Enrico Meles
18 Feb 2026OpenClaw Joins OpenAI, Legora Eyes $6B, Netherlands Tax Unrealised Gains
Andreas Helbig (Atomico): 'Hard to Vibe-Code a Bank'
Andreas Helbig contextualizes his FT line that it's 'really hard to vibe-code a bank,' saying AI's impact is overestimated short-term and underestimated long-term since a bank is more than code: payment rails, consumer trust and regulatory compliance. He discusses a bank CTO who built a toy core-banking ledger in a weekend, Lovable switching its CRM to HubSpot, and the 'grow your own potatoes' build-vs-buy analogy, plus the FDE motion for enterprise AI. On the SaaS sell-off, he cites frustration with stock-based compensation, weak free cash flow, and underwhelming roadmaps like Agentforce's basic features. Enrico Meles joins the stream early at the end of the segment before his own slot.
Enrico Meles on Launching Animal Syndication Co.
Enrico Meles explains leaving his Lakestar partnership to launch the Animal Syndication Company, raising deal-by-deal SPVs instead of a fund — about $3M across four SPVs since November, including Peak AI's Series A and a 500k SPV raised in nine hours. He takes no management fee, invests his own money in every deal, and tailors angels to each founder, citing celebrities who can open doors and bootstrapped founders who challenge VC assumptions. He expects to deploy $10-15M across roughly 20 deals this year and jokes that Claude is his only colleague.