Corné Jansen
Co-founder & General Partner
What makes me tick
It continues to amaze me that despite all the friction that we have in Europe (fragmented markets, different cultures/languages, (over-)regulation, fiscal challenges, etc.), founders still manage to build really sizable and impactful companies.
With more and more aspirational examples popping up and talent leaving some of these ‘Lighthouse’ firms to set up their own companies, we are entering a really interesting couple of decades. All the necessary elements are there to build a European powerhouse of technology companies and it's incredibly exciting to be a part of this.
At Coalition, we aim to become the ‘MVP’ of an entrepreneur’s cap table and we take a very long-term view on our relationships with Founders, Enterprises, Operators and our LPs alike. There are things that we are building currently that we cannot wait to show to the outside world.
Background
Growing up in a fairly small village in the south of the Netherlands, I was intrigued by a couple of things: music, sports, AD&D and messing around with a bunch of computers (me and my brother even imported a MSX Turbo-R from Japan after which we played games in Japanese).
By pure coincidence I joined the Technology coverage group at CSFB at the beginning of my career. What followed were a couple of amazing years with an incredibly steep learning curve. I in particular really enjoyed the interactions with technology entrepreneurs at some of the pivotal moments for their companies, such as IPOs.
The decision to go to the buy-side was an easy one, but choosing which stage was tougher (early stage, growth or buyout). I worked for a couple of years in mid-market technology growth, and realized that I actually loved the excitement of investing at the very early stages of a company in either Seed or Series-A.
In 2015, I joined Inkef where we had a great run of building out a very international team and a portfolio of some 51 companies in both Technology and Healthcare. Joining Coalition and building the VC that fits 100% with my personal ambitions & aspirations is the opportunity of a lifetime. We certainly intend to apply all the lessons that we have learned and will do things a bit different to achieve our goals!
Beyond investing
Married with one 14 year son. I enjoy sports (CrossFit, running & (beach)-volleyball), love to cook, traveling & reading and I am finally learning to play guitar.