Findings from PhD research interviewing founders and VCs across Europe’s fastest scaling digital companies Most advice on choosing investors focuses on valuation, term sheets and who writes the biggest check. Almost nobody talks about the one signal that, according to the founders and investors I interviewed for my PhD, tells you more about your future working relationship than any number on a cap table. How often they ask you to report to them. It sounds small, but it isn’t.

Findings from PhD research interviewing founders and VCs across Europe’s fastest-scaling digital companies A sales leader I interviewed for my PhD research had watched their company grow from 70 people to over 1,000 in three years — they'd joined as an entry-level rep and were, by the time we spoke, running a team of 160 people across multiple countries. Few people are better placed to describe exactly where scaling starts to hurt, and exactly what breaks first. Their answer