Mangrove VII. Where history meets the future.

A few weeks ago, my partners Mark and HJ announced our next fund Mangrove VII. I am honored to lead this next fund generation with an exceptional team, deeply anchored in our history but focused on the future.

I tried to think of a moment that captures this well. I remember vividly when my partner Mark asked my Kauffmann fellows classmates six years ago in London the following question: do you want to build a fund, or a firm? In typical Mangrove fashion, the speech was deeply opinionated and contrarian. But one thing stood out - how important culture and DNA are to build a firm. Teams and strategies evolve but the heart of a firm keeps the same beat. Somebody needs to take care of that beat and I am proud to take on that job.

The next 25 years, a continuation.

The venture business is an incredibly long term game and venture funds have a long time horizon. What this means for a venture capital firm is that you need to anticipate evolutions well ahead of time. My partners have been leading the firm over the last 25 years, and they are handing on the baton.

This sounds like a big change and in some ways it is. But, let me be clear, no crew members leave our ship, the crew is just being shuffled around. In other words, the leadership of the firm is evolving, but no one is retiring. We have around 40 active portfolio companies today, and that number continues to grow, so we need more team members, not less. The core team remains onboard, while long term friends of the firm will join the team at the right time in the coming months. In that sense, we are already building the next generation...

Why Mangrove. Entrepreneurs at heart, with a global mindset.

More than a decade ago, I had the privilege of meeting a Mangrove partner for the first time. It was my first VC pitch ever. And it was to one of Europe's most renowned and best performing venture firms, already at the time. We didn’t get beyond that first pitch, and today I understand well why.. :) But one thing struck me at that first encounter - the firm’s deeply human, entrepreneurial and passionate way of working for and with entrepreneurs. While the pitch was unpolished, at best.., these guys took the time to sit down and bounce ideas off me without any agenda.

A few years later, I found myself sitting again in this same meeting room, this time joining for my pre-MBA internship. A friend recommended me for a 2-months stint before moving back to New York for my MBA studies. We always had a deep internship culture at our firm, a great entry point for aspiring venture investors. This time was no different. I had my flat ready in NY, and got to know many of my fellow students. But the Mangrove team took me by surprise when my partner Mark asked me boldly: ‘You do want to do venture, right? Why don’t you join us? The team sees something in you, and you will learn more here...’ I took the risk, and it turned out to be true, of course. So, this two months internship followed with me dropping out of the program altogether and joining the firm as an associate. The rest is history...

I often get asked the question - Why Mangrove? The answer always came simply to me. It is a perfect DNA match. Besides the passion, team attitude, and infectious ‘love of the game’, it is the only truly international boutique venture firm out of Europe with a unique history. From seeding two distinct ecosystems at their inception - Europe with Skype, Israel with Wix - to building a global venture platform, step by step. For those who know me, I enjoy navigating cultures and different languages, a lot. While our home is Luxembourg, our view of the world has always been global. Our team’s operating set up and diverse backgrounds are entirely designed to execute on this approach, anchored in one core philosophy that unites us. One team, with one strategy, and one focus: to deliver outsized returns to our founders and shareholders, consistently.

Finally, the backbone of any firm is its team, past and future. It rarely holds together over decades, but if it does, magic happens. It took me many years to truly understand what this means and it is something I now cherish. I am incredibly grateful for the support I am getting from the team, especially the founders of the firm.

Dare to Dream. A bold and contrarian approach. 

I have had the immense privilege of learning from many great partners, colleagues, and entrepreneurs, many of whom I am proud to call friends. What all of them have in common is a unique ‘Dare to Dream’ mindset and unwavering confidence in the future. 

A venture firm is only as good as its next investments. An attitude that is deeply ingrained in our thinking. You need to continuously get out there, and believe the unlikely possible instead of following the hype. This does not mean that we do not look back. We greatly leverage our past to get better at asking the hard questions. We don’t shy away from calling out our mistakes, and continuously reinvent ourselves with a single aim: to create the best possible setting to continue winning in the future. This requires a special attitude, humility, and forward looking approach. For us, it is also the only way for a firm to ‘continue beating the market’ going forward. The firm’s increasing hit rate over 25 years, from 5 to 10% over time, tells us that we are on the right track. Yes, luck always plays a role, but it does require a real ‘method to the madness’ to do it over and over again.

Mangrove VII. One continuous strategy, with a fresh twist.

As with every fund generation, we have been refining our strategy to capture our core learnings of the past 25 years in a systematic way:

• Ride out your winners and stay in them as long as possible.

• Continue backing your outliers across their lifecycle to drive big performance moves early on and amplify capital compounding.

• A single vehicle driven by a unanimous team structure and a mix of select disciplined strategies across the value chain is the way to marry alpha and liquidity consistently.

• Proprietary networks take time to build, run incredibly deep, and drive an overwhelming share of value in venture. Founders are everything, we are cheerleaders for the long term, long after an investment.

Stay tuned. Our first investment will be announced soon.

Onward.

As we are launching Mangrove VII, I’d love to hear from you. Each investment fund is an adventure as we build a portfolio and focus on helping our companies succeed. As anyone reading this post knows, we love what we do, and we are grateful to everyone who supports us in doing it.

We had an excellent team offsite at the birthplace of Switzerland a few days back. This year will be an exciting one. I'm grateful to everyone who has shaped how I think and invest. I'm excited for what comes next.

Life is awesome,

Yannick

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