5-Minute Interview with Dan Bowyer, Superseed
Dr. Dorothy Kelso
Managing Director, SuperReturn | Chair of Trustees | Emerging Manager Champion
In this series of 5-minute interviews, I shine the spotlight on up-and-coming fund managers in private markets across the globe. All geographies. All strategies. All sectors.
Here's my conversation with Dan Bowyer, Partner at Superseed.
Quick facts about Superseed:
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Q: What is Superseed’s investment strategy?
A: We invest in technical founders creating transformative business software that helps the enterprise be more resource efficient.
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Q: That sounds like a dream for any business. How do you actually do this?
A: We back very technical teams who understand the ‘chi’ of big businesses and how to help them be much more resource efficient. We gather this European-wide net of super ridiculously smart people, accelerate them using the lens of sales and help them to go global. The tech they develop has to have the potential to create significant impact to the top or bottom line. ?
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Q: I watched one of your LinkedIn drop-ins with Founders. Genius idea. Why do you do it?
A: I am ex-founder who has built businesses and has spent more time on their side of the desk, so all I want to do is bridge the gap between investment and startup teams. My personal remit is to help slicken the wheels and grease the machinery to share what’s going on on this side of the table (the investment side) and to get smart teams on that side of the table to share more.
The drop-ins aren’t scripted, so I never know what to expect.
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Q: How (else) do you source deals with the super smart tech startups?
A: Referrals come in daily from founder, partner and scout networks, plus we run quarterly early-stage founder events for about 80 to 100 teams and share all the nuggets that we've all learned. Covering sales, building, fund raising, product and more. That’s SuperSaaS – the one-day accelerator. I figure if a founder can walk out of that room with at least three things that will change their lives in some way, we’ve done what we set out to do.
I also do Founder Office Hours and I’m a member of several Founder groups. We see 60-70% of everything in Europe and my goal is to see every single deal in Europe. I want to meet every single serious b2b founder. That’s the end goal and we’re nearly there. Ai is also helping the cause J
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Q: What’s a serious business founder to you?
A: Anybody – of any persuasion or background – who has really thought through how tech could solve a problem in big business and that makes us think, why is there not a product that already does this? They may not have written code or piece of software yet but they have a plan to productise the problem and know that there are enough people who care about this particular problem, and will buy it. Basically a tech toolkit for companies.
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Q: What hand-on expertise do you have? You mentioned earlier that you are an ex founder?
A: Yes, I am. I’m also a tinkerer. And I like playing with technology and helping people solve business problems. I have always helped people use tech. Now I’m helping people who are building tech to help people with their tech. All my experience has been building software, mostly b2b. I have a real passion for people and tech and how they intersect.
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Q: What advice would you give to large organisations looking to make digital transformation?
A: There’s a very simple way that you can solve this for big business. They shouldn’t get into bed with one vendor, instead design and define the framework. That way the tech will cut into the organisation according to need, rather than buying a one-size-fits-no-one platform and shoehorning it into the business. BYO has driven that agenda with the cloud, Ai and other emerging technologies will continue to chip away until the enterprise gets it, or is taken out.
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Q: How are you building your team?
A: We hire only ex founders. Mainly from early stage companies where they’ve been exposed to all aspects of starting up – building a business, selling, and problem-solving – that’s where a lot of innovation happens. That’s what we are building – a firm of ex founders investing in founders. My partner Mads and I are very different – he’s the polymath, legal brain, strategist and I’m the creative full of ideas.
We are a team of seven. We are going in the opposite direction to most early-stage VCs who are cutting back and paring down for this new macro environment. We are growing. Zigging while the market zags.
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Q: There is a lot said about the slowdown in VC. Have you noticed it first-hand?
A: In pre-seed and seed stage, valuations haven’t changed. It’s at series A and beyond that things have slowed down and the risk profile has shifted. A lot of ‘tourist’ capital has left VC, which can only be a good thing.
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Q: What are the ingredients of your success and your secret sauce?
A: It’s a platform approach – we are founders for founders, investing in fundamentals businesses, using sales to drive their success (while helping them avoid the crocodile pits). With a laser focus on transformative business software.
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Q: What valuable experience have you learnt that drives your approach?
A: No. 1 lesson – fish where the fish are. I learn and write every day. At night I write up all my key lessons, and next day I publish them, normally on LinkedIn. Learning for me is never ending.
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Q: What do you do outside your day job?
A: I’m a dad first. My kids mean everything so everything revolves around them. I am on the board of Female Founders Rise and support other founder groups I can’t invest in. I am trying to get more women in power which I believe will instantly make the world a better place.
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Q: What advice would you like to share with our readers?
A: My advice to myself, which I am happy to share with others, is to do everything with a smile and unlimited candour.
#privatequity #venturecapital #innovation #entrepreneurship #startups #investing #technology
Founder at Modlify
1 年100% agree that big business shouldn't get into bed with one vendor, but that is exactly what most of them do imho. ERP systems arguably perpetuate this due to the breadth of their scope and the leverage the incumbent has.
Partner at SuperSeed VC
1 年Lovely to chat