During the Capital Tour XXL as part of Amsterdam Capital Week, VC Ray Quintana from Cottonwood Technology Fund met with founders and provided them with crucial advice. The experienced Venture Capitalist addressed points of improvement for the European startup scene – particularly when it comes to the mindset and mentality of our local founders. Here are the key takeaways of what Ray had to say. “It’s all about capturing the value you create”.
Improve your scope and vision, and do not let a bottom-up approach constrain you
As Cottonwood has a main office in New Mexico and a local office in Enschede, Quintana knows all about the differences between European startups and American ones. He starts off by explaining the main thing he likes about the startup scene in the Netherlands is the vast array of ideas: “There are world class ideas in the Netherlands, which is why we are here”. After this polite start, Quintana starts explaining why Dutch startups should improve their scope and vision: “Founders really need to be helped along in terms of thinking bigger”. Startups should not constrain themselves by thinking in terms of a bottom-up approach, which seems to be happening here all too often.