Meet Daniela Raffel, Associate at Dawn
By: Josh Bell
Tags: Software Development, Startup, Venture Capital, SaaS, Investment

I sat down with Daniela from our team to find out a bit more about what she enjoys at, and away from, work.

Why B2B software VC?

There is so much variety and activity in the B2B software market alone — you could easily spend a lifetime and some on it! I have great respect for investors who can do B2B + B2C, but I find I work best when I can narrow down my scope and really focus.

The added advantage of focusing on B2B is that you learn about things that you never would have known were complex, interesting, or needed fixing. If you’d told me before I joined Dawn that procurement was sexy, I’d have laughed. Now I nod vigorously.

Most exciting moment at Dawn?

Roaming (running) around Berlin from founder meeting to founder meeting. It wasn’t just the fact that they were face-to-face meetings which, as we all well know, Zoom really doesn’t compare to, but realising that my job means I get to meet interesting people, and learn from them, all day every day.

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

I think the enablers of any trend are the most interesting. AI and ML are the buzziest of buzzwords, but it’s the software that checks that a system isn’t going to fail, or the software that helps people prepare the data for these models that really fascinate me.

And the quick-fire round!

Netflix series you most recently binged on and would recommend

Have just discovered VEEP (It’s not new but I’m not very good at TV). It’s hilarious and dances on the fantastic line between being witty, entertaining, and easy to enjoy.

Favourite SaaS metric and why

Magic Number. A) the name is great and b) it’s fantastic for understanding the efficiency of growth. Naturally, this efficiency evolves as the company scales but it’s a good thing to track as it holds you accountable to whether the investments you’re making in sales are paying off.

Best book for a much-needed holiday

Harry Potter. I confess to having queued for the books as well as having them on audiobook and listening to them in times of stress — there’s nothing quite as soothing as Stephen Fry telling me about adventures at Hogwarts.

Best and worst thing to see in a deck

Best: numbers. ultimately, there is always going to be interest in traction to date, whether you measure it in revenue or not, at the Series A+ stage. To not include this in a deck makes it more difficult to understand where on the development stage a company is, and therefore how to understand other maturity markers, like sales.

Worst: honestly, if you think it’s important to share then I want to understand why. So I guess the worst thing is a slide that says nothing, or is skipped over in a pitch.

Recipe for the perfect evening/weekend?

A lockdown hangover is bread baking. I got experimental the other weekend and made crumpets — delicious. I am pro-yeast, anti-sourdough. Both make great bread; one is efficient and predictable, the other is not. I don’t know what that says about my personality, but probably a lot.

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

Is it a cop out to say I’m an investor not a founder… If it were easy, anyone could do it — and I know that it’s not easy.

Best piece of advice you have given or received?

“No one cares as much as you.” I can agonise over details, and sometimes it’s important to remember that if you’ve already given it so much thought, then it is probably in a good place!

The flip side of that is another great piece of advice I have received: “if you have tried as hard as you can, then you need to be satisfied with the outcome, whatever it is.”

Naturally, it’s hard to find a healthy balance between the two!