VCLeaders Academy is a comprehensive educational program for VC professionals who want to improve their understanding of the venture capital ecosystem.
Apply now
Limited Partners
General Partners
Angel Investors
Corporates
Attorneys
Advisors
Fundraising and structuring
Investments
Portfolio Management
Exits
Building investment thesis
Creating fund strategy
Understanding fund legal and financial structureDeveloping fund brand
In the first Module, we cover areas related to establishing a venture capital fund: from defining your thesis to successfully creating the fund’s legal structure. We know that this part can be challenging, even for experienced fund managers, and we want to improve your chances of succeeding. Our goal is to make you better at understanding
your unique value proposition, formulating your investment strategy, and preparing compelling marketing materials. We help you understand the VC landscape in Europe and help you find your spot in the start-up financing value chain. We also guide you through the most critical aspects of a fund’s legal documentation.
Sourcing deals
Screening investment targets
Performing Due diligence
Preparing start-up valuations
Structuring and negotiating deals
Finding, winning over, and executing deals is a VC’s bread-and-butter. To help you do these things efficiently, we show you the best market practices, inform you about current trends and teach about the pitfalls to avoid.
The goal of the second Module is to show you the methods to find and select companies that fir your investment strategy and make up for your desired portfolio.
Managing portfolio companies
Choosing the right value-creation strategy
Understanding fund governance and economics Utilizing investor’s toolkit
A typical VC fund has a life of up to 10 years. A lot can happen in a decade, and you can’t avoid every threat. However, with proper business and financial planning as well as risk mitigation practices, you can come prepared to the battlefield. In the third
Module, you learn both about the front-end
as well as the back-end of the VC business. We discuss value-creation strategies and loss-cutting techniques. We also look into fund operations, from managing a team to reporting to investors, to help you build a well-oiled VC machine.
Understanding the investment lifecycle
Choosing the right exit strategy
Understanding current exit landscape
If investments are a VC’s bread-and-butter, exits are the business’ holy grail. During the fourth Module, we discuss the importance of exit planning, discover various exit paths, and
talk about current market trends. To help you choose the right exit strategy for your portfolio companies, we also present best practices and failures to avoid.
Adam Kwaśniewski
Investor, Partner at Startup Development House
Adam Kwasniewski is a graduate of Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has eighteen years of experience in digital business. Prior to founding BitRoot.Ventures, Adam managed Ad.Net S.A - leading Polish advertising network at that time. Then he joined Google as first employee in Poland and worked at Google for thirteen years. During his time there, he was Head of Sales in Poland, Head of Strategy and Operations for Central Eastern Europe and Middle East. Adam left Google 18 months ago in order to become an business angel and startup hunter. Currently, he actively invests in startups and advises startups and scaleups. So far he has partnered with 7 startups, including User.Com, HotTailors, WealthArc and Magnitt. Also, he recently became a partner in Startup Development House - a company developing solutions for entrepreneurs and corporations.
Back to Speakers List
Barbara Sobowska
Co-founder at MOST Partners
Barbara Sobowska is a transaction lawyer working internationally with tech start-ups, individuals and venture capital funds on various transactions, including VC financings and market expansions. She is qualified to practice in the US, England and Poland. She gained experience while working at international law firms in Warsaw and London where she advised private equity funds and major corporate clients on a wide range of cross-border and domestic capital markets and M&A transactions.
She is an angel investor and mentor to tech companies. Her passion for tech start-ups and entrepreneurship started at Harvard Law School, where she was involved in the Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project, working with early stage entrepreneurs on their business expansions
Back to Speakers List
Daniel Star
Managing Partner at TDJ Pitango Ventures
Managing Partner of TDJ Pitango Ventures, focusing on growing innovative Polish technologies. Formerly Investment Manager at Intel Capital, Israel and CEE, Mr. Star brings over 10 years’ experience in investments in Israel and Central and Eastern Europe.
In his tenure in Intel Capital, Dan was with the Israel Innovation Center (seed fund). His areas of expertise range from semiconductors and IT, Internet and Media.
Mr Star spent over 20 years managing semiconductor R&D programs at Intel, as well as managing marketing and sales operations worldwide.
Mr Star holds BScEE Cum Laude in Computer Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Back to Speakers List
Join the community of ambitious VC professionals who never stop learning
Apply nowWe are looking for applicants with at least 5 years of relevant professional experience (not necessarily as fund managers) and documented interest in Venture Capital
Application
Every year we select up to 30 people to VCLeaders Program. The group is curated to be as diverse as possible.
Participation
The Program takes place during 4 weekends, each dedicated to one of our core topics. The lectures are delivered by leading VC practitioners.
Community
You become a part of a growing community of European VC professionals and together we'll shape the future of our start-up ecosystems.
Our long-time supporters, advisors and enablers.
Patric Gresko
Head of Unit European Investment Fund
Marcin Hejka
Co-Founder and General Partner OTB Ventures
Dominik Zalewski
CFO Europe e.ventures
Sign up for our newsletter
*By leaving your email address and subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.
