From healthcare technologies to cybersecurity through renewable energies: when it comes to investment, Carlos Espinal, author of "A Field guide to Fundraising", has it covered. 

As well as being smart and hard-working, Carlos is an outstanding team member and mentor. He is the one person company founders call for advice. His goal-oriented mindset and extensive venture capital experience led him to write a book to help entrepreneurs raise funds, which he continually updates as the market evolves.

Every day at SeedCamp, where he has been a VC partner for the past six years, he embodies this human-centered, community-focused mindset when it comes to choosing a company to invest in.

And it certainly seems to be working. SeedCamp has made over 470 investments since its creation in 2007. Today, it is leading its sixth round of seed investments, distributing between 500,000 and 1 million euros, sometimes more, for a 5-8% share. 

In this episode, Carlos not only gives us a masterclass on fundraising, he also shares an inspiring vision of his role as an investor. 

Spoiler: this episode may contain an embarrassing amount of beatboxing and ASMR. 

Carlos and I also talked about:

  • His book, A Field Guide to Fundraising.
  • His journey from Honduras to the UK
  • How he set up WiFi on the first floor of Wall Street
  • AI, health, the climate crisis and cybersecurity
  • The creator economy

TIMELINE :   

  • 00:00:00 - Some beatboxing and discussion of tech trends
  • 00:08:58 - Carlos Espinal’s career in a nutshell 
  • 00:44:06 - How SeedCamp operates
  • 01:01:55 - Intuition, expectations, reality: building the right mindset for raising
  • 01:43:06 - Artificial Intelligence
  • 02:12:28 - The Creator Economy
  • 02:27:27 - Cybersecurity
  • 02:29:38 - Carlos’ lowest point
  • 02:33:55 - Where to keep in touch with Carlos
  • 02:35:44 - Carlos’ favorite books 
  • 02:39:10 - A word for young Carlos still living in Venezuela


Carlos and I quoted several old GDIY episodes:


Carlos and I talked about :


Carlos recommends you read :

3 books about our civilization’s challenges

And 2 to survive them


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How do you like the theme music? We owe it all to Morgan Prudhomme! Contact him at: https://studio-module.com. 

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You can contact Carlos on Linkedin, follow him on Twitter, listen to him on the SeedCamp podcast This Much I Know, and  read his works on carlosespinal.com