HUMAN BEHAVIOUR × VENTURE CAPITAL × AI · DACH/CEE
Underwrite the founder, not just the deal.
I've spent 12 years with founders - hearing and telling their stories, building go-to-market inside their startups, then backing them from inside venture funds. I've designed a second brain that augments my capacity, and here I'm sharing bits of that with the ecosystem. Here are two of my systems - free agents: one gets founders fundraise-ready, one helps investors read the human behind the deal.
- 5+yrs inside venture funds - Principal @ Zoho VC · Startup Wise Guys · angel-network COO
- 450+companies & 15 funds tracked
- 100+startups on SFDR/CSRD
- since 2017coaching founders - Startup Wise Guys · Empowomen · Avant Now
Most of venture treats the founder as a footnote to the deal. I don't - I came to investing from the founder's side of the table, so when I underwrite one, I know what I'm looking at. Conviction lives in the human: founder-market fit, clarity, how they handle the hard question. These two agents work both sides of that idea: founders learn to see themselves the way a partner underwrites them; investors learn to price the person, not just the pitch.
Get the templates
RAISING (OR ABOUT TO)
The Fundraise-Ready Agent
See yourself the way a VC underwrites you - then fix what makes them pass.
- Founder Underwritethe behavioural read a partner won't say to your face
- Deck Teardownslide-by-slide, in the order investors actually read
- Raise Strategywho to approach across DACH/CEE, and in what order
A Claude system prompt + 5-minute setup. Free.
By downloading, you agree to receive the template and occasional, useful emails from me. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. See the Privacy Policy.
EMERGING MANAGERS · ANGELS
The Emerging-Manager Fund-Ops Agent
Underwrite the founder, and run a back office your LPs respect.
- Founder Underwritebehavioural diligence, reference questions, a conviction memo
- Fund Opsportfolio tracking, LP updates, diligence on rails
- SFDR / ESGArticle 6/8/9 SFDR reporting for compliance and credibility
A Claude system prompt + 5-minute setup. Free.
By downloading, you agree to receive the template and occasional, useful emails from me. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. See the Privacy Policy.
How it works
- 01
Enter your email and pick your template.
- 02
Confirm with one click (check your inbox).
- 03
Paste the prompt into a Claude Project and start in 5 minutes - that's it.
About
I'm Daria Demchenko - Berlin-based, CEE-born. I came to venture the long way - and then never left. My first five years were journalism, PR and communications: learning to read people and the stories they tell. Venture has been the through-line since 2016, when my master's thesis tested founder soft skills as predictors of startup success - and the question never let go: coaching founders since 2017 through Startup Wise Guys, Empowomen and Avant Now, COO of an angel network, nearly three years of go-to-market inside tech startups, then five-plus years inside funds as Senior Associate at Startup Wise Guys and Principal at Zoho VC. I've closed deals and stayed close to the founders after the wire, run diligence end to end, built portfolio tracking across 450+ companies and 15 funds, set up SFDR/Article 8 and CSRD ESG frameworks across 100+ startups, and fielded GP and LP questions on everything in between. These days that also means training investors, running tech-stack audits and tool selection for funds, and mentoring through accelerator programs.
That mix is the point: every side of the founder's table, one person. Based in Berlin, working in English across DACH/CEE. I'm open to senior roles inside funds, and I take on select fund-ops, founder-readiness and workshop engagements. The fastest way to see how I think is to use the templates above.
Why this work, and why this angle? Because I'm a hundred-percent VC person whose heart is with the founders. Behind every raise and every pass there are human destinies and reputations - and I've never managed to treat that as a footnote.
Panel on deep-tech at Unlock VC
Mentoring session, Startup Wise Guys
Founder workshop, Warsaw
Building a raise or a fund? Take 20 minutes.
Bring your deck, your pipeline, or your fund-ops headache. You'll leave with one sharp next move - free, no pitch. I also run workshops for accelerators and entrepreneurship programs - ask on the call.