Today we have Staffan Helgesson with us. Staffan is the founder of Creandum, a European early stage venture firm with no appointed headquarter but offices (or hubs as they call them) in Sweden, London, Berlin and San Francisco. Creandum just turned 20 years and are investing out of their 6th fund which is a $500m fund to back founders and companies across Europe. In addition to Europe they invest in European diaspora founders in the US.The firm is a generalist investor but have organised themselves in six main verticals; Health, Climate, Technical SaaS, Application SaaS, Fintech and Consumer, where they spend most of their time.Creandum has approximately $2 Bn under management and have done close to 150 investments over the years with notable investments including Spotify, Klarna, Trade Republic, Pleo, Bolt, iZettle, Cornershop, depop, Kahoot!, Taxfix, Kry and Factorial. At Creandum, Staffan leads the climate vertical and is also very active investing in Saas companies.Chapters00:00:00 - Introduction to Staffan and Creandum 00:01:52 - From Small-Town Origins to Silicon Valley Inspiration00:03:49 - Loving Niche Sports and Venture Capital in Europe00:05:47 - The European Investing Advantage & Time as a Solution00:09:35 - Staffan’s Pivotal Moment00:11:37 - The Importance of Bold Ideas and Drive00:13:45 - The Importance of User-Centric Design and Delighting the End User00:15:35 - Focusing on the Top Companies00:17:34 - Combining Transformational Change and Hearing the Train00:19:29 - Investing in the Future of Electric Vehicle Charging00:21:14 - The Benefits of Electrification and the Future of EVs00:23:26 - Shout Out to Co-Investor Angel or LP00:25:18 - Shout out to Creandum during a difficult time00:27:14 - Building a Franchise00:29:12 - Building a Firm for Institutions00:30:59 - Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Venture00:32:52 - Gut Feeling and Logical Analysis00:34:46 - The Importance of Gut Feeling in Decision Making00:36:58 - Approaching Tier One Institutions00:39:10 - Europe's New Beginnings