Licensing beats equity 10x. Fabio Lettieri (Founder, Artivium | Partner, TLN) reveals how €2M turns into €100M in 24 months through royalty-based partnerships instead of ownership dilution, why Europe's 10x better engineers stay underfunded, and the $34B empire that makes nothing.

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🎙️ Episode Highlights:

After 27 episodes with 130+ guests who backed 52 unicorns, one pattern emerged: the capital allocation system is fundamentally backwards. Europe has world-class engineering talent but systematically starves it with slow, risk-averse investment. Meanwhile, accelerators spread €20K across 50 startups (nothing happens), and VCs burn €10-20M on equity models when €1-2M licensing achieves the same outcome.

Fabio's contrarian model:

- 20-50x ROI multiples in under 3 years

- €9K patent protection worldwide for 2.5 years

- ABG case study: $34B annual sales without manufacturing one product

- 24-month discipline: market or die

💡 Key Insights:

"That million euro becomes nothing when you give €20,000 to everybody. It will be more productive to give $1 million to one company." European talent is 10x better than US engineers, but the capital structure prevents scale. The alternative exists—most investors just pretend it doesn't.

👤 Guest: Fabio Lettieri

Founder, Artivium Inc. | Founding Partner, TLN - The Licensing Network

25 years IP licensing experience | $500M+ in royalty deals | Former Licensing Director, Iconix Brand Group

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📖 Deep Dive Article:

Why licensing beats equity 10x, the ABG model that makes $34B without products, and why Europe's investment mindset is the real bottleneck—not talent, not tech.

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⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 TL;TR

01:00 Introduction to IP and Licensing Business Models

05:46 The Role of Accelerators and Incubators

12:39 Challenges in Software Development and Marketing

19:00 The Power of Licensing in Business

27:06 Innovative Approaches to Product Development

31:50 The Ego of Founders and Company Success

32:37 Future Potential Over Past Achievements

34:52 Investing in Projects: A Personal Approach

36:09 The Unique Venture Studio Model

38:29 Licensing vs. Traditional Venture Capital

40:21 The Misunderstood AI Market

41:25 Social Tensions in AI Adoption

43:22 The Speed of Idea to Prototype with AI

45:06 The Importance of Personal Connections

48:23 Cultural and Investment Mindset Differences

50:25 The Power of Licensing and Branding

#VentureCapital #Licensing #Startups #Europe #CapitalEfficiency #TechLeadership #Innovation #Patents #IPLicensing

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