FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS

FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS

By Anthony LyallBusiness
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FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS episodes

  • F&F Season 3 Episode 6 - Carmen Rico, One of Europe's leading VCs

    We have the pleasure of spending time with one of the leading and most successful investors in the UK and European Seed stage today, on the “FOUNDstars and FUNDstars” VodPod.

    The effervescent Carmen calls us from Madrid (despite being London based) for this bubbly and insightful Vodcast / Podcast where we focus on several interesting and important aspects of her life as venture capitalist, where Carmen divulges some real golden nuggets for any aspiring VC's or founders looking to grab her attention.

    Carmen really is a real “FUNDstar”, something that is very evident in our summertime chat on:

    # The life of a VC and the connectivity tools needed to get the job done real-time

    # How the modern day journey of a VC can entail a number of roles to learn and perfect your trade, from her experience in Finance, Founding her own Start-Up and working for a number of leading VC's

    # What she looks for in a founder and how this led to her discovering the poster Unicorn of Covid-19 UK tech,  Jonny Boufourat of Hopin, when he was raising his initial £150k Seed round !

    # Top tips for Founders when reaching out to leading VC's, with showing passion at the top of this list

    # Her approach to inclusivity, epitomised by her work opening the ecosystem with Kieran Hill and the Debut Sessions and Eamon Carey with The Fund

    # The current market trends for investment at Pre-Seed and Seed where the volume and quality of dealflow in Europe is at all-time highs

    # As we start to move towards a return to physical events in autumnal London - how Tech events in the near future could soon become a hybrid of on-line and in-person, with the technology being created very much more interactive

    .. So watch this space!!!

    58 min
  • F&F Season 3 Episode 5 - Ruslan Sarkisyan of Begin Capital

    In this interesting episode, filmed in late April 2021, Ruslan provides some excellent insight and is again a classic example of how cross border barriers for founders looking for investment have really been removed during the pandemic.

    This really is a Vod/Podcast that is from Moscow with love, as Ruslan takes time to deep dive on the approach, structure and growth that Begin have created in a very short space of time.

    He speaks with real passion, for what he, Alex and Sava have created with the fund, where their refreshingly fun and straightforward approach to VC is encapsulated on their website HERE and touched upon nicely by Ruslan in this 50 minute conversation.

    He provides these golden nuggets on Begin:

    # On Seed VC investing - the job is all about communication rather than anything else. You don't need to be a rocket scientist in analysing balance sheets and financial modelling, its all about communication with Seed stage founders
    # With Founders - "you should be the smartest person in the relationship, not us" and forget geek speak. Don't talk in jargon, speak frankly
    # On focus - They are sector agnostic and invest in the best start-ups they see from their network.  So if they see 5000 businesses a year, they pick the best 5 and don't hold themselves to a specific focus
    # On the process - They are a small team of three - who discuss closely the 20-50 names a year that make the top 5. They then reference check the businesses they like with their advisory board, expecting no's, but if not the investment decision can be made in two weeks
    # Global Focus - Begin tend to invest globally more-so than Russia
    # Chemistry - is key. Begin have to feel it with the founder and have "a good feeling with the founder", which enables deals to get done quickly
    # On Physical meetings - he wants to get back to this and travelling the globe as soon as possible "can you imagine getting married without even seeing the person" ?
    # On advisors - choose them wisely and from a variety of backgrounds and don't have too many, as it can slow things down

    On the Russia. Tech Scene:

    Two things are happening..
    # Russia has some great Tech companies, some that go outside Russia to grow and become global, like Revolut, who have raised $800m today at a valuation of $33bn
    # There are big potential unicorns in Russia, that grow fast, very quickly, but get acquired early as they cannot attain the international investment need to become global giants, when based in Russia

    In conclusion:

    Ruslan is a super, straight talking guy, a real gem and great advert for Russia VC.

    55 min
  • F&F Season 3 Episode 4 - David Wood of The London Futurists

    In today's episode we delve into the future and hear the amazing pearls of wisdom, of what may or may not happen in the world of Technology, from one of authorities on this area, David Wood of The London Futurists.

    David's business is very much in demand, with the pandemic  sparking a mix-shift towards more Corporations (not just Tech) and individuals allocating greater resource and time towards planning for the impact of future digital and technology solutions.

    Futurism is now taken seriously, rather than be seen to be a gimmick 20 years ago, when David starting meeting other Futurists in the basement cafe of Waterstones in Piccadilly!

    Anthony and I caught up with David in Mid April 2021. During our one hour conversation, David provides his thoughts on the following:

    On a positive note:

    # The advances of Neural technology were applauded and how embedding wireless chipsets into a brain to eradicate human paralysis could become a reality, in the next two years
    # The possibilities that convergence could potentially drive the emergence of new, stronger AI technologies in the future, with chipsets emerging now to enable this
    # The massive potential impact of Quantum Cloud computing, with hugely  disruptive elements. However the jury remains out on when this will commercialise?
    # Quantum algorithms will eventually revolutionise Chemistry, Drug Discovery, Materials and nano-technology
    On a worrying note:
    # The point of singularity could be as early as 2030, or as late as 2045
    # Terminators with Super intelligence could eventually dominate the Human race, though not in the form of robots as in the movies, but as either bots and Cyber-infections that will prey upon and exploit the  vulnerabilities in software we use every day, via shared infrastructures
    # The emergence of Super AI that will know each of our own individual AI "hot buttons to press"!
    # The disappointment around Glass and how touchless technology has been much slower to evolve as a commercial application, than futurist predictions in 2008

    In conclusion,

    There are in fact,  many, many more sensible crystal ball moments from David so please listen or watch.  If you enjoy, we highly recommend joining The London Futurists by connecting with David HERE or reading his latest book .. "Predictions and Foresight, Good, Bad and Vital".

    1 hr 1 min
  • F&F Season 3 Episode 3 - Steve Baxter of Ten13

    We have another cracking episode for you today, with another legendary and outspoken VC, the "bolder than bold" Steve Baxter of Ten13 VC.  

    Should you not know this, but Steve is a national hero of the Australian Tech scene, with all his great and insightful  wisdom displayed on TV show "Shark Tank". 

     More recently Steve has been focused his efforts on investing through the excellent and early staged focus VC based in one of my favourite cities in the world Brisbane, called Ten13. 

    They are a very active bunch and one to focus on founders.  Steve hones in on these areas in today's episode and provides his own, unique spunky wisdom to the conversation around the Australian Tech and VC scene:  

    # How ballsy the Australian Start-Up scene has been during the pandemic, where unprecedented levels of capital being pumped into VC as an asset class 

    # The growth of the Australian Unicorn class, with a number of Unicorns announced as the scene matures and more talent is getting backed and built 

    # The focus of Ten13 on Software, APIs and how they've done 17 deals in the last 16 months. including 4 deals closing in the week before Christmas, right in the middle of the Australian Holiday season  !! They are looking for more !!! 

    # Ten13 VC invest globally and invest any where from £100k - £5m, with the vast majority of founders from Australia and NZ, but based usually in the US, as most tend to migrate via the Delaware / San Francisco flip, more-so than heading to London

    # On his Start-Up Catalyst advice for Founders: Basically cut to the chase fast in pitches, life is too short and i don't want to hear the loads of drivel - say in the first 5 minutes of a call or a pitch, what you do and what you want. Research from day one what capital you need to raise 

    # And many, many more marmite and points - so listen or watch here  Should you enjoy this, we highly recommend connecting with Steve HERE

    37 min
  • F&F Season 3 Episode 2 - Jonny Fry of Team Blockchain

    Jonny is a real character and one of the most likeable rogues in Blockchain. Think of a recipe of  Oliver Twist's the Artful Dodger meets John McCririck, of Horse-racing commentary par excellEnce, sprinkled with Crypto-currency ingredients - then you get the general picture.

    But joking aside, Jonny is one of the few people Notwics have met and i'm counting in the 1000's that actually make Blockchain Technology : simple, understandable and commercial.

    In-between verbally abusing Chris on this episode, Jonny kindly expands his opinions on:

    # Blockchain (funnily enough) and what it enables, the key trends and drivers, with some "here and now" really interesting real life  commercial successes and anecdotes such as "blockchain is basically an excel spreadsheet on steroids"

    # Blockchain mass adoption in the next 18 months, ironically led by governments and regulatory bodies to improve compliance and security
    # Blockchain as a driver of better ESG & Sustainability in the world
    # The global following his thought leadership has through his blog Digital Bytes and Blockchain Radio show
    # The Madness of the current Financial world and how we are due a major financial correction in the next 6 months & Chris's pet love "OIT - Oldies In Tech"

    And many, many more marmite and points - so listen or watch here

    48 min
  • F&F Season 3 Episode 1 - Camilla Dolan of Eka Capital

    Camilla's love of Technology was forged in her early career at the mighty Bain Consulting, where upon being posted to San Francisco for 6 months she had the opportunity to work with baby stage, inspirational start-ups like: UBER and Worldpay !!!

    Having cut her teeth working on these rather unsuccessful west coast based founders, Camilla became hooked and upon returning to London, she said "adieu" to Bain and "hello" to MMC and the world of VC.

    Camilla highlights several topics of interest in the Podcast / Vodcast:

    On Trends:

    # Ageism - and how early experience with major start-up names helped her investment understanding and ability in later life. (Rant alert - Chris has a bit of a soapbox moment here about his favourite topic)
    # How the VC investment landscape has significantly changed in the last 10 years
    # The old chestnut of Women in Tech and how much better the world of VC is now for women, compared to 10 years ago, in the UK
    # The growing interest amongst women to pursue careers in VC
    # How there is an increasing amount of Female only founded businesses receiving term sheets in the UK in 2021 (yippee!)
    # Camilla also touches upon hurdles and sacrifices you have to make when setting up your own fund, similar in a way to being a founder !

    On EKA:

    Camilla focuses in on:
    # Her current role investing in profit with purpose, consumer technology and backing people building sustainable business
    # How Consumer Fintech is really on fire in the UK and is perhaps as strong as an an investment thesis as in the US now
    # How Consumer Health-Tech accelerated 5-10 years during the pandemic and how the last 18 months have really propelled sustainability to become a top investment area
    # Founders they meet - should always be careful around dilution, focused on profit margins and building strong user metrics with consumers
    # EKA receive around 1,200 decks a year and Camilla explains how they try and be as open and inclusive as possible to Founders that approach them
    # Founders should be as personable as possible, even when sending a blind deck
    # EKA invest Seed to Series A in UK (regionally, not just London) and have made 2 investments so far in 2021 (at the time of the interview)

    56 min
  • F&F Season 2 Episode 10 - Bobby Console-Verma of 1FS

    Bobby Console-Verma is a long standing pillar of the world of Family Office and he takes 50 minutes out of his schedule to tell us about his life in Family Office and what its all about.

    Bobby's tips are centered around:
    # The importance of timing with investment throughout his life
    # His love of Real Estate and Property through his Family Office, FMV Capital
    # How Family Offices are very unique and different. No one is the same in terms of outlook and scale
    # The mysteries around Family Offices
    # UHNW, HNI, mass affluent all have different classifications of wealth, amongst different organisation - so trying to understand this is difficult and needs a lot of leg work
    # Family Office is a £2.5 trillion marketplace of wealth a year

    More latterly,

    # Bobby has built a Software tool called 1FS, becoming a founder again, with 1FS looking to become the platform to assist Family Offices manage their assets real-time, the risk involved and improve efficiency.

    If you are interested in finding out more about the UK Family Office space, then this is the episode for you..

    53 min
  • F&F Season 2 Episode 9 - David Ephrati of Truesight Ventures

    David joins us from his flat in London, to tell us more about his role at Truesight Ventures, a Seed Fund focused on investing in brilliant founders. They are a small team, 4 people in total based in London & Stockholm.  

    We discuss & debate: 

    The VC industry: 

    # The nature of VC, is "super sexy" in David's words and  it is attracting more young people as an the industry

    # However, Job opportunities remain scarce and despite the growing number of funds it's no easier to get a job in VC
    # It's "super competitive" says David and after many knock backs he got a lucky break with a friend who set up a VC in Tel Aviv, to where he hot footed it too, for his first role
    # We take a look at Inclusivity opportunities in the industry in the context of VC,  LPs and Founders
    # We also assess the power of network & how its a must for young people entering the industry to aspire to  build there network, in a measured way
    # Smaller, newer funds continue to become successful and are becoming more widely backed at the moment  On Truesight Ventures: We talk about
    # How it morphed from a small group of angels collectively building out friendships, deal-flow, co-investing into a fund in 2018
    # They now manage $20m and issue tickets of around £100k-£150k # David and the team invest in Software, but avoid Hardware and Biotech
    # They have made 40 investments from the fund so far and review 1,000 to 1,500 decks a year
    # The team are UK and Nordic focused, & have invested in a number of winners already: like Omnipresent (HR Tech) and Dispatch (Food delivery)  

    The mindset of a VC:

    # It's all about lots and lots of research and deep diving. objectively
    # When close to investing and at final stages, they are always set to "on" rather than "off". "We want the Founder to nail the final ball"
    # VC's like to channel check their convictions about a founder, with other VCs and investors in the space. "They all talk to each other"
    # David really admires founders, admitting he doesn't have the guts to be one!  "So be bold and strong founders, when presenting the business and opportunity"!
    # Plus Founders, remember VC's are human too and if you ever have the pleasure of meeting him - Formula 1 and Rick and Morty are his achilles heel !!!!  

    Quotes of the episode: "We have to all feel a passion and bond with a founder, where the  founder's enthusiasm and determination to not be derailed from the many set - backs they are bound to encounter, is critical to them investing" 

    AND 

    "In this job I am on the phone a lot and listening to people mainly talk about themselves a lot, is not something I want to do when I want to switch off and relax. So Clubhouse really does not work for me at all"

    55 min
  • F&F Season 2 Episode 8 - Nick Finegold of Curation Corp

    Another cheeky chappie joins from the countryside, Nick Finegold a FOUNDstar, founding two great start-ups, namely Curation and The Fat Gladiator. They are both content driven businesses, led by technology address real issues in the world, with Curation .. ESG and the Fat Gladiator anything else that Nick fancies writing stories about and doing a video on. He also deep dives on the time building Execution a massive financial disruptor in the 90’s, challenging the might of the leading investment banks, where had his early learnings of success and failure

    Nick is full of gems, in this Pubcast and he has lived life, especially when considering he was inside the world trade center when the planes hit:

    # On Covid-19: “I am bored, stuck on a farm for a year, with your own our children is deeply unpleasant” and “Retail has to realise that 1.2m people are now selling stuff from home now in the UK.. its changed this”.
    # On the ills of investment banking: Where he fixed front running, through the creation of his first business, Execution. The business premise was “Lets cross large blocks of stock in a hermetically sealed transaction, like Ebay” and he admirably built a business that was cash-flow positive on the first day and he managed to sell successfully in the Sovereign Debt crisis. Something he compares “to re-arranging your garden furniture in the middle of a hurricane”
    # On running a business: “Is important to listen to people, but its also quite important not to listen to other people” and when you are an entrepreneur, “you don’t mind failing as well as its your failure, rather than other peoples”
    # On being a sole founder of business: “The Ups come in the early years and how you should never take your eye off the ball”. Nick admits he failed to stop looking forward, when successful with Execution and this destroyed the business
    # On Data and building datasets to segment your audience, with solution based outcomes: Which is what he evolved with Curation, Susst and the Fat Gladiator offerings. “one is for people interested in Gates and the other is for people interested in Greta”
    # On ESG: “Big corporate managements are getting it now and they are genuinely trying to transition”
    # On Reddit and Gamestop: “The weaponization of apps, the democratization of information on the internet and the socialisation of trading, all collided” and really spells the start of the end of the world of asset management. Why should one person managing billions of people’s money make this decision and not everyone”?
    # On Peloton: Nick bought one to enjoy the joys of working out in lockdown, and counteract the alcohol consumption

    Quote of the episode:

    “I have made million mistakes, but they have always been made with the best intentions and how you react to them is important, is how you learn. Like going to the Monaco grand prix, getting drunk the night before and listening to the cars the following day, with a tremendous hangover”

    51 min
  • F&F Season 2 Episode 7 - Dan Bowyer of SUPERseed

    Dan of calls in from the current Superseed HQ, in the middle of the British countryside to tell us about his Fund that invests in technical founders building business automation platforms.  Or, as he tells his wife and people that don’t know the VC world, “the boring sh*t that goes on behind the Glaxo Smithkline – we love the platforms that go on in that world and change the way people .. like Payroll, HR etc. That’s what we invest in at Scale”.

    Dan’s a lovable rogue, a punchy artful dodger .. and we have a good bit of banter on the hour talking about:

    # On the Future of Work: "I am never going back to full time in the office ever again “ and “the Technology created so far hasn’t even touched the sides in most industries, like Education, Healthcare, Insurance”.
    “Covid-19 has just shone a light on the inadequacies on some industries. Its all about need and burning underpants and those that don’t change have burning underpants. Some still haven’t like Retail and Insurance. In fact, the Insurance industry is so old farty, with loads of dead wood that there are lots of great start-ups that will extinguish the burning underpants”. Dan reckons we have only just begun and some industries are still reticent to technology, even now, moving past Covid-19.
    # On Industry 4.0: Dan argues that Mid-sized companies in manufacturing and energy need to change and engage with new start-ups that can help them change. Dan has not seen much evidence of this so far in business automation in Covid-19. The business leaders of these businesses do not think the same as the founders Superseed back.
    # On Regulation: is the big bear in the world because Humans are stupid and greedy. The Government need to regulate the new economy that we are building. Getting the regulatory framework set in the UK to create innovation2
    # On Virtual: "No one talks about Skype anymore - what an opportunity missed in the pandemic by Microsoft here. Skype has become the MSN"
    # On VC investing: Decisions to invest are roughly “50% data and 50% sentiment – driven by meeting people”. He asks founders for a widget on their website that says that they are a good match, which would save founders so much time. VC will become more automated, specialised and will give more people access to it. Apply here…
    # On Private Equity: “is just spreadsheet stuff, its all about the deal, sell the thing. So boring”
    # On UK Start-Up scene: “I want the UK to be the springboard to the world, for start-up and catch with the US figurs, where we have unicorns in a year, that they have in a month. Unicorns, smoonicorns”
    # On US Start-Up scene: “Most of their unicorns are bullsh*t, they are all never never business models .. like Uber, WeWorks, SPACs” !
    # Volume: They see 5000 decks a year, 1000 of them they take seriously, through their direct, partner and scout network. “You get very good at being a very quick filter and 12 step matrix.. which sounds a bit like AA. We are very short shrift, but invest within 8 weeks”

    Quote of the Pod/Vod:

    “When starting Superseed I said wanted a 60% success rate and his business partners said to me you are smoking crack!!! 95% of start-ups fail. We want lots of Dragons exiting for £100m”.

    48 min

About FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS

From the publisher's feed

Christopher Lowe and Anthony Lyall interview the very best VCs and also some of the biggest UK Technology Scale-Ups, along with other super-smart leaders in the ecosystem. We hear their stories, tips,…