Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 20, 2025

Duration

1h 16m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Hussein Kanji is the Founder and Managing Partner of Hoxton Ventures, one of Europe’s leading early-stage firms with mega wins in the form of Darktrace and Deliveroo. Hussein cut his teeth in venture at Accel Partners in his early years. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:55) What Is Hoxton's Right to Exist? (02:59) Does Having Tier One Investors Really Matter in Fundraising? (06:02) Does Hoxton Do Outcome Scenario Planning (07:27) How Long Took To Raise Fund One (10:46) The Best Investment From the First Fund (14:11) Approaching Reserves in Venture Investing (16:10) When To Sell an Investment (19:46) Missing out on making $400M in Darktrace (25:03) Doubled Down on a Reserve That Didn't Work (27:51) Has Series A Product Quality Declined? (31:56) Do the Best Founders Really Not Need Help? (34:36) How Long Took To Raise Fund Two (36:45) Should Governments Be Funding Venture? (43:01) Is Hoxton Price Sensitive? (45:29) Why $150M to $250M is the Optimal Seed Fund Size? (48:45) The Problem with $75M Seed Funds (52:45) Is the Criticism of Europe’s Venture Scene Fair? (01:01:10) An Advice For Keir Starmer (01:04:17) Spicy Questions (01:09:16) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Hussein Kanji We Discuss:

1. How to Raise a Fund:

• What are Hussein’s biggest lessons from his first fund taking 39 months to raise?
• Why does Hussein believe you should fundraise for a set amount of time and not to achieve a certain amount of capital?
• Does Hussein believe governments should be investing in venture funds?
• What are the biggest mistakes Hussein sees emerging managers make when raising?

1. How to 10x a Fund:

• What is Hussein’s formula for knowing when to sell an investment?
• How did Hussein miss out on making $400M in Darktrace? What did he learn from it?
• How much money did Hoxton make from Deliveroo? How did doing 37x on Deliveroo impact how Hussein invests today?

1. How to Build a Team in Venture:

• Why does Hussein believe the incentive mechanism for young VCs is broken? Why do they just want to get cash out the door and not worry about quality?
• Why is it hard to hire female partners today? What needs to happen for this to change?
• What are the single biggest ways that venture partnerships break down? What went wrong between Hussein and his partner, Rob?

1. Is Europe Totally F*******:

• Why does Hussein believe small seed rounds are a massive problem in the UK?
• Why does Hussein believe the dire state of the London Stock Exchange is not a problem?
• Why does Hussein advise companies that the best way to scale is in the US?
• What advice would Hussein give to Keir Starmer on how to stimulate growth in the UK?
• Why does AI mean that the UK can now compete with the US?

----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Hussein Kanji on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkanji Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #husseinkanji #hoxton #founder #partner #venturecapital #startups #fundraising #darktrace #deliveroo

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Hussein Kanji

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Hussein Kanji and Harry Stebbings, Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 explores why Hoxton Bets Big: Contrarian Seed, AI, And European Ambition Hussein Kanji, founder of Hoxton Ventures, explains how his firm evolved from a scrappy, unfundable European seed fund into a concentrated, high‑conviction investor backing outlier companies like Deliveroo and Darktrace.

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