Tweet

Fred Destin

7 Mar, 10 tweets, 4 min read

@cleo_sham

1/ Breaking news. I’m absolutely thrilled to partner with @cleo_sham to build @stride_vc going forward. We’re just getting started and incredibly excited about what’s to come.

2/ Cleo is a consummate operator: built Uber China as an early GM, and Guanghzou as the first Uber city to hit 1M trips a week, before being promoted to Director of Operations for Uber China and later leading platform integration for Uber’s 45 EMEA territories post Uber/Didi.

3/ She got poached by a number of the original Uber investors to build Spotahome as COO.

But she’s not just an operator; she’s also an investor and a founder.

She started life prop trading and has invested in over 60 startups as angel; she’s also founded two startups.

4/ I’ve taken many references in my life but nothing quite like the set of references I got on Cleo. Mind = blown.

She was described as “one of our worst attrition losses” when she left Uber, and she’s built an army of supporters and advocates.

World class.

5/ She can also mix a mean cocktail, loves inviting friends for dinner and will kick your ass at tennis.

The one thing I am missing is that I haven’t yet met Bear the Shiba.

6/ We’re a seed fund with an operator mindset and I’m thrilled to be adding such depth to the team when it comes to building teams, designing culture, scaling operations and refining go-to-market strategies.

7/ We first met for a walk in Regent’s Park last October and have been riffing about what we could build together since then.

We’re both builders who believe in putting in the work.

8/ Side note: St John’s Lodge Garden in Regent’s Park is one of the best kept secrets in London.

Here is a picture Cleo took on our first walk together.

@pinverrr

9/ With @pinverrr @RossWaide And Georgina Gallagher we have a high performance SWAT team that can move incredibly quickly and write checks when it matters to entrepreneurs from all walks of life; dissenters welcome.

@cleo_sham

10/ This is a great moment for me; I am incredibly grateful to @cleo_sham for her confidence in me and excited about what is to come.

Watch this space.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @fdestin

Fred Destin

@fdestin

8 Mar

@Nicolas_Colin

Savagely honest @Nicolas_Colin

“In toxic environments such as Paris, traditional venture capital has in fact become a rent-seeking business: you don’t need strong performances to make a reasonable living and enjoy your power over desperate Entrepreneurs.”

@Nicolas_Colin

2/ This is the source article - a fab deep dive into the history of VC from @Nicolas_Colin that I highly recommend reading.

salon.thefamily.co/a-brief-histor…

@_TheFamily

3/ Nicolas, in the line with the pirate ethos of @_TheFamily, does not hesitate to break through the veil of silence that protects the more mediocre ecosystem participants

The journeymen of VC who treat it as a relatively glam lifestyle business.

Read 8 tweets

Fred Destin

@fdestin

17 Feb

@Nicolas

1/ @Nicolas Colin asks on @Siftedeu : “why can’t we build more social media giants in Europe?”

Let me tell you the tale of @dailymotion.

Remember them?

They were neck and neck with @YouTube until about 70M UU per month.

@robertderosny

2/ DailyMotion was started by two brilliant creative minds: @robertderosny and @Olivier_Poitrey. The guys were blazing new features at speed and leading the way. A real grassroots story.

3/ The product was great, users loved it and we were growing fast.

One of the early good decisions we made was to delay monetisation. We didn’t want to burden a company whose success was predicated on achieving massive scale.

So what happened? Why didn't we become YT?

Read 11 tweets

Fred Destin

@fdestin

21 Jan

1/ Is your board becoming unwieldy as you scale past Series B?

That's probably because you're trying to fit too much into the same format. Some ideas on how to solve that.

2/ Problems: you don't know who to invite. Exec team benefits from being involved but investors hesitate to be direct. A number of issues can't be discussed openly. Engagement isn't great and it all feels a bit theatrical. Takes too long to prep and most comments are generic.

3/ Diagnostic: you're running too many meetings as one. In a COVID world with everyone in remote locations, there's no need for that. Break it up!

Read 8 tweets

Fred Destin

@fdestin

14 Jan

1/ By definition, VC partnership are only as good a their decision making.

Let’s explore 👇

2/ In venture as in startups, there are only decisions, never any certainties. It is the nature of our game that good decisions combined with good execution can lead to poor outcomes. In other words, a poor outcome does not mean you took the wrong decision. What to do?

3/ The first step is to collectively get as close to the truth as you can.

This means gathering opinions and facts until you have built a mental model of the decision you are taking and assessing the nature of the risks you are taking.

Read 13 tweets

Fred Destin

@fdestin

13 Jan

@stride_vc

1/ I often say @stride_vc is "proudly anti-thematic" -- here's why.

2/ Fact: founders are much better at finding white space and developing unique insights than all of VC put together.

Our job is to be mentally plastic and be open to unusual ideas.

3/ Being thematic as an investor is powerful in developing a prepared mind but it can also be quite limiting.

There's nothing more boring than asking VCs "what are the hot trends" - we all say the same 😂

At seed I find it more constraining than I find it effective.

Read 6 tweets