As early-stage investors, we see a lot of decks. And when we say "a lot," we mean *a lot*. It’s a privilege, truly, to witness the energy and ambition of founders trying to build the next big thing. But after a while, certain patterns emerge. Some ideas, no matter how well-packaged, just don't capture our attention. This isn't about being contrarian for its own sake; it’s about having a clear BigSpace investment thesis and sticking to it.
So, let's be direct. We're less interested in: another neobank, consumer crypto wallets aimed at retail speculators, and decks where slide three is a Total Addressable Market (TAM) calculation that includes "the entire global financial system."
Why the specificity? Because our BigSpace investment thesis is built on experience. We've navigated the complexities of regulated financial businesses, dealt with payment processors and their ever-shifting risk appetites, and wrestled with multi-jurisdictional compliance. We've lived through the moment the lawyer says, "you can't do that," the day before launch. We've made the mistakes already. Some of them more than once. This isn't theoretical for us; it’s lived reality.
What Doesn't Move the Needle for Our BigSpace Investment Thesis
Let’s unpack those "less interested" points a bit.
The Neobank Saturation
The neobank space is crowded. Extremely crowded. While there's always room for true innovation, many new entrants are offering incremental improvements rather than truly disruptive solutions. The cost of customer acquisition is high, regulatory hurdles are significant, and differentiation often comes down to features that are quickly replicated. We’re looking for fundamentally new approaches to financial services, not just a prettier user interface on an existing model. Our BigSpace investment thesis demands more than just iteration.
Consumer Crypto and Retail Speculation
Crypto is fascinating, transformative even, but the consumer-facing wallet space, particularly those geared towards retail speculation, feels like a lottery ticket. We believe in the underlying technology and its potential to reshape infrastructure, but the volatility and regulatory uncertainty surrounding speculative assets make it a difficult area for our early-stage, growth-focused BigSpace investment thesis. We prefer to back companies building the picks and shovels for the new digital economy, rather than those selling the shovels to gold prospectors.
Inflated TAMs and Lack of Focus
And then there's the TAM calculation. We've all seen the slide: "Our market is everyone on Earth who uses money." While ambition is admirable, a truly massive, undifferentiated TAM often signals a lack of strategic focus. We want to see founders who deeply understand a specific problem for a specific customer segment. Show us a niche you can dominate, a pain point you can solve better than anyone else, and then we can talk about expansion. A focused approach is a cornerstone of our BigSpace investment thesis.
What We *Are* Looking For
So, if not those, then what? We offer operator capital. This means we're not just writing checks; we're providing partners who have actually run regulated businesses. Our value comes from having been in the trenches. We understand the nuances of building a company that needs to scale while also adhering to complex rules.
We're looking for founders who are building something genuinely new, solving hard problems, and demonstrating a deep understanding of their market, even if it's a smaller, more defined one. We want to see strategic agility, a clear path to execution, and a team that values practical guidance. Our BigSpace investment thesis prioritizes people over products, always. We want founders who are passionate, resilient, and open to learning from our past mistakes – because we've made plenty.
Come Find Us in Amsterdam
Events like Money20/20 Europe (June 2–4, 2026, at the RAI Amsterdam) are easy to be cynical about. The badges, the booth swag, the panels where someone says "AI is a journey, not a destination" at 8 AM while the room nods politely. Fine. All true.
But the actual reason Money20/20 works is mechanical. Everyone has agreed to be in the same place at the same time. The deals happen. The introductions happen. The "I've been meaning to email you for six months" finally happens. You can accomplish twenty meetings in three days that would otherwise take a quarter to arrange.
So, we're going. If you're a founder building something in the spaces we *are* interested in, and you'll be in Amsterdam, reach out before the show, not during. Our diary fills up fast. We'd rather have a proper 30-minute conversation in a quiet corner than two minutes shouted over a DJ set on the show floor. Both are fine, but the first is better for truly understanding your vision and how it aligns with our BigSpace investment thesis.
If you're a fellow investor, a corporate development team, or a strategic partner who works with us on portfolio support, you already know where to find us. Drinks on Wednesday, probably.
For everyone else: head to the BigSpace Investments website and drop us a line. Tell us what you're building, who you're building it for, and what you need. The contact form goes to a real person. If you're attending Money20/20, say so – we'll prioritize getting time in the calendar.
We believe in fueling the impossible. But the impossible, for us, looks a lot more like solving a complex, niche problem with a brilliant team than it does launching yet another variation of what already exists. We're eager to find the next generation of founders whose vision aligns with our BigSpace investment thesis.
See you in Amsterdam. ```