London Fintech Podcast

LFP178 – Connecting Startups, Investors, NEDs/Advisors/Mentors w/Roei Samuel CEO Connectd


Listen Later

Way back in the day LFP002 was with matchi.biz who were creating a marketplace to connect innovative firms with incumbents who needed that innovation so the idea of a connection function or market has been around for some time. As matchi.biz were acquired by KPMG in 2017 they were clearly not only successful at creating such a marketplace but did it so well that like a hoover hoovering itself up they got sucked thru their own portal too.

Can these concepts apply to enabling and empowering entrepreneurs? After all the most useful attributes for a founder are acquiring funders, good board members, advisors and/or mentors.

Markets sound like a good idea, albeit one that crony capitalism is forgetting. Markets operate best when what they trade is fungible – eg US$ or gold bullion of a certain quality. However as every marriage broker knows people aren’t exactly fungible – indeed they are perhaps the least fungible thing going. But all these swipe left and right apps seem to make a living for themselves and entertainment for the swipers with some success in the dating and mating game.

Roei and Connectd have set out to make a digital marketplace to add liquidity to the world of startups, investors and the hard-to-name yet super-valuable NED/Advisor/Mentor sector. This has naturally only been amplified massively in the world of lockdown. Historically the “well-connected” have had a head-start in life – can this change in the modern world and everyone be leveled-up?

Topics discussed include:

  • Roei’s and Connectd’s curious challenge with the letter “e”
  • recommended viewing recently Seaspiracy , The Silk Road, Antarctica A Year On Ice, Tehran Taxi
  • Roie’s journey from wannabe diplomat to diverting into a tech startup in the Sports/eSports market, gaining 9.5 million (!) users and a successful exit
  • gaming is worth more than films and music combined
  • leveraging his experience (including qua Mentor/Angel) and challenges to produce the concept and understanding of needs of the market that led to Connectd
  • the two types of entrepreneur – those who immediately do the duck-to-water bit and those who first immerse themselves in an industry and then find the opportunities
  • Roie’s experience in the round that only 3-4% of Angel Investors/NEDs-Mentors have requisite infrastructure for the best origination – leaving huge untapped resources out there unable to connect to the Startups who would benefit from connections with them
  • “95-96% of Angels are making their investments based on tax benefit” [super-helpful but of course not the whole story]
  • the original idea of Connectd was “Family Office as a Service” from which it developed to where it is today
  • the game-changing impact of the response to Covid in forcing/accelerating the move to digital – “golf course” deals no longer being possible
  • the “digital”/”square-peg”/”document” and “organic”/”personality”/”chemistry”/”round-peg” aspects of a human being and how they can be handled online
  • comparison with CV-based search industry
  • digitising psychometrics and relating to Corporate Creativity
  • the challenge of really knowing someone can take years anyway…
  • many Startups need specific skills/advice/knowledge and so can be very single-issue led
  • the importance of engaging in many different ways – not just, as it were, as a Square/Triangle/Circle (and then of course this leads into getting to know the person in a professional relationship – ie dating/going on holiday fit in between “online meeting” and “long term commitment/relationship”
  • in re above mentorship/advisory as intermediary steps
  • Case Study of a FoodTech business that came onto the platform thinking it wanted a NED but actually meeting it’s needs in a very different and more pertinent way
  • the challenge of marketing/selling mentoring without a specific way of connecting supply and demand
  • looking into NEDs/Advisors/Mentors category
  • Connectd was launched Feb20
  • 20% m/o/m growth since
  • ~1,000 paying customers right now, still very early stage
  • value-adding tools plans
  • pricing ~£20-30 p.mt and a transaction fee
  • monetising people’s network, skills and expertise for the benefit of the Startup world
  • UK-focused now although non-UK transactions have already taken place on the platform
  • the essential role of entrepreneurs and Startups in rescuing the economy from governmental catastrophic economic actions
  • And much more

    Share and enjoy!

     

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    London Fintech PodcastBy Tony Clark

    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    8 ratings


    More shows like London Fintech Podcast

    View all
    The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

    The Documentary Podcast

    1,839 Listeners

    More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

    More or Less: Behind the Stats

    898 Listeners

    Planet Money by NPR

    Planet Money

    30,820 Listeners

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

    517 Listeners

    Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

    Masters of Scale

    3,995 Listeners

    Behind the Money by Financial Times

    Behind the Money

    224 Listeners

    FT News Briefing by Financial Times

    FT News Briefing

    686 Listeners

    The Intelligence from The Economist by The Economist

    The Intelligence from The Economist

    2,541 Listeners

    The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

    The Rest Is Politics

    3,271 Listeners

    Merryn Talks Money by Bloomberg

    Merryn Talks Money

    45 Listeners

    The Rest Is Politics: Leading by Goalhanger

    The Rest Is Politics: Leading

    986 Listeners

    Making Money by Damien Jordan & Timeyin Akerele from Most

    Making Money

    11 Listeners

    The AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown): Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis by Nathaniel Whittemore

    The AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown): Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

    462 Listeners

    The Rest Is Money by Goalhanger

    The Rest Is Money

    220 Listeners

    The TED AI Show by TED

    The TED AI Show

    46 Listeners