Ricardo (Point Nine)
8 Nov 2025Armis raises $435M, Attio updates, Sequoia shifts, Google Maps joins, Palantir dips Big Short 2 more
Project Europe & Belief Culture — Ricardo (Point Nine)
Ricardo, an investor at Point Nine, describes supporting Project Europe from day one and the off-the-charts talent density among Europe's youngest founders. He explains how the program connects isolated entrepreneurs — like someone in rural Greece or Norway — with top European builders within days. He argues Europe's biggest missing ingredient is a "belief culture" that invests belief alongside capital.
Entrepreneurship as Art & Founder Personality in Products
Ricardo argues entrepreneurship is an artistic craft rather than a scientific or technical one — founders bend reality through self-expression, intuition, and vision on a blank canvas. He says the job of pre-seed and seed investors is to discover the new and defend it with capital, and that speed without truth-seeking is just motion. The group discusses how founder personality shows up in products and brands like Klarna, Musk's Cybertruck, Apple under Jobs, and Linear.
1X Neo, Teleoperation & Real-World Data in Robotics
Reacting to 1X's Neo home robot launch and the memes about its teleoperation, Ricardo argues real-world data is an essential piece of the robotics puzzle, since simulation, imitation learning, and teleoperation alone will hit roadblocks. He points to Tesla and to Wayve, whose car improved as it drove in Japan with gains transferring to other geographies. He describes a step-by-step approach — mastering narrow use cases like pick-and-place before unlocking harder ones — and says homes are highly variable environments he's watching with interest.
Breaking Into VC & Point Nine's Attio Origin Story
Ricardo advises young people trying to break into VC to train their investing "algorithm" — intuition and taste — before landing a seat, and to be prepared for delayed gratification. Asked what to ask Attio's Nick, he points to hiring and the company's talent concentration. He recounts Point Nine's 2021 investment: the aha-moment of going after CRM in a pre-AI era, buying into Nick and Alex's vision to win the largest software category, the wilderness years building product parity, and excitement for Attio's next 15 years.
7 Nov 2025etn. Episode 8
Ricardo (Point Nine): Project Europe & Belief Culture
Ricardo introduces Point Nine, the Berlin seed firm founded by Christoph and Pavel over 15 years ago, now four equal partners leading seed rounds globally in AI and software-defined physical industries. He explains Point Nine's role as an early LP in Project Europe, helping Harry, Kitty, Jade and the 20VC gang connect under-25 founders from places like Greece and Norway to established European builders. He argues Europe's biggest missing ingredient isn't capital or regulation but a belief culture, because belief builds belief.
Entrepreneurship as Art & Founder Personality in Products
Ricardo argues entrepreneurship is an artistic craft of self-expression rather than a technical job: founders bend reality from a blank canvas, and a seed investor's job is to discover and defend the new, helping founders 'be right faster' since speed without truth-seeking is just motion. The hosts and Ricardo discuss how founder personality shows up in products—Klarna's pink suits, Musk in the Cybertruck, Jobs at Apple—and he says it lives on in software through crafted products like Linear and Point Nine portfolio company Atio, and in the culture embedded in teams.
Neo & One X: Real-World Data in Robotics
Reacting to the Neo and One X humanoid robot launch, Ricardo argues real-world data is a crucial piece of the robotics puzzle, since simulation, imitation learning and teleoperation data alone will hit roadblocks in manipulation and locomotion. The hosts compare Tesla's massive real-world fleet data advantage, and Ricardo cites the European self-driving company Wave—whose car improved as it drove in Japan with Masa—to illustrate how nailing narrow use cases like pick-and-place in logistics unlocks progressively harder ones.
Breaking Into VC Advice & Backing Atio in 2021
For young people wanting to break into venture, Ricardo advises training your investing intuition before you land the job, developing taste in non-hyped spaces, and getting comfortable with delayed gratification. He also leaves a question for upcoming Atio guest Nick about hiring and talent concentration. He then recounts Point Nine's 2021 investment in Atio—buying into Nick and Alex's vision to win the largest category in software, the 'wilderness' years building parity with decade-old incumbents, and how it still feels like the beginning.