Angel Invest Boston

Colin Van Ostern: Why Alumni Ventures Is Betting on UK Venture Capital

In this episode, Colin Van Ostern, incoming head of Alumni Ventures' UK operations, discusses the firm’s network‑powered, diversified venture model and its expansion into the UK to tap a growing European startup ecosystem. He shares his unconventional path from politics and a competency‑based online college venture to venture operations, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the "jobs to be done" for both founders and the firm’s high‑net‑worth investors. Van Ostern explains Alumni Ventures’ strategy of co‑investing without leading rounds, maintaining a broad, sector‑agnostic portfolio of over 1,400 companies, and why the firm believes the next wave of category‑defining startups will emerge outside Silicon Valley. The conversation also highlights cultural differences between US and European VC, noting a more de‑risking approach in Europe versus the US focus on asymmetric returns.