What Investors Look For in a Startup Founder With Elina Halatcheva From BrightCap Ventures

Next on The Recursive podcast, we introduce you to one of the power ladies of the Bulgarian VC sector – Elina Halatcheva, the managing partner at BrightCap Ventures. 

Elina has an MBA from Stanford University and her professional journey started in finance and investment banking. She built her expertise in the US and UK markets, ranging from investment banking to e-commerce, and real estate. 

Eventually, Elina Halatcheva came back to Bulgaria to contribute to the growth of the local tech ecosystem. In her conversation with Georgi Nenov, she shares how she grew appetite for startups, talks about US vs. Bulgarian startup culture, and how she developed in the VC sphere. 

Elina opens up about her lessons learned as an investor – the key qualities of successful founders, the importance of teamwork in the investor-founder relationship, and Bright Cap’s approach to invest in Bulgarian-born founders with international exposure.

“There are many different traits that make a good leader, but you have to be smart. Smart enough to know that you don’t know everything and you need to hire the right people with the right expertise to help you in certain areas. You also have to trust the people that you are hiring. And you have to have emotional intelligence – to know how people feel, how they interact, whether they are happy or unhappy”, Elina explains. 

She also shares her experience and ambition with the European Women in VC initiative, trying to bridge the gap for funding for female founders.

Watch her insightful conversation and women in tech journey with Georgi Nenov to get more insights on how to fundraise in a downturn.  

And if you are looking for more inspirational content, catch up with the previous episode and imagine the future of mobility with Dimitar Dimitrov from Digital Lights.