Meet John, one of Newion's two new partners
An interview with John Sjölander
1. Tell us more about yourself. Where are you from? And what is your background?
I'm 42, I was born in Sweden and I've spent more than half my life in and around startups. I learnt to write code when I was young and joined my first startup at the age of 20. I set up my first company in my late twenties, and spent the next 10 years in management roles in B2B SaaS startups (Contribio, Burt, Sticky), mostly as COO.
2. How did you become a venture capital investor? And why do you choose to focus on B2B SaaS? After I left Sticky, I spent most of my time serving on boards and advisory work. While doing this I was asked by one of my previous investors, a Stockholm based VC, if I wanted to join them as a Venture Partner to help them in deals. A year later I transitioned into an investor in the fund and led my first two deals – one in SaaS and one (suprisingly) in gaming. I ended up specialising in B2B SaaS more by accident than by design. When I founded my first company in 2005, software was being offered as a service, but the concept of SaaS did not yet exist. The buzz around SaaS really took off shortly after I joined the second startup. We devoured anything and everything we could on the subject and started measuring and tracking everything, from churn to the SaaS Magic Number. It was a very exciting period. I learned a lot. Fortunately, the concept became established and has since created a vast and vibrant industry. Today, I’m in the fortunate position of being able to look at businesses from the other side and can draw on my startup experience as a venture capital investor.
3. What led you to join Newion and move to the Netherlands?
100% the team. I first met Newion when we looked at a deal together. That was a good way to get to know each other. Over the next six months I got to spend time with the partners and found them to be a group of down-to-earth individuals who were extremely knowledgeable and ambitious, yet also humble. It really resonated with me. I felt that while I could both get to focus more than at my previous work place, and bring my own knowledge to the team. I would also learn a lot from the other partners. All of those excited me a lot, and still do.
4. What will you focus on at Newion? I will be concentrating on bringing in deals from the Nordic region. Besides supervising business operations, I’ll also be involved in product and technology because I have considerable operational experience in this area.
5. How do the startup ecosystems in the Benelux compare with those in the Nordics? It's hard to say this early on. My first impressions are that, in the Benelux they are more spread out, while in the Nordics they tend to gather around capital cities. Stockholm is clearly the engine in the Nordics. It has more than 10 unicorns and comes across as slightly more mature than
Amsterdam as a startup ecosystem. However, the vibrancy in Amsterdam feels very similar to the mood in Stockholm five years ago or so.
6. What kind of companies or technologies are you currently most interested in?
My experience is broad, but if I have an edge it would be in marketing and advertising tech. Also, because of my background, I always enjoy engaging with something that involves technical complexity and/or innovation. Having said this, I'm happy to look at anything that's growing fast to see if it’s a good fit for Newion.
7. What kind of support do you offer your portfolio companies after investing in them?
As a venture capital firm, we contribute mainly by serving on the board and offering strategic advice . However, I find this works best if I forge a personal relationship with the CEO. A venture capital mentor of mine taught me that, half the time the relationship with the CEO involves being a psychologist. The rest of the time it involves being a CEO coach. I took that to heart, because I think being a CEO is one of the toughest jobs in the world. I’m there as a constructive sparring partner. I also like to help CEOs figure themselves out.
8. What advice would you give a startup founder seeking investment from Newion? What will make them stand out?
First, show me the product! So often we meet companies that discuss every aspect of their business without explaining what they’re building. If you start by showing me the product, I have some sense of what we’re talking about. Then the rest of the conversation is more insightful and interesting.