Journey into VC #3 with Federico Maroli
The Italian VC & football fanatic
Background
Name: Federico Maroli
Nationality: Italian
University: Maastricht University, Erasmus School of Economics, & Rotterdam School of Management
Degrees: BSc Economics, MSc Economics, & MSc Finance & Investments
Current Position & Employer: Investment analyst, Secfi
Former Position & Employer: President, ASIF Ventures
Federico sat down with me for a brief chat about his life experiences, aspirations, and drive that ultimately led him into the world of venture capital. A football fanatic from a young age, Federico spent most of his childhood in Egypt & Italy playing the sport that he loved.
In 2018, Federico entered the world of venture capital at ASIF ventures as a part-time student associate. One year later, he spearheaded the student-led VC fund located in Amsterdam as the organization’s President. Today, Federico spends his time at SECFI — a pre-wealth equity advisor for startup employees — as an investment analyst.
Note: one of the three investments ASIF made in Federico’s year went to the interview round of YCombinator for the S21 batch.
Reasons Behind This Series
The purpose of this series is to hear from individuals who have decided to pursue a career in venture capital. We will listen to their stories, and shed light on the venture industry. It is especially relevant for you if:
- You want to break into the industry.
Why? because we try to uncover what venture capital firms look for in candidates. - You are a founder.
Why? because we try to uncover what venture capital firms look for in startups. - Interested in entrepreneurship & innovation.
Why? because the quickfire at the end is great.
The journey into VC is often serendipitous, which lays the foundation for great stories. Welcome to story number 3.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The journey
The Brief
Federico has amassed quite the international experience from a young age. His first years were spent in Libya before returning to Italy. He would then move to Egypt and go through 4 years of elementary school, return to Italy for the first years of Middle School and High School, and go on to finish the last years High School in Egypt. Today, he is situated in the Netherlands where he has spent the last years completing a Bachelor-, two master degrees, and a year at ASIF ventures.
Federico, a self-proclaimed football nerd, spent a lot of his childhood playing the sport he loved. At some point during High School, he even played for 2 different teams (U16 and U19) at the same time. Today, while still engaged with the sport, he has other obligations and one particular passion with equal weight. That passion, or what some call obsession, is venture capital.
In 2018, he stepped into the world of VC and pre-seed investing at ASIF ventures as a part-time student associate. For the following academic year (19–20), Federico became the president of the student-led pre-seed VC fund. At the moment, he is helping startup employees manoeuvre their equity and stock options at Secfi.
Why this is important? Read this Snowflake case study from Secfi employee Vieje Piauwasdy on the difference between exercising pre- & post-IPO.
The Details
Growing up moving around — especially cross borders where language & cultural gaps can be substantial — can have both negative and positive consequences. For Federico, it was definitely the latter.
I moved around quite a bit when I was younger, which I loved. It’s important to emphasize that I did not move so often that I didn’t have time to create any bonds with people at these locations. I had enough time to create these relationships and it’s always great to catch up with my friends from my childhood.
One way for Federico to meet new people in new environments was football.
It allowed me to meet new people in a completely different setting besides school. As I developed early physically I was quite tall compared to the people at my age when I was younger. So I always played with people that were a couple of years older than me which was really cool. These experiences also forced me, in a way, to mature.
As you can imagine, football was starting to become a big part of Federico’s life. This, at the time, made it difficult for him to focus on other obligations, mainly his High School responsibilities.
I found it tough during the first years of High School in Italy. The scientific program I went through in combination with the fact that I did not like to study a lot was not great.
The opportunity to finish his High School degree back in Egypt — in an American school and international environment — was exactly what he needed to reset and discover newfound motivation for school.
Looking back, I should have studied more during my first years of High School. However, it was at this time where I also hit my tipping point. Being given the opportunity to return to Egypt gave me this new sense of purpose to finish my degree. It was a great learning experience and this phase kind of supercharged me to where I am today.
We all face obstacles during our journeys and It’s ok to find certain times more challenging than others. However, Federico’s story reminds us that one experience and one experience alone can supercharge us in the right direction.
Even though Federico loved the experience of moving around when he was younger, he is quick to mention that not everyone is as extroverted as him.
My sister is extremely introverted and I am extremely extroverted. These personality traits means that you have two or more completely different ways of adapting. My sister had a small group of close friends with whom she did everything with and that is something I took inspiration from.
All these experiences have helped Federico adapt to a broader range of different situations, especially from a social perspective.
It’s quite hard to do. But if you can adapt to other people, be it at school, on the football field, at work etc. and make it comfortable for all parties I think it opens up a lot of opportunities.
Team sport
Ok, by now we all know that Federico loves football. But there are two main things he learned from team sport which has benefitted him later in his career.
Competitiveness
It gave me a lot of drive in everything that I did…except High School. But jokes aside, it really helped me shape a sense of purpose and inner drive to keep on pushing myself.
Leadership
Being the captain of the football teams I played for really helped me develop into the person I am today. This was mainly because I spent so much time with my coaches working on my leadership skills. Sure, you can be born with certain traits that can become leadership skills, but these skills are developed over time. Being able to give constructive criticism, having awareness of your own shortcomings, and taking responsibility are a few skills that I value greatly and constantly try to improve on.
Venture Capital & ASIF
So, in November 2017, I googled “student investment fund Netherlands”. I actually discovered DSIF first, ASIF’s counterpart in Enschede. The people at DSIF told me that there was a similar initiative being set up in Amsterdam. I ended up having a brief meeting with the president of ASIF at the time, Olivier to discuss the plans for ASIF ventures.
For Federico, this was a chance to understand if ASIF could be something for him.
The conversation with Olivier really helped me understand that ASIF was much more than a traditional student organization. It was there to really make a difference in the start-up ecosystem, and it has so far. And I think there’s still plenty of room to grow.
Federico was sure. ASIF was something that he wanted to pursue. However, having gotten to the final round of the management/board interviews for the academic year 18–19, he was ultimately rejected.
The mentality I had was not that of an entrepreneurial or open-minded investor. It was more of, I can analyze things properly, which is a good trade to have. But you have to have other skills as well relating to the startup environment, especially considering ASIF where everything is super early stage. And I kind of got the hang of that throughout the year after I got the rejection.
Federico understood that he needed some time to develop a broader and deeper understanding of the venture capital- and start-up world. So, he joined ASIF part-time as a fellow and decided to pursue a masters degree in finance at Rotterdam School of Management.
I really specialized in general investment analyses and everything that had to be done for the master, but also understanding the different types of VC firms that are out there, the difference between financing rounds, all the new trends, angel investing, etc. Essentially, everything that makes up the venture capital ecosystem. There’s not really a specific course on that, even at university. It’s such a niche market, and that’s kind of how I taught myself the world of VC investing. There is a lot of information out there, useful information that people should read. I can definitely share some links after that I have. I have a whole list saved.
Here is Federico’s list: [click here]
Definitely worth checking out, both for investors & start-up founders/employees.
If a board year at a student investment firm was worth it? Let’s ask Federico.
I learned so much from my fellow team members there. I do realize that people have different experiences, but I was still amazed by how much I learned from all my peers. Furthermore, doing the entire investment process yourself, meeting with thousands of people, and making impactful investments was an insane experience. We also went to Slush, (one of the best start-up events in Europe for students, founders and investors alike). From a learning perspective, the return on investment was crazy. The opportunities & responsibility you have at such a young age really boost your way into the VC landscape. And that is also partly why I took it.
So, was it serendipitous?
It wasn’t that serendipitous, but definitely not a straight path. It was full of challenges and steps to take. But at least in my mentality I had an endpoint.
The journey into VC is difficult. It’s up and down, but don’t let that discourage you from your end-goal or the endpoint Federico is referring to.
Here are some tips from Federico to accelerate your journey.
Breaking into VC
For Students
I think for students which is what I would wish I had done at the time, is to really devote a lot of your time into soft learning. Similar to what I did during the master which I explained before. So, documenting yourself a lot and trying to find your passion early. I know that’s super hard to do. If you can find out what you’re passionate about, I think that you should follow it right away and try to get there. Learn as much as possible from the most experienced people, the people that can help out, or the opportunity that you have around you. If you don’t have it, create it for yourself. This is easier said than done, but go beyond what the average student does. You’re not working yourself too much because you’re doing it for a passion, right? It’s like adding extra value, trying to find ways to help out, internships, reach out to people in your circle that you know are somewhat involved in the industry, etc. Ever since I joined ASIF, there’s a lot of people that want to talk just how to get into VC. What it is, like the tips, the best ways of learning, etc. I’m super happy to help by all means. But I think like just putting in the work from a research perspective, documenting yourself and finding ways to stand out from the average person.
Federico continues
I think, identifying potential ways of getting there, be it the internships, by helping out, etc. There’s so much stuff on the Internet nowadays. I subscribe to maybe hundreds and I’m not joking, hundreds of newsletters already. Always connected to different aspects of VC. There’s also VC fantasy portfolios where you can play around with. It’s becoming more of a defined way of getting into the industry. There are more resources, but just going above and beyond the person that just applies somewhere and just crossing your fingers and maybe they reply. It’s always just setting yourself apart.
For Young professionals
My tip and this is literally just me because this is what I’m doing. But it’s to do what you like from day one. And try to get into what you like from day one. Maybe you don’t know what you like, which is really tough, but find something that you’re interested in, for instance an industry. I would never accept, something that I’m not at least minimally intrigued by just because of a sense of security. Now, I recognize that everyone does not have the same fortune of having this choice, right? Sometimes you just have to accept it (difficult circumstances) for a variety of reasons, but you can do that and maybe at the same time try to find your way into what you really like. I think passion is just a great driver of hard work, of people that are willing to go above and beyond on. I think that’s the biggest learning.
Advice to founders
Hiring
- Bad Hire
Hiring wrong! I still think it’s underrated. Though, it’s beaten by a bad co-founder. Nevertheless, a bad hire, especially in the beginning, sets you back so long because you spend time, money, effort on onboarding this person. In some cases, you might even fire them after a month. Usually, this is not the case because you want to see what they can bring. Maybe the decision is taken three months down the road and then it’s too late. You have now lost 3 months + the recruitment period of X months with someone who brings no or even negative value. So it’s really important to be critical at the beginning.
2. First employee hire
There are certain things that you want to do as founders, and you have to prioritize accordingly. This is the scheme that I just made in my mind, but I think you should start hiring when the value of the things that the new hire should be doing rated to the effort of that work from the founders’ perspective is high. So if it’s high effort by high value they need to start hiring there. And if those things are really what you want to do, they need to hire for those things. Let’s say that you have a B2B SaaS product and you want to develop sales, but you have a tech background. Maybe you should hire someone who knows how to develop a pipeline and speak to enterprise clients.
Quickfire
What are you currently reading?
The Netflix story. “That will never work” by Marc Randolph, one of the founders of Netflix. It’s about the founding story of Netflix, but really from the very beginning. So when they started sending DVDs. I also just finished 7 Powers from Hamilton Helmer. THE BEST business strategy book IMO. Moreover, I’m re-reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, the bible of value investing. It’s a good way to get a peek behind a more “traditional and grounded” investing style. Absolutely golden. I read it a couple of years ago but I think the added experience I’ve gained has helped a lot in parsing the info in the book now.
Which public figure(s) must I be listening to?
I think there are two people. One is the current coach of Juventus, Andrea Pirlo. I think he’s a really smart guy. He has a nice book to read. It’s called “I think, therefore I play”. The other one is to follow as many people that are relevant in your industry. So, there’s this book called Hedge Fund Market Wizards that I also skim through when I can. Basically, there are 15–20 interviews with different hedge fund managers, compiled by a great writer. I don’t think you should necessarily follow one person, but it’s a combination of different ideas. Because in the end the ideas you have are a combination of other people’s ideas. And new ones Of course.
Which startup must I be following?
Pause.
For the reader, with the exception from Secfi — which is Federico’s current employer — the companies above are all investments of ASIF Ventures. Apart from the mentioned companies, Federico encourages us to keep an eye on the following startup:
PlanA.Earth. I met them at Slush last year. They’re trying to sell software to companies to quantify their ESG impact and monetize on that.
What is the single question that you ask yourself before making any major decisions?
What is the downside? What could go wrong? And if the answer is not “my life is ruined”, I always do it!
Thank you for taking the time to share your story, Federico.
I wish you all the best for your future endeavours!
In bocca al lupo!
Want to learn more about Federico & ASIF? Check out the following:
Last words
Everyone has a story. Do you want to share yours?
If so, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn!
