Karim Jalbout
Managing Partner; Moderator
Sessions (2)
Sessions featuring Karim Jalbout at Bits & Pretzels 2026 | Founders Festival in Munich
Europe vs US: Where Do Funds Really Generate Alpha?
The core message of the provided transcript is that Europe’s venture ecosystem has materially improved, but the route to capturing alpha remains contested: should European founders and LPs rely on local European managers, or partner with US platforms that bring scale, exit experience, and transatlantic access? The moderator frames the debate around whether US and European funds are producing comparable alpha, with a few outliers driving much of the return. Greg opens from the institutional LP perspective, noting that his program was built mostly toward the US over the last twenty years and has generated “tremendous returns,” while Europe has been catching up in average performance. The central question becomes whether investors are missing European value, and if so whether that value is best accessed through US platforms or local funds. Alex then grounds the discussion in valuation data and exit markets. He says European Series B pre-money valuations are about 44% to 45% below US median levels, while emphasizing that this is a structural market difference rather than proof that US companies are better. He links higher US valuations to faster scaling in a less fragmented market and, more importantly, to exit opportunities, arguing that NASDAQ IPO valuations can justify higher entry prices. Philippe adds that the median gap does not apply to Europe’s top companies: elite founders such as Lovable, Synthesia, and ElevenLabs raise at similar valuations to US peers. He argues that US funds have moved earlier in Europe because they now see comparable talent, ambition, and potential to build global category leaders, while also stressing that local European presence is a major competitive advantage. Hendrik challenges the idea that the best European seed deals now overwhelmingly choose US funds, arguing that more European entrepreneurs are choosing European leads because of resilience, serenity, and a desire to avoid being pulled too heavily toward the US. He cites a recent growth funding case where a European tech team accepted a term sheet one-third below US offers because they wanted most of the funding to remain European. This leads into a sovereignty discussion, especially around defense and AI, where Greg notes that European defense founders may increasingly care not only about their GP’s location but also about where that GP’s capital comes from. The Stark example is used to illustrate how US investors on cap tables may create future tension when contracts are with European governments. Philippe argues for a partnership model rather than a binary choice. He criticizes US funds that do many European seed deals without meaningful follow-on support, saying this inflates seed prices and creates negative signaling for unfunded companies. NEA’s stated approach is to leave pre-seed and seed opportunities largely to European managers, then partner at Series A when elite founders want access to scale, Fortune 500 distribution, US listings, and international expansion. Alex closes the provided portion by saying public investors like KfW should not replace private capital but invite it, and that foreign capital should not be condemned because US investor interest is evidence that Europe has become an attractive market. Philippe reinforces the economic stakes by citing US venture capital’s disproportionate contribution to GDP growth, public market capitalization, and hiring, arguing that replicating even part of that innovation economy in Europe would be significant.
Building a Modern Empire
The core message of the provided portion of “Building a Modern Empire” is that Steven Bartlett’s business-building advantage comes from turning personal insecurity, wide-ranging curiosity, and disciplined attention to small improvements into momentum. The session opened with a packed final-day audience at Bits & Pretzels and introduced Bartlett through his entrepreneurial milestones: leaving university after one lecture, building a social media company while young, selling before 30, becoming the youngest investor on Dragon’s Den, and growing The Diary Of A CEO from a spare-room project into one of the world’s most successful podcasts. The framing from the interviewers was personal as well as commercial: because the conference theme was “human after all,” they positioned Bartlett’s success as rooted in asking difficult, intimate questions and then invited him to answer similarly tough questions himself. Bartlett began with his origin story: born in Botswana, raised in Plymouth, and growing up as part of what he described as “the poor black family in an all white middle class area.” He explained that people understand their own value through context, comparing this to how diners use expensive and affordable steaks to judge the middle option. In his childhood context, he internalized being “less than,” and money became the thing that both invalidated him and seemed to offer a route to equality. He described having shame and extreme freedom because his parents were absorbed by running a small restaurant. That combination led him away from school, into deals such as vending-machine arrangements that made money for the school, and eventually into the realization at 16 that he would not win through conventional education but could build businesses around future adult customers. His memorable reflection was that “in life you're often driven or dragged and it's hard to tell the difference.” The discussion then moved into what he learned from building Social Chain and later resisting the narrowing effect of success. Bartlett said labels can be useful shortcuts, but they also restrict perspective, opportunity, and creative range. After stepping down, he deliberately pursued things he was “unqualified to do,” including DJing, psychedelics/biotech work, blockchain through Third Web, and deeper investment activity through Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. When asked for the most important lesson from his first business, he cited Jeff Olson’s book The Slight Edge: life and business are shaped less by a few huge decisions than by compounding small choices that are easy to do and easy not to do. He illustrated this with brushing teeth, saving a dollar, and marginal gains from British cycling, then connected small wins to team psychology: when people feel progress, they work with more momentum. The provided transcript ends as he begins a Diary Of A CEO team example about celebrating a 1% improvement: changing the studio air freshener from peach to lavender.