Borys Musielak @ Warsaw

🚀 100 Angels in 48 Hours. One of the Largest CEE Angel Networks is Born. On Saturday morning, I woke up with a simple thought: “So many CEE founders ask me for intros to angels — and even though I know many, I rarely manage to connect them fast enough.” (it's true, I…

🇵🇱 Top 10 Startup Exits with Polish Female Founders (ranked by estimated exit value) 1. Azimo – @mmeentrepreneur 💸 Acquired by Papaya Global in 2022 📈 Exit valuation: $150–200M 💰 Raised: ~$90M 🧭 Fintech / remittances 2. Callstack – @annalankauf 💸 Majority stake sold to…

Polish company @gamefound 🇵🇱 acquires @Indiegogo, crowdfunding leader based in the US. I love seeing news like those vs the more common acquisitions of Polish and CEE startups by US competitors. Huge congrats to @MarcinSwierkot and team! go.indiegogo.com/blog/2025/07/g…

If you're not yet tired of podcasts with our founding partner @michuk here is one more by Giordano Tovo of #VCtalk. In this one Borys covers his journey from engineer to entrepreneur and eventually VC. Watch here: youtube.com/watch?v=-w5HS7… #ceevalley

I met Zhuo Jiang as part of our 101 Fellowship at @smokvc and immediately knew he's a hustler. Now he's kicking off his "Break Into VC Podcast" and I haven't hesitated a second when he invited me over. This is how I broke into VC: youtube.com/watch?reload=9… And you?

Every startup is an unprofitable company, but not every unprofitable company is a startup.

This is probably the biggest exit ever by a Polish 🇵🇱 female 🧑🏻‍💼 founder. Congrats @annalankauf! callstack.com/news/callstack…

Most future European unicorns 🦄 will be built in the East, because #CEElicon Valley is based in Warsaw, Poland. That's why I invest in top founders from the region. Here's why: youtu.be/yDWbEYShX5o?si… #ceevalley #venturexapital #startups #emergingeurope

W sieci Smok Angels mamy już 160 aktywnych aniołów biznesu inwestujących w Polsce i CEE. A w zeszłym tygodniu zadziały się pierwsze transakcje ze startupami połączonymi z aniołami przez sieć. O tym po co kolejna sieć aniołów, jak działamy i jakich startupów szukamy przeczytacie…

Stop with the “value-add” bullshit. Every VC claims to be value-add. Very few actually are. If you're serious about being helpful, be specific: How did you help a founder hire? Who did you intro that actually made a difference? What did you do during their raise that moved the…

Who's going to be the Rich Paul of AI engineers?

Wire. The. Money. Don’t be the VC who commits to a deal before closing their fund — and then leaves founders hanging for months. Some never wire at all. Others drag it out in tiny tranches over two years “to optimize for IRR.” That’s not investing. That’s a drip feed. (Polish…

Now that @LandscapeVC pivoted, boundwell.io, The Funded and @VCGuideHQ all shut down, is there another active site that is Glassdoor for VC or are founders fcuked? cc @StephNass

There was this great Polish OLX commercial that said: “Be yourself!… Unless you’re an asshole. Then, be someone else.” Founders have it 10x harder than VCs. They live with constant pressure, risk, and uncertainty. So appreciate the effort. Be helpful — genuinely helpful. Even…

Think some founders struggle with pitching? Wait until you see a VC try to pitch themselves. I still remember this jerk VC I met back in 2012. When I asked them to share a bit about their fund, they snapped: “All the details will be on our website soon.” Then reluctantly mumbled…

Stop disrespecting founders! Yes, you’ve got the money — but it’s not your money. You’re managing capital on behalf of others. Your job is to allocate it to the best founders. Let’s be blunt: A (young) female founder is not a “girl,” “honey,” or “darling.” We’re not in Mad…

Be prepared. One of the most disrespectful things a VC can do is show up to a meeting unprepared. No clue about the startup. Didn't read the deck. Not sure why the meeting was even scheduled. You expect founders to do their homework on your fund — and they should. So why is it…