The Vento Post | September 24
Our monthly pills for founders, wannabe founders and Vento’s friends.
We don't fear you, September.
It's true, in September we open applications for the new batch of our Venture Building program. And yes, it's also in September that we organize that little thing called Italian Tech Week. Indeed, this year we decided to launch a podcast too, and guess what? We launched it in September. And in September, every day is a working day. But no, September, you don't scare us. Because we have our tricks. Here are some: we've started communicating only through gifs, we always find time for a slice of chocolate cake, and the office never lacks an exceptional music compilation like Napoli Segreta.
Jokes aside, the energy surrounding what we do in September is incredible. We are very grateful to everyone who is supporting us, and we can't wait to see you all at ITW!
🌎 News from Vento
Our portfolio keeps growing. Here’s a sneak peek on one of our latest deals:
Toolhouse
What does Toolhouse do? The first marketplace for AI function calling.
Toolhouse helps developers write safe and efficient experiences for their users by providing the building blocks necessary to build modern AI assistants.
Who? A dynamic duo—Daniele and Orlando—bringing together a wealth of experience in startups and top-tier companies like Twitter and Meta. These two founders combine their diverse backgrounds and expertise to drive the innovation behind this startup.
🔮Wisdom Pills from our Founders
Everyone looks forward to a Happy Hour. And if it’s also a chance to learn something from fellow founders, well that’s a huge plus. That’s why every two weeks we organize the Beer Tuesday, a chance for our Venture Building founders to gain insights from a special guest and discuss ideas.
This is a throwback from one of the Beer Tuesdays of the past season, the guest was Andrea Chirolli, founder and CEO of Futura, an ed-tech with the goal of making the world learn faster. Founded in 2021, the company recently raised $15 million in Series A funding in a round led by Eurazeo with the participation of Axon Partners, and United Ventures.
Here’s what we learned:
Stick to your principles. Your vision may change over time, but the principles that led you to found the company should remain steady. Whether it’s prioritizing quality or fair pricing, these core values will guide your company’s direction.
Quality is king. In a competitive space, ensuring that your product stands out by delivering superior quality is a game-changer. Making sure your users feel connected and loyal to your brand is just as important as solving their problems.
Affordable doesn’t mean cheap. Striking a balance between affordability and value is crucial. Even if users need to make a financial sacrifice, ensuring that they feel they are getting fair value builds long-term trust and commitment. Switching to a subscription model helped ensure a pricing structure that worked for both the company and the customer.
🫵 We want you! (Openings)
Looking for growth opportunities? Our companies are looking for bright individuals.
Give it a shot!
Salupay is looking for a Software Engineer.
Nebuly is looking for a Full-stack Engineer.
JetHR is looking for a Marketing Leader.
🤝 The Network Effect (only for our Portfolio Companies)
We are not just a fund: we are a partner. And we support our founders to the best of our abilities. How do we do it? Well, among other things we create synergies with companies to offer dedicated perks and help our founders work better, spending less!
🗂️ Send targeted and automated emails, push notifications, and SMS messages to engage and retain an audience with Customer.io. With Vento, you can have 90% off the Startup +Plus plan and 100% off the Startup Basic plan for the first year.
🚨 Leverage the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform with AWS. Benefit from $5,000 in AWS Cloud credits and $1,500 in AWS Business Support credits.
📊 create custom applications and dashboards without extensive coding through Retool. Perks include $25,000 in Retool credits for one year with no upfront commitment.
To get to these perks and 50+ other partnerships we have in place:
✨ The 3 Ls: Learned, Loved, Laughed
🤓 Learned
Input Coffee, Output Code: How AI Will Turn Capital into Labor - A16z;
How to Hire a CTO - Eric Johnson;
Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Ek on Why Europe Should Embrace Open-Source AI - For the Record.
😍 Loved
40 Nodi - We’ve officially launched our new podcast that dives deep into the journey of building a startup, featuring inspiring stories from our last Venture Building edition who took the leap to chase their entrepreneurial dreams. Don’t miss out!;
Measure What Matters by John Doerr - A powerful framework for setting and achieving ambitious goals through the OKR system, with real-world examples from companies like Google and Intel;
How Brian Chesky shifted into “Founder Mode”: Chesky describes the change in his management style that took place during the pandemic.
😂 Laughed
At 8:30pm, after a long day at the office, the team decided to order pizzas, expecting them to arrive in 20 minutes. Just as the pizzas were about to arrive, the rider called, saying he couldn’t make it due to heavy rain. The rider braved the storm but was eventually found by Isa and Marco trapped behind locked gates of another building, unable to escape for half an hour under the heavy rain. After much delay, the team had their pizzas—completely soaked.
Moral of the story: If you’re ordering from Glovo, always check the weather forecast first! 🌧️🍕
🦄 If you
If you work in VC and want to receive updates about our Portfolio Companies, get in touch with us here.
If you are a founder and you are fundraising, apply here.
If you want to be a founder but don’t know where to start, click here.