Daiva Rakauskaitė on Venture Central: Rethinking How We Measure Startup Success

Daiva Rakauskaitė, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Aneli Capital, recently joined the Venture Central podcast to discuss the evolution of Lithuania’s venture ecosystem and share insights from more than 30 years in the investment industry.

In the episode, Daiva reflects on her journey from contributing to the creation of Lithuania’s early securities market to investing in the next generation of technology companies. The conversation explores how the Lithuanian startup ecosystem developed and what indicators investors should focus on when evaluating long-term company success.

One of the key themes discussed is the development of Lithuania’s business angel ecosystem. Over time, the country has built a highly active community of around 500 angel investors, which plays a crucial role in supporting early-stage startups. Collaboration between angel investors and venture capital funds has become an important mechanism for providing both capital and experience to emerging companies.

The discussion also introduces the Acorn Index, an approach that measures startup performance by tracking the amount of taxes paid per employee using official government data. This method offers a different perspective on startup health by focusing on real economic contribution rather than only on valuations or funding rounds.

Another topic explored in the episode is the evolving perception of the word “startup.” According to Daiva, some highly profitable technology companies deliberately avoid identifying themselves as startups, as they increasingly associate the term with experimentation, inefficiency, or early-stage mistakes rather than mature, high-quality businesses.

Finally, the conversation touches on the concept of the venture capital “anti-portfolio.” Every investor inevitably misses opportunities to back companies that later become extremely successful. Rather than viewing this as a failure, Daiva reflects on why these moments are simply part of the venture capital process.

The episode provides a broader perspective on Lithuania’s investment ecosystem and raises an important question for the industry: what if the true impact of startups was measured not only by valuations, but by their real contribution to the economy?

Watch the full episode on Venture Central: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbsykBjDDlg