𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗩𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀? 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 #𝟱𝟴 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗷𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗹.

Viktorija Trimbel is a VC investor, strategic advisor, and Managing Director at Coinvest Capital, an evergreen sovereign venture capital fund investing alongside business angels and other VCs. With more than 30 years across corporate governance, M&A, investing, and fundraising, she brings both an investor’s view of risk and a long-term perspective on how startup ecosystems develop.

Funding is rarely just about having the strongest idea or the best-looking pitch deck. The real edge comes from understanding how investors think, what builds trust, where risk actually sits, and how to build a company that can attract capital without losing sight of the business itself.

Introduction 0:00 Lithuania’s startup tiger is finally awake 0:25 You have to be Viktorija to run Coinvest 01:58 Does Coinvest’s investment model actually work 10:03 Why Coinvest backs real defense startups 14:04 What investors really look for in founding teams 19:55 Maternity leave, military service and startup funding 22:00 What founders always underestimate when raising capital 29:20 When startup founders turn out to be criminals 34:13 How co-investing reduces investment risk 38:29 How much luck does building a unicorn take 43:11 Lithuania’s startup ecosystem 45:23 The Baltic startup “sibling rivalry” 49:30 Where Lithuania’s startup ecosystem goes from here 54:42 What founders should do before approaching investors 58:55 Where to find Viktorija 1:05:35

Connect with our guest Viktorija Trimbel – https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktorijatrimbel/ Substack – https://substack.com/@huba Coinvest – https://www.coinvest.lt/ Connect with Max Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/

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