Six time founder (2x unicorns), 150x angel, 20x LP, +10x advisor, 2x Dad, 1x husband and infinite times deeply kind, authentic, and hilarious human being - Maex Ament is one in a million.
He’s built massive companies like Taulia and Centrifuge in the fintech space, backed dozens of start-ups in everything from geo-engineering to AI-image generation, and has remained not just deeply passionate about technology, but joyous in everything he does through the few ups and many downs of a +30 year career in start-ups and technology. So much so that he’s decided to go again, raising another $10m pre-seed for Causa Prima at the age of 51.
Having worked with him for a year building a (now extinct) fund, Max could think of no better a guest to add some grey hair, hilarity and bearded wisdom to our so far relatively young roster of guests.
In sunny Madrid, we dug into:
How he’s gone at +150 angel investments, 6 companies and 1 fund with the same irrepressible energy each time
How he stays motivated in his 50s with financial security and external validation locked down
What failure looks and feels like and how he bounces back
How he’s become the truly authentic version of himself, and the work requited to get there
How he looks for co-founders and new ideas for companies
The importance of taking genuine stances, even with B2B marketing
Why being a carpenter was a necessary side quest between start-ups
How each business has required finding different internal and external motivation
The arbitrage of building global businesses from smaller ecosystems
Timestamps:
00:00 Cold open: who is Maex Ament?
01:03 Kaiserslautern, an Atari, and building video-games at 12
02:35 Six companies and a through-line of invoices
05:19 How to stay excited about “boring” for 25 years
06:44 Building something that lasts
08:49 The skills, and learning to sell in America
12:51 Failure, and how he bounces back
14:43 Slowing down vs doubling down
15:21 The carpenter who became a crypto founder
17:48 Why he can’t build alone
19:16 Why all his friends come through work
20:00 Finding an idea: the Madrid penthouse method
22:11 Falling down the geo-engineering rabbit hole
25:02 The Stardust story
27:17 The day we met, and being unmistakably yourself
30:35 Why you want 50% of people to hate whatever you do
31:29 The most interesting man in accounts payable
36:33 Building a team and hiring for excellence
38:18 How company-building has changed for the fourth time
41:35 When experience becomes a commodity
45:10 A global business that happens to be in Spain
47:03 Faster at 51 than ever
47:36 On age, and the fear of settling
48:50 What he’s still chasing
49:50 The chip on the shoulder, company by company
52:12 Work, family, and the sacrifice myth
54:46 Quickfire
