Focal demo day is next Thursday

Focal demo day is next Thursday 18th from 2-4pm.

I've been through 1,900 applications ( 😱 ) to help select the 20 that will be pitching.

This is a chance to invest alongside great VCs like Lightspeed, GV (Google Ventures), 20VC, MMC, Ascension, Eka Ventures and even me! Capital obviously at risk.

Register here at https://www.gofocal.vc/

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Founders Unplugged with Greg Mccallum

A great pleasure to be a guest on Founders Unplugged, thank you Greg Mccallum for having me on.

Watch us chatting about the investing process, the infectious passion of founders and the future.

Then I turn the tables on Greg and ask him to tell us something we don't know about him and we explore Judaism, dad jokes and family.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update- 11 May 23

#TodayI

Shared that my podcast with Greg Mccallum of Founders Unplugged will go live at 5.30pm tomorrow.
Cycled to work.
Had my Important not Urgent day.
Posted how to figure out how big your raise should be.
Booked my diary up for Cambridge on Monday.
Bumped into Paul Matthews of Ravenscroft Group.
Caught up with Euan Cameron of Willo®.
Was pitched by Yanis Mellata of Kosy Office.
Bumped into both Wendy Dorey and Martyn Dorey in the space of a few minutes.

#LaterI

Am seeing Phil McNulty speak at Guernsey Literary Festival.

How much to raise

Founders, here are some ways to consider how much you should try to raise at Pre-Seed or Seed:

1. Consider what you want to achieve by the next raise and how quickly. How much money will get you there? At some point there are diminishing returns on additional funds.

2. Are you a security blanket or a back-to-the-wall person? Some people perform better knowing they have room to manoeuvre and some when they know it's all or nothing. If you're the former try and raise more and if the latter, less.

3. Consider dilution. More raised means more dilution. Too many founders over-index on this. While it does make a difference, the most important thing is maximising your chance of success.

4. How large a raise will the market take? Consider the size of the opportunity and how attractive it might seem to investors.

Put it all together and you will have a good idea of how much to raise.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 10 May 23

#TodayI

Shared that hitting 50 makes me more motivated than ever.
Had a site meeting for our house build with DLM Architects Ltd and Infinity Construction.
Had a call with an investor.
Chatted with Sam Stone of MassMutual Ventures.
Had a pitch postponed.
Asked who I should meet in Cambridge.
Was pitched by Tom Manterfield of Hiphops.
Collected my kids from school and took them for their regular injections.
Came back to the office.

#LaterI

Am going to see David Dimbleby as part of Guernsey Literary Festival.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Who should I meet in Cambridge

I will be in Cambridge on Monday. Who should I meet? Who are the great founders and investors who are based there?

On Saturday I turned 50

On Saturday I turned 50.

Don't be fooled. I am just as hard-working, determined, bright and ambitious as any of you.

Anyone who thinks otherwise, more fool you. You are my motivation.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 5 May 23

#TodayI

Cycled to work while listening to Fred Destin on the Mental Health at Work podcast. Thank you Jan Deruyck for the recommendation.
Wished Greg Mccallum happy birthday.
Shared that you should trust your gut but figure it out.
Had coffee with Barrie Baxter of Brixx Software.
Had a late breakfast with Graham McCormack.
Was pitched by Gaia Ines Fassò of Ikigai Data.
Had a cancellation.
Chatted with Hugo Conceição Silva of Pi Labs.
Collected my son from the airport

#LaterI

Am going for pizza at Les Douvres with my family.

Have a great long weekend everyone.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Trust your gut but figure it out

Trust your gut but figure it out.

It's hard figuring out who to invest in. I have an investment framework. I know what I'm looking for in founders. I know what I'm looking for in a business.

Sometimes, sometimes, there is something outside of that and my gut says yes! And sometimes my gut says no.

Typically I go with that. It's telling me that for a reason.

Then I spend time on self-reflection and figure out why the hell my gut is saying that.

Most of the time I learn something new that matters to me. I then pull that back into my investment framework and make changes to my investment process and questions I need to ask to reflect that.

Occasionally I realise I have a bias that is incorrect and need to get over.

You can take this into any part of your life. Your gut typically tells you things for a reason.

Whatever it is, don't just trust your gut, figure it out.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 4 May 23

#TodayI

Shared why I love venture capital.
Had my Important not Urgent day and cleared a chunk of my backlog (sorry if you're still in it).
Had lunch with my neighbour-to-be.
Found out my stealth startup may be coming out of stealth.

#LaterI

Am having a glass of wine with Ciaran O'Neill and Adrian Lane.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Why I love venture capital

Why I love venture capital.

Greg Mccallum asked me why venture capital when we were recording for his video podcast yesterday.

I love meeting founders, hearing their stories and how they want to change the world for the better in a very specific way.

I love the energy I get from hearing their enthusiasm.

I love that I learn something about the world from every one of those conversations.

I love trying to figure out what to invest in.

I love the intellectual challenge of figuring out what are the right lessons to learn from the startups that are going well and less well.

I love figuring out what matters to me when I make an investment decision.

I love figuring out how to improve my deal flow.

I love figuring out how how to help more.

Thank you Greg for reminding me how much I love what I do.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 3 May 23

#TodayI

Shared why consensus investing is bad.
Didn't have pilates with Maria Jose Freeman (Fernandez) of Pilates Core Club.
Was pitched by Clive Kelman and Agron Elshani of UProspr.
Was pitched by Fermín Casaubon (he/him) of inka.
Was pitched by Sarah Wernér of Husmus.
Recorded a video podcast with Greg Mccallum of Think Work.
Chatted with Andy Taylor of Payful.

#NowI

Have to collect my kids from school.

#LaterI

Am taking them to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 because it is my youngest's birthday. There will be pick n mix.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic.

Consensus investing is bad

Consensus investing is bad.

In venture capital, almost every investor rejects every deal. The consensus on every deal is almost always no.

So why does almost every venture firm require a consensus to be built to invest?

It encourages investment in deals that everyone quite likes rather than ones somebody loves. It encourages politics rather than collaboration.

You absolutely should listen to the opinions of others before you invest. You absolutely need a model where, after listening, you can have the courage of your convictions.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 2 May 23

#TodayI

Started my big birthday week.
Shared advice for what should be in a Series A pitch deck or FAQ.
Cycled to town with my son.
Was pitched by Sabrina Palme of Palqee Technologies.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Had coffee with Craig Whitman of Swoffers .
Chatted with Nathaniel Wade of Wakuda.
Met someone for coffee.
Shared Kuai Commerce's rebrand to YASO.
Spoke with David Arroyo i Calahorro.
Was pitched by Andrei Morari of Daydream Software.

#LaterI

Am attending "Exploring Digital and AI Art" at Guernsey Chamber of Commerce run by Guernsey Art Network and hosted by Patrick Earle.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Kuai Commerce is now YASO

Kuai Commerce, led by Jonny Plein, Adam Knight and James Campbell 甘吉, has rebranded to YASO.

YASO is building the next-generation solution for ambitious brands looking to sell directly to Chinese Gen Z consumers via Social Commerce.

If you are looking to take your brand to China, you should speak to them now.

The rebrand looks great and I am very happy unbundled vc is a small part of YASO's journey.

www.goyaso.com

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Questions to answer at Series A

Over the weekend, a founder in my network asked for questions I would like to see answered in a Series A deck or FAQ.

This is the list I sent them. What did I miss?

Where do you fit into the overall ecosystem in your space?
What is your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and how does that differ from other players in the space?
How did you figure out your ICP?
Why is this a must have rather than a nice to have for your ICP?
How are you going to market and can you evidence this works and scales?
Why are you the right team? So many sub-questions here - what skills do you have on the team now and what are you missing and when do you plan/need to fill those gaps?
What is the market size given the ecosystem?
Unit economics and what drives them i.e. how sensitive are they to cost of acquisition, churn etc
How much are you raising and at what valuation?
What growth rate do you expect this raise to drive?
How much runway will you have?
How do your plans change if you don't hit your growth targets, if you hit good but not killer growth?

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 28 Apr 23

#TodayI

Shared an example of positive karma.
Spent the whole day at the airport, originally trying to get an 8.30am flight and now waiting for the 6.40pm flight which will probably be delayed.
Rearranged the three in-person meetings I had planned.
Spoke with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners about the founder breakfast event we are planning.
Worked my way through the long Focal shortlist.

#IfIMakeItHomeThisEvening

I will come back to the UK tomorrow morning with my two youngest to meet my father and watch Leyton Orient be presented with the League Two trophy.

Have a great weekend all.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Treat people right and sometimes positive karma will smack you in the face

Seven years ago I was due to fly to Singapore. I had a flight transfer from Lugano to Zurich then the long haul to Singapore.

The flight to Lugano was cancelled at the last minute due to weather. The flights from Zurich were once a day. I got straight in my car to drive to Zurich and called up the airline.

I didn't rant, I didn't rave, I made very clear I knew it wasn't the person on the phone's fault and asked as politely as I could if there was anything they could do for me.

They told me if I wasn't there at least two hours beforehand I couldn't get on the plane. There was zero chance for me to make it. They asked if I wanted to be moved onto the flight the following day and that they'd have to cancel today's ticket to do that. I said yes please.

I got to the airport half an hour before the original flight time when the airport was empty and went to the desk. They looked me up on the system and told me to take my large hold bag through to security and run as fast as I could!

I ran, they put my large bag through the security scanner and I was the last person on the flight. They took my large bag and put it in a cupboard somewhere.

To this day I have no idea how I got on the flight. My ticket was meant to be cancelled, they'd been very clear there was no way on the flight if I was there late and I've never seen a large suitcase go through the security scanner then allowed as hand luggage. I can only guess that the person I spoke to had kindly left a note on file about me and that everyone else he'd spoken to about it had screamed at him,

Treat people right and sometimes positive karma will smack you in the face.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Morning update - 27 Apr 23

#TodayI

Am spending with old friends.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic

Evening update - 26 Apr 23

#TodayI

Shared the three key skills I look for in founders.
Signed some SAFE conversion docs.
Bumped into Ciaran O'Neill and Zoe Ward of Rawlinson & Hunter LLP.
Had breakfast with 😃 David Fogel, Deborah Saunders and Joanna Shan of Alma Angels.
Met Samuel Cohen who is part of my founder support scheme for coffee.
Was pitched by Jonathan Blausten of Sprout.
Caught up with Monika Holod of Wangie.app.

#NowI

Am heading for dinner with Ariella Vildan Young and Scott Mackin.

#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic