Investor Office Hours

The Spaces brought together investor-host Daryl Freighter and guest VC Andy Davis (10x10) for an open office-hours session spanning investor philosophy, EU vs. US startup dynamics, founder outreach best practices, diligence processes, and live founder pitches. Daryl shared his investing focus (fintech, SMB SaaS, future of work, AI-for-good), plans for a fund-of-funds to back emerging managers and connect founders to capital, and the value of low-pressure investor access. Andy detailed his path from founder to angel to fund manager, his ultra-early stage focus (imagination stage), and a fast, high-conviction decision style. They contrasted European conservatism with US audacity in ambition and communication, and stressed concise outreach and thoughtful public profiles (“quick look”) that signal seriousness. Process transparency covered decks, data rooms, diligence, and differences between angel speed and institutional IC cadence. Founders pitched across grocery savings, feedback automation, cyclic/entropy modeling, image/video generation with prompt-augmentation, multi-currency payroll compliance in Africa, local LLM agents, wellness retreats/tech in Zambia, and an IDE-native secure coding layer. Feedback emphasized shipping scrappy MVPs, quantifying time-to-value and cost savings, controlling compute costs, focusing on profitable core offerings, and leveraging under-saturated channels like TikTok for B2B. The session closed with resources, next steps, and weekly continuity.

Weekly Office Hours: Founders x Investors – Open Conversation with Andy Davis

Session Overview

• Host: Daryl Freighter (VC; pre-seed/seed investor in fintech, SMB SaaS, future of work, and “AI for good”; focused on economic mobility and impact aligned with financial returns).
• Guest: Andy Davis (10x10; early-stage investor; angel and fund manager; organizer of Black VC and founder communities across Europe; invests very early, often pre-product/“imagination” stage). Recommended by a guest who had to reschedule.
• Format: Casual, open conversation, founder-friendly, low-pressure; simulcast on X and Chatter Social (shoutout Nelson/Chatter Social).
• Program goal: Bridge for founders to learn fundraising, connect with active investors, and surface candid process insights.

Host and Guest Backgrounds

Daryl Freighter

• Investing since 2021; primarily pre-seed/seed in fintech, SMB SaaS, future of work, and “AI that improves people’s lives.”
• Launching a fund-of-funds to back emerging managers (LP access) and help entrepreneurs connect with VCs.
• Mission-driven: economic mobility; entrepreneurs as change agents; reinvesting impact returns to scale good.

Andy Davis

• No formal degree/job background; repeat founder (healthtech, edtech). Experienced both setbacks (cofounder breakups, returning capital) and positive outcomes (global deployments with hospitals, schools, universities; raised from institutions and individuals).
• Ran a US venture fund’s Europe effort; investments in US, UK, and Kenya; started angel investing in 2021.
• Believes the 2021 angel vintage could yield ~10–14x; closing a new venture fund with 70% Europe / 30% global. Thesis: invest extremely early, even at “imagination” stage.
• Community leadership: runs groups convening Black VCs across Europe and Black founders; aims to be accessible and supportive.
• 10x10 name: Marketing story—Black founders told to work 10x harder; products should be 10x better. True origin: a WhatsApp roundtable intended for 10 people that quickly grew into hundreds and then thousands.

Europe vs. US Startup Ecosystems

Current Climate and Catch-up

• Europe historically behind the US due to fewer “winner” outcomes recycling capital, talent, and knowledge.
• Acceleration now driven by AI; expectations of more 100B companies over 5–25 years. Notable growth in Paris; multiple founder-led unicorns emerging.
• US funds increasingly active in Europe at earlier stages (pre-seed/seed) and adopting US startup culture.

Cultural and Operational Differences

• Ambition communication: US founders often present audacious visions and large market sizes; UK founders historically conservative—e.g., projecting £20–30M revenue in 5–7 years—less likely to return a fund.
• Failure and pivot culture: UK founders may keep struggling companies running (to avoid stigma), resulting in “zombie” startups; US founders pivot faster, share lessons openly, and iterate aggressively.
• Communication style: US outreach tends to be direct and concise (“Would love to pitch you, [Company]”); UK/EU founders may send long, apologetic messages. Directness filters better in busy investor inboxes.

Outreach and First-Impression Playbook

The “first glance” investor behavior

• Most investors click through website and social profiles before replying. Your public-facing presence functions as a landing page—curate it deliberately.

Message design (mobile-first)

• Aim: readable without scrolling on a phone; avoid long blocks.
• Structure:
  • One line: what the business does (clear problem→solution).
  • One line: how much you’re raising and any committed amounts.
  • 3–5 crisp highlights (traction, metrics, customers, team credibility, defensibility).
  • One line: link to deck (e.g., Docs) and optional scheduling link (Calendly). Prefer link over attachment for tracking opens.
• Psychology: Reduce “I’ll get to this later” risk. Clarity leads to engagement.

Social and perception management

• Show domain expertise and obsession with the space (content that signals your depth).
• Avoid the impression of excessive socializing during work hours; perceptions spread—investors talk.
• Authenticity: clever tricks (e.g., “tabs trick” implying top-tier fund interest) can backfire. Be strategic but honest.

Investment Processes: Angel vs. Institutional

• Typical institutional process: deck → intro call → data room → customer/reference diligence → IC decision and check; close in 2–3 months; lead may do ~50% of the round.
• Andy’s speed at angel stage: willing to decide extremely fast (hours to days), sometimes investing in-meeting; emphasizes meeting the people.
• Key question Andy asks every founder: “What do you want? Personal or professional?” Depth of clarity and obsession reveals commitment for the next 10 years.
• Materials readiness: have your deck, data room prep (financials, customer references), and pricing set before outreach to save cycles.

Founder Pitches and Feedback

Adi (UK) – Founder of ShopeeKi (grocery retail tech)

• Value: Use AI to help consumers save up to £1,000/year on grocery shopping; waitlist 100+; working prototype.
• Challenge: Many “pre-seed” VCs still say “too early.”
• Feedback:
  • The bar is higher now: move to live product with data; prototypes + waitlists are insufficient.
  • Show real transactions: e.g., focus on one store, drive 100 orders this week/month, demonstrate conversion and operational feasibility.
  • Be scrappy: test organic acquisition; try small-budget paid tests; validate real behavior.
  • Daryl: building MVP is materially easier now—leverage modern tools and AI; expectations reflect that ease.

Satyam (aka Tim; India) – “Roughness,” feedback platform for growth-stage companies

• Product: In-site feedback capture + agent-led follow-up to diagnose and resolve issues faster; launched July; beta users + 2 customers.
• Market framing: Feedback management market ~$25B, growing 17%/yr; competitive differentiation via two-way engagement.
• Feedback:
  • Quantify savings: how much time/money saved, and how quickly (time-to-savings metric).
  • Communicate contracts and ARR clearly: e.g., “Two customers saved $X in Y weeks; annual contracts total $60k ARR; onboarding next five in the coming month.”
  • Internal penetration: what % of teams adopt/use? Show expansion potential inside accounts.

Chris (US) – LP in UK fund; question on Venture Builders in UK

• Andy: Big fan of studios; they can take full product responsibility (e.g., 10% equity) and accelerate speed vs. hiring.
• UK has fewer studios than US but adoption is growing; supportive of pushing talent to studios.

Abraham (US, “API”) – Company setup and finding VCs

• UK setup: Companies House process is quick (minutes) and low-cost; AI can guide the steps.
• Finding VCs: Ask founders for one name (not necessarily an intro) to research and reach out, referencing the referrer. Calibrate the ask to the relationship.

Abraham (US) – “Cyclic modeling” concept with entropy/heat

• Use cases: weather modeling, battery charge/discharge optimization; embedding entropy into cycle modeling; potential for energy optimization.
• Andy: If it optimizes energy consumption and cost, strong potential across climate, devices, and industrial systems.

Lucian (Romania) – MG API → Imaginary.ai (image/video generation API + UI)

• Started as Midjourney API workaround; built independent engine wrapping 30+ models.
• Pipeline augments prompts in stages (moderation, translation, model selection, per-model prompt techniques). Inputs can include images; supports nuanced outputs.
• Delivery: Full UI for non-developers plus auto-generated API calls for developers; early MRR ≈ $500; new domain imaginary.ai.
• Andy: Good progress; clear value in auto-rewriting prompts to maximize output fidelity.

Shay (Nigeria) – WalkerMeets (multi-currency payroll + compliance for cross-border remote teams)

• Incorporation: Delaware (global posture); operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia; local HR support for compliance (taxes, social security, insurance).
• Use case: Global companies managing remote teams across jurisdictions; reduce penalties and currency frictions.
• Andy: Clarify core region focus (emerging markets/Africa first); rationale for US incorporation aligns with global expansion.

Dhruv (name inferred) – Open-source local LLM agent platform (“A1”)

• Vision: Local LLM agents across OS (Android/Linux/Windows); privacy via local long-term memory; agents coordinate across devices to complete tasks.
• Plan: Brain built; MVP in 3 months; pilot limited-access to manage scaling/costs.
• Andy: Caution on rapid user growth without resources; cost management is critical even for open-source (consider dual licensing, premium offerings, limits during pilot).

Wellness Founder (Lusaka, Zambia)

• Background: Corporate lawyer turned wellness; Pilates, mindfulness, mindset coaching; profitable retreats across Zambia; tested Nairobi and US (Dallas).
• Exploring wellness tech; first-mover opportunity in Zambia.
• Andy: If retreats are profitable, double down operationally; don’t get distracted by “shiny tech” unless it materially amplifies impact. Use existing platforms.
• Daryl: Suggested SquadTrip (Darren Watson) for group trip management; offered introduction.

Yaz (Europe) – Secure coding layer (OneZap)

• Problem: AI is writing more code and shipping bugs/vulnerabilities faster.
• Solution: IDE-integrated scanning (e.g., Cursor; via MCP) of every edit in real-time; auto-patches risky patterns before production using static analysis, symbolic execution, local compact model + policy engine. Privacy-first: local code; private repo graph.
• Modes: File-level scan during coding; repo-level scan pre-deployment (cloud/on-prem), with report and auto-generated PR.
• Traction: Soft-launched 10 days ago; raising pre-seed; early interest (e.g., a16z scouts).
• Andy: Strong use case; pre-deployment control point is compelling given AI-driven dev velocity.

Highlights and Key Takeaways

• “The bar is higher”: AI and modern tooling make MVPs faster/cheaper; investors expect live usage and data even at pre-seed.
• Ambition matters: Communicate big visions with clarity; conservative projections often won’t return a fund.
• Outreach discipline: Respect investor time; keep messages concise, structured, mobile-readable.
• Reputation management: Investors do “quick looks” at web and social; demonstrate expertise and focus; avoid optics of excessive leisure during work hours.
• Speed vs. process: Angels can decide in-meeting; institutions follow structured diligence. Know which path you’re on and prepare accordingly.
• Essential question: “What do you want?” Founders with deep clarity signal long-term commitment and execution stamina.
• Europe rising: AI is catalyzing talent and ambition; US funds active earlier in Europe; local culture evolving toward faster iteration and larger bets.

Resources, Offers, and Follow-ups

• Fund-of-funds: Daryl is launching a FoF to back emerging managers and bridge founders to capital; Andy offered introductions to institutions backing Black-led fund-of-funds—Daryl to follow up.
• SquadTrip: Daryl offered to intro wellness founder to SquadTrip (travel group management platform).
• Chatter Social: Simulcast with video; founders can join weekly.
• Andy’s accessibility: Open to DMs; promises to reply; aims to join future sessions.

Closing Notes

• The session created a safe space for founders to share ideas and refine pitches in public.
• Next: Daryl will host weekly office hours with rotating VCs; continued simulcasting on Chatter Social.
• Final sentiment: Be authentic, strategic, and decisive; leverage modern tools to ship quickly; communicate boldly yet crisply; build relationships that compound over time.