last personal investment before the launch of our fund is an online diagnostic platform called www.Diagnose.me. It is a very personal affair, because had it existed a few years ago, it would have helped me solve a serious medical problem. The other reason is that the co-founder is a very experienced Slovak entrepreneur Lukas Alner, with whom I really enjoy working.

Do you invest in international companies?
As a fund, we will invest in companies that need to have something in common with Slovakia. Eitherthe technology background, team, incorporation or angel investor. But what does an international company really mean now?

What types of businesses are proving most popular at the moment in Slovakia?
Considering what I have said before about the small market, the copycats have small space to succeed, so things that are unique and scalable are successful, like ESET, Sygic, Elcom, ColosseoEAS, Visicom and many other examples. We seem to have an edge in security, in video processing, visualisation, computer vision, 3D printing and other cutting-edge hardware-software products, so we are seeing a lot of interesting R&D companies in this space.

Besides providing capital, what else do you do with the companies you back?
I tried in the past and we will try with our new fund to help them grow, and expand internationally. We are an entrepreneurs’ fund, with people, investors, advisors and mentors who are ready to contribute their know-how in addition to the money we invest. Not many Slovak entrepreneurs have access to such a value added without having to move away. I believe we can have home-grown successes with the team and investor community we have built around the fund.

What would you recommend to the people who want to get you onboard?
To have ambitions without bullshitting, and not to ask for high valuations at the entry but at the exit.

How can startups get in touch with you?
We have a website: www.neulogy.vc, we all have our linkedin, twitter and other accounts. We are active and present at many startup events. We are the founders of Startup Awards, which is a flagship startup competitionin Slovakia and a good way to move your startup to the next level.

Don’t even think of getting in touch if…
…you have a strategy and you don’t want to know what we think about it.

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Andrey Kolodyuk

Team Posted On October 4, 2013

Tell us a little about your background.
I like to turn good ideas into projects, and build great companies that become market leaders. I founded my first company in New York in 1994. Since then, I have founded, invested into and developed over 10 companies in IT, telecom, internet and media.

In regard to the venture business, I created AVentures in 2001 as corporate fund with my own money, and with the mission to invest and build global companies with the help of Ukrainian, Russian talents and technologies. In 2011, together with partners, I launched a new corporate AVentures Capital fund with a focus on early-stage companies in the following targeted technology categories: consumer internet, including e-commerce, cloud services, mobile technology, payment systems, online gaming and social media.

Why and when did you become an investor and how important is the financial return to you?
Honestly, I’m an entrepreneur in my soul. However, in 1999 I had my first experience with an angel investment in the first telecom publication in the media sphere in Ukraine. At that time, I didn’t think about the financial return, rather I wanted to create a telecom and IT environment that related to the IT and telecom sphere. Currently, the AVentures Capital Fund is investing for the third time, which is why we are now focused on the return of the financial investments and we invest only in companies that can become market leaders in their niche the size of over hundred million dollars.

What has changed in the investing scene from your first investment until now?
I would say that now there are more tech-oriented companies in Russia. In 2001, we were probably one of the few VC investors, while now there are hundreds of VC funds. I would say that at that time entrepreneurs knew much less about how to start a company than they do now. Today, there are also more people with a passion to build global companies.

You (AVentures Capital) recently invested in VOX. What are the specifics of investing in Ukraine and in music?
VOX was created by Ukrainian team Coppertino. Before we invested, the guys already had a good track record in building products for the Mac and Apple ecosystem.

Speaking of the music industry today, we have to think about global competition from day one. VOX has a mission to build a global product, and they will be one of the first to develop an audio player that will allow listening to music in HD quality. The team also aims to be more than just a player – rather they want to provide a different music experience, which was not available before.

Working with other people

What kind of people do you work best with?
I like to work with people who are passionate about what they do, and are not afraid of doing everything possible to make their dream come true – that is to build a global product and company.

What do you look for when investing in a company? How important is the technology when you’re looking at a new investment opportunity?
Very often technology is not crucial for a business. However, we like companies, which use technology to build a business that doesn’t exist on the market. It also gives advantages in competition with the companies that have created the same technology. But in general we look at the team and their previous experience and what they want to achieve.

What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about you?
They think I’m a billionaire – and that I do what I do just for money.

How do you spend your free time?
I have plenty of spare time because work means so much to me, I can say that it’s my way of life. Besides, I like reading books, listening to music, and I enjoy yoga and meditation. I love to travel to different countries, getting to know foreign cultures. Also, I spend some of my free time thinking about new ideas.

Working with me…
…is usually fun but when I want to get a good result from people, I tend to be very demanding.

Invitation to startups

Tell us about your last investment – what attracted your attention, and what made you close the deal?
The last investment we made was in VOX. We met the team a year ago, and during this time we were advising and mentoring the team. They took some of the advice, some of it they didn’t, but at the end, they paid attention, changed the product and their marketing strategy. When they eventually launched the product, we closed the deal.

Do you invest in international companies?
All our companies are international, both in terms of legal structure and operations.

Which music startups have you invested in? Tell us what attracted you.
In 2009, I became a co-founder of DIVAN.TV, the first OTT Smart TV provider for the Russian-speaking community worldwide. The service streams TV-channels, movies and music over the internet and on any device. Such consumer behaviour is becoming more and more a trend these days.

Besides capital, what is it that music startups need in Ukraine? What do you offer the companies you back?
If we talk about Ukraine, it is very hard for a player in the music industry to monetise because of piracy. We offer our connections within the industry, for example with content owners and independent artists.

What would you recommend to the people who want to get you onboard?
Rule of thumb: They have to be passionate about what they’re doing, and need to have not only an idea, but an already selling product because we invest in companies that have an existing customer base, revenues, etc.

How can startups get in touch with you?
That’s easy. They can get in touch on LinkedIn, directly on the website (pipeline@aventurescapital.com), or using connections through the partnership network.

Don’t even think of getting in touch if…
… you don’t believe in your idea, and won’t risk your time and capital to make it a reality.

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Lyuben Belov

Team Posted On August 21, 2013

Tell us a little about your background.
I co-founded NetInfo, the largest and most successful Internet company in Bulgaria back in 1998, and I served as its CEO until 2007. In 2008, Sanoma Magazines International (SMI) acquired the company, making it the largest digital exit in Bulgaria to date.

During this time I went through all the ups and downs of the market. We secured three angel investment rounds from individuals in 1999, 2000, 2001 when the dot com business was at a high. After the completion of the third round we doubled on a yearly basis. In 2006, Tiger Holding, the largest international fund with a focus on technology companies in emerging markets, invested 5 million dollars in the business. Partially through equal equity, partially through buying out as existing shareholders.

My greatest takeaway from the years at NetInfo is that building a team is essential and determines the success of any business. After exiting, things changed and I started sitting on the other side of the table. In 2007, I founded a small investment company. I’ve supported about 10 startups as a private investor so far.

Why and when did you become an investor and how important is the financial return to you?
When Tiger invested in 2006 I used the seeds from the investment to acquire three companies, one of which is still one of the main drivers behind the success of NetInfo. By that time I had gotten the taste of – and appetite for – putting money into nice things with a great potential; into businesses with a great potential, and to provide fresh entrepreneurs with knowledge and expertise. And see what happens. This turned out to be an interesting story. So acquiring these three companies, were my first steps into private investing.

And speaking of financial return, yes, it is of great importance. I’d say it’s one of the most important things, however, for me there’s another very strong driving force – building and being part of something meaningful, just like with my first company. And of course, there’s also this great feeling of having helped aspiring young entrepreneurs in their journey into big businesses.

Tell us about a time you failed. What made you get back on your feet?
Small failures are the key to success. You will fail many times down the road, and it can happen on any given day. You could fail to close a deal, to acquire a client, or deliver a product. Failure is a natural part of success. This is also why I don’t like the word “failure” so much because it’s not failure, it’s a learning process. What teams need to realise is that not succeeding rightaway should not make them give up or feel depressed; it should serve as a learning process instead.

For me, the biggest failure has to do with the failure to manage people. It hurts if you fail to build a team, if you fail to motivate a team, or to evaluate a team member whom you have given trust but they do not deliver. As a leader of a company, it is your job to manage all of the above.

What has changed in the investing scene from your first investment until now?
If I compare the scene from when I started investing in 2005 until today, it has really changed a lot. Because of the development of technology, there is more access to capital and the market is much more open.

I think in the past 15 years – since the beginning of the Internet in Bulgaria – we have had three generations of digital entrepreneurs. I was in the first generation and I appreciate having been among the first ones on the market, however, we didn’t have the chance for a broader vision of the scene, so we focused on doing local business. The second generation came from our companies or from the businesses we had invested in, and started competing with international businesses.

Now we have a third generation. These are young people who think beyond the local framework. They focus on scaling and want to be successful on the global markets. I think these are the guys who are going to make the big difference, and it is very inspiring for me to be part of their journey.

What do you think about the startup scene in Bulgaria and do you think that startups should go abroad if they want success?
The market here is very small, and there is also a gap between the knowledge of business developers, startups and marketing techniques. We help startups to get on their feet but if they want to make it on a global level, they have to connect with experts at different European hubs. This experience will provide them with all the ingredients they need to flourish.

Working with other people

What kind of people do you work best with?
I definitely work best with people who are committed, result-oriented, focused on delivering results and are hungry for success. I want the people I work with to be business partners and not employees. It is not going to work out well if they like to work in the 9-to-5 timeframe.

What do you look for when investing in a company?
Like most investors I look for three things: market, team, and product. While some place the most emphasis on the market, my philosophy is to focus on the team. A well-rounded team is capable of finding a way to be ahead of a small market and enter a larger one. The also need to be focused on execution and have some expertise of being in the field.

How important is the technology when you’re looking at a new investment opportunity?
Technology has the potential to significantly change existing markets, or segments of markets, so I’m definitely looking for startups that utilise technology to bring users’ efficiency to the next level.

What’s common across your investments to date?
I would say the team because I look for people who are are dedicated, result-oriented and ready to work hard for success.

What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about you?
Getting an investor doesn’t equal getting a solution. It’s not my job to deliver solutions on a silver plate to startups. I can give them advice but ultimately, the founder knows best what’s good for their startup.

How do you spend your free time?
I’m an active runner, hiker, and an avid reader. Besides the hobbies, I spend most of my free time with my family. My six-year-old son is the best that’s ever happened to me.

Complete the sentence. Working with you means…
…that you are going to be challenged.

Invitation for startups

Tell us about your last investment – what attracted your attention, and what made you close the deal?
The last investment I made [not yet closed] was in a startup that is trying to build a personal video environment. They have the potential to disrupt the entertainment industry, so with this investment I wanted to raise awareness that there’s a big market that needs to be redefined.

Do you invest in international companies?
Yes, I have invested in the San Francisco-based startup Leanplum. They optimise mobile applications for product managers.

What types of businesses are proving most popular at the moment in Bulgaria?
In my opinion, a lot of people are doing gaming, a lot of people are dealing with mobile applications and we have seen that Bulgaria has a very strong appetite for enterprises and B2B.

Besides providing capital, what else do you do with the companies you back?
I’m their advisor and try to help with my knowledge on consumer behaviour, to get them to network, and find potential funding. I’m good at helping teams overcome obstacles they are facing down the road.

What would you recommend to the people who want to get you onboard?
I need to know that they are passionate about what they’re doing. I also expect very specific characteristics, an approach and a detailed marketing strategy. Teams need to be able to tell me who their customers are, and why they’re doing something for them. I definitely don’t accept statements like: “I’m focusing on mobile users or something like that.” So to sum up, passion and preparation are the most important things.

How can startups get in touch with you?
Well, almost anyone can have access to me. They can get in touch either per e-mail or phone. But because I do meet a lot of people all the time, I would suggest to startups to find contacts in my network that can recommend them. And if someone gets recommended to me, they can be sure I’ll take a different look at them.

Don’t even think of getting in touch if…
…you are not open enough.

Interview by Stefanie Rauchegger.

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Jugoslav Petkovic

Team Posted On July 10, 2013

Tell us a little about your background.
I started doing business online at a very young age and started my first company as soon as I was allowed to, at 18. I worked as a developer, coder, designer, project manager, but all the tech was self-taught for the purpose of turning my ideas into reality as cheaply as possible.

In 2006, I took over as CEO of the three companies I co-founded (a domain registration & web hosting provider, a web development agency and an online shop) and led them through restructuring. In the following five years, we went from about 30 employees and 5 million euros in revenue to more than a 100 employees and 20+ million euros in revenue.

In 2011, all companies had new management and the following year, we sold the domain registration & web hosting and the e-commerce business, both as market leaders.

When did you realise you didn’t have to work anymore?
I still haven’t concluded I don’t have to work, and there’s plenty of things for me to do and challenging projects to accomplish 🙂

Tell us about a time you failed. If you did, what made you get back on your feet?
We had no business experience when we started, so we failed many many times, but luckily never fatally. We had some bad investments in startup companies in Slovenia that we wanted to integrate into our business. These cost us a lot of money but our exponential growth helped absorb the losses. We also hit a rough patch at the beginning of 2009, when the recession affected Slovenia, but our quick and decisive response helped us not only resolve the issues but also gain market share. Being ready and willing to stop on a dime and change course, adapt to the environment and learn are most important to help you get back on your feet when things go sour.

Why and when did you become an investor and how important is the financial return to you?
I have been an active mentor through my entire career. I figured whatever little experience I had, there was surely someone who could benefit from it. After 13 years, these experiences amounted to quite a lot so after stepping out of my companies, I decided to upgrade my activities with some financial investments. I’m learning, so I’m not looking to make a quick profit, but I hate losing, so I want to make sure I’m getting something in return for my time and money.

How important is the technology when you’re looking at a new investment opportunity?
I mostly focus on consumer companies, where usually technology is not the key factor. It’s more about the access to market,customer insight, and strength of the brand in these cases.

What has changed in theinvesting scene from your first investment until now?
I started less than two years ago, so it’s hard to talk about significant changes, but we’ve definitely seen improvements in the quality of ideas and their execution, better understanding of business models and how to start companies. But there’s still a long way to go in our region.

What do you think about Startup scene in Slovenia, and do you think that startups should move from Slovenia if they want success?
I’ve seen the ecosystem grow and develop incredibly over the last few years. Right now, I’m most concerned about the overall state of mind in the country, because there’s a lot of negativity, pessimism and even despair. So the reason I would advise Slovenian entrepreneurs to go out of the country for a while is to get rid of those feelings and get a more optimistic and can-do outlook. Otherwise I think Slovenia is a great place to start tech companies, because costs are far lower than in most other places and the quality of life is much better. But of course founders have to travel a lot, meet people and spread the word about their company.

Working with other people

What kind of people do you work best with? What are the characteristics that they all have in common?
I love hanging out with intelligent and creative people, so those are the first two traits I’m looking for. They have to be makers and have a good balance between a “just do it” attitude and a desire to plan and control everything.

What do you look for when investing in a company?
I want to see a dedicated team that has demonstrated they can get things done. Then, I prefer industries I know or where I can significantly help, and of course I have to believe that there is, or will be, a product-market fit.

What’s common across your investments to date?
They’re all incredibly dedicated founders with a very solid product and a big market.

How do you spend your free time?
I try to travel as much as possible.

Working with you means…
… to be willing to work with a perfectionist.

Invitation for startups

What about international companies, do you invest in them?
My investments so far have always had a tie to Slovenia – at least one founder was from Slovenia, although some of the companies and other founders were based in UK, Denmark, US. My latest investment was the first one that had no ties to Slovenia, it’s a UK company with Finnish founders.

Tell us about your last investment – what attracted your attention, and what made you close the deal?
I haven’t announced the last one yet, but the one before that was Codeable.io, a platform for outsourcing small tasks around WordPress. What attracted me was the insanely dedicated team, who consistently delivered and over-delivered during the six months between when we met them and when I invested.

What types of businesses are proving most popular at the moment?
I don’t like to talk about trends too much, because often times, I seem to be a contrarian investor, but I do think there are gigantic opportunities in health, education and finance.

Besides providing capital, what else do you do with the companies you back?
Capital is usually the least important part. Sometimes the companies don’t even use the cash, it’s just there to provide some security and peace of mind. I try to help with defining the product, getting the right people on board to execute the plan, help with the “go to market” strategy and also with follow-on fundraising, if necessary.

What would you recommend to the people who want to get you on board?
I’ll neverinvest just money, so they need to know what they expect to benefit from my involvement. They should have more than just an idea, because I like to see proof that they can execute. They should also have a clear vision that goes beyond what the first iteration of the product is, beyond the features.

How can startups get in touch with you?
They can in touch through AngelList, LinkedIn, Twitter or my website yougo.vc.

Don’t even think of getting in touch if…
…you’re not willing to drop everything and work like crazy to get to your goal.

Interview by Urška Renier.

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