Joining Index Ventures

Today it was announced that I joined Index Ventures as a Venture Partner and even though it has been rumored otherwise, I'm still delighted to remain involved with Skype and PayPal doing some strategic projects.

I’m really excited to be working with Index - and not just because they've just announced a new €350m fund. I've known and respected Danny since Firefly, Netscape and Link Exchange, Microsoft days. Subsequently I've had the good fortune to work with the Index team as entrepreneur (Video Island), exec (Skype) and co-investor (Moo, Stardoll etc)

I'm also really excited to be working in Europe (see previous post). European funds are finally being recognized as some of the top-rated globally - and Index is seen as one of the best. Europe is also finally developing the talent, role models and infrastructure to compete globally, in fact some of the most innovative entrepreneurs and ideas are coming out of Europe now, especially the Nordics and Eastern Europe.

A lot of people have asked me why I didn’t just stay an active angel when TAG has made over ten investments in early stage investments over the last few years - including Daylife, edgeio, Spotrunner and Stardoll. Angels play a vital role for many successful start ups but I can’t name one company that hit it big globally on angel money alone. Times are good now, but when the going gets tough, growing companies need experienced and connected partners to help navigate global competition.

If you’re thinking of starting a company or have an idea and don’t know where to start, please feel free to contact me [saul at indexventures dot com] or leave a comment on the blog.