Evening update - 4 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Started back after my break.
Walked to work with my phone switched off, notepad in hand.
Shared why I have committed to invest in Mica Vaipan's RunYourself.
Had a dental hygienist appointment.
Was pitched by Daisy Harvey of Loom.
Was pitched by Baz Iyer of Stealth Startup.
Attended Lunch Break Meditation at Guille-Allès Library.
Had a test call with Sarah Wernér ahead of Wednesday's 9am-11am black female founder speed dating event and found Google Meet doesn't do what we need. Zoom to the rescue.
Worked on my backlog.
#LaterI
Am going for an early dinner with my wife.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Commitment to invest in Mica Vaipan’s RunYourself
I have committed to invest in Mica Vaipan of RunYourself's Pre Seed. Here's why.
I have committed to invest in Mica Vaipan of RunYourself's Pre Seed. Here's why.
I look for:
1. Very strong founders
2. building differentiated products that matter
3. that can scale fast
4. with huge potential markets,
5. a plausible route to market
6. and great unit economics
RunYourself hits all of these hard.
1. Mica is a very strong founder. Super smart, great at explaining what she is doing and why, and a fast learner.
2. RunYourself offers a peer-to-peer coaching program that teaches each participant to be a coach. People hate going on coaching courses and are then left to sink or swim or professional coaches are crazy expensive. RunYourself has evidenced its program works at a price point that means it is affordable.
3. RunYourself will be able to scale fast because it doesn't need to hire coaches to scale. Everything is platform based.
4. There is a huge pent-up demand for coaching that isn't met because of the price point. This solves the problem. How many of your staff would you want to be coached or to learn how to coach their employees if it could be done at £1k per person per year? This will create a market size many orders of magnitude greater than the existing coaching market.
5. Mica is being advised by Amanda Nolen who advises global organisations on how to upskill their staff using tech. She believes this will be easy to sell, organisations are crying out for it, and she knows because it is her job to advise on services like this. Amanda is confident enough that she is taking her adviser fee in equity. I have met Amanda and she is impressive.
6. Because they do not need to hire their own coaches, gross margin is high. Most coaching businesses have low gross margins.
My view on the main risks (there are always more):
1. Human feedback is currently given on each peer-to-peer session. They plan to iteratively reduce the amount of human input required to do this until none is required. They have AI experts working on this now. There is technical risk here.
2. Go to market. While Amanda is confident this will be easy to sell because of the quality of the offering and the price point, this is Pre Seed and until they've started selling you never know.
Raise:
1. Mica is close to closing a £500k ASA from angels and three institutions (including me).
2. She will extend the round for the right investors.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
No warm intro
I have a new investment commitment. It is in a solo female founder. She came to me cold via my standard process.
I have a new investment commitment. It is in a solo female founder. She came to me cold via my standard process.
You don't need a warm intro to raise from me.
Monday, when I'm back from holiday, I will tell you about the commitment and why.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Afternoon update - 25 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared why you to make the most of everyone in your team you need to respect their idiosyncrasies. This was the last post in a three-week challenge where you voted on what I should post about. The list of choices came from Hena Husain's The Content Architects. I enjoyed this challenge a lot.
Had a call with Carlotta Zorzi of Shopify who I met on my trip to Brighton a month or so ago.
Was pitched by Cecilia Afutu and Alfred Afutu of Konzoom.
Chatted with Euan Cameron of Willo®.
Had a couple of postponements.
#NowI
Have to go and pack ahead of a week away with my boys starting tomorrow.
#NextWeek
You will hear from me about an investment commitment I made at the start of the week.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Making the most of our differences
Sean Connery was told early in his career to "lose the Scottish accent".
Sean Connery was told early in his career to "lose the Scottish accent".
Founders can be strong-willed nonconformists. You need that to want to build something new. Sean had to be one to stand up for himself or we wouldn't have had the actor and movies we all love.
We all have our differences, our idiosyncracies, our strengths and weaknesses.
To build an incredible team or company or band, you have to respect those, bind people together, and make the most of them.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
I just spent three weeks making posts inspired by events taking place on that day. You got to vote on what I posted about. Today's post was inspired by Sean Connery's birthday, Reading Festival, Red Head Day and Be Kind to Humankind Week.
The lists came from Hena Husain's The Content Architects.
Evening update - 22 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Had my hair cut by James Bransford.
Shared that choice and difference make the world a wonderful place.
Asked you to inspire tomorrow's post by choosing between Cheap Flight Day and First Hashtag Day.
Chatted with Mica Vaipan of RunYourself.
Had coffee with Matthew Falla of Parallel.
Was pitched by ⚡️Alex Harris of Adadot.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Had a quick call with Sonia Andriano of SeedLegals.
Was pitched by Eteri Saneblidze and Lisa Oreshkina of The Breakfast.
#ThisEveningI
Have to email some VCs, read and give feedback on a document, and take the bins out.
#FromTomorrow
I have a couple more days off.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 15 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared I was taking it easy for National Relaxation Day.
Asked you to vote on my inspiration for tomorrow's post - currently Rollercoaster Day is just leading Tell A Joke Day.
Was pitched by Indiana Gregg and Alexandra Leenen of Wedo.ai.
Was pitched by Lydia Hartley of Don't Shop, Swap.
Was pitched by Vivien Bresson of Scarlett Panda.
Chatted with Jonny Seaman of SeedLegals about their investor offering.
Was pitched by Joseph Undaloc of Loma.
s my one year anniversary of setting up on my own.
#NowI
Am taking the rest of the week off.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 14 Aug 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about my wife's six-foot boa constrictor.
Asked what tomorrow's post should be inspired by.
Had lunch with friends.
Was pitched by Phil Birss of Addie.
Had three founders book in pitches with leads and two didn't meet the criteria. I have updated the wording to make it clearer.
Got my first open mic spot in London next month.
Realised my diary was largely free for the rest of the week and have booked myself the last three days off.
#LaterI
Will be watching Man Utd's first game of the season with my son (on tv).
Evening update - 11 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Asked for advice on how to make my kids more entrepreneurial.
Asked you what Monday's post should be inspired by, National Lizard Day is leading.
Asked for addresses to send dog treats to (see yesterday's post inspired by Spoil a Dog Day).
Chatted with Edwina Johnson about investing.
Was pitched by Mica Vaipan of RunYourself.
Booked a table for lunch on Monday.
Had a call with Anthony Rose of the excellent SeedLegals.
Had a postponement.
Made a follow-on commitment.
Had a no-show.
Chatted with Dan Dudley of Solid Bond.
#ThisWeekend
I hope to persuade at least one of my boys to watch Barbie with me.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 10 August 23
#TodayI
Asked for dog pics so I could spoil your dogs. Congrats Fred Warren, Jon Chapman, Max Cotton, Paul Loberman, dog treats are on the way.
Asked you to vote on what I should post about tomorrow. Very close and Enid Blyton's birthday currently leads.
Had coffee with Jay Goss of Aston Currency Management. 100% bringing a service Guernsey needs.
Had my Important not Urgent Day.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 9 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about how reading How Minds Change blew my mind and asked you to vote on tomorrow's post. National Spoil a Dog Day is leading.
Was pitched by Tom McGillycuddy of CIRCA5000.
Chatted with Zina Alfa of Antler.
Had coffee with Alexander Rich.
Had a call with an adviser.
Chatted with James Roycroft-Davis of Vulnerable Podcast.
#NowI
Am meeting my son for dinner then playing in a table tennis tournament with him.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 8 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about my (non-) hypoallergenic cats and asked what I should write about tomorrow. Including Twitter, it's currently very close between Book Lovers Day and Coworking Day.
Dealt with some legal issues.
Chatted with Holger Bollmann about angel investing.
Was pitched by Guy Conway and Damian Cristian of Koble.
Chatted with a friend and fellow investor.
Had coffee with a friend.
Attended a panel meeting.
#NowI
Have to take the bins out.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 7 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared my post inspired by National Allotment Week. It's very close between CBD Day and International Cat Day.
Cycled to Pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club.
Chatted with Temba Boateng of ReTickin'.
Was pitched by chris cooke of fitarr.
Was pitched by Ben Saunders of Signapse.
Attended lunch break meditation at Guille-Allès Library.
Was pitched by Ben Polkinghorne of moveme.tv.
Am finalising my article on the funds industry for next month's Business Brief.
Worked on a report for a panel I am on.
#LaterI
Am going for dinner.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
National Allotment Week - give yourself a break
Today is the start of National Allotment Week. Gardening and allotments in particular are about taking time for yourself while being part of a community of like-minded individuals.
Today is the start of National Allotment Week. Gardening and allotments in particular are about taking time for yourself while being part of a community of like-minded individuals.
Founders and investors, we all work every hour to do the best we can, to give ourselves the chance to build or invest in the next great business.
This is a wonderful reminder of the need to take a break and look after ourselves.
It's August, the sun is sometimes out, give yourself a break and look after your mental health.
Conor Gallagher Caitlin Rozario
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
I am spending three weeks making posts inspired by an event taking place on that day. You get to vote on what I post about. On Friday you chose National Allotment Week.
The list comes from Hena Husain's The Content Architects.
The people have spoken
The people have spoken - tomorrow morning's post will be inspired by National Allotment Week!
The people have spoken - tomorrow morning's post will be inspired by National Allotment Week!
Conor Gallagher, can you send me some related info for inspiration, please?
Tomorrow you will get to vote on what I write about on Tuesday.
Intentional Investing
Here's a preview of Intentional Investing - the second edition of my monthly newsletter - which is live now:
Here's a preview of Intentional Investing - the second edition of my monthly newsletter - which is live now:
Read it here.
"Too many investors have the identical investment process. They do what everyone has done since time immemorial. Receive a pitch deck, have a non-decision maker review it, get a first meeting with a non-decision maker who has to second guess what a Partner is interested in. Then, if you are lucky, meet a Partner who is a decision-maker.
Because everybody does it, nobody thinks if their process is fit for purpose. Nobody thinks about what they want to achieve and how they might best achieve it.
Intentional Investing is just that. Know what you are trying to achieve and take a first principles approach to trying to achieve it."
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 4 August 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared that I will let you vote on what I will write about the following day for the next three weeks. Voting is still open for Monday.
Chatted with Justin Sycamore of Arcfina.
Booked early bird tickets for next year's Camp Bestival.
Was pitched by Conor Gallagher of AllotMe 🌱.
Had two postponements.
Worked on my newsletter which I hope to send out tomorrow. Undergoing final edits. Title "Intentional Investing".
#LaterI
Am going to see Max Wong, PhD, FRSM, Dip. IoD and Francois Cloete play at Town Church.
You choose what I write
Writing content is hard but you can take inspiration from anywhere.
Writing content is hard but you can take inspiration from anywhere.
Sometimes it's easier with constraints. I bet you find it easier if I ask you to write a limerick than if I ask you to write a poem.
For the next three weeks, I plan to write my daily posts inspired by something happening on that day using Hena Husain's The Content Architects as my source.
Vote on Twitter by clicking through below and I may use your suggestion!
Morning update - 4 August 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI (woops)
Talked about focusing on what you can change.
Had coffee with Becky Wightman of Syrenna.
Had lunch with Steve Wakelin of States of Guernsey.
Had my Important not Urgent day.
Had vegan hot chocolate with David Green and meditated with him.
Went to dinner with friends.
Forgot to write my #TodayI post.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Focus on what you can change
It's easy to find external reasons for why something didn't go how you wanted.
It's easy to find external reasons for why something didn't go how you wanted.
You can't change those.
Focus on what you can change and do right now.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic