Plural Partner, Taavet Hinrikus: Why Founders Will Realise Multi-Stage Funds Damage Seed Rounds

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

April 28, 2025

Duration

1h 2m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Taavet Hinrikus is a Partner at Plural, the early-stage fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology. He co-founded Wise in 2010, where he was CEO and later Chairman, which went public in the first-ever direct listing in Europe in 2021. Prior to that, Taavet was Skype’s Director of Strategy until 2008, having joined as its first employee. He’s been an active investor for more than a decade, with personal investments in the likes of Bolt and Synthesia. ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 00:00 Intro 03:27 VCs are Spreadsheet Monkeys 09:53 Why Serial Entrepreneurs Are Better 12:48 Why the 2:20 Fee and Carry Model in VC is Broken 25:32 What are the Biggest Ways VC Investment Decision-Making is Broken 29:13 Why is it BS when VC Firms Need Every Partner to Meet the Founder 39:57 When and Why Will Founders Realise Multi-Stage Firms are Bad Early Investors 42:48 Why Does Europe Need to Build it’s Own Tech Now More Than Ever 44:26 What are the Dangers of Having US Made Tech in Europe 50:02 Will Putin Invade More European Countries 52:27 How Does the Change in Relationship Between the US and Europe Impact How We Build Our Tech Ecosystem? 59:40 Quick-Fire Questions & Reflections ----------------------------------------------- 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 X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Taavet Hinrikus on X: https://twitter.com/taavet 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 #taavethinrikus #plural #partner #startup #estonian #skype #venturecapital #putin #tech

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Taavet Hinrikus

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Taavet Hinrikus and Harry Stebbings, Plural Partner, Taavet Hinrikus: Why Founders Will Realise Multi-Stage Funds Damage Seed Rounds explores founder-VC Taavet Hinrikus Attacks Misaligned Venture Models, Backs Deep Tech Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of Wise and partner at Plural, explains why traditional venture structures—especially high management fees and multi-stage mega-funds—create deep misalignment with both founders and LPs. He argues early-stage investing should be led by operators with real scar tissue, substantial personal capital at risk, and a genuine belief that each deal can be a 100x outcome, not a safe 5x. Hinrikus outlines Plural’s model: low fees, large GP commitment, GPs co-investing personally in every deal, high-conviction pacing, and brutally honest IC discussions, alongside skepticism of liquidation preferences and oversized boards. He also makes a strong geopolitical case that Europe must rapidly fund sovereign deep tech in defense, energy, space, and security, or risk dependence on the US and China.

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