21 May 2026Live in Monaco with a16z and Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg: From F1 Champion to Venture — Live from Monaco
ETN broadcasts live from the a16z Builders Retreat in Monaco with former F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg. He describes the hard transition from racing into venture capital — earning credibility beyond his title, applying an athlete's focus, and running curated gatherings like his boat trackside at the Monaco Grand Prix — and why he stays in Monaco despite the weak local ecosystem. He recounts cold-emailing his way into deals, including a three-year pursuit of Shopify's Tobi Lütke and a new LP allocation at a top firm that took only two investors globally. He also maps where startups can plug into F1 (sensor-data AI, wind-tunnel learnings, generative AI for materials science), the paddock's rise as a deal-making hotspot, what he looks for in founders via the Eleven Labs example, and this year's robotics-themed Monaco GP event.