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5 min read

Going places

Going places
Photo by Jean-Benoit Van Haeperen - thank you very much
Lithuania Tech Weekly #150
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work in progress

  • The Best. Mac App of the Year 2023: Photomator, from Pixelmator Team.
  • Rooftops. European solar to ride another wave of growth - new EU decision requires solar installations on all new public and commercial buildings from 2026, and new residential buildings from 2029. Good news for already award-winning PVcase, Inion Software (approaching 1m in sales), Solarbank and other developers+manufacturers.
    • A climate playbook one should anticipate: more extreme weather events and temperatures -> more concern among general public -> more impactful political decisions on cutting emissions - including carbon taxes, requirements and standards, and incentives.
  • Hard tech. So is Europe all about browser plugins and small innovations while in the US they are building SpaceX, Flexport or Anduril (just unveiled Roadrunner)? Fair point from Viktoras as Europe has perfected the sleeping beauty role with limited ambition. Regarding anything defence / dual use, my take is that it's very fragmented and small - many teams are working on drones, vision, optics, and other hardware and software, but lack of size, capital (and ambition) they fail to build an inspiring narrative. Too few big bets in this space we have seen in Europe, that's for sure. Locally ScaleWolf got started and is actively sourcing along with Baltic Sandbox and CoInvest. I would keep an eye on Aktyvus Photonics, Astrolight, RSI Europe, Brolis Defence, Ados-Tech, Unmanned Defence Systems, Broswarm, and some others. With regards to GTM and growth, locally we have very few B2B / Enterprise sales driven success stories – assume we will need some lessons and international teams. Second, it's easy now to get started in defence, but still hard to scale (think public procurement). Advice from Lux Capital:
Very very few startups can be dual-use from the beginning, unless you are doing run of the mill stuff vs deeptech.
If you think your tech has commercial and DoD use, focus on commercial first and succeed there, before DoD.

rounds and capital

  • Altechna acquired Boulder-based Alpine Research Optics, a high-quality laser optics producer, specializing in UV applications. Maintaining the original management structure of ARO, both companies aim to multiply their income three times in laser technology over the next five years. In 2023, the two companies' combined revenues are expected to reach more than €22 million.
    • Pleased to see this trend - LT laser firms have been acquisition targets for many years but resisted. Things have changed – including mindset – now it's time to grow and pursue opportunities globally. Light Conversion is already at €84M revenue.
  • While big funds sound truly exciting, there are two sides to it, when it comes to venture capital. In super simple terms - it's hard to deliver net multiples on huge funds (think hundreds of millions). Andris tells more about this Change Ventures strategy - why they decided to keep it smaller and lean.
A smaller fund is roughly 50% more likely to return more than 2.5-times TVPI than a large one

founder's guide

How hiring has changed between 2021-'22 and 2023?

Today, it’s a tough market with a much higher bar for quality. HEMES talked with CEOs and Founders of multiple companies and pinpointed the biggest changes in the hiring.

  • Ideal experience
    The requirement for direct experience is much higher in 2023. Due to Tech layoffs, there are many talents in the market. Therefore, the founders prefer and accept candidates with the most relevant experience.
  • Hands-on Professionals
    No more candidates who can build strategy or advice teams only. You have to be a hands-on professional even if you are in a managing position.
  • Local vs Remote
    The majority of the positions require talents from local markets and consider remote candidates as an alternative option only.
  • Passion & drive
    No more candidates who do not believe and show their passion for the product
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further insights

If EU leaders really want to strengthen European tech, which they all profess to do, they should spend less time trying to regulate various digital markets and instead create a single truly European one.

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ecosystem

roleplay

PVcase - Product Designer (Roof Mount)
Hostinger - Head of Data

Simple, tactical advice - your startup job search

Pick a startup - find a job
Inspired by the reader’s comment below, a practical framework for how to think, research and find the best jobs in the tech market. A draft -help improve this by sending your suggestions. The early options that matter have already matured and there are just not enough high-growth early stage startu…
Tech PhilomathsEditor

three questions, previously

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