Evening update - 1 Dec 22

#TodayI

Ran to the office again courtesy of Runna.
Posted to ask about good incubators and accelerators. Thank you to everybody who responded.
Had a call with Claire Rampen of Reath.
Met a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Met another founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Was pitched by Sam Tucker of Common Surface.
Shared Anabel Maldonado of PSYKHE AI's public pitch.
Had a quick call with Nick Ellwood of Playter.
Spoke with Nelly Lavielle of Bethnal Green Ventures to understand their investment remit. I have only ever heard people say good things about Bethnal Green Ventures.

#NowI

Have to get back to a founder.

#ThenI

Am going to the Locate Guernsey Xmas drinks.

Have a good evening everyone.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Incubators and Accelerators

Founders, what are the best incubators and accelerators out there for digital tech businesses?

Asking (genuinely) for a friend with a great business and no venture experience.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 30 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted about how to figure out if an investment meets the bar and what that bar should be.
Had a call with Larisa Budaeva of Nation.better.
Was pitched by Mayur Upadhyaya of Contxt.
Attended a panel I volunteer on.
Spoke with Evan Mcgloughlin of Weeve.

#NowI

Need to book my flights for the inaugural unbundled vc founder ski trip.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Is it good enough?

There are loads of great businesses out there. How do I figure out if a potential investment is good enough?

My first pass metric is to see how it stacks up against businesses I have recently committed to.

If it compares well, I will invest. If it compares poorly I won't. If it's in the mix, I will consider my volume and quality of deal flow and how fast I'm likely to allocate capital given that.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 29 Nov 22

#TodayI

Ran 5.7k to the office.
Posted an investor founder strength hack.
Was pitched by Niraj Dattani of Now To Vow.
Had coffee with a local entrepreneur who wishes to remain anonymous.
Was pitched by Jakob Knutzen of Butter.
Prepared some words for this evening's Guernsey Cambridge Society AGM and Xmas Dinner.
Chatted with Isabella Sumner of InHaus.ai.

#NowI

Have to get ready for the Guernsey Cambridge Society event.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Founder strength hack for investors

How interested would you be in investing in this founder's next startup without knowing anything about it?

If the answer is very and you are seriously considering investing in their current business, you should just do it.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 28 Nov 22

#TodayI

Posted my backlog.
Worked on my backlog.
Was pitched by James Dyer of Ante.
Shared Kimberley Page 🌎 of isosconnect's public pitch.
Attended Monday Meditation at Guernsey Library.
Had coffee with Sarah Hansmann Rouxel and chatted all things improv.
Worked more on my backlog.
Had a call with Nikolas Huth of B3 Capital to understand their investment remit and how they help their portfolio companies.

#LaterI

Need to spend time with my family.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Public pitch - Kim Page of isosconnect

Delighted to share, with permission, Kimberley Page 🌎 of isosconnect's pitch.

isosconnect provides simple & safe software to keep independent health & well-being practitioners connected to their clients.

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

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

My backlog

#MyBacklog

Follow up on founder intro.
Add VC bullet points to my records so I know which opportunities to share.
Find four other VC bullet points in my notes somewhere and add them to my records.
Tell venue about the two people who are unable to make the Guernsey Cambridge Society AGM and Xmas dinner.
Send my sister-in-law money for my niece's Bat Mitzvah gift.
Send money for Sylvans merch.
Put loan end date in my diary.
Deal with the 'box of things' my wife removed from our home office because they were everywhere.
Talk to neighbour about boundary.
Reply to landlord after speaking to my wife.
Respond to video pitch.
Reply to reply on pass feedback.
Renew IoD membership.
Reply and arrange to meet someone who want to understand better what I'm looking for in startups.
Book flights for unofficial unbundled vc ski trip.
Reply to another reply on pass feedback.
Admin on a panel.
Review EIS round details.
Review difficult to agree board minutes.
Read email on stealth startup.
Meet founders of stealth startup.
Reply to opera invite.
Feedback on mock Oxbridge interviews.
Figure out what laptop son number two should buy.
Reply to accountant emails.
Admin for accountant.
Check if lead has made investment public yet so I can (x2).
Automate pass and next step and post pitch info emails.
Figure out how to update my criteria given what I've learned in the last three months.
And more.

How's your backlog?

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

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