Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, your inside track on the people, models, and math reshaping European venture.

This week, Andreas talks with Damian Cristian and Guy Conway, co-founders of Rule 30 - an AI research lab building what they claim is the world’s first fully systematic venture strategy. We go deep on the difference between “data-driven” (hygiene) and decision-driven (engine), why labels matter, and how portfolio math crushes intuition.

They unpack founder-trajectory signals, graph-based network evolution, market topology (yes, biology-inspired stats), and a portfolio design targeting 3x+ minimum returns with 97.5% confidence. We also debate the “access myth,” party rounds, and why they won’t sell their alpha.

Whether you’re an LP testing managers, a GP rethinking reserves, or a founder curious how algorithms “see” you - this one’s for the nerds and the pragmatists.

Here’s what’s covered:

01:46 | What is “Quant VC” and how it differs from traditional venture
06:39 | Why pre-seed isn’t an access problem — it’s a triage problem
09:55 | Can AI really make investment decisions at pre-seed?
14:13 | Training the model on 15 years of startup data to find top-decile winners
20:55 | The “Outlier Trajectory” of founders — decoding team evolution through data
26:42 | Why Rule 30 calls itself an AI Research Lab, not a VC fund
35:36 | Portfolio construction math: the danger of the “middle” strategy
55:57 | Follow-ons vs upfront bets — why they avoid reserves entirely
61:40 | Access myth-busting — why 99 % of pre-seed deals are open to smart capital

E662 | Damian Cristian & Guy Conway, Rule 30: Building the First Fully Systematic VC

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