- May 13, 2024
- Posted by: EBAN Team
- Category: News
Today, the team at euvc is joined by Mikko Silventola for a new episode of the SuperAngel podcast. Mikko is an angel investor, Venture Partner at Superangel and speaker at the 2023 EBAN Annual Congress. During the interview he goes through his jounery as an active investor and the how he found sucess with his own method of investing. Here is an overview of the key points of the interview followed with important quotes that distiguish each section.
Global Investment Approach: Mikko emphasizes the importance of not limiting investment activities geographically. He mentions investing in diverse locations, from the Nordics to Latin America and the Philippines, which allows for a broad exposure to varying market dynamics and opportunities.
“I’ve invested over into over a hundred companies, a hundred startups, that come from everywhere, like, Baltics, Nordics, but also Latin America, like places like Venezuela, El Salvador.”
Selective Involvement: Despite having a large portfolio, Mikko focuses his time and resources on the most promising companies. This approach suggests that angel investors should concentrate their efforts where they can add the most value and expect the best returns rather than spreading themselves too thin.
“Of course, I can’t divide companies from a social point of view, so democratically, my time is dedicated to the best 5 or 10 from my portfolio. And if you ask about my portfolio companies, I think there are tons that I don’t remember, and I should not remember because not all are successful”.
Early and Continuous Support: He highlights the role of angel investors in providing not just capital but also guidance and networking opportunities to startups from their early stages and potentially throughout their growth phases.
“If they are successful, if they’re growing, of course, I’m trying to introduce them to the best VCs possible and best business partners possible”.
Adaptability and Resilience: Discussing recent challenges, such as market downturns, Mikko stresses the importance of staying active and adaptable. For investors, maintaining visibility and engagement in their markets, regardless of external conditions, is crucial for long-term success.
“I try to keep my head up and think that the upcoming years will be better than what we are currently living. Additionally, what I am also thinking is that if I want to continue and stay in this space, and find the best deals, I have to keep doing them”.
Strategic Follow-On Investments: Mikko does not reserve funds specifically for follow-on rounds but decides based on the situation and performance of the startup. This flexibility allows him to capitalize on opportunities as they arise rather than being bound by predetermined commitments.
“I don’t keep any reserves on thinking that, okay, I’ll do this super early stage deal now, and then I’ll save some money for the, for the follow on round or something like that. Honestly, it’s case by case”.
If you like to know more Mikko Silventola will be going into further details on “Spotting Unicorns: Navigating the Nordic-Baltic Investment landscape”, during the 2023 EBAN Annual Congress. You can discover all of this by joining the congress and by watching the full interview here: