Late update - 25 Nov 22

#YesterdayI

Posted about seeing Steven Isserlis at Royal Festival Hall.
Had coffee with 🥥 Sonny Drinkwater of WellEasy.
Had lunch with Jonathan Nwosu, Min Sang Kim and Dakshesh Dharmadhikary of ClimaView AI.
Saw The Book of Mormon with son number one.
Watched Wakanda Forever in 4DX with son number one.

#NowI

Am going to my niece's Bat Mitzvah.

founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Steven Isserlis at Royal Festival Hall

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of attending a performance by Steven Isserlis at Royal Festival Hall. Steven is a world-renowned cellist.

I know nothing about classical music but even I could feel and appreciate the depth of emotion and incredible self-expression he showed while playing.

I was fortunate enough to go for dinner with him, 🎥 Gabriel Isserlis, Daniel Samosir Botcherby, Rahel ራሄል Tesfai, 🏠 Dan Jefferys and others after the show. Gabriel, thank you so much for the invite.

Bonus points if you can spot me in the audience clapping.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 24 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about last night's unbundled vc serendipity meetup.
Had coffee with Rockman Law of Ada Ventures.
Signed docs and sent funds for a new investment. No publicity on this one until the new year.
Met Jamie Beaumont of Playter for a catch-up.
Had coffee with Edoardo Cariati, Vice President of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Private Equity Society, and chatted about taking part in an event for them. My father went to LSE.

#LaterI

Am going to see (hear?) Steven Isserlis play at Royal Festival Hall.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Serendipity meetup at the Jon Snow

Fantastic to meet so many of you yesterday evening at the first ever unbundled vc serendipity meetup.

Thank you all for coming.

Any comments or feedback on what we could do better next time would be greatly appreciated!

Tom Whitby, Singe (StJohn) Deakins, Greg Johnston, Richard Einhorn, Jordan Colclough APFS, Ivor Colson, Dean Shepherd, David Rae, Caitlin Rozario, Praveen Yadav, Niraj Dattani, Zhin Kader, Jon Chapman, Yvonne B., Denise Celeghin, Paul Loberman, Larisa Budaeva, Max Wong, Dip. IoD, FRSM, 🏠 Dan Jefferys, Chad Yilmaz, Ran Wang, Michael John Magdongon, Hena Husain, Rahel ራሄል Tesfai, 🎥 Gabriel Isserlis!

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 23 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about the importance of market size in investment decisions.
Had coffee with Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda | The LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing app.
Shared Caitlin Rozario of interlude's public pitch.
Chatted with Tobias Nolan of Candle.
Met Mark Shields of MPS Data

#NowI

Am meeting Singe (StJohn) Deakins of CitizenMe for coffee.

#LaterI

Am hosting the first unbundled vc serendipity meetup.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Public pitch - Caitlin Rozario of interlude

Delighted to share, with permission, Caitlin Rozario of interlude's pitch.

interlude helps workers and businesses supercharge their productivity through the power of high-quality work breaks.

Please let me know if you would like an intro or feel free to reach out directly.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Market size is important

If you are seriously considering investing in a business and the market size would be big enough even if it was a quarter of the current size, you should shut your eyes and invest.

Your maximum upside is huge.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 22 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about considering the perfect founders for a startup.
Flew to London on the 7am flight after bumping into many people I know at the airport including the inestimable Joe Truelove.
Met Dom Maskell and Ben Parker of Runna in person for the first time.
Shared Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda | The LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing app public pitch.
Had coffee with Roxane Sanguinetti and discussed startup opportunities.
Spoke with Matt Jonns of Founder and Lightning who "partner with non-technical founders to build, fund and scale revenue-focused tech companies." I like his model.

#LaterI

Am attending investor drinks for an as-yet-unannounced investment round.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Public pitch - Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda

Delighted to share, with permission, Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda | The LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing app's pitch.

Kalda is the world's first LGBTQIA+ self therapy and mental wellbeing app.

Please let me know if you would like an intro or feel free to reach out directly.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

The perfect founding team

When investing in a business, think about what your perfect founding team would look like.

Then consider how the founding team differs from this and if that is important in this business.

Founders, you can use the same framework when considering co-founders.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 21 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about helping investors understand the reality of your sales pipeline.
Had pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez).
Was pitched by Harriet Noy of Hazaar.
Had a call with Andrew Sheffield of Playfair Capital who I have recently co-invested with.
Had a call with Hannah Leach of Houghton Street Ventures who invest in and support founder alumni of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Please reach out to her if you are.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Watched England beat Iran 6-2 while eating Ramen at Fuku restaurant (picture below).
Was pitched by Alistair Sergeant of Equantiis.
Chatted with Ian Campbell of Billsby.

#NowI

Am attending an investor meeting.
Have to change some lightbulbs.
Will propose some board meeting minute amendments.
Need to pack for tomorrow's trip to the UK.

#Ifyougotthisfar

I have some spare Coffee in London slots in the comments.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

These three deals

Founders, everyone is about to sign the three deals that will change everything.

It is really hard for investors to figure out which ones will happen and matter and which ones will not.

Find a way to make it easy for us and it is much easier to invest.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 18 Nov 22

#TodayI

Had breakfast at White Rock Cafe with Max Wong, Dip. IoD, FRSM to debrief on yesterday's mock Oxbridge interviews (picture below).
Was pitched by Anabel Maldonado of PSYKHE AI.
Had a call with Rob Kniaz of Hoxton Ventures to understand his investment strategy.
Posted about unbundled vc's serendipity meetup next Wednesday in London.
Had a call with a founder postponed.
Was pitched by Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda | The LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing app.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.

#NowI

Am having a quick call with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.

#LaterI

Will watch a movie with the kids.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

It’s happening!

The unbundled vc serendipity meetup is happening next Wednesday evening!

You don't have to sign up to attend but it's super helpful to have an idea of numbers. Depending on numbers I may move the venue and then you will be automatically notified.

https://www.linkedin.com/events/unbundledvcserendipitymeetup6999330766601998337/

Looking forward to meeting some of you in person!

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 17 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about my commitment to go all in on Euan Cameron and Andrew Wood and the whole team at Willo®.
Prepared for mock Oxbridge interviews by rapidly having to relearn A-level Maths and Physics.
Had a call about venture investing with David Arroyo i Calahorro of Diario SPORT.
Had coffee with and was fortunate to be able to pick the brain of the amazing Tamara O'Brien on brand and marketing.
Helped at a local school with mock Oxbridge interviews.
Didn't get most the things done I planned to. Apologies if I was meant to get back to you today.

#NowI

Am heading to The Véyaon Awards to celebrate entrepreneurship in Guernsey, hosted by Digital Greenhouse Guernsey. It's remember how to tie my bow tie time again.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Willo - I’m all in!

Delighted to announce that I have committed to invest for the third time in Euan Cameron and Andrew Wood and the team at Willo®.

I invest up to £200k in each company and this takes me to my maximum.

I'm all in!

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 16 Nov 22

#TodayI

Chatted with CTO as a Service and Co-founder of UN1TY, Mike Ozanne.
Had a call with the impressive Eileen Burbidge of Passion Capital and Fertifa.
Posted about my hunger to learn.
Had lots of time blocked out for admin.
Shared Alistair Sergeant of Equantiis's public pitch.
Chatted with Jake Frank about how he gets time-constrained entrepreneurs in amazing shape.
Was pitched by Kimberley Page 🌎 of isosconnect.
Reviewed some investment documents.
Signed some (different) investment documents.

#NowI

Am going for an early dinner with a friend.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Public pitch - Alistair Sergeant of Equantiis

Delighted to share, with permission, Alistair Sergeant of Equantiis's pitch.

Equantiis helps business leaders deliver the best possible customer experience in the most operationally efficient way.

Please let me know if you would like an intro or feel free to reach out directly.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

I am hungry to learn

I am hungry to learn.

One of the reasons I love investing is the intellectual challenge. To do it well, I have to listen to and learn from every founder. I both learn 'things' and update my mental model of the world.

There is no perfect investor. I strive to be the best investor I can be.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 15 Nov 22

#TodayI

Had my hair cut by James Bransford.
Posted my FTX take.
Chatted with Caitlin Rozario of interlude.
Had breakfast with haggis with Tom Langford of Potting Shed (picture below).
Shared Madan Rajagopal of Ludimos's public pitch.
Spoke with Michael Engle of 1414 Ventures.
Had a call with a professional adviser.

#LaterI

Have a Pastoral Parents' Evening.
Have to take the bins out.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic