Evening update - 5 October 23
Today I…
#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.
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:
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!
Evening update - 4 October 23
Today I…
#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.
Sifted + plug socket = good
Sifted update: I found a plug socket so I'm not moving. Come and find me in the coworking zone.
Sifted update: I found a plug socket so I'm not moving. Come and find me in the coworking zone.
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.
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
Today I…
#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.
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.
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.
Evening update - 2 October 23
Today I…
#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.
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?
Evening update - 29 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared how you need to operate to hire and keep the best people.
Took the kids to school.
Had a call with Georgi Katanov.
Caught up with Sam Ettelaie.
Spoke with Premal Parekh.
Was pitched by Jean-Michel Chalayer of Jena.
Was pitched by Jaz Singh of Maison.app.
NowIAm
Collecting the kids from school and taking them for an early dinner.
Have a good weekend everyone.
#founder #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
The best people have choices
Charlie Munger's three rules for a career are:
Charlie Munger's three rules for a career are:
1) Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself.
2) Don't work for anyone you don't respect and admire.
3) Work only with people you enjoy.
If you are running a business, you need to make all these true for your employees and potential employees.
The best people have choices.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 28 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared how to handle setting the bar for when you should invest.
Took the kids to school.
Spoke with Richard Hadler of Odin.
Had an impromptu chat with Nick Davis of Alto.Ski about building in public.
Attended a prep meeting for next Tuesday's Relocate to Guernsey Show with Jo Stoddart, Brenda Ainsworth, Edward Bowen, Lynne Coleman, Lily Prus and Emma Shell.
Caught up with Rachael Crook of Lifted.
Spoke with Julia Staszczak of Market One Capital.
Tried and failed to have my Important Not Urgent Day.
#NowIHaveTo
Collect the kids from school.
Feed them.
Head to standup practice.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Know your bar
When my bar is high and I am seeing more great opportunities than ever before, how do I choose?
When my bar is high and I am seeing more great opportunities than ever before, how do I choose?
Know whether I am ahead or behind my allocation schedule.
See how they compare with the recent businesses I have invested in.
If I'm ahead of schedule set the bar higher.
If I'm behind schedule set the bar lower.
The amount higher or lower depends on how far ahead or behind I am.
That's it. No rocket science required.
Important prerequisites:
Know your allocation schedule, how many investments you plan to make in a particular time period.
Know your criteria for comparing.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 27 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared that 2021 exit valuations should not be used as benchmarks.
Took the kids to school.
Spoke with the marvellous Aisling Gray of ASG Group.
Had a call with Joe Perkins of Landscape about his Compass product.
Chatted with Anshul Gupta about how we each invest.
Talked to Sam Dhesi, MD of Popp AI.
Had a call with Tom Savage of Ventures Together.
#NowIHaveTo
Collect two kids from after school club, one from football, take that one to more football, feed them, and collect from second football.
I am sleeping well this week.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
2021 valuations are not comparable
Founders, if you share comparable exit valuations in your pitch deck, I always check the date.
Founders, if you share comparable exit valuations in your pitch deck, I always check the date.
If they're 2021, I pretty much ignore them. They are misleading at best.
Evening update - 26 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared why it's hard for investors and harder for founders.
Took the kids to school.
Caught up with Hannah Leach of Houghton Street Ventures.
Had an impromptu coffee with Barrie Baxter of Brixx Software.
Was pitched by Harry Edmeades of Goodnick.
Had a call with Rohit Mathur of Digital Horizon VC.
Was filmed for Locate Guernsey ahead of next week's Relocate Show where I will be part of the fireside chat. Thank you PCD GROUP's David Bell, Olivia Gallichan, Karen Brazier and in particular Christopher Mathison who went out of his way to make me feel comfortable by wearing the identical clothes to me.
#NowIHaveTo
Collect the kids.
Feed them.
Pack for a school trip.
Harder for founders
My job is hard. I see so many great founders. It's hard to choose.
My job is hard. I see so many great founders. It's hard to choose.
Not as hard as it is for you. I know I'm turning down people with great businesses. You don't know why I'm turning down what you have to offer.
Every investor can only invest in so many things. It's not "Is your business going to win", it's "How do you stack up against the competition".
You don't know the competition so don't beat yourself up. You can only control how good you are. The rest is out of your hands.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 25 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Emailed my angel list about one of my companies that is raising.
Asked for advice on how to make it frictionless for people to join that list.
Took the kids to school (my wife is away).
Was pitched by Sam Dhesi, MD of Popp AI.
Had coffee with a friend and asked for advice.
Chatted with Paul Wicks of Wicks Digital Health about investing.
Caught up with Euan Cameron of Willo®.
Attended lunch break meditation Guille-Allès Library.
Had coffee with Martin Scott of Core Fund Services.
Rescheduled a call.
Collected my two youngest from school.
Took them to their bi-weekly injections.
#NowIHaveTo
Collect another son (so many sons) from football training and take him to table tennis.
Get one son ready for his Italian lesson.
Collect son from table tennis.
Feed them.
Catch up on my daily backlog.
It's gonna be a fun week.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Streamlining my angel investor list
Advice, please.
Advice, please.
I just emailed a list of angels I maintain manually to let them know that one of my companies is raising and happy to take investments from angels.
I want to make the list frictionless to join, like a newsletter. I already have a monthly newsletter on Substack. I want to maintain separate lists.
What's the best and easiest way to do this, please?
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic
Evening update - 22 September 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Walked to work with my phone off.
Shared the winners of last night's Guernsey Venture Challenge.
Started working my way through the Focal longlist.
Spoke with Thaleia Misailidou about our investment in Mica Vaipan's RunYourself.
Was pitched by Anu Obe of To All My Black Girls LTD.
Caught up with Jamie Beaumont of Playter.
Chatted with Edward Inns of Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Had a postponement.
#NowI
Am heading to one of my sons' schools to find out about The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
#founders #startups #venturecapital #buildinginpublic #investinginpublic