Evening update - 13 October 23

#TodayI

Attended the IoD Guernsey Branch breakfast on Guernsey public finances and taxation.
Had a quick coffee with Glen Tonks of Credit Suisse.
Had coffee with Michael Richards.
Shared my current view on building on top of LLMs.
Was pitched by Andrew 'Ando' Eniwumide of Happaning.
Had coffee with Jo Huxtable of Deloitte.
Was pitched by Leo Rogers of Linkable.
Realised I need to figure out my criteria and process for how to reengage with founders after a pass.
Was pitched by David Tejs Jørring of HealthKey.

#LaterI

Have a quick call with Scott Mackin.

#ThenI

Am going for pizza with my son.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Building on LLMs

There are a lot of founders building on top of LLMs or Foundation models right now. They are doing the right thing. You can build incredible products that couldn't be built yesterday. But a lot of people are building the same thing.

It's an interesting and unusual inflection point where early traction will be easier but late traction will be harder when they collide.

Unless you're building something nobody else is.

Let me know.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 12 October 23

#TodayI

Shared about maximally helping investee companies.
Met a couple of founders for prep.
Had coffee with Wendy Dorey of Dorey Financial Modelling.
Wasn't feeling well so postponed a couple of meetings to rest up before my Focal session. cc'ing Caitlin Rozario.
Received possibly the nicest piece of feedback I've ever had.
Hosted a Focal session with Markuss Rozins ✨️ and Espen Myklebust of bandit app.

#NowI

Feel much better and am heading to standup practice.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Help to the max

As an investor, one of your jobs is to maximally help the companies you invest in.

1. It's the right thing to do.
2. It gets you better returns.
3. It gets you a better reputation.

Don't be a guardian of information or advice or of other investors. Don't charge for anything. You are only hurting yourself.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 11 October 23

#TodayI

Shared my framework for making fast decisions.
Had coffee with Hansen Canagareddy, FCCA, CFE, MIoD of SOS Real Estate Guernsey.
Had coffee with Andre Duquemin of Three Brain Training.
Was pitched by Anna Sandgren and Vineet Ahuja of Unibloom.
Was pitched by Sascha Evans of Uncommon.
Chatted with Marla Shapiro and Mau Messina of HERMESA.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Fast decisions

I try and make fast decisions.

How can you do this and when should you?

1. Know your criteria.
2. Know how to assess if something meets those criteria.
3. Ask the right questions and do the right research to see if it does.

If you're stuck on a decision, you will usually be stuck on 1 or 2.

Figure out which of those it is and you will know what to do next to unblock yourself.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 10 October 23

#TodayI

Cycled to work.
Shared about Focal demo day on Thursday.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Caught up with Hector Mason of Episode 1 Ventures and Focal.
Arranged to go on a podcast.
Had a postponement.
Had a call with Flora Gray and Barry Lawson of The Fund Incubator Limited.
Had coffee with James Le Gallez of KIWI.

#NowI

Am heading to a panel meeting.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Focal demo day is here

Focal demo day is here, 2pm-5pm this Thursday 12th.

30 founders out of the 2,000 that applied will be pitching their startups to thousands of investors including Episode 1 Ventures, dmg ventures, Eka Ventures and me at unbundled vc.

Don't miss it.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

The secret unbundled vc master plan (just between you and me)

The secret unbundled vc master plan (just between you and me) is now live.

Here is the summary:

1. Build incredible deal flow to choose from.
2. Invest exceptionally from that deal flow by investing intentionally.
3. Build in public to enable 1 & 2 and to generate future fund investors.
4. Raise a fund.

I'm not raising a fund yet but, if I was, how would you pitch me?

All feedback, positive or negative, is helpful.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 6 October 23

#TodayI

Had coffee with Christopher Smith of Ontik.
Had lunch with Cristian Cibrario.
Had ice cream with Farhan Lalji of LTV Capital.
Caught up with Jon Coker of Eka Ventures .
Got the train to Gatwick.

#NowI

Am waiting for my flight to be called.

Have a good weekend all.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Treat founders like clients

I try and treat founders like my clients. With transparency, reliability and respect.

I don't always get it right. I'm always trying to learn.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 5 October 23

#TodayAtSiftedISpokeWith

😃 David Fogel of Alma Angels.
Ella Goldner (Levy) of ZINC.
Laura Pomfret (Financielle) 💸 of Financielle (photo below).
Hailey Eustace of Commplicated (photobomb below).
Nadav Mordechai of Elsewhen.
James Roycroft-Davis of Vulnerable Podcast.
Jen Lothian of MyArk.
David Putts of OneStep-Financial.
Mathilda Bosch of Techstars.
Joachim Mowinckel, CFA of Veyor.com.
Jack Lancaster of Spoke.ai.
Lindsey Depledge.
Rachel 🐿 Beech of We Are Fetching.
Candide Kirk of Novellic.
George Farnon of Zola Analytics.
Frederic Stallaert 📦 of Paperbox.ai.
Adam McCann of Claimer .
Phoebe Greenwold of Evenlode Investment.
Andreas Feller-Ryf of UCL.

And took part in Alma Angels's female founder office hours.

#NowI

Am heading to investor drinks for an as yet unannounced round.

#LaterI

May head to the unofficial Stride.VC afterparty.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Alma Angels female founder office hours at Sifted

I'm at #siftedsummit again today, taking part in Female Founder Office Hours for Alma Angels with these wonderful people:

Roxane Sanguinetti, Andrea Sinclair, Tabitha Luxmoore-Styles, Pratima A., Diana Akanho, Zoe Vance, Mathilda Bosch, Linda Jiang, Nadav Mordechai, Julie Blane, Chai Shetty, Joanna Shan, Alexandra Wyatt, Hailey Eustace, Pamela Hsieh, Deepali Nangia, Ella Goldner (Levy) and 😃 David Fogel.

For the rest of the day, I'll be in my usual spot in the coworking zone. Please come over and say hi!

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 4 October 23

#TodayAtSiftedISpokeWith

Anna Sandgren of Unibloom.
Mark Burges Watson of Kaldi Financial Technology.
Rikin Patel of Travdaq.
Ioto Iotov, CA, CFA, CAIA of Capricorn Capital Partners UK.
David Tejs Jørring of HealthKey.
Ross Plummer and Chaitanya RK of Yokai.
Matthew Roberts of Stripe.
Matt Ong of Ctrl Alt.
Sophie Frères (née Spethmann) of LiSA Social Commerce.
Sarah Wernér of Husmus.
Jonny Plein of YASO.
A founder who is in stealth.
Hena Husain of The Content Architects.
Tom Neill of plinth.
Christina Forsberg of Stealth Startup.
Rajeshwari Iyer of sAInaptic.
Christian Gabriel of Carta.
Mercurius Saad of Tutorbloc.
Sascha Evans of Uncommon.
Niraj Dattani of Now To Vow.
Daniel Samosir Botcherby of Kalda | The LGBTQIA+ mental wellbeing app (pic below).
Tornike Asatiani of Edumentors
Alexandre Rispal and Niels Brouzes of Sorius
Rockman Law of Ada Ventures
Haz Hubble of Pally.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Sifted + plug socket = good

Sifted update: I found a plug socket so I'm not moving. Come and find me in the coworking zone.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Sifted + tech = shrug

I still have slots free for Sifted today. Four people have so far managed to brave their way through the impossibility of the app to book in.

(Sifted, I'm sure you know it's not a good look for a tech conference to have tech that doesn't work.)

Otherwise, if you spot me come and say hi. I'll be the scruffy-looking old person on his laptop with Willo®, Runna and The Maydays stickers on.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 3 October 23

#TodayI

Shared about hidden taxes in venture capital.
Flew to Gatwick on the 7am flight.
Was part of a fireside chat and was an ambassador for Locate Guernsey's Relocate To Guernsey Show.

#NowI

Have to catch up on all the work I should have done today.

#TomorrowAndThursdayI

Am at Sifted Summit. Send me an invite in the app if you want to grab coffee. My diary is more or less up to date.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Hidden taxes in venture capital

If you're considering investing in a venture capital fund, make sure it doesn't charge fees to the companies they invest in. This prevents access to the best deals and is a hidden tax on your performance.

My article for Business Brief Includes a call out for Haatch for being one of the good guys, particularly among EIS and SEIS funds who are often guilty of this. It's something Fred Soneya of Haatch and I both feel strongly about.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 2 October 23

#TodayI

Cycled to Pilates with Joey Freeman of Pilates Core Club.
Had a site meeting for our house build with Infinity Group and DLM Architects Ltd.
Chatted with Kutlu Kazanci of Creative Destruction Lab.
Had a call with Malin Posern of Project A Ventures.
Caught up with Petr Horky.

#NowI

Am heading to dinner with a friend.

#TomorrowI

Will be at Locate Guernsey's Relocate To Guernsey Show in London as an ambassador.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Sifted Summit 2023

I'm going to be at Sifted Summit on Wednesday and Thursday. Thank you Alma Angels for making this happen.

What events should I attend and how do I get to meet as many people as possible? I'm considering just parking myself at a coffee spot and people can come and say hi whenever they want.

What should I do? Who wants to meet?

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic