In 2022 we tend to think that we live in a global marketplace, but regional differences still exist in VC and startups. Our guest today is Akash Bajwa , Investor at Earlybird VC . We talk with Akash about the current state of the European Startup scene, how the recent pullback is affecting things, the rise of European VC superstars like Harry Stebbings, and Earlybird’s plan for its recent $350M fund. About Akash Bajwa: Akash is an early-stage investor at Earlybird , one of Europe's longest-standing early-stage funds. Prior to this Akash was investing in fintech at Augmentum Fintech, and spent time in corporate venture at Barclays Ventures. A word from our sponsor: At Ripple, we manage all of our fund expenses and employee credit cards using Jeeves.  The team at Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at anytime. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or to pay any setup or monthly SaaS fees. Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook, or AWS every month. New users can earn up to 3% cashback for their first 90 days. The best part is Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days in any currency you want, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month. Jeeves also recently launched its Jeeves Growth and Working Capital initiative for startups and fast-growing companies to enable more financial freedom for companies. The best thing of all is that Jeeves is live in  24 countries including Canada, US and many other countries around the world. Jeeves truly offers the best all-in-one expense management corporate card program for all startups especially the ones at Ripple and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to officially partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of our Tank Talks special with a‍ $250 statement credit after the first $2,500 in spend or a $500 statement credit after the first $5000 in spend. Lastly, all Jeeves cardholders receive access to their Lounge Pass program and access to over 1300 airports globally. Visit tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more. In this episode we discuss: 02:32 Akash’s journey to becoming a tech investor 05:10 Lessons he learned as an investor at Barclays 09:01 Barclay’s investing mentality when he was there 12:21 Working and investing at Augmentum, Europe’s publicly listed FinTech fund 16:48 The tradeoffs investing from a publicly listed fund 20:18 An overview of European VC history and how it’s different from the US 26:45 The impact of YC and Silicon Valley creating brain drain in the European market 31:52 Differences in European Founders mindsets 36:51 How fundraising is different in the European market and it is evolving 40:01 Current market factors in how Earlybird is deploying capital 45:54 The effect of Harry Stebbings and others to bring attention to Europe 50:38 Plans for Earlybird’s new €350M fund Fast Favorites: 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Invest Like The Best 📰- Favorite Newsletter/Blog: Tomasz Tunguz 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Kindle 📈-  Favorite New Trend: Rise of Creators 📚- Favorite Book: Guns, Germs, and Steel 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: Put goodwill out into the world without expectations Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here! Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency