Eléonore Crespo: Lessons Raising $397M From the Best Investors in the World
The Memo
May 9, 2025
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Eléonore Crespo is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Pigment, one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. With Pigment, Eleonore has raised over $397M from the best in the world including ICONIQ, Greenoaks and IVP to name a few. Prior to Pigment, Eléonore was on the other side of the table as an investor with Index Ventures.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
04:10 “I had 3 surgeries. That’s when I knew I had to become a founder.”
06:50 Why Index Ventures isn’t on her cap table
08:40 Eleonore’s CIA-style co-founder hunt (she literally made a target list)
11:50 Co-CEOs: “We talk 3x a day. That’s our superpower.”
13:30 The boutique coffee metaphor for product excellence
15:40 Yuri Milner’s 4 traits of legendary founders (one is shocking)
17:30 “Hiring is everything. I hunt talent like a football scout.”
19:00 Wild Olympic Games story → led to hiring a top CFO
24:50 How she filters out title-chasers and political hires
29:30 “Too much process? I make teams list the dumbest ones.”
33:00 Her blunt answer on whether Europe can produce scale execs
35:00 Why she raised so much money… even when they didn’t need it
38:50 Board power is real: “They can fire you. I’ve seen it.”
43:30 Rob Ward’s counter-cyclical advice: double down during a downturn
44:50 “We closed a massive US deal… at 2am… while drenched in rain.”
47:10 Selling into the US as a European founder—her full playbook
50:20 The hardest part of being a CEO no one talks about
54:00 “Children remind you what happiness is.”
56:30 “I don’t fast. That would make me unhappy.” On longevity culture
59:20 Why her husband knows nothing about Pigment
01:04:20 “Forget $50B. I want to build a $200B company.”
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