Thank you founders
Today is my last full day in the office. It's been an incredible year.
Today is my last full day in the office. It's been an incredible year.
unbundled vc has committed to five new investments - Monika Holod's OMA Mind (fka wangie.app), one that isn't public, Matt Ong's Ctrl Alt, Mica Vaipan's RunYourself and Tash Grossman's Slip -
and two follow-ons that have not yet closed.
I'd like to thank every founder who has pitched me this year. I know I only invest in a small proportion of you. But I can't do that if you don't make the effort to come to me.
Thank you 🙏
The Displacement of Inertia
Being a founder is about making things happen rather than waiting for things to happen.
Being a founder is about making things happen rather than waiting for things to happen.
A friend calls it "The Displacement of Inertia".
For the best founders, not only are you a motivated displacer, you are the optimal person to do that.
That's a question I ask myself as an investor - if I had to mentally design the right people to solve this problem, who would they be?
Evening update - 13 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared it will be brutal for VCs in the next couple of years.
Did a chunk of admin for a follow-on investment.
Had a quick call with Jonny Rosenblatt of Spacemade.
Had coffee with James Hunt of Boost.
Had a meeting with a founder who didn't reply to my emails saying I wasn't looking at anything new, then sent me two emails today, then didn't respond to my reply to that, then didn't show.
#LaterI
Have the last session of an online course.
VC Winter
The next couple of years are going to be brutal for VCs.
The next couple of years are going to be brutal for VCs.
Too much money invested in '20 and '21 at too high valuations in, on average, not high enough quality opportunities means investor returns will be terrible.
Non-zero interest rates mean investors have other opportunities to earn decent returns - they don't have to take so much risk.
Expect fewer emerging managers to raise, those with just funds I and II to be most affected (because most of their returns are affected), VC mergers that are distressed acquisitions in all but name, and zombie funds that can never raise again but have to manage their investments to expiry.
If you're an emerging manager considering raising, you may have to be as creative as the businesses you are considering investing in.
It will be easier for startups.
Fewer businesses getting funded since then and everyone managing their burn aggressively means there will be fewer companies asking for less money less often.
Startup funding will normalise first.
Evening update - 12 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared that culture is set by actions not words.
Had coffee with Tom Carey of Carey Olsen.
Spoke with Daisy Rowland of Innovate UK.
Had coffee with Callum Hockey.
Attended a panel meeting.
Culture setting
Culture is set by actions not words.
Culture is set by actions not words.
Do as I say not as I do does not work in business or parenting.
Evening update - 11 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared that you have to aim for unicorns.
Had coffee with Marc Winn.
Shared I can't open child-proof medicine.
Had lunch with Bruce MacInnes of ABAKA.
Spoke with Winter Mead of Coolwater Capital.
Practised my standup set.
Child-proof = Marc-proof
Child-proof medicine lids are also Marc-proof.
Child-proof medicine lids are also Marc-proof.
Aim high
There aren't many unicorns out there but you're still killing yourself if you don't aim for them.
There aren't many unicorns out there but you're still killing yourself if you don't aim for them.
When you invest early businesses have no intrinsic value. You are buying an option. You know that most of the time you won't hit the maximum outcome, but the higher the maximum outcome the higher the option value.
To put it less mathematically, most startups won't achieve their full potential because that is hard. But the higher the maximum potential, the better the outcome for everyone even if you only hit 10% of that.
You have to start with as high a potential outcome as possible so 10% of that is a great outcome.
If you aim low, you will achieve even lower.
First ever advent calendar
Personal post: Yesterday I arrived home from London to my first ever advent calendar.
Personal post:
Yesterday I arrived home from London to my first ever advent calendar.
It lives by my bed.
I'm catching up two days at a time.
Late update - 8 December 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI
Ranted about investors who care about ownership percentage.
Was coached by Mica Vaipan of RunYourself.
Am waiting at the airport for my delayed flight.
#LaterI
Am going to a Chanukah dinner.
Percentage ownership targets are crazy
Percentage ownership is a crazy game which many investors play. It is the market orthodoxy.
Percentage ownership is a crazy game which many investors play. It is the market orthodoxy.
All that matters is if you are happy with the amount you are investing at the valuation you are investing at.
Otherwise, as the valuation goes up you are forced to invest more as the return profile gets worse.
It makes no sense.
Evening update - 7 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared yesterday's update.
Had a chopped liver sandwich at Tongue & Brisket.
Had coffee with James Campbell 甘吉 of YASO.
Shared attendee takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Had a postponement.
Had coffee with Monika Holod of OMA (fka wangie.app).
Had coffee with Singe (StJohn) Deakins.
#LaterI
Have an investor and Sigma Squared Society fellows dinner. Thank you Haz Hubble for inviting me.
Key founder breakfast takeaways
Key takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd yesterday, written by the attendees:
Key takeaways from my founder breakfast with Matthew Codd yesterday, written by the attendees:
Dhiren Gami - Keep messaging tight, keep messaging real 🤘🤓
Alison Berryman -
1️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿.
Aside from the obvious benefit - that you'll find out what they want, and can then better position yourself to match that need - this has the effect of levelling the playing field, by showing the other person that you are also looking for a good fit.
2️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
Try to distil this into 8 words or less. (Good luck!)
3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝙮𝙤𝙪.
If the person you're talking to likes what you're selling, they will probably need to persuade someone else further up the chain to buy into the idea. Whether you're speaking to VCs, enterprise customers, or your line manager, it's worth remembering that you need to give them the tools and info they need to sell you to the next person up the chain.
Jake Fieldsend - the session highlighted the significance of founder-led sales in the early post-launch phase. Also, the importance of levelling up discussions with investors/VCs, and ensuring that we have concisely articulated the problem that we are solving for our customers in our deck (so even my mum could understand and relay it back!!)
Hervé Ky - 🚀 Refining your elevator pitch: In our case for KeyBento, switching from “We are building a home swapping platform” to “We are allowing millions of families to save thousand of €/£/$ a year”
🌟 Do unconventional things to appeal to VCs: share video or audio introduction and send a printed deck to their offices with hand notes
Ilona Melnychuk - all founders are salespeople, whether use the word ‘sales’ or not. Call it negotiation, emotional intelligence, marketing - whatever feels good. In the end, it all comes down to driving some change.
Late update - 6 December 23
Yesterday I…
#YesterdayI
Shared my top tip for fundraising was to put yourself inside the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Had my breakfast event on how to fundraise with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners. I will post about it later.
Had a post event coffee with Rayan Bannai of Squared. Sadly no selfie.
Spoke with Jonathan Blausten of Sprout about the venture capital industry.
Had coffee with Joanna Shan of Google DeepMind.
Had an online course.
Got a sneaky McDonalds.
Passed out.
Top tip for fundraising
Put yourself in the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Ahead of my founder breakfast this morning, here's my top tip for fundraising:
Put yourself in the mind of your investors and make it as easy for them as you can.
Founders, we're not asking for your sympathy (cue tiny violin) but empathy will help you. If you understand our problems and how we have to manage our time and our process, you will have a much better chance of selling to us. And this is a sales process.
Find out what this means in practice at the breakfast this morning. And you never know, it might inspire a few more posts.
Evening update - 5 December 23
Today I…
#TodayI
Shared about yesterday's event, "The Rise of the Female Entrepreneur", hosted by Shaa Wasmund MBE.
Had a very disappointing turkey sandwich lunch with Anthea Stephenson of willow. Just the sandwich was disappointing.
Worked on my founder breakfast on how to fundraise tomorrow morning with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
#LaterI
Am going to the Building Your Investor Brand event with Gabbi Cahane of Stride.VC and Samira Ann Qassim of Pink Salt Ventures and Patrick Ryan of Odin.
Final call - how to fundraise
Final call for my founder's "how to fundraise" breakfast event tomorrow with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Final call for my founder's "how to fundraise" breakfast event tomorrow with Matthew Codd of Cosmic Partners.
Link here.
Do not expect waffles!
Late update - 4 December 23
YesterdayI…
#YesterdayI
Was incredibly fortunate to be on a panel at The Rise of The Female Entrepreneur yesterday at the London Stock Exchange - an incredible event.
Lovely to see Chantal Epp FRSA and Sky of ClicknClear and to meet Tash Grossman of Slip in person for the first time.
Trinny Woodall as the keynote was a great speaker about her entrepreneurial journey and the challenges she has faced.
The lovely people alongside me on the panel were Janet Coyle CBE, Vanessa Vallely OBE CCMI and Bill Morrow (Angels Den).
Thank you again Shaa Wasmund MBE for including me.
