Enrico Mellis spent a year at the startup that became Foodora, nearly five at Project A, and four and a half more at Lakestar. In November 2025 he launched Animal: no fund, no management fee, just his own check going in first on every deal, with a small group of angels invited in behind him.
Here’s what stuck with me:
Venture is really three jobs wearing one trenchcoat: sourcing, selecting and supporting. Enrico believes most angels and family offices are better than VCs at supporting, since they don’t have to manufacture an opinion just because they sit on a board. Where they lose out is sourcing, because founders worry an unfamiliar name on the cap table sends the wrong signal. Wrapping them into one “Animal SPV” line solves that: founders get hand-picked help without the signalling risk of a dozen unknown names.
Venture capital is bottled water, and most of the industry still won’t sell it like one. Enrico’s comparison: Perrier turned tap water into a premium product through positioning alone, and venture should work the same way. Most managers still act as though marketing is beneath them, a habit left over from when there were 10 firms rather than 10,000.
Saying “not for me” is a superpower most VCs lack. Enrico tells founders immediately when he’s out, something he thinks most VCs struggle with. It isn’t that they’re difficult people; partners at bigger firms need to keep the option of saying yes later, in case a colleague talks them into the deal. As a solo GP, there’s no colleague to answer to.
His own check has to actually hurt. He writes it first, before anyone else’s money goes in: comfortably under €50k, yet well above a typical angel ticket. He’s still surprised nobody has ever asked him to prove it. The number matters less than whether writing it cost him something.
There’s also a fun detour into the AI setup he’s built to match his network of angels to founder requests (his assistant is literally named Wolfie), and his theory that you don’t need much capital to be a great investor, just patience and enough obsession to keep going.
Hope you enjoy it.
DG
