We invest in ‘global-first’ companies – here’s where they are typically located.
Video Transcript
Another question we often get asked from founders is, where does Tomahawk.VC invest geographically?
Various ecosystems
The answer is not quite simple. So I’m going to take a step back. I’ve personally spent time in various ecosystems: I’ve lived in Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and a few more places that I’m probably forgetting right now. And I think all of these places have certain characteristics. For example, if you’re trying to build a company that depends heavily on sales, then probably the best place to build a company somewhere in the US just because you have access to a lot more experienced sales talent than you have in Europe. Or another environment could be Zug here in Switzerland, which was very, very early in giving decentralized currencies a regulatory framework. That’s the reason why the Ethereum Foundation was set up here in Switzerland. That’s why there’s Bitcoin Swiss and, and a lot of the Bitcoin ecosystem is very prominently represented here.
The right ecosystem
So what we say at Tomahawk.VC is we invest in companies that place themselves in the right ecosystem. Meaning we invest worldwide, as long as we think that the company is in the right ecosystem and in the right place.
What are the consequences of that? And how did we arrive at that decision?
Well, number one, I think the world has become smaller than ever, it’s so easy to talk to each other, to connect and to even create with each other through just video chat. So it doesn’t really matter that much anymore, whether I am in the same city or even the same country as an entrepreneur that we invest in. Of course, time zones play a bit of a role since I’d like to get some sleep during the night. And so I don’t wanna be up at 3 am in the morning in a chat at 9 am and then at 1 pm. But all of that is really solvable. Right? The furthest away someone can be is 12 time zones, and that means I just need to get up early in the morning or stay up a bit late during the evening so that we can connect from time to time. And we need to be smart about how to connect synchronously, meaning we talk to each other live, or asynchronously through Slack, WhatsApp, email, and all these other communication channels that we have with our hands.
So to summarize that: Tomahawk.VC invests globally, as long as a company is in an ecosystem that we think is helpful for the company, and it’s the right place for that company to be set up, we can make investments. And to be a bit more fine-grained, of course, a lot of our deals come through our network, and I’ve previously lived mostly in the US and in Europe. So that’s where a lot of my network is. But don’t let that stop you. If you’re building a company in Asia and think we will be a great partner for you, then please reach out.
And with that, stay curious, and I’ll talk to you soon.
