What does it take to back the most ambitious technology companies before the breakthrough?

This week we sat down with Hendrik Brandis, Co-Founder and General Partner at Earlybird VC and one of Europe’s most experienced venture capitalists. After starting his career as an aerospace engineer and later moving through consulting, Hendrik co-founded Earlybird nearly three decades ago and has since helped finance some of Europe’s most important technology companies.

In this conversation we explore how venture capital actually works behind the scenes - from sourcing founders long before they become visible to the market, to evaluating deep tech opportunities where the biggest uncertainty is technical feasibility rather than market demand.

We talked about:

• The role of AI and data in sourcing, screening and investment decisions

• Why deep tech investing requires a fundamentally different due diligence mindset

• Europe’s persistent gap between world-class research and global category leaders

• Whether Europe is building the capital stack needed to compete with the US

• The reopening of IPO markets and what it means for venture exits

• Career advice for students interested in technology and venture capital

Many thanks to Hendrik for the thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation.

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