In this episode, we speak with Andra Bagdonaitė, venture capital investor and Partner at FIRSTPICK — a high-speed VC fund and accelerator backing ambitious early-stage startups across the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia).
Andra shares insights from her experience investing at the pre-seed and seed stages, often becoming the first investor on a startup’s cap table. She explains what truly makes a company investable in its earliest phase: a committed founding team, early validation, and a clear path toward scalable growth. We explore how milestones are defined, why willingness to pay is the strongest signal of product-market fit, and how founders can think strategically about reaching their next funding round.
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Before co-founding FIRSTPICK, Andra worked in early-stage investment and accelerator roles at Startup Wise Guys, one of Europe’s leading startup accelerators, where she supported emerging startups through growth and fundraising. Her journey into venture capital was not planned, but shaped by years of working alongside founders and witnessing how ideas turn into companies.
In our conversation, we also touch on a topic especially relevant for creative entrepreneurs: the shift from service-based work to scalable, technology-driven products. Andra shares how founders can identify repeatable problems, test ideas early, and avoid the trap of building in isolation. She speaks candidly about iteration, market validation, and why perfection is often the enemy of progress.
We also discuss the Baltic startup ecosystem, the growing flow of capital into the region, and why experience — often underestimated — plays a critical role in building successful companies. As Andra notes, many of the strongest founders are not the youngest, but those who have spent years understanding real-world problems.
This episode offers a grounded look at early-stage investing, practical advice for founders considering venture capital, and an honest perspective on what it takes to build globally competitive companies from the Baltics.
Tune in to learn more about early-stage investing, what investors truly look for, and how founders can turn patterns into scalable opportunities.
