Watch on Youtube for English subtitles (settings > auto-translate > English).
In this new episode of Start Mode, Mat Vaxelaire (Partner @ Hexa) sits down with Evan Testa, cofounder & CEO of Roundtable, the platform that structures and automates private market investments — from SPVs to full investment funds.
In just two years, Roundtable has become a reference in Europe’s private markets investing, structuring nearly half a billion euros and scaling through a unique viral loop embedded in the product.
Unlike many founders who struggle to sell, Evan has a rare “superpower”: the ability to build trust instantly. He doesn’t “sell”, he listens, advises and brings people with him. It’s this ability, combined with deep resilience, that shaped Roundtable’s zero-to-one.
This conversation breaks down how Roundtable found its wedge, why the MVP had to be legally perfect before being technical, and how a trio of founders stays aligned under extreme pressure.
Watch the full episode above, or read the key takeaways below 👇
1) The superpower: selling without selling
Evan’s strength has always been human connection.
“I’m never trying to sell my product. I’m offering advice. The product follows naturally.”
He learned this early, from selling on open-air markets at age 13, waking up at 5am every weekend. It shaped his resilience and his instinct for reading people.
This trust-first mindset became fundamental: in private markets, credibility is everything.
2) The pivot before the launch
The original idea wasn’t Roundtable.
Evan and his cofounders wanted to build a platform that democratized access to private equity funds. Then a competitor raised €100M before they even shipped.
“We told ourselves: we’re not going to spend our lives running behind others.”
They pivoted instantly, before writing a real line of code, and discovered an unexpected pain: structuring, not distribution, was the real bottleneck.
3) A legal MVP — not a technical one
Roundtable operates in a world with zero tolerance for error.
A buggy SPV? A misstructured vehicle? Unthinkable.
“Our MVP wasn’t product. It was legal. We spent a year making the SPV structure bulletproof.”
Only once the legal and regulatory backbone was perfect did the team build around it, with no-code at first, then real automation.
Meanwhile, they ran 400 discovery calls in two months to pinpoint the real needs of the market.
4) Viral by design: one client brings twenty
One overlooked insight: an SPV is a naturally viral product.
“When you create a vehicle, you bring 10, 20, sometimes 50 people with you.”
Early users discovered Roundtable through other investors inside each SPV, creating a compounding growth loop.
From one SPV a month… to a hundred. This organic virality became Roundtable’s engine.
5) The power of saying no
One of Evan’s strongest convictions:
“Founders must be comfortable saying no.”
Especially in the early days, when every customer feels vital and every request is tempting.
Roundtable refused features, refused custom work, and even refused some customers to protect the integrity of the product and the company’s reputation.
The paradox? Often, after a “no,” the customer still came back.
6) The founder trio: alignment above ego
Roundtable’s three cofounders share a rare dynamic.
“We challenge each other a lot. But once we align, we go all-in, together.”
They invest heavily in communication: weekly founder syncs, multi-day retreats, constant re-alignment on priorities, roles, and decisions.
Their principle: the project comes before any individual. Meaning that you have to put your ego to the side for the benefit of the company.
7) Fundraising with angel-customers
When raising their first round, Roundtable deliberately chose not to raise from VCs.
Instead, they brought in dozens of angel investors who were also users, from multiple European countries.
This created a network of local ambassadors that fueled their expansion.
“It’s the most powerful go-to-market engine we could build.”
8) Advice for 0→1 founders
Evan’s motto, one that we hear a lot but that is actually very hard to implement:
“If there’s doubt, there’s no doubt.”
Whether it’s recruiting, choosing a customer, or evaluating an idea, hesitation is almost always a signal.
His advice:
Move fast, but with focus
Protect your credibility like an asset
Stay close to your users
And above all: trust your intuition
