Pierre Bricault - Dawn Capital

Pierre Bricault

Investor

Pierre looks for new European software champions, with a particular focus on France.

Pierre joined us from Luko, the Paris-based insurtech startup reinventing home insurance, where he was Head of Partnerships. Before that, he held roles as a consultant and analyst at McKinsey, Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas.

He holds a masters degree in Business Management from EDHEC Business School, and another in Finance and Private Equity from the LSE.

Connect

In conversation

Why B2B software VC?

As a previous business owner in a B2C startup, I know that the way to win and execute faster, cheaper and better is by using the right technology and tools in your daily work. Now I can spend my days looking for the next big and really useful tools for B2B!

Most exciting moment at Dawn?

My first week at Dawn, I immediately traveled to Slush. What an onboarding! Meeting that many VCs and entrepreneurs within a few days and building relationships within the ecosystem was a great experience.

What do you think is the most interesting trend in the industry, and why?

Even if it’s not really new, I’m excited by what open banking still has to offer. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what PSD2 can offer. Beyond mortgage and consumer finance scoring, there are plenty of use cases left to explore in massive verticals, like insurance and real estate.

And the quick fire round…

Favourite SaaS metric and why

Coming from the B2C insurance world, where lifetime value (LTV) and customer acquisition cost (CAC) is king, and where each customer is a bet for several years, I’m amazed by the great CAC payback period of B2B SaaS! Of course, this is nothing without good growth, which is still the north star when you’ve just proven your product market fit!

Best and worst thing to see in a deck

Best: Detailed appendix that preempts investors’ questions. It means you’re not taking them for fools and that you’re well prepared. Worst: No clear differentiation versus the competition. Or, even worse, not recognising there is competition when it exists.

If you could build one company right now, what would it be?

I’m amazed by how many low-value tasks are still done manually in investment banking. Analysts and associates should be able to focus more on the complexity of their models and answering the right questions, rather than computing comparables from well-known databases and formatting slides. There’s definitely an opportunity to automate some of the workload, and hopefully spare them the long nights!

Best piece of advice you have given or received?

Recruit ambitious people and give them ownership. If they have high expectations for themselves and feel responsible for their work, they'll have a real opportunity to grow and realise their potential.

Pierre's investments

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