{"id":340517,"date":"2017-05-10T05:22:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T21:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1487508"},"modified":"2017-05-10T05:22:03","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T21:22:03","slug":"after-leaving-accel-fred-destin-is-raising-seed-fund-with-twenty-minute-vc-host-harry-stebbings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/after-leaving-accel-fred-destin-is-raising-seed-fund-with-twenty-minute-vc-host-harry-stebbings\/","title":{"rendered":"After leaving Accel, Fred Destin is raising seed fund with Twenty Minute VC host Harry Stebbings"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Just last month news broke\u00a0that Fred Destin, one of Europe\u2019s best-known VCs, had left London venture capital firm Accel<\/a> to focus on \u201cvery early-stage financing,\u201d including possibly raising a fund of his own. At the time, details were scarce, partly because, in Destin\u2019s own words, it was \u201cearly days.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, in a move that is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows in the London VC community, TechCrunch has since learned that the ex-Accel VC is joining forces with Harry Stebbings, the founder and host of the popular \u201cThe Twenty Minute VC\u201d podcast. Until yesterday, Stebbings was also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atomico<\/a>, the VC firm founded by Skype\u2019s Niklas Zennstr\u00f6m.<\/p>\n

In a call, Destin\u00a0declined to comment, and\u00a0said it was too early to go into further details. The plan, I gather, was to remain in stealth mode for a while longer (sorry!) and Destin stressed that there is a lot of work to be completed yet before anything can be announced officially.<\/p>\n

\"\"Meanwhile, I understand that the two met when Destin was interviewed by now 20-year-old Stebbings on one of the earlier\u00a0episodes of \u201cThe Twenty Minute VC\u201d<\/a> (although I actually appeared<\/a> even earlier!)\u00a0and after the show had finished being recorded, the two\u00a0continued to chat. This led to\u00a0Destin agreeing to be Stebbings\u2019 VC mentor. They have since become close friends, including getting to know each other and their respective families outside of work, and this eventually resulted in\u00a0the idea of working together.<\/p>\n

I also understand from sources that Destin feels that Stebbings brings as much to the table as himself, including the podcaster-turned-VC\u2019s infectious\u00a0enthusiasm and ability to learn fast, and his keen networking prowess\u00a0and likability amongst young founders.<\/p>\n

It was also an open secret that Stebbings sought a role in VC and that his podcast was always intended as a way to achieve just that. In\u00a0hosting \u201cThe Twenty Minute VC,\u201d\u00a0Stebbings has won lots of\u00a0VC friends in Silicon Valley, New York and Europe\u00a0(and in a very short time), as well as building a hugely popular franchise\u00a0that is listened to by many in the wider investment and startup community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" In a move that is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows in the London VC community and beyond, TechCrunch has learned that ex-Accel VC Fred Destin is joining forces with Harry Stebbings, the founder and host of the popular “The Twenty Minute VC” podcast. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-340517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}