Why European Founders Are Afraid to Sell the Future (And How to Fix It) | Deep Tech Investor Matt Wichrowski | Fly Ventures Partner

In this episode of the Scaling Stateside podcast, David Rose and Matt Oxley sit down with Matt Wichrowski, Partner at Fly Ventures — a first-check VC built for technical founders that other funds are afraid to back. Matt splits his time between California and London and has spent over a decade at the heart of European deep tech, from Entrepreneur First to co-leading the pre-seed round of WAVE, one of the UK's most ambitious autonomous vehicle companies.
This one is packed with insight for any technical founder thinking about raising or expanding to the US.

What we cover:
- The "animal founder" — what VCs are really looking for and why there are no metrics for it
- Why European founders go to the US too late — and why the staggered approach no longer works
- How Fly Ventures does technical due diligence when there's no product, no revenue and no comps
- Pre-seed valuation explained simply: why it's more like valuing art than running a DCF
- The cultural gap between US and European founders — and why Americans learn to sell in kindergarten
- Why the founder must be first on the ground in the US, every time
- What to prioritise if you're 12 months away from making the move
- Matt's advice for deep tech founders just getting started

👇 Don't forget to subscribe for more insights on scaling your startup in the US!

📍 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Meet Matt Wichrowski & Fly Ventures
02:00 First paying job
03:21 From Chicago to London: the transatlantic journey
06:55 Why European capital holds founders back
09:24 The animal founder — what great looks like
14:00 Fly Ventures' investment thesis explained
17:15 Deep tech timelines and what you tell LPs
19:29 How to do technical due diligence at pre-seed
21:34 Best sources of deal flow
25:15 What to do 12 months before moving to the US
31:04 US vs European founders: the biggest differences
33:59 Coaching reserved technical founders to sell
36:40 How VCs think about pre-seed valuation
40:40 Advice for deep tech founders just starting out
44:05 Events, sourcing and how to get on Matt's radar

ABOUT OUR GUEST: MATT WICHROWSKI
Matt Wichrowski is a Partner at Fly Ventures, a first-check pre-seed VC built for technical founders that other funds are afraid to back. Originally from Chicago, Matt has been embedded in the European startup ecosystem since 2015 — starting at Entrepreneur First, and now splitting his time between California and London as part of Fly's transatlantic investment approach.
At Fly, Matt focuses primarily on deep tech and frontier technology — backing founders building at the cutting edge of what's possible, from autonomous vehicles to robotics to biotech. He co-led the pre-seed round of WAVE, one of the UK's most ambitious autonomous vehicle companies, and has spent years cultivating one of the strongest deep tech networks across the US and Europe.
Outside of investing, Matt writes the Reshare newsletter, where he shares what he's reading and thinking about across frontier technology.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Wichrowski
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwichrowski
Site ⮕ https://www.mattwichrowski.com 
Fly Ventures ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/company/fly-venture

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose/

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley/

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion — from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co
Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com 

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

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