Filip Dames, co-founder of Zalando and Managing Partner at Cherry Ventures (€500M fund), reveals how he went from opera singer to failed founder to scaling Europe's largest fashion marketplace to backing deep tech startups in fusion energy, AI, and robotics. We cover startup failure lessons, seed fundraising strategy, hiring mistakes founders make, and why Europe will build trillion-dollar companies.
In this episode, Filip shares:
His first startup failure (Tamundo) and Zalando's near-death fundraising moments before IPO
The #1 hiring mistake that destroys early-stage startups and why firing fast saves companies
"Dream in decades, execute in weeks" - his framework for deep tech investing (Proxima Fusion, The Exploration Company)
How to overcome founder fear: the best founders act before fear wins
Cherry Ventures' operator-first approach: talent network, go-to-market support, daily founder support
"Skip the theory, start building" - stop writing business plans, start talking to customers
For founders raising pre-seed/seed, VCs investing in Europe, startup operators, and deep tech builders.
