My newsletter is live
In the spirit of done is better than perfect, my monthly newsletter is live!
In the spirit of done is better than perfect, my monthly newsletter is live!
I have kept it simple. It is a summary of my month plus one newsletter exclusive article.
This month that article is, "How can I compete, today and tomorrow".
Please let me know what you like and what you'd like to see improved or changed.
Evening update - 3 July 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Cycled to Pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club.
Shared my Business Brief article on why I broke my rules and invested in Spacemade.
Caught up with Edward Kandel of Founders Factory.
Found out that tickets to my beginners' standup comedy showcase have gone live. I will write about that soon. Click the picture for tickets.
Chatted with Mike 🦴 Bank of Underdog Accelerator. To be continued.
Attended lunch break meditation at Guille-Allès Library.
Spoke with Nichole Culverwell Chart. PR, FCIPR to give her some quotes ahead of an article.
Recorded a podcast with Karthik Puvvada of Build In Public Fellowship. KP, thank you for inviting me.
#NowI
Am attending my kids' school's prize-giving.
Breaking my own rules
Twice I've broken my own rules and invested outside of digital tech. I'm often asked why.
Twice I've broken my own rules and invested outside of digital tech. I'm often asked why.
I wrote an article for Business Brief explaining why I did just that and invested in Jonny Rosenblatt and Dan Silverman at Spacemade.
Read it here:
Evening update - 30 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Explained what "Come back to me when you have more traction" really means.
Caught up with Andrew Wood of Willo®.
Was pitched by Michal Lipka of AlphaSales.
Was pitched by Danae Maragouthakis and Judson Alphin of Yoxly.
Was pitched by a founder with a lead.
Was pitched by Rajeshwari Iyer of sAInaptic.
Worked on my monthly newsletter.
Organised meetings to try and encourage 1818 Venture Capital to expedite my official exit. I left over ten months ago, we agreed a deal in principle at the start of the year, nothing's changed, it's ongoing.
Richard Avery-Wright, please pull your finger out. Either you want to do this or you don't.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
"Come back to me when you have more traction.”
“But they said they invest at my stage!”
"Come back to me when you have more traction."
"But they said they invest at my stage!"
Typically they do invest at your stage and this is an excuse for no. Right now they do not like your business enough to invest and they don't want to give you the real reason.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 29 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Explained why I was called Spaniel at university.
Attended court again for property reasons. All done now.
Had coffee and breakfast with Graham McCormack.
Tried to have my Important not Urgent Day.
Was pitched by Dan Hudson of GiGL.
Was pitched by a founder who has a lead.
#LaterI
Am improvising my joy back and am standing up for comedy with Sarah Hansmann Rouxel.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 28 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Explained two-way door vs one-way door decisions.
Had Pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club and was able to touch my toes for the first time since I was a teenager.
Chatted with Blake Lindblad of Crescent Fund.
Was pitched by Kartik Bharadia of retailkind.
Had a call with an adviser.
Shared that my podcast with Aarish Shah of Nothing Ventured was live.
Was pitched by Thomas Winsor of The Round.
Received a picture of me age nineteen with very long hair. If I get enough likes on LinkedIn and Twitter I will edit and add the picture.
Was pitched by Dusko Kelez of Hapi App.
Collected the kids from school.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Podcast with Aarish Shah of Nothing Ventured
I did a podcast with Aarish Shah of Nothing Ventured! Let me know what you think.
I did a podcast with Aarish Shah of Nothing Ventured!
Let me know what you think.
Two-way door vs one-way door decisions
A two-way door decision is one you can easily reverse. Take these decisions quickly and be happy to delegate them to your team.
Two-way door vs one-way door decisions.
A two-way door decision is one you can easily reverse. Take these decisions quickly and be happy to delegate them to your team.
A one-way door decision is one that is hard to reverse or would have a material impact on your business if you did. Take your time with these. Make sure they are approved at the correct level. You need to get them right.
Most importantly, figure out which decisions are which. Then you know how to manage them.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 27 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Made an investment commitment.
Shared my pitch cheat question.
Went to court to formalise an agreed boundary change for our house build. (The pic below is on the wall of the court building.)
Chatted with Oksana Stowe of Google and ESG in VC.
Was pitched by Kimmy Dickson of HyperTribe.
Had a call with Larisa Budaeva of Nation.better.
Made a follow on commitment.
Was pitched by an EdTech founder I met last week at EdTechX.
My cheat question
What don't I know about your business that it would be really helpful for me to know?
My cheat question when I am being pitched is...
What don't I know about your business that it would be really helpful for me to know?
It acknowledges I don't know everything, it gives the founder the opportunity to think about what is key and it gets me out of jail when I can't think of a good question.
What questions do you like to ask of founders or to be asked?
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Late update - 26 June 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI
Celebrated my nephew's bar mitzvah until late.
#ThisMorningI
Got up at 4am to drive to Poole to get the ferry back to Guernsey with my family.
#ThisAfternoonI
Attended lunch break meditation Guille-Allès Library.
Was pitched by Nicky Sevel of Woven Advice.
Chatted with Rupa Ganatra Popat about all things investing.
Spoke with Megha Prakash of Forward Partners.
Was pitched by Andrew Walker of LossBook.
#NowI
Have to cycle home, cook dinner and prep for a call with another VC about a specific investment I am considering.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Very late update - 23 June 23
Friday I…
#FridayI
Shared why you should raise from US investors if your business has a US focus.
Was pitched by Rashid Aliyev of Stackt.
Chatted with Matt Ong of Ctrl Alt.
Had coffee with Conor McKenna of Go Swag.
Was pitched by Artem Kokhan of Bairro.
Had a quick chat with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.
Recorded a podcast for Crown Caste with Nzube Ufodike (pic below) and had a great chat with Jules Hall FRSA BCAe of Ultra Education C.I.C.
Had a family dinner.
If you have a US focus, find US investors
European investors often don't understand how directly tackling the US market means you can get much bigger before you need to adjust your product and go-to-market motion for new geographies.
Founders, if your business has a US focus, try and find US investors. They will value you more highly.
European investors often don't understand how directly tackling the US market means you can get much bigger before you need to adjust your product and go-to-market motion for new geographies.
That can justify a higher valuation.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 22 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared reasons why my core principles are transparency, speed and treating people right.
Had coffee and breakfast with Duncan Mann of HoxtonAi.
Chatted with Bernard Yu of Granyt and ZINC.
Spoke with 😃 David Fogel of Alma Angels.
Had a call with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.
Had coffee with Colin Wright of Noetic.
Did a Fireside Chat with Caroline Wright of British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) at the EdTechX summit (pic below). Thank you Caroline for inviting me.
#NowI
Have a huge backlog of emails to get through.
Guiding principles
My guiding principles are transparency, moving fast and treating people right. I need those to compete and they are super important for these reasons:
My guiding principles are transparency, moving fast and treating people right. I need those to compete and they are super important for these reasons:
Transparency forces me to hold myself to account and to think about the whys.
Moving fast because typically I know what I want to do so don't waste people's time.
Treating people right because it's the right thing to do and it's not hard. Why wouldn't you?
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Afternoon update - 21 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared my founder mentality approach to venture capital investing.
Cleared some of my backlog.
Had a call with Dr. Dupe Burgess of Bloomful.
#NowI
Am getting on a ferry to the UK ahead of two days in London and my nephew's bar mitzvah.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Product led growth in VC
I am trying to bring a founder mentality to the business of venture capital. For me, a tiny player in the ecosystem, that means product-led growth.
I am trying to bring a founder mentality to the business of venture capital. For me, a tiny player in the ecosystem, that means product-led growth.
I am the product. My potential clients are founders. I am competing for attention in a space where everyone is 50 times bigger than me.
I have to do everything I can to make the founder experience as good as possible despite the fact I have to say no to 99% of them.
That's why I prioritise transparency, moving fast and treating people right.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 20 June 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared cap table red flags.
Was pitched by a founder who has a VC lead and most his round in place.
Had a call with a fellow VC investor.
Was pitched by Mark Whitcroft of Hazel.
Chatted with Karthik Puvvada about all things building in public.
Was pitched by Kinny Ahluwalia and Vittorio Lovece of Musiqmesh.
Shared that the Primer of my appearance on Aarish Shah's Nothing Ventured podcast was live.
#NowI
Have an early dinner with a friend.
Need to put the bins out.
Have to pack for my trip to the UK tomorrow.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic