In this edition of Cosmic Conversations, I spoke with Mattias Ljungman, founder of Moonfire Ventures and a 25-year veteran in venture capital. Specialising in technical founders and early-stage investments, Mattias shares his most actionable insights for B2B SaaS entrepreneurs looking to secure funding and scale effectively.
Q: What traits do you look for when investing in founders?
I look for founders who turn mission into actual strategy. They have a clear north star and know deeply what they want to solve. They evangelise about that mission in a way that inspires others.
The best founders are somewhat messianic in building their teams and culture. They drive a vision that brings people along on what is inevitably a bumpy ride, convincing top talent to take risks they might not otherwise take.
They have a deep motivation and relentless hustle to win. There’s a wish to get things done now, not later, enjoying the speed of execution. These founders run through walls – facing setback after setback while remaining determined.
Continuous learning is critical – always finding new ways, staying curious about what’s happening around them, and deploying technology in ways others haven’t imagined or have failed at.
Finally, there’s a technology-driven customer obsession – using data and information to deliver the best product for customers and resolving their real pain points.
Q: What mistakes do you see founders making when pitching to VCs?
The biggest surprise is how many founders don’t understand the power of reputation and legitimacy. For a company, you build legitimacy by showing who your employees are, what you’ve achieved, who your investors are, and why they chose you.
Highlight your customers, design partners, educational background, and impressive life achievements. If you’re building a gaming company, mention if you’ve been a professional gamer. If you’ve faced the problem you’re solving for five years and found various hacks to address it, that’s powerful. Having faced the pain yourself and deeply understanding your user’s needs is incredibly valuable.
When approaching VCs, focus first on building a relationship rather than immediately pitching. Impress them by sharing what you’ve achieved and why you’re passionate about this problem. Show you’re making big moves, then come with the funding ask later.
Be clear on why your opportunity is worth billions. If you can articulate why it’s a $10 billion market and walk VCs through your vision for revenue, market positioning, and leadership, everyone will sit up and listen.
Q: Which categories do you think will explode in the next five years?
Three areas particularly interest us at Moonfire:
First is work and knowledge – solutions at the application layer changing how people do their jobs. GPT wrappers and agentic solutions are redefining the workplace, eliminating what we call “mental manual work.”
Second is security, infrastructure, and tooling – the foundation supporting the AI revolution. This includes changes in data usage, security adaptations for AI/ML, and business intelligence solutions.
Third is capital and finance. Despite some innovation, the financial system remains largely unchanged. With AI-powered solutions, we can fundamentally redefine this space in ways that weren’t possible before.
Q: What go-to-market strategies do you find most effective?
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach – it depends on the founder and sector. Sometimes challenging the norm works best, like bringing open source to areas where it hasn’t been used before.
Product-led growth can be powerful – offering free versions to onboard users, then figuring out how to monetise and build retention. Community-led approaches through content and SEO are increasingly effective. I’ve been surprised by LinkedIn’s power in generating growth for B2B companies.
As a founder, you might double down on one approach or use a combination. You can pursue partner-led growth while simultaneously developing content and influencer strategies. Test different approaches and be prepared to adapt.
What often happens is founders find something that works initially, but then it stops working as they target different customer segments or move upmarket. These transitions can be challenging and lead to growth plateaus. Don’t be afraid to iterate as you move from $7,000 contracts to $15K, $50K, $150K, and beyond. Some companies can maintain their approach throughout scaling, but most need significant adaptation.
Q: When should founders make their early sales hires?
For the average B2B SaaS company, I recommend hiring sales help when you approach 20-25 customers. This means you should start the hiring process before reaching that milestone.
Sometimes you might need help earlier if managing just a few large customers consumes too much of your time. However, I don’t see this often and it can be risky – if a major deal falls through, you could lose six to nine months of momentum.
Focus on building volume first, and don’t worry if your initial price point isn’t your final one. Your annual contract value will increase with time. The goal is getting repetitions as a founder – building confidence in your sales approach and model. Once you gain momentum, bring someone else on to drive more of these processes while you might still handle closing key deals.
Q: How can founders avoid making early sales mistakes?
Listen to experienced people and get feedback from your network. I’m always surprised by founders not building trust with other players in their market. Meet in person, talk through challenges, and learn from others’ experiences.
One thing we should do better as VCs is bringing founders together more frequently, creating spaces where they can share experiences and learn from each other. Building a strong founder community around you is invaluable – not just for now but for the next five or ten years of your journey.
Use your ecosystem. Connect with angels who’ve been through similar challenges, other investors, and peers. Sometimes founders know the answers but haven’t had time to process them properly.
Q: What makes for successful B2B SaaS companies across Europe and the US?
The lines between Europe and the US are increasingly blurred. Outside of San Francisco, tech communities in cities like New York, Boston, Austin, and Seattle are comparable to London, Paris, and Munich.
San Francisco remains in a league of its own with abundant capital and deep industry knowledge. But many “American” success stories have European origins – Stripe (Irish founders), Datadog (French founders), and Databricks (CEO of Swedish descent).
Many European founders now see 8 out of their first 10 customers coming from the US. It’s about excellence across both regions, not choosing one over the other.
Europe produces three to four times as many STEM graduates as the US and has four universities in the global top 10 for STEM subjects. In AI and machine learning, many foundational researchers are European. We’re seeing strengths in robotics and potentially quantum computing as well.
The commercialisation happened primarily in the US, but that’s changing. Spotify represents the largest valuation of a European startup that stayed in Europe – a sign of progress for the ecosystem.
Key takeaways from this Cosmic Conversation:
- Build legitimacy by highlighting your genuine connections to the problem you’re solving and assembling impressive early customers, team members, and advisors.
- Focus on relationship-building with investors before making funding asks.
- Articulate a clear path to becoming a multi-billion dollar company.
- Consider product-led and community-led growth strategies alongside traditional sales approaches.
- Be prepared to evolve your GTM as you scale from smaller to larger contracts.
- Hire sales support around the 20-25 customer mark.
- Leverage your founder community to avoid reinventing the wheel on sales and GTM challenges.
- Think globally from day one – the best B2B SaaS companies now blur the lines between European and US markets.
