Welcome to a new episode of our special series At The Cap Table.

Today Savitri Tan from Isomer Capital is joined by Naza Metghalchi, Principal at EQT Ventures to talk a lot about her career so far, transitioning from a platform role into investment, why surrounding yourselves with the best is integral and how to build relationships of trust with founders.

Naza Metghalchi was born in Iran, raised in Paris, and has lived in London for the past 15 years. She started her career as an intern at Seedcamp in 2012, whilst all her friends were joining consulting firms or investment banks. Later, she joined onefinestay, where she fell in love with the raw energy and enthusiasm of startups. She joined the team at Series A, led commercial positions in the sales and product marketing teams, witnessing periods focusing on profitability and others on growth (at all cost!), until the company got acquired after having raised $80m. She then became an early employee at a startup studio, Founders Factory, where she set up their accelerator program.

An avid supporter of the European ecosystem, she published Rewarding Talent, a guide to democratising employee equity, and is an active angel investor, in consumer social, and the future of work space.

At EQT, she loves partnering with founders that are execution-driven whilst being self-reflective, and working alongside them as a problem-solver and people-person at her core.

Outside of work, you can usually find Naza organising a dinner party, listening to podcasts outdoors, reading Japanese literature and travelling to South America. Naza holds a BA in European Politics, and a MS in Management from the London School of Economics.

Listen to the pod on Apple & Spotify 🎧 

This episode is brought to you in partnership with … Tactyc

Tactyc is the leading forecasting and scenario-planning software for venture capital funds combining portfolio construction, portfolio management, forecasting and reporting into a unified platform.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Untold Stories of Amazing VCs in Europe00:02:19 - Career Moves and Early-Stage Companies00:04:21 - Learning in Startup Environments00:06:12 - Attributes of Successful Founders00:08:03 - Surrounding Yourself with the Best00:12:02 - Building Your Cap Table00:13:49 - Building Relationships with VCs00:15:43 - Assessing Investors for Business Growth00:17:41 - Building Trust and Vulnerability in Investor-Founder Relationships00:19:39 - Building a Trust-Based Relationship with Founders00:21:38 - The Importance of Alignment in Achieving Objectives00:23:46 - Understanding Product Market Fit00:25:37 - Assessing Founders and Market Timing00:27:35 - The Role of Luck in Business Ventures00:29:25 - Maximizing Chances and Grabbing Luck

Upcoming events

📺 Virtual events we’re hosting

Acing LP Relationships | Feb 12, 2024, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

The O.G. Roundtable of the Year | Jan 29, 2023, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Data-Driven Portfolio Modeling | Jan 17, 2024, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Join us for our In-person portfolio modeling workshop & mixer in London

Join the waitlist for an exclusive portfolio modeling workshop at Isomer’s on March 12th 🗓️ We will run two sessions, split by a mixer in the middle.

Session 1: 12 - 2 PM followed by a 1-hour mixer.

Session 2: 3 - 5 PM preceded by a 1-hour mixer.

🤝 In-person events we’re attending

Hit us up if you’re going, we’d love to connect!

GoWest | 📆 6 - 8 February | 🌍 Gothenburg, Sweden

Odense Investor Summit | 📆 13 - 15 March | 🌍 Odense, Denmark

SuperVenture | 📆 4 - 6 June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany

Nordic LP Forum & TechBBQ | 📆 September | 🌍 Copenhagen, Denmark

North Star & GITEX Global | 📆 14 - 18 Oct | 🌍 Dubai, UAE

GITEX Europe 2025 | 📆 23 - 25 May 2025 | 🌍 Berlin, Germany

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