For venture capital firms, successful exits aren’t just the end goal—they’re the foundation upon which the entire investment thesis should be built. Yet many GPs approach exit planning as an afterthought, scrambling to find liquidity paths only when their fund lifecycle demands it. The GP Exit Canvas offers a systematic approach to embedding exit strategy […]
The GP Exit Canvas isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution—it’s a flexible, visual framework that adapts to different fund strategies, geographies, and market conditions. Here’s how fund managers across various contexts can implement the GP Exit Canvas for successful exits. Part I: The GP Exit Canvas: Strategic Exit Planning for Venture Capital Firms: the story of Kilimanjaro […]
VC ecosystems around the world are maturing at different pace, each with its own set of challenges and dynamics. But the views articulated in The great Mavcap misfire (Emmanuel Samarathisa) come across as both flawed and based on the wrong underlying assumptions on how an emerging VC ecosystem actually works. Here are my quick thoughts in response. The […]
The Story Of Scaling Leo Bank From Idea To Exit In The Middle East. Part II: Scaling Up (Series A,B) Case study written for the upcoming launch of Scale Up MENA! (Aug 2025). Read part I here and part III here. Closing the series A has been tough. “This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done”, Adnan […]
The Story Of Scaling Leo Bank From Idea To Exit In The Middle East. Part III: Growth Stage (Series C,d To Exit) A three-part story on scaling a fintech in the Middle East, written as a part of the upcoming launch of Scale Up MENA, august 2025. Read part I: the early days (start up, seed): and […]
What role does a bank play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem? Well, as it turns out, a pretty significant one. Since 2014 DNB has supported more than 20.000 startups on their startup journey. With programs like Founders, DNB NXT, 100 Pitches, digital health accelerators, startup coaches and growth mentors; DNB has developed probably the most robust startup support infrastructure amongst the traditional […]
VC Lab or Allocator One? Sanabil x 500 or Newton Venture Program? Coolwater Capital or Thema? Pitch Me First or Baby.VC? 2X Ignite or IMD’s Venture Asset Management? Classroom learning, fellowship or acceleration? For new and experienced people in the global venture capital space, the number of learning opportunities has just exploded. How can current […]
Imagine you are planning to summit Mount Everest, or participate in the Paris-Dakar rally, or run your first Ironman competition. Naturally, you would want to spend years preparing, training, researching and building your own mastery. The alternative would likely be gambling for luck or facing a harsh and brutal reality check. The same goes for […]
This summer,I had the pleasure of teaching a module on venture capital value creation strategies at the Newton Venture Program at London Business school. Together with Tiffany Bain, Director, Value Creation at DFDF (Dubai Future District Fund) we explored how venture capital funds can shape a wide variety of value creation strategies. In engaging discussions with the excellent […]
by Christian Rangen & Henrik Amstutz A New Capital Landscape Over the past 24 months, Strategy Tools has assisted accelerators, innovation agencies, and global founder teams in pivoting to a new funding strategy. Gone are the days of relying solely on equity financing. Today, the focus is on blended startup financing. But what is the […]