Back when Deliveroo was a tiny London-based platform, with just a few restaurants in its repertoire, there was one man who believed it’d go on to become the multi-billion-dollar brand it is today: Martin Mignot.
“They had eight employees. They were in three London boroughs. Overall, they had a few 1000 users to date, so it was very, very early,” the 40-year-old investor exclusively tells Fortune. “They didn’t have an app. Their first website was pretty terrible and ugly, if I’m frank, but the delivery experience was incredible.”
In those days, he adds that the founder, Will Shu would get on a bike and spend his evenings doing deliveries himself to really understand the experience from the driver. “When you see that level of insight and then of commitment and greed and intensity, it’s a no-brainer.”
Meanwhile, Mignot has since led early investment in some of Europe’s most iconic startups, including Revolut, Trainline and Personio. His bets paid off fast: By his late 20s, the millennial had cemented his reputation as one of the industry’s most notable investors—and made his first millions along the way.
For Gen Z who want to emulate his success, he advises: “It’s about owning equity, that is the key.”
Gen Z can take one of two paths to become millionaires in their 20s: become a founder or join a startup that you can invest in early, Mignot says. Essentially, you need to own a company—or, at least, part of one.
“Entrepreneurship is obviously the best way,” he explains, with the caveat that it’s also the more high-risk option of the two.
“You can use all of those amazing tools to code something, and then you can get massive reach if you’re if you’re clever and you’re creative—that’s where Gen Z has a huge advantage,” Mignot adds. “That’s something that no other generation in history ever had.”
“The other route, that is another great route, is joining amazing tech companies very early on,” Mignot says, while adding that Index has long been campaigning to make stock options more easily accessible to people, especially in Europe.
“That is a fantastic way to become wealthy,” he adds. “You won’t become as wealthy as if you were the founder, but you’re also not as attached to one company. You can own multiple companies over the years.”
“The best career accelerator you can have is joining a Revolut, Robin Hood, or Figma early enough—and you don’t have to be the first employee. If your employee 100 at Revolut or 200, you’re going to make a lot of money.”
On top of that, he adds, you’ll see your career grow at an exponential rate. “You’re going to have such an asset for your next role, and that next role could be another very fast-growing company in a more senior role, or it can be starting your own thing.”
“And again, that’s how you make wealth by being an owner. That’s what stock options give you. You become an owner of the company you work for, and that’s how you build wealth.”
It doesn’t matter if you’re not tech-savvy. Mignot says anyone can break into the startup industry—like any other company, they still need the likes of marketers and salespeople, and they tend to hire young. “If you look at Revolut hiring strategies, it’s a lot about hiring very smart, very young, very hungry people who really want to make it.”
But how can you tell if you’re applying for the next stock market darling?
“If you look at most of the recent tech IPOs, they will have been backed by a venture capital fund by and large,” he says, adding that young people should look at which startups VC firms like Index Ventures are backing.
“There are millions of companies getting started every day,” he says. So, trying to find a unicorn is quite literally like finding a needle in a haystack if you go at it alone. “There’s no chance,” he adds. But the best venture capital funds “do it again and again and again.”
To narrow down your list of potential employers, Mignot suggests doing some serious digging.
“The goal is to learn a lot and have an impact. It’s also to become an owner of that business. So do your research as if you were investing in that company,” he adds. “That means look at all the sources you can find about that business online. Can you get behind the scenes to do your diligence? Can you find employees or ex-employees? Can you reach out to them on LinkedIn? Talk to competitors. Think like an investor.”
And whatever you do, don’t box yourself in. “We live in an incredible time where everything is getting more accessible,” Mignot concludes. “Don’t limit yourself to a single geography, think global, do your due diligence and just go along for a ride.”
