Evening update - 15 September 23

#TodayI

Shared that I love hearing your stories.
Had coffee with Andrew Williamson of Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Had coffee with Nicky Dibben of Invention Marketing.
Had coffee with Kornel Grunwald.
Worked on a project.

#NowI

Am meeting some friends for dinner.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Curiosity inspired the cat

I find the world fascinating and I love hearing people's stories.

Founders, that means I really like hearing how you found this problem and decided you had to solve it.

I enjoy it and I learn something every time.

Thank you.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 14 September 23

#TodayI

Shared I was on Nzube Ufodike's Crown Caste podcast.
Got the 7am flight to Gatwick.
Got the train to Cambridge.
Had lunch with the wonderful Sky and Chantal Epp FRSA of ClicknClear (pic below).
Had a lime and soda with Paul de Gruchy Gaudin.
Had coffee with Philip Winter of Creator Fund.
Took my dinner suit to be dry cleaned.
Headed back to my hotel.

#NowIHaveTo

Read docs and send funds for an investment.
Pay for the most recent month of our house build.
Pay my son's school fees.
Catch up on all today's emails.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Podcast with Nzube Ufodike

I am very fortunate to be on Nzube Ufodike's Crown Caste podcast.

We talk about:

Building in Public in VC.
What I look for in founders and startups.
Making the investment process founder friendly.
How VCs can engage better with founders.

It's just 12 minutes. Let me know what you think!

Spotify

Everything else

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 13 September 23

#TodayI

Walked to work with my phone off.
Shared why if you have a buyer for your business you need to DD them.
Blocked out the morning for admin and organisation.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Was pitched by Casey Lawlor of UnVale.

#NowI

Am catching up with Euan Cameron of Willo®.
Am going to the launch event for Aston Currency Management.
Have a late call with a founder.
Need to finish packing for my trip tomorrow.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Due diligence your buyers

Founders, if you have an offer to purchase your business, make sure you DD the buyer.

Sales processes take a lot of time and energy. You only want to get into that with someone you can trust.

There are buyers who will make it take so long you nearly run out of money.

There are buyers who will always find a reason to offer you less at the end of the process.

Often, you will have to stay with the business a couple of years to get the full payout, particularly in an earn out. There are buyers who will make your life so difficult you won't want to stay.

Ask to speak to the founders of the last three companies they bought. Make sure you speak to someone who has been through that two year period.

There are good and bad actors out there. You need to make sure you are dealing with a good one.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 12 September 23

#TodayI

Shared that the best investors in the world know it's an honour to be on a founder's cap table.
Spoke with Anna Sweetman of Active Partners.
Caught up with Nick Gregg.
Shared that Focal's deadline approaches.
Grabbed a quick lunch with Simon Livesey.
Blocked out the rest of my day for backlog.

#ThisEveningI

have an unknown school event.
Am having dinner with my wife.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Focal reminder

It's not too late to apply to Focal and get yourself in front of over 175 VCs, including me, plus the thousands of VCs and angels who will watch the finalists pitch at demo day.

https://www.gofocal.vc/

Application deadline is 12th September. Anything up to Series A is welcome.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

The best startup investors in the world

The best startup investors know it's an honour for them to be on a founder's cap table - not the other way around.

Via Ethan Lu.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 11 September 23

#TodayI

Walked with my phone off to Pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club.
Shared my monthly newsletter was out - Why Market Size Matters.
Had coffee with Tom Carey of Carey Olsen.
Attended Lunch break meditation Guille-Allès Library.
Worked on my trip to the UK later in the week.
Walked home.
Had a very quick call with Lindsey Depledge and Simon Tucker of Beanbag Health then agreed to do it in person before ZINC's Portfolio Pitch Event on the 20th.

#LaterI

Am taking my son to football training.
Have to pack for my trip.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Why Market Size Matters (And How To Think About It)

The latest edition of my newsletter - Why Market Size Matters (And How To Think About It) - is out now.

Let me know what you think.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 8 September 23

#TodayI

Shared my article in Business Brief on disrupting in the funds industry.
Had an impromptu coffee with Barrie Baxter of Brixx Software.
Chatted with Meera Bissoondeeal of Element Ventures.
Had a postponement with a founder.
Spoke with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.
Had a play with Leonardo Ai.
Inflicted my open mic set on Jay Goss of Aston Currency Management.
Worked on my next newsletter, coming very shortly.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Disrupting the funds industry

I wrote an article for Business Brief on disrupting the funds industry.

It has what to look for in any industry that could be disrupted and callouts for Vauban from Carta and Ctrl Alt.

Read it here. Thank you Amanda (Mandy) Eulenkamp for entertaining my writing.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 7 September 23

#TodayI

Shared about yesterday's angel and black female founder speed dating event.
Walked to work.
Was pitched by Antonio Ribeiro of Yurtle.
Shared about Focal's demo day.
Had a quick lunch with Graham McCormack of The Fort Group.
Had a sneaky ice cream and got caught by my wife and two youngest.
Worked through my backlog.
Had my Important not Urgent Day.
Made progress on my standup set.

#LaterI

Have my standup meetup.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Focal Demo Day - W23

Focal is a Demo day supported by over 175 VCs including Episode 1 Ventures, Playfair , Eka Ventures , dmg ventures and even little old me at unbundled vc.

It's a great way to get your pitch in front of all 175 VCs in one go.

You can apply here.

Thank you Jack Richardson, Hector Mason, Taos Edmondson, CFA and Issie James for including me again.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Black female founder speed dating

Yesterday, Sarah Wernér and I co-ran a speed dating event for angels and black female founders.

Why?

Black female founders get the tiniest share of venture capital funding. For me, this was a small way to help. It's not the same as investing cash and I've so far failed on that front.

We are now asking everyone who attended for feedback and will figure out our next steps. We may run one again.

If you'd like to attend in future, as a founder or an angel, keep an eye on my or Sarah's LinkedIn and/or put your name in the comments. We'd also love to know what else might help.

Thank you again to everyone who attended.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 6 September 23

#TodayI

Shared my three favourite books for entrepreneurs. Some great other suggestions in the comments.
Walked to Pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club.
Attended and co-hosted the angels and black female founders speed dating event I co-ran with Sarah Wernér. Thank you to everyone who attended.
Was pitched by James Dyer of At Last.
Had a great event happen at last.
Had an ice cream to celebrate (pic below).
Listened to an At Last playlist.
Attended a panel meeting.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Chatted briefly with Jonny Plein of YASO.
Had a good day.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Best books for entrepreneurs

My three most recommended books for entrepreneurs are 🥁 🥁 🥁

Zero to One
The Lean Startup
The Hard Thing About Hard Things

What are yours?

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 5 September 23

#TodayI

Shared how I would do cold sales outreach.
Had a site meeting for our house build with Infinity Group and DLM Architects Ltd.
Cycled to work.
Was pitched by Andre Turville of ARX Alliance.
Worked on my backlog. Slow progress.
Had an impromptu coffee with Kit Hobbs.
Finally figured out what my topic is for this month's newsletter - why market size matters and how to think about it.

#NowI

Am walking home.

#LaterI

Am being pitched by Pablo Alcolea of Vegan Food Club.
Have to take the bins out (sorry to group you here Pablo!)

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Cold sales outreach

How I would do cold sales outreach. I've never done sales so this could be bad. What would you do?

"I believe our product might be able to help you in this way. I'd like to spend a small amount of time with you so we can figure out together if it can. If we decide it can't I promise to walk away and not pester you any more. No problem if that doesn't work for you."

From a conversation with Matthew Codd in the comments of a Jamie Beaumont post.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic