Evening update - 7 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared that VC investing is not for everyone.
Chatted with Tash Grossman of Slip.
Had a call with Martin Mason of TalentMapper.
Spoke with Andrew Weisz.
Added an AI Ask Me Anything Chatbot to my site.
Had a demo of SeedLegals new Syndicate functionality from Jonny Seaman and Vasu Sarin.
#LaterI
Am going for a curry.
Risk vs reward
Venture capital investing is for people who are comfortable that, if they get any money back, it will be in five to ten years.
Venture capital investing is for people who are comfortable that, if they get any money back, it will be in five to ten years.
The rewards can be exceptional.
But if you're not comfortable with that risk and liquidity profile, you shouldn't go anywhere near it.
Evening update - 6 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Took the kids to school.
Had a mentoring call with Ofentse Motaung CA(SA).
Was pitched by Erika Brodnock, MBE of Kinhub.
Asked for help with an AI AMA chatbot. Thank you for all your responses.
Chatted with Ramzi Rafih of No Label Ventures.
Was pitched by Daniel Bower of Jetty.
Spoke with Odilinma Obiajulu.
Had a call with Dan Elton of ASOS.com.
Was pitched by Paul Clifford of STRATxAI.
Collected my son from table tennis.
#NowI
Have more backlog to get through.
Help with AI AMA
I need your help building an AI AMA bot.
I need your help building an AI AMA bot.
I've now written over 600 pages of content which is all accessible on my website or in my newsletter. I know I've answered most questions and you should be able to imply the answers to the rest but I can't expect anyone to read all of it.
Can anyone suggest the best solutions and companies for this? Quality, ease of use and cost are all important to me.
Thank you!
Evening update - 3 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared the link to my webinar with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals.
Had breakfast with a friend.
Had a call with Max Brenssell of Spoke.ai.
Had coffee with Jude Barton who had some great questions for me.
Caught up with Euan Cameron of Willo®.
Had a no-show.
Was pitched by Nadine Pfeifer of HopStair®.
Was pitched by Neil Smith of Mettle.
#LaterI
Really am going to watch a movie with the kids.
Also available for weddings and bar mitzvahs
For those of you who missed my webinar with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals, here’s the link.
For those of you who missed my webinar with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals, here’s the link.
I recorded a podcast earlier in the week with Jack Richardson for his ProRata podcast.
Anything where my time can be magnified into hopefully helping many I am always open to.
And of course, I'm not objecting to the exposure it gives me 😉 .
Evening update - 2 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Survived the overnight hurricane-strength winds.
Shared about Focal Deploy, the demo day for LPs to find GPs.
Attended an LP quarterly update.
Chatted with Jeremy Luzinda of Haatch.
Was pitched by a founder who wishes to remain anonymous.
Finished my article for next month's Business Brief.
Pulled together some info on what unbundled vc has done to date.
Spoke with Abbie Main of SeedLegals about the SeedLegal Startup Awards.
Failed to have my Important Not Urgent Day.
#LaterI
May watch a movie with the kids.
Focal Deploy
Focal is launching Focal Deploy, a demo day for Limited Partners to find their next fund investment.
Focal is launching Focal Deploy, a demo day for Limited Partners to find their next fund investment.
Focal is already the world's biggest demo day without the accelerator for founders.
Its aim now is to very quickly become the de facto place for GPs to successfully raise their next fund.
Much like the startup demo day, LPs will vote on which GPs will present and the best will have their demo day in front of LPs.
If you are an LP, sign up here and let them know I sent you, please!
Thank you, Jack, Issie, Hector & Taos, another great initiative.
Evening update - 1 November 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about my webinar with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals.
Had a site meeting for our house with DLM Architects Ltd and Infinity Group.
Was pitched by Tash Grossman of Slip.
Did my webinar with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals. Thank you again for inviting me.
Spoke with Chloe Dagnell of Isomer Capital.
#NowI
Am battening down the hatches ahead of hurricane-strength winds overnight here in Guernsey.
How to pitch in the current VC landscape
At 2pm today, come and hear me and Anthony Rose of SeedLegals chat about and take questions on:
At 2pm today, come and hear me and Anthony Rose of SeedLegals chat about and take questions on:
"How to pitch in the current VC landscape".
The market has changed. AI is here. Some things remain the same.
Really looking forward to this. Hope it's helpful.
Evening update - 31 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared my joy at attending The Maydays improv retreat.
Chatted with Nic Newman of Emerge.
Had coffee with Matthew Westgarth-Smith of HFL.
Recorded a podcast with Jack Richardson of ProRata and Focal.
Had a call with someone very helpful.
Spoke with Anthony Rose of SeedLegals ahead of our webinar tomorrow. Link in the comments.
Had coffee with Andrea Widstrom Holt of Terraco.
#NowI
Am taking my two youngest trick or treating.
Paean to The Maydays
This is my annual paean to The Maydays Improv Retreat.
This is my annual paean to The Maydays Improv Retreat.
I just got back from this and every year I have the most incredible time with the loveliest people.
Last year I wrote about stretching yourself and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations for personal growth and, while that's all true, this year I just want to say to anyone who's considered doing anything like this...
Just do it. You'll have so much fun.
Evening update - 30 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Was pitched by Markuss Rozins ✨️ and Espen Myklebust of bandit app.
Collected my car from being fixed.
Had breakfast with Mark Reilly.
Got the ferry back to Guernsey.
Had to postpone a meeting.
Saw my 13yo son's new perm.
Spoke with Shaa Wasmund MBE about her annual event - The Rise of The Female Entrepreneur - link in the comments.
Was pitched by Chris Bruchhausen of Strove.
Evening update - 25 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Had coffee with Ioto Iotov, CA, CFA, CAIA.
Shared that I missed a deal and am using this as motivation.
Spoke with Matt Penneycard of Ada Ventures.
Chatted with Farah Mulji who is a co-investor in Mica Vaipan's RunYourself.
Nerded out with Tom Savage of Ventures Together on portfolio construction and VC investing value-add.
#NowI
Am heading to Bournemouth to collect my car in the morning.
#TomorrowI
Am attending The Maydays improv residential so will be off for a few days. Link here.
Missing a deal and motivation
Yesterday evening I found out I'd missed a deal I really wanted to get into.
Yesterday evening I found out I'd missed a deal I really wanted to get into.
First, I was disappointed. Then I realised that a year ago, I wouldn't even have had a sniff of this deal.
I wouldn't have known it existed, I wouldn't have had a warm intro from the lead, and the founders would have had no reason to even consider me.
My job is to ensure that in a year's time, I would get into the deal and that seeing deals of this quality is my default.
Challenge accepted.
Evening update - 24 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared why I invested in Matt Ong's Ctrl Alt.
Had a walking meeting with Tim Jackson of Walking Ventures.
Had coffee with Guy Laurence.
Had a call with David Szekely of Columbvs Capital.
Had chopped liver with Jonny Plein of YASO.
Was pitched by Emilia De Stasio, CFA of Artscapy.
Had coffee with someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
Met some friends before another open mic spot.
Why invest in Ctrl Alt
Why have I invested in Matt Ong's Ctrl Alt?
Why have I invested in Matt Ong's Ctrl Alt?
I look for:
1. Very strong founders
2. building differentiated products that matter
3. that can scale fast
4. with huge potential markets,
5. a plausible route to market
6. and great unit economics
1. Matt is very strong. He doesn't fit my prior founder stereotype. I may write about this another time.
2. Ctrl Alt can do something nobody else can. It can sit between investors and alternative assets and bring them together in a regulatorily compliant way at a speed and cost structure that nobody else can match. Matt's background in structured products is a huge help here.
4. This enables an almost unimaginably huge potential market. It enables access to those markets in a way that has never previously been possible. Others have tried but haven't built the right tech or structure to do this. This is about creating products that don't currently exist for those potential clients. Does providing the product at this price point enable something incredible? Does it release unseen demand? That's the bet here.
3. Because it is a B2B offering that sits between clients and products, to scale fast you need to find existing businesses that have clients that want product and producers that need to find clients. They need a Ctrl Alt to sit between them. If both producers and those businesses are large enough, you can scale very fast. This is the benefit of a B2B approach.
5. I can't really talk about this but it's already happening.
6. The business is built on great technology that enables this access at a very low price point. The unit economics are great. It's about providing it at scale in a huge market.
This is why I have invested. Let's see how it plays out.
Evening update - 23 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Got the overnight ferry to the UK.
Got two hours sleep on aforesaid ferry.
Dropped my car off to be fixed.
Got the train to London.
Had lunch with Lawrence Barclay of Manta Ray.
Had a call with Romain Sestier of StackOne.
Shared that unbundled vc has invested in Matt Ong and the team at Ctrl Alt.
Spoke with Amar Shah.
Had pizza with with Rayan Bannai of Squared (pic below).
Drunk a lot of coffee.
Did an open mic spot in Kings Cross.
#NowI
Really need to sleep.
Investment in Ctrl Alt
So excited to announce that unbundled vc has invested in Matt Ong and the whole team at Ctrl Alt's Seed round alongside Forward Partners and MiddleGame Ventures who co-led the round.
So excited to announce that unbundled vc has invested in Matt Ong and the whole team at Ctrl Alt's Seed round alongside Forward Partners and MiddleGame Ventures who co-led the round.
I will post about why tomorrow.
Article link.
Evening update - 20 October 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared feedback on my feedback.
Chatted with Rahel ራሄል Tesfai of FroHub.
Caught up with Thaleia Misailidou.
Had coffee with an old colleague.
Had a postponement.
Was pitched by Martin Mason of TalentMapper.
Spoke with 🎥 Gabriel Isserlis of Tutti (visit www.tutti.space).
