Adam Niewinski is the Co-founder and General partner at OTB Ventures - a leading venture capital firm operating in CEE out of Warsaw. Adam is a seasoned executive, entrepreneur and with OTB has invested in several Baltic companies already, including Kevin, Ondato and Fractory.In this episode we talk about the evolution of the Polish VC/startup ecosystem, investing in the Baltics and sharing lessons for investing from business executive experience. We also talk about global VC trends, OTB strategy and making a good first impression to a VC. Finally we discuss building a strong VC team.The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps[02:55] - ON POLISH VC/STARTUP ECOSYSTEMHistorical gaming industryStartup ecosystem accelerating last 5 yearsMid-size country trap EU funds impactUnicorn inspirational effect[07:20] - ON INVESTING IN THE BALTICSSubstantial part of the portfolio in Baltics and huge potentialCooperation with local funds[09:40] - ON LESSONS FOR INVESTING FROM OWN BUSINESS EXPERIENCEConfident vs. arrogant foundersHave strong opinions, but be ready to change them fastThe strength of the right peopleInvestor can’t run the company for the founderInvesting as art+scienceF2F vs. zoom investing[18:50] - ON GLOBAL VC TRENDSCorrection on the stock markets healthyIrrelevance of current market situation for long term investmentsHistorical context for venture investmentsInnovation transfer from corporations to startups[24:50] - ON FINTECH TRENDSBringing own financial sector experience to the tableHands-on track recordCEE countries strengths for building fintech companiesGlobal fintech trends[32:50] - ON BUILDING A VC TEAMFounding story of OTB VenturesComplementing skills of partnersDiversity with a common goalHiring drivers not passengersManaging reputationTo reach out to Adam use: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-niewinski-07b7931/Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/Support for this episode comes from Venetor > https://www.venetor.co/ ===See the video content exclusively on Linkedin > https://www.linkedin.com/company/pursuit-of-scrappiness/ Questions/suggestions? Join our Telegram group > https://t.me/pursuitofscrappiness Support the show

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