Ali Mitchell on Why Europe Struggles to Build $10B Startups — and How to Fix It

Heresy

Ali Mitchell has backed more than half a dozen unicorns — but his story starts with failure.

Before co-founding Huddle and later leading EQT Ventures, one of Europe’s most successful VC funds, Ali was a founder who learned firsthand how hard it is to build and scale. In this episode, we unpack what those early failures taught him about resilience, product-market fit, and what separates great founders from good ones.

We also dive into:

• Why Europe still struggles to produce $10B startups

• What the best founders get right about distribution and go-to-market

• How to raise VC capital the right way (and what most get wrong)

• Why Ali still believes in founder intuition — even in the age of AI

A conversation about hard lessons, second acts, and the patterns behind six unicorns.

🎙️ Heresy is a podcast about people who defy conventional wisdom — founders, investors, and thinkers reshaping how technology gets built and scaled.

👇 Timestamps & Resources below 👇00:00 – Trailer01:01 – Ali’s Early Journey and Entrepreneurial Roots05:32 – Building and Scaling Huddle14:27 – Go-to-Market Lessons and Missteps22:18 – Why Europe Struggles with Commercialization27:56 – From Founder to Investor: Lessons from EQT Ventures36:14 – The Cultural Contrast: US vs. Europe43:40 – What the US Gets Right: Selling, Storytelling, and Scale48:54 – The Tuck Shop Story: Teaching Entrepreneurship Early50:06 – Returning to Europe: Family, Values, and Purpose51:56 – From EQT to Odyssey: A New Mission for European Tech54:51 – Flow and the New Era of Engineering Automation56:00 – Odyssey’s Investment Focus: AI + Automation in the Real World57:30 – Lessons for Founders: Ambition, Focus, and Resilience59:41 – What Most People Get Wrong About Venture Capital01:02:31 – Final Advice for First-Time Founders01:03:41 – Closing Thoughts🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for more unfiltered conversations on technology, business, and defying the status quo.Follow Ali:🔗 LinkedIn: / alimitchell 💰 Odyssey Ventures: https://www.odyssey.ventures/🎙 The Heresy Podcast – conversations with builders, thinkers & rebels 🔔 Subscribe: / @heresypodcast 🔗 Follow Dimitar: / stanimiroff

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