Eugenia Di Marco

After years advising startups and evaluating companies as an investor, I’ve learned one thing: 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭. The questions founders ask in Kazakhstan are surprisingly similar to the ones I hear in Miami, Silicon Valley, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, or Milan. Not because the markets are the same, but because growth creates the same challenges everywhere. → How do I go from building a company that works to building a company that investors trust? → How do companies lose investments during due diligence? → What changes when a founder decides to play on a global stage? Today, I joined Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs (HAE) and Yassa Business Institute for a conversation on venture capital, fundraising, due diligence, governance, scalability, AI, and global leadership. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. We analyzed a fintech founder who had built what looked like a great business: growing revenue, strong customer traction, an experienced team, and a European VC ready to invest millions. Then investor due diligence began. The investor discovered that key IP wasn’t properly assigned, critical agreements were missing, and parts of the business weren’t structured the way everyone assumed. The investment wasn’t lost. But the founder suddenly had 90 days to fix years of accumulated shortcuts. What made the discussion fascinating was that nobody saw it as just a legal problem. They saw it for what it really was: 𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. The lesson? 𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. The companies that win globally start acting global long before anyone notices. #VentureCapital #Fundraising #InvestorReadiness #StartupGovernance #DueDiligence #GlobalLeadership #GlobalExpansion | 17 comments on LinkedIn