Fittingly, I write this summary of a great Vod/podcast, with a leading lady of the UK VC scene, England’s women have just scored their first goal against Austria !! This episode focuses on Evie Mulberry, the Managing Partner of Astia VC, a leading San Francisco based VC, who has recently returned to the UK build the UK/EU footprint of the fund. Evie highlights how Astia – was built by the super impressive Sharon Vosmek, who was one of three founders who established the pillars of Astia 20 years ago. She brought Evie into the business, when she re-located to the West Coast in 2008. Now Evie is back and based in the South West and is successfully building out their UK and EU ecosystem. Evie talks in detail on, in the pod about how Astia are: ===&gt; Female first and only invest in Technology businesses that have female leaders or Women in executive roles ===&gt; Remain concerned about the “woefully low investment” into Female led Technology businesses. Its not Female Founders that need to change, its the VC industry ===&gt; Are inclusive and don’t believe in the “soft intro”, preferring founders to apply through their “Expert Sift” process, which aims to eliminate bias in their search process for founders In conclusion, success is being scaled as this “Expert Sift” process has now evolved into a learning Technology platform fairly recommending businesses at scale It’s a great chat, with a great lady trying to change the world of VC, according to men!!

Fittingly, I write this summary of a great Vod/podcast, with a leading lady of the UK VC scene, England’s women have just scored their first goal against Austria !! This episode focuses on Evie Mulberry, the Managing Partner of Astia VC, a leading San Francisco based VC, who has recently returned to the UK build the UK/EU footprint of the fund. Evie highlights how Astia – was built by the super impressive Sharon Vosmek, who was one of three founders who established the pillars of Astia 20 years ago. She brought Evie into the business, when she re-located to the West Coast in 2008. Now Evie is back and based in the South West and is successfully building out their UK and EU ecosystem. Evie talks in detail on, in the pod about how Astia are: ===&gt; Female first and only invest in Technology businesses that have female leaders or Women in executive roles ===&gt; Remain concerned about the “woefully low investment” into Female led Technology businesses. Its not Female Founders that need to change, its the VC industry ===&gt; Are inclusive and don’t believe in the “soft intro”, preferring founders to apply through their “Expert Sift” process, which aims to eliminate bias in their search process for founders In conclusion, success is being scaled as this “Expert Sift” process has now evolved into a learning Technology platform fairly recommending businesses at scale It’s a great chat, with a great lady trying to change the world of VC, according to men!!

 F&F Season 5 Episode 4: Evie Mulberry – Astia VC

Harriet Rosethorn is second up in our summer series on leading women in VC and Technology. We speak to Harriet in February 2022 and she takes great time to firstly explain that Puma has nothing whatsoever to do with the German Sport apparel brand !!! She, in fact, joined London based Puma PE, 4 years ago as an investment manager. They are a leading Series A investor in UK and do look at some European Technology names, if they plan to expand in the UK. Puma's ticket size is between £2m -£10m and Puma look to support a founder's transition to reach / beat the KPIs needed to get to Series B. We cover a wide array of topics in our 35 minute chat: On new business: ===&gt; We discuss how Puma are one of a number of very active funds at the Series A stage currently, taking advantage of market conditions and  lower competition for the best founders ===&gt; By being active - they aim to fund the better businesses, at a better prices and potentially get more ownership than they would have 6 months ago We also discuss the portfolio in depth: ===&gt; Covering a wide array of topics and businesses, from very successful investment in an End of Life business Pure Cremations to the in-outs of nano, micro and nano (not nemo) influencer marketing, via her work with Influencer More generally: ===&gt; Harriet provides some very good tips on hiring and how Puma interacts with their founders on how to hire top talent. In conclusion: Harriet speaks passionately about the Puma portfolio of companies and shows a commitment &amp; expertise that many founders should look to have from their investors, as times potentially become tougher, in the remainder of 2022

Harriet Rosethorn is second up in our summer series on leading women in VC and Technology. We speak to Harriet in February 2022 and she takes great time to firstly explain that Puma has nothing whatsoever to do with the German Sport apparel brand !!! She, in fact, joined London based Puma PE, 4 years ago as an investment manager. They are a leading Series A investor in UK and do look at some European Technology names, if they plan to expand in the UK. Puma's ticket size is between £2m -£10m and Puma look to support a founder's transition to reach / beat the KPIs needed to get to Series B. We cover a wide array of topics in our 35 minute chat: On new business: ===&gt; We discuss how Puma are one of a number of very active funds at the Series A stage currently, taking advantage of market conditions and  lower competition for the best founders ===&gt; By being active - they aim to fund the better businesses, at a better prices and potentially get more ownership than they would have 6 months ago We also discuss the portfolio in depth: ===&gt; Covering a wide array of topics and businesses, from very successful investment in an End of Life business Pure Cremations to the in-outs of nano, micro and nano (not nemo) influencer marketing, via her work with Influencer More generally: ===&gt; Harriet provides some very good tips on hiring and how Puma interacts with their founders on how to hire top talent. In conclusion: Harriet speaks passionately about the Puma portfolio of companies and shows a commitment &amp; expertise that many founders should look to have from their investors, as times potentially become tougher, in the remainder of 2022

F&F Season 5 Episode 3: Harriet Rosethorn - Puma PE

Phoebe Arkell is first up in our summer series on leading women in VC and Technology. Phoebe is certainly one of the up and coming VCs who successful navigated a career in consulting to follow her dream of becoming a VC. She joined London based, Supernode Global, just before the pandemic and quickly found their focus on investing at the seed stage in digital content, was perfectly suited to this time. Supernode focuses specifically on platforms and tools focused on these verticals: gaming, animation, sport, education, analytics, ad-tech, music and now the all important metaverse! Some pearlers from Phoebe and Founders in particular take note: ===&gt; Supernode invest globally, as per the name, in Seed rounds of £1m - £2m ===&gt; It's all about execution in these content driven verticals and that's what captures their eye ===&gt; How they add proper value and not just money for founders - mentorship, offsites, founder circles are offered to all and are true to their word ===&gt; Culture is key for them as a fund and the community they've built ===&gt; Chemistry is central for any 10 year journey for Phoebe and the founders Supernode invest in Phoebe is a polite, thoughtful and kind lady who was a delight to talk to and a bit of a breath of fresh air for founders looking for the friendly face of VC !

Phoebe Arkell is first up in our summer series on leading women in VC and Technology. Phoebe is certainly one of the up and coming VCs who successful navigated a career in consulting to follow her dream of becoming a VC. She joined London based, Supernode Global, just before the pandemic and quickly found their focus on investing at the seed stage in digital content, was perfectly suited to this time. Supernode focuses specifically on platforms and tools focused on these verticals: gaming, animation, sport, education, analytics, ad-tech, music and now the all important metaverse! Some pearlers from Phoebe and Founders in particular take note: ===&gt; Supernode invest globally, as per the name, in Seed rounds of £1m - £2m ===&gt; It's all about execution in these content driven verticals and that's what captures their eye ===&gt; How they add proper value and not just money for founders - mentorship, offsites, founder circles are offered to all and are true to their word ===&gt; Culture is key for them as a fund and the community they've built ===&gt; Chemistry is central for any 10 year journey for Phoebe and the founders Supernode invest in Phoebe is a polite, thoughtful and kind lady who was a delight to talk to and a bit of a breath of fresh air for founders looking for the friendly face of VC !

F&F Season 5 Episode 2: Phoebe Arkell - Supernode Global VC

Jatin Ondhia is an inspirational leader who set up Shojin Property Partners in 2009 and has navigated the pandemic to grow a successful, scaling Property Technology business. Jatin originally saw the value of investing in property, whilst working as a banker at UBS for 12 years. From its onset, Shojin was like an angel club, which has evolved into an online regulated Technology platform, democratising ownership and access to capital into middle market residential property (£10m-£60m) and the upside this investment can bring. Online Real Estate investment is projected to grow from $15bn in 2022, to $800bn by 2027. Developers welcome Shojin as a complementary way of helping them successful fund projects now and in the future. In this FUNDstar and FOUNDstar Vod/Podcast episode, Jatin shares these pearls: ===&gt; Be nimble and careful in balancing the interests of investors and developers in Property Technology and strategy ===&gt; Asia is a great opportunity for funding Property Tech. There is an abundance of great investors there, that understand Tech and property ===&gt; They are razor focused on strategic investors, and like to have as many private investors as possible, as they become brand ambassadors ===&gt; Profit is not a bad thing in the current climate and Shojin has been profitable for the last two years ===&gt; The role of a CEO is problem solving and is super stressful ! Net/net, Shojin is a clever Prop-Tech play, built on successful alignment of funding, growth and profit that is in a sweet spot to grow extremely successfully in the next five years and spread the wealth to many.

Jatin Ondhia is an inspirational leader who set up Shojin Property Partners in 2009 and has navigated the pandemic to grow a successful, scaling Property Technology business. Jatin originally saw the value of investing in property, whilst working as a banker at UBS for 12 years. From its onset, Shojin was like an angel club, which has evolved into an online regulated Technology platform, democratising ownership and access to capital into middle market residential property (£10m-£60m) and the upside this investment can bring. Online Real Estate investment is projected to grow from $15bn in 2022, to $800bn by 2027. Developers welcome Shojin as a complementary way of helping them successful fund projects now and in the future. In this FUNDstar and FOUNDstar Vod/Podcast episode, Jatin shares these pearls: ===&gt; Be nimble and careful in balancing the interests of investors and developers in Property Technology and strategy ===&gt; Asia is a great opportunity for funding Property Tech. There is an abundance of great investors there, that understand Tech and property ===&gt; They are razor focused on strategic investors, and like to have as many private investors as possible, as they become brand ambassadors ===&gt; Profit is not a bad thing in the current climate and Shojin has been profitable for the last two years ===&gt; The role of a CEO is problem solving and is super stressful ! Net/net, Shojin is a clever Prop-Tech play, built on successful alignment of funding, growth and profit that is in a sweet spot to grow extremely successfully in the next five years and spread the wealth to many.

F&F Season 5 Episode 1: Jatin Ondhia - Shojin Property Partners

Paul Landau

Paul decided to build Careology when personal circumstances highlighted how there are very few, real-time technology solutions to help people manage the treatment process and support processes around cancer, for the: person, care-giver and the clinical team. Three years later, it appears to be going well and Paul, an experienced entrepreneur shares his thoughts on the many challenges of the journey, on this inspiring FUNDstar and FOUNDstar Vod/Podcast episode. These include: ===&gt; How to build the Tech: the App, the Software, the SaaS and how to sell the software licence to providers and help them blend physical &amp; digital, to improve the provider &lt;&gt; patient experience ===&gt; Building traction and business development, where doing smart pilots right really matter and do lead to full rollouts with leading partners, in the clinical healthcare, in the case of Careology. Big companies need to embrace digital and are post Covid. This blend is here to stay in Healthcare ===&gt; The Digital Cancer space is wide open and the TAM of 20m people a year are diagnosed with cancer, makes Careology a particularly attractive opportunity to support ===&gt; The hiring process and how to assemble people that challenge founders Net/net, Careology is an impressive Health-Tech that is really gaining traction, entering its growth phase and looking towards investors for further support.

Paul decided to build Careology when personal circumstances highlighted how there are very few, real-time technology solutions to help people manage the treatment process and support processes around cancer, for the: person, care-giver and the clinical team. Three years later, it appears to be going well and Paul, an experienced entrepreneur shares his thoughts on the many challenges of the journey, on this inspiring FUNDstar and FOUNDstar Vod/Podcast episode. These include: ===&gt; How to build the Tech: the App, the Software, the SaaS and how to sell the software licence to providers and help them blend physical &amp; digital, to improve the provider &lt;&gt; patient experience ===&gt; Building traction and business development, where doing smart pilots right really matter and do lead to full rollouts with leading partners, in the clinical healthcare, in the case of Careology. Big companies need to embrace digital and are post Covid. This blend is here to stay in Healthcare ===&gt; The Digital Cancer space is wide open and the TAM of 20m people a year are diagnosed with cancer, makes Careology a particularly attractive opportunity to support ===&gt; The hiring process and how to assemble people that challenge founders Net/net, Careology is an impressive Health-Tech that is really gaining traction, entering its growth phase and looking towards investors for further support.

F&F Season 4 Episode 10: Paul Landau - Careology

Rich Potter

Rich is the CEO and Co-Founder of Peak.AI, one of the up and coming Unicorns  of the UK Tech scene and Manchester's finest. They are a Decision Intelligence leader (using AI and Cognitive Intelligence to make consistently strong decisions) working with Retailers like Superdry and AO.Com, CPGs like KFC and some leading UK &amp; Global PLC manufacturing companies  too!! Universally these are product companies where the Peak Data Engine "CODI" optimises demand for their product, enables better targeting, an ability to run leaner, assist ESG goals and impact. Peak enables  companies to stop "HOPING" and using AI to "DO"! Rich talks about his driving motivations around growing 200+ global team, refining the business culture, the power of delegation, customer interaction and how they are becoming one of  the biggest commercial AI companies in the UK and if Europe. He also touches on the psychology of fundraising and provides some great tips to navigate Seed, Series A, Series B and have integrity  ! A Nasdaq listing is mentioned and Unicorn status. Not a bad spot from Notwics when visiting Manchester in 2015 !!!

Rich is the CEO and Co-Founder of <a href="http://Peak.AI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peak.AI</a>, one of the up and coming Unicorns  of the UK Tech scene and Manchester's finest. They are a Decision Intelligence leader (using AI and Cognitive Intelligence to make consistently strong decisions) working with Retailers like Superdry and <a href="http://AO.Com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AO.Com</a>, CPGs like KFC and some leading UK &amp; Global PLC manufacturing companies  too!! Universally these are product companies where the Peak Data Engine "CODI" optimises demand for their product, enables better targeting, an ability to run leaner, assist ESG goals and impact. Peak enables  companies to stop "HOPING" and using AI to "DO"! Rich talks about his driving motivations around growing 200+ global team, refining the business culture, the power of delegation, customer interaction and how they are becoming one of  the biggest commercial AI companies in the UK and if Europe. He also touches on the psychology of fundraising and provides some great tips to navigate Seed, Series A, Series B and have integrity  ! A Nasdaq listing is mentioned and Unicorn status. Not a bad spot from Notwics when visiting Manchester in 2015 !!!

F&F Season 4 Episode 9 - Rich Potter - Peak AI

Adrian provides some great insight into about his journey, from studying Mandarin, to consultancy and then his time at Stanford University, where he decided that he really wanted to be an investor.So upon returning to London .. Adrian, Damien Lane and Dr Simon Murdoch decided to go for it and launch their first fund at Episode 1, with the support of the British Business BankAdrian covers many areas in his 30 minutes ..especially the data magic data that Episode 1 utilises for their B2B Deep Tech / AI / Software Infrastructure and Marketplace investments.This has led to successful seed stage investments in the last decade in many now household names, including: Betfair, Natural Motion, Zoopla and Carwow!!!More recently. these hotties have appeared, in the stable ... Sano Genetics, Omnipresent and Supercede and no doubt these will flourish as well... so listen on here as to why..

Adrian provides some great insight into about his journey, from studying Mandarin, to consultancy and then his time at Stanford University, where he decided that he really wanted to be an investor. So upon returning to London .. Adrian, Damien Lane and Dr Simon Murdoch decided to go for it and launch their first fund at Episode 1, with the support of the British Business Bank Adrian covers many areas in his 30 minutes ..especially the data magic data that Episode 1 utilises for their B2B Deep Tech / AI / Software Infrastructure and Marketplace investments. This has led to successful seed stage investments in the last decade in many now household names, including: Betfair, Natural Motion, Zoopla and Carwow!!! More recently. these hotties have appeared, in the stable ... Sano Genetics, Omnipresent and Supercede and no doubt these will flourish as well... so listen on here as to why..

F&F Season 4 Episode 8 - Adrian Lloyd - Episode 1

Chris Averill

Chris is a really interesting Entrepreneur who successfully grew and exited his business extremely successfully.  His childhood was tumultuous but gave him early life skills, which saw him grow and learn how to overcome challenges like Dyslexia (a condition that many leading founders interesting have suffered. We talk late summer 2021, when the UK was in the midst of first UK energy crisis (with Bulb crashing), something that looks like dream, compared to the reality of life now in Mid March 2022. He set up as a founder with his business, WAE (We Are Experience) business in 2003, having left the world of consulting when his employer, Arthur Andersen There are some super pearls for both "Founders" and "Funders" # He speaks about the mistakes you make "Fail to prepare, prepare to Fail". At some point "Every business gets a kicking" # Always keep strong cash reserves, for difficult time # Read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. Only when you fail, do you improve.. which is why Mercedes, VW, Volvo are starting to eat Tesla's dinner in electric now. Notably Tesla have never failed # Always be well prepared when you want to sell your business, in Chris's case - he prepared for three years ahead of this # The best way to sell is when you are growing, rather than grown. Sell on the way up # You should always lean on other people (mentors) at different stages to manage you and your business # Be careful about taking financial backing, its not always the best thing for a business # He talks about the pandemic and the best learnings from businesses he helped coach for free Good, snappy little listen, with lots of excellent examples - so feel free to reach out to direct to Chris on LinkedIN HERE- or contact us to connect you direct to the team - from Notwics.

Chris is a really interesting Entrepreneur who successfully grew and exited his business extremely successfully.  His childhood was tumultuous but gave him early life skills, which saw him grow and learn how to overcome challenges like Dyslexia (a condition that many leading founders interesting have suffered. We talk late summer 2021, when the UK was in the midst of first UK energy crisis (with Bulb crashing), something that looks like dream, compared to the reality of life now in Mid March 2022. He set up as a founder with his business, WAE (We Are Experience) business in 2003, having left the world of consulting when his employer, Arthur Andersen There are some super pearls for both "Founders" and "Funders" # He speaks about the mistakes you make "Fail to prepare, prepare to Fail". At some point "Every business gets a kicking" # Always keep strong cash reserves, for difficult time # Read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. Only when you fail, do you improve.. which is why Mercedes, VW, Volvo are starting to eat Tesla's dinner in electric now. Notably Tesla have never failed # Always be well prepared when you want to sell your business, in Chris's case - he prepared for three years ahead of this # The best way to sell is when you are growing, rather than grown. Sell on the way up # You should always lean on other people (mentors) at different stages to manage you and your business # Be careful about taking financial backing, its not always the best thing for a business # He talks about the pandemic and the best learnings from businesses he helped coach for free Good, snappy little listen, with lots of excellent examples - so feel free to reach out to direct to Chris on LinkedIN <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-averill/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a>- or contact us to connect you direct to the team - from <a href="https://notwics.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Notwics.</a>

F&F Season 4 Episode 7 - Chris Averill - Leading Entrepreneur and author of Build, Sell, Retire

James Codling

Jonny and James take 30 minutes, to introduce their awesome new London based VC, Volution VC and their unique approach to funding innovative Technology Scale-Ups. They are both experienced practitioners of the Private Technology finance space and spotted a gap to fund founders in in the post Series A  / Series B space in Enterprise Software SaaS &amp; Fintech space, with the creation of Volution VC. Listen on here to find out more about - # Their leading investments so far like Habito and Dead Happy # How they structure their bridge to somewhere # The metrics founders need to get investment from the team # The Post Series A funding environment and the UK regulatory environment # They are growing fast and are exited to meet more founders and fellow VC's focused on the Series A/B/C and the gaps in-between this Good, snappy little listen - so feel free to reach out to them direct - or contact us to connect you direct to the team - from Notwics.

Jonny and James take 30 minutes, to introduce their awesome new London based VC, Volution VC and their unique approach to funding innovative Technology Scale-Ups. They are both experienced practitioners of the Private Technology finance space and spotted a gap to fund founders in in the post Series A  / Series B space in Enterprise Software SaaS &amp; Fintech space, with the creation of Volution VC. Listen on here to find out more about - # Their leading investments so far like Habito and Dead Happy # How they structure their bridge to somewhere # The metrics founders need to get investment from the team # The Post Series A funding environment and the UK regulatory environment # They are growing fast and are exited to meet more founders and fellow VC's focused on the Series A/B/C and the gaps in-between this Good, snappy little listen - so feel free to reach out to them direct - or contact us to connect you direct to the team - from <a href="https://notwics.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Notwics.</a>

F&F Season 4 Episode 6 - Jonny Laughton and James Codling of Volution VC

Suranga Chandratillake

Suranga Chandratillake, a General Partner at Balderton, in London, is a legend in the world of UK and European VC. So it was great to spend time with one of the biggest players in the world of late stage private Tech, as a record year of UK Tech exits and IPO's drew to a close. Prior to Balderton, Suranga led  one of the UK Technology winners of the noughties, Blinkx. Like all great Technology players, it certainly had some ups and downs as both a private and then public Technology business. This experience was pretty formative in developing a number of the approaches Suranga applies in his role as a VC. In this episode we discuss: # Balderton and what his role and day as a General Partner in a top VC fund consists of # Balderton's approach to funds, founders, opportunities and their different funds, including their new £600m Early Stage fund # How the UK can continue to evolve its capabilities to home, fund and support global Technology businesses in future, to rival the US # The proliferation of digitisation into everything now and even more-so in the future # The Metaverse, as everyone's talking about it and trying to work out where to place their bets This is just a taster, so please listen and watch on, in this fascinating episode with a real leader in the world of UK late stage private Tech investing. Enjoy and see you in 2022.

Suranga Chandratillake, a General Partner at Balderton, in London, is a legend in the world of UK and European VC. So it was great to spend time with one of the biggest players in the world of late stage private Tech, as a record year of UK Tech exits and IPO's drew to a close. Prior to Balderton, Suranga led  one of the UK Technology winners of the noughties, Blinkx. Like all great Technology players, it certainly had some ups and downs as both a private and then public Technology business. This experience was pretty formative in developing a number of the approaches Suranga applies in his role as a VC. In this episode we discuss: # Balderton and what his role and day as a General Partner in a top VC fund consists of # Balderton's approach to funds, founders, opportunities and their different funds, including their new £600m Early Stage fund # How the UK can continue to evolve its capabilities to home, fund and support global Technology businesses in future, to rival the US # The proliferation of digitisation into everything now and even more-so in the future # The Metaverse, as everyone's talking about it and trying to work out where to place their bets This is just a taster, so please listen and watch on, in this fascinating episode with a real leader in the world of UK late stage private Tech investing. Enjoy and see you in 2022.

F&F Season 4 Episode 5 - Suranga Chandratillake of Balderton

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, tricks, all while having a laugh.

In a punchy, direct episode, we hear from Oli Hammond at Fuel Ventures, one of the fastest growing UK VC investors in the Seed space. Oli is a talented VC and has a super eye for spotting a lot of the latest Tech Gems, in the UK Early Stage space. By means of background, Oli joined the fund from Syndicate Room, an interesting Cambridge based investor, whom Chris worked with at Bloomberg, when Oli and the SR attended a lot of the leading showcaser events Notwics delivered there.  Prior to this he cut his teeth in Corporate land, working for Svenska Handelsbanken, which determined life as a "suit" was not for him In this episode of FUNDstars and FOUNDstars, Oli tells us about: # Fuel and its phenomenal growth # The culture and approach of Fuel - with their SEIS and EIS focus # Their successes so far and what Fuel are looking for by vertical (especially Travel-Tech!!) # How they scout their founders And many many more golden nuggets, which help explain why Fuel Ventures is becoming a winner amongst the ebullient Seed funding space in the UK.. listen and watch on ..

In a punchy, direct episode, we hear from Oli Hammond at Fuel Ventures, one of the fastest growing UK VC investors in the Seed space. Oli is a talented VC and has a super eye for spotting a lot of the latest Tech Gems, in the UK Early Stage space. By means of background, Oli joined the fund from Syndicate Room, an interesting Cambridge based investor, whom Chris worked with at Bloomberg, when Oli and the SR attended a lot of the leading showcaser events Notwics delivered there.  Prior to this he cut his teeth in Corporate land, working for Svenska Handelsbanken, which determined life as a "suit" was not for him In this episode of FUNDstars and FOUNDstars, Oli tells us about: # Fuel and its phenomenal growth # The culture and approach of Fuel - with their SEIS and EIS focus # Their successes so far and what Fuel are looking for by vertical (especially Travel-Tech!!) # How they scout their founders And many many more golden nuggets, which help explain why Fuel Ventures is becoming a winner amongst the ebullient Seed funding space in the UK.. listen and watch on ..

F&F Season 4 Episode 4 - Oliver Hammond of Fuel Ventures

Maria Palma

As it's Thanksgiving Weekend - we only thought it was right to showcase an American VC in this episode, so get ready for this episode with Maria Palma of Kindred Capital and Anthony Lyall, our in house, US team member taking centre stage. Maria is a straight-talking, super-bright American based in London with the super edgy Kindred Capital. Kindred are a clever &amp; successful fund, with a unique investment style and razor focus on Deep-Tech &amp; Future Technologies. Maria has had a varied and interesting career to date, encompassing roles @ GE, an MBA at Harvard University, a  Start-Up in Bangalore start-up and an AdTech scale-up in New York. After these roles, she turned to investing as a VC with RRE in NYC. She's now landed at Kindred Capital at the start of the pandemic and lives in London.  She's a 100 MPH type of lady &amp; in this 40-minute chat,  we cover a heck of a lot, including: # Kindred Capital and their unique, successful investment style # The trend of inclusivity in the Tech space, with advice given on navigating the right approach to meet VCs in the UK / Europe # The trendline that will only increase - of more American VC Werewolves arriving in London - that are investing now in Seed !! And I'm not going to tell you everything ... so listen on for many many interesting tips for founders, views on VC, the investment future &amp; more.. A cracking episode and Happy Thanksgiving to all our American listeners and watchers !!!

As it's Thanksgiving Weekend - we only thought it was right to showcase an American VC in this episode, so get ready for this episode with Maria Palma of Kindred Capital and Anthony Lyall, our in house, US team member taking centre stage. Maria is a straight-talking, super-bright American based in London with the super edgy Kindred Capital. Kindred are a clever &amp; successful fund, with a unique investment style and razor focus on Deep-Tech &amp; Future Technologies. Maria has had a varied and interesting career to date, encompassing roles @ GE, an MBA at Harvard University, a  Start-Up in Bangalore start-up and an AdTech scale-up in New York. After these roles, she turned to investing as a VC with RRE in NYC. She's now landed at Kindred Capital at the start of the pandemic and lives in London.  She's a 100 MPH type of lady &amp; in this 40-minute chat,  we cover a heck of a lot, including: # Kindred Capital and their unique, successful investment style # The trend of inclusivity in the Tech space, with advice given on navigating the right approach to meet VCs in the UK / Europe # The trendline that will only increase - of more American VC Werewolves arriving in London - that are investing now in Seed !! And I'm not going to tell you everything ... so listen on for many many interesting tips for founders, views on VC, the investment future &amp; more.. A cracking episode and Happy Thanksgiving to all our American listeners and watchers !!!

F&F Season 4 Episode 3 - Maria Palma of Kindred Capital

We talk today to Marc Young, a skilled artisan in the world of finance, who de-mystifies the arena of debt, an area that most founders look upon with fear, but at ADG Pref Cap, they have a perfectly sensible product and fund, specifically focused on B2B Software start-ups. ADG itself is a diversified Asset Management company, which offers a lovely umbrella to the fund, business and regulation.  ADG are looking for: # Founders that have identified a niche / area that they can make a difference and attract customers # Businesses that are effectively scale-ups, with a healthy MRR, moving towards £100k in the next 12 months # Founders that need some smart, growth funding to bridge the gap or provide breathing space till their business is ready for Series A funding # Founders that have businesses that are about to scale, rather than scaled! # Investing internationally over zoom, with a Dutch business recently taking investment from them, which they've never met Face To Face Marc also sheds light on these areas in this 33 minute call: # Post pandemic there are more relevant businesses around for them, partly due to better search mechanisms being put in place at Pref Cap, but also the market itself # They avoid B2B Fintechs, that fundamentally need a consumer aspect to their scale # A whole new generation of verticals are growing, like Rev Tech which is a very interesting growing category, focused on providing CRM tools, to fast growing SaaS scale-ups # People or Scouting appears to better for them, rather than using data tools to spot the talent # US Software companies are increasingly buying UK built Software businesses..giving angels EIS returns, within 5 years, rather than 10! Good fund - helping fill a growing niche in Europe for founders..

We talk today to Marc Young, a skilled artisan in the world of finance, who de-mystifies the arena of debt, an area that most founders look upon with fear, but at ADG Pref Cap, they have a perfectly sensible product and fund, specifically focused on B2B Software start-ups. ADG itself is a diversified Asset Management company, which offers a lovely umbrella to the fund, business and regulation.  ADG are looking for: # Founders that have identified a niche / area that they can make a difference and attract customers # Businesses that are effectively scale-ups, with a healthy MRR, moving towards £100k in the next 12 months # Founders that need some smart, growth funding to bridge the gap or provide breathing space till their business is ready for Series A funding # Founders that have businesses that are about to scale, rather than scaled! # Investing internationally over zoom, with a Dutch business recently taking investment from them, which they've never met Face To Face Marc also sheds light on these areas in this 33 minute call: # Post pandemic there are more relevant businesses around for them, partly due to better search mechanisms being put in place at Pref Cap, but also the market itself # They avoid B2B Fintechs, that fundamentally need a consumer aspect to their scale # A whole new generation of verticals are growing, like Rev Tech which is a very interesting growing category, focused on providing CRM tools, to fast growing SaaS scale-ups # People or Scouting appears to better for them, rather than using data tools to spot the talent # US Software companies are increasingly buying UK built Software businesses..giving angels EIS returns, within 5 years, rather than 10! Good fund - helping fill a growing niche in Europe for founders..

F&F Season 4 Episode 2 - Marc Young of ADG Pref Cap

We really enjoyed filming this week's  FUNDstar Vod/Podcast, with the extremely affable, amusing and insightful Adam Niewinski, from leading Series B+ investor, OTB Ventures, in Warsaw. Adam takes his time to provide context and background on how he decided venture capital was for him as it was an evolution: # Of his early life of travels # His career in finance # Life as a B2C Fintech &amp; Banking founder around the time of the first Bubble # Focus on "Vorpals" and "Clicks and Mortar" ... Combined with a love of angel investing. Thus he created OTB Ventures in early 90's Poland, to focus on the massive changes in emergent technology opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. This has stood them well over the years and they hit the headlines recently, by leading one of the most successful Series B rounds in the UK, in 2021, with their investment in Fintech O/S. When outlining the fund and how they operate - these are some of the key pearls of wisdom: # The nature of VC investing and how this spreads the risk # He gives the best ever analogy of how the relationship between a VC and Founder should be... like a long road trip over Europe # How Investors should be fundamentally hands off # The funds focus on CEE, The Baltics and Finland # They aren't looking at the business, but the founders from these countries # The OTB investments are usually businesses where the founders can be based in the UK/US with R&amp;D in CEE, but scaling globally # They really on strong relationships with the Seed Funds in these countries, as well as their analyst # Scaling globally from day one is important, a model that is tried and tested in Israel - one founder that is always on a plane to the US / UK and the other founder is managing the R&amp;D # Ukrainian and Estonian founders are doing this model en masse currently # Series B in CEE is madly competitive &amp; its the best time ever to set up a Tech company in the CEE region..

We really enjoyed filming this week's  FUNDstar Vod/Podcast, with the extremely affable, amusing and insightful Adam Niewinski, from leading Series B+ investor, OTB Ventures, in Warsaw. Adam takes his time to provide context and background on how he decided venture capital was for him as it was an evolution: # Of his early life of travels # His career in finance # Life as a B2C Fintech &amp; Banking founder around the time of the first Bubble # Focus on "Vorpals" and "Clicks and Mortar" ... Combined with a love of angel investing. Thus he created OTB Ventures in early 90's Poland, to focus on the massive changes in emergent technology opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. This has stood them well over the years and they hit the headlines recently, by leading one of the most successful Series B rounds in the UK, in 2021, with their investment in Fintech O/S. When outlining the fund and how they operate - these are some of the key pearls of wisdom: # The nature of VC investing and how this spreads the risk # He gives the best ever analogy of how the relationship between a VC and Founder should be... like a long road trip over Europe # How Investors should be fundamentally hands off # The funds focus on CEE, The Baltics and Finland # They aren't looking at the business, but the founders from these countries # The OTB investments are usually businesses where the founders can be based in the UK/US with R&amp;D in CEE, but scaling globally # They really on strong relationships with the Seed Funds in these countries, as well as their analyst # Scaling globally from day one is important, a model that is tried and tested in Israel - one founder that is always on a plane to the US / UK and the other founder is managing the R&amp;D # Ukrainian and Estonian founders are doing this model en masse currently # Series B in CEE is madly competitive &amp; its the best time ever to set up a Tech company in the CEE region..

F&F Season 4 Episode 1 - Adam Niewinski of OTB Ventures

George calls in from an office, well a dance studio in Manchester (his office for the day).  He's a good egg and straight-talking Northern man, originally from Sheffield who holds the keys for founders, interested in catching the eyes and ears of ACF investors. who were previously known as AngelCoFund, but re-branded in early 2021. The fund has been a hugely successful Seed investor, adopting an approach where they co - invest alongside sector side angels that have domain knowledge of the business. Not to give too much away from the Podcast/Vodcast, but their secret recipe has been hugely successful - with one of their investments, Gousto becoming a unicorn and clearly household name in the UK. Other FUNDstar gems from the diamond that is George: On the sectors - # He's hyper interested in Founders wanting to disrupt the Financial Capital Markets # The Creator Economy and its tools and software are also big for George - especially in the gaming space # The future of food is emerging with the D2C servant economy that continues to evolve and the re-purposing of under-utilised Food spaces On the geographical angle - # The majority of their investments are in # The interest in investing in the regions is growing - with Northern Ireland also building some great Seed businesses On the new Technologies - # On NFTs - he sees that this technology has massive value in valuing value # SPACS and Electrification / Hydrogen comes into the discussion too Plus several other excellent tips to help founders succeed ..

George calls in from an office, well a dance studio in Manchester (his office for the day).  He's a good egg and straight-talking Northern man, originally from Sheffield who holds the keys for founders, interested in catching the eyes and ears of ACF investors. who were previously known as AngelCoFund, but re-branded in early 2021. The fund has been a hugely successful Seed investor, adopting an approach where they co - invest alongside sector side angels that have domain knowledge of the business. Not to give too much away from the Podcast/Vodcast, but their secret recipe has been hugely successful - with one of their investments, Gousto becoming a unicorn and clearly household name in the UK. Other FUNDstar gems from the diamond that is George: On the sectors - # He's hyper interested in Founders wanting to disrupt the Financial Capital Markets # The Creator Economy and its tools and software are also big for George - especially in the gaming space # The future of food is emerging with the D2C servant economy that continues to evolve and the re-purposing of under-utilised Food spaces On the geographical angle - # The majority of their investments are in # The interest in investing in the regions is growing - with Northern Ireland also building some great Seed businesses On the new Technologies - # On NFTs - he sees that this technology has massive value in valuing value # SPACS and Electrification / Hydrogen comes into the discussion too Plus several other excellent tips to help founders succeed ..

F&F Season 3 Episode 10 - George Mensah of Angel Co Fund

Bristol based, Spacebands is one of the few early stage Covid-19 / Tech businesses that Notwics have seen successfully navigate and grow commercially through the Pandemic, This has been the result of their product helping Corporations successfully manage the problem of Social Distancing, through a relatively simple, hardware approach. The Spacebands wrist device notifies users when they are too close to another user. Sounds simple, but it's very effective and as is often the case with Technology, simplicity sells. Today, Spacebands co-founder Ronan Finnegan, takes time out of their somewhat 200 M.P.H days to tell us more about the business here, touching on: # Life as a serial entrepreneur at a wise old age of 26 and Spacebands being the latest of many successful ventures, with exits for the others when the passion has fizzled # How Spacebands has found a perfect home with key Food Producers, manufacturers, TV producers and industrial businesses around the world, that are key businesses and need to stay open and producing during the pandemic # The product has longevity to tackle the next wave of difficulties of workplace safety, not just the consequence of Covid-19 # Despite being relatively simple software, they are one of the few Health-Tech players that have seen some great success with the NHS, but Ronan is keen to stress it's just one of their customers ! # How scaling is moving from a 2 man flat to a workspace for 5 people in Bristol @ the excellent Set-squared # Awards means scaling, as shown by their recent accolade of being named as one of the top 5 innovative businesses in Bristol ! So in conclusion .. It's an impressive journey  and should Spacebands tickle your fancy then find out more HERE and also if you want to support them - they are currently Crowdfunding on Crowdcube HERE

Bristol based, Spacebands is one of the few early stage Covid-19 / Tech businesses that Notwics have seen successfully navigate and grow commercially through the Pandemic, This has been the result of their product helping Corporations successfully manage the problem of Social Distancing, through a relatively simple, hardware approach. The Spacebands wrist device notifies users when they are too close to another user. Sounds simple, but it's very effective and as is often the case with Technology, simplicity sells. Today, Spacebands co-founder Ronan Finnegan, takes time out of their somewhat 200 M.P.H days to tell us more about the business here, touching on: # Life as a serial entrepreneur at a wise old age of 26 and Spacebands being the latest of many successful ventures, with exits for the others when the passion has fizzled # How Spacebands has found a perfect home with key Food Producers, manufacturers, TV producers and industrial businesses around the world, that are key businesses and need to stay open and producing during the pandemic # The product has longevity to tackle the next wave of difficulties of workplace safety, not just the consequence of Covid-19 # Despite being relatively simple software, they are one of the few Health-Tech players that have seen some great success with the NHS, but Ronan is keen to stress it's just one of their customers ! # How scaling is moving from a 2 man flat to a workspace for 5 people in Bristol @ the excellent Set-squared # Awards means scaling, as shown by their recent accolade of being named as one of the top 5 innovative businesses in Bristol ! So in conclusion .. It's an impressive journey  and should Spacebands tickle your fancy then find out more <a href="https://www.spacebands.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> and also if you want to support them - they are currently Crowdfunding on Crowdcube <a href="https://www.spacebands.com/pages/invest" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a>

F&F Season 3 Episode 9 - Ronan Finnegan of Spacebands

We spotted RapTech many years ago as an early Seed Stage business, named BattleMe, in 2017, when they resided at the leading Telefonica backed accelerator, called Wayra. Unusually the business was born by Alena and her brother, who through their childhood in Belarus grew a love of 80's and 90's US hip-hop which they then  combined with their technological expertise. Consequently, the Technology and Rap Fame platform enables independent Hip-Hop and Rap artists to showcase their talents directly to the community, which, in turn has led to some artists actually getting recording contracts. Additionally since we first met Alena, the business has scaled into becoming a major scale-up, with both a growing content and tech team of 20 people, resulting in being featured as APP of the day in 163 countries, by Apple. Balancing this, during the chat, Alena also highlights the stresses of scaling a Technology during  the pandemic and how it's not been plain sailing: 1/ Zoom fatigue set in several times- where she didn't really enjoy hours of back to back daily calls - without any breaks. 2/ She also highlights how impersonal her role as a founder has become, like many founders - she's not actually met some of her team face to face, which she really dislikes 3/ Alena is big on team spirit and is super keen to get her team all back together in the office to bounce of each other and stimulate innovation 4/ On diversity, Alena highlighted that the gender balance just magically swung towards more women come into the business during Covid, not by any design though, just by consequence and RapTech now has a 50/50 split But in general / practical terms - she found doing business successfully in the Pandemic pretty tough - something that the wider Tech press tend to overlook with their extreme focus on mental health ! Net/Net, RapTech is a real success story led by a great Eastern European female founder, based in London who has overcome many challenges from investors and the industry she and her brother has disrupted. We hope the podcast provides some useful insight for other founders on how to navigate the UK an US tech ecosystem and globally grow a strong B2C brand and technology business, from the UK.....at the moment.

We spotted RapTech many years ago as an early Seed Stage business, named BattleMe, in 2017, when they resided at the leading Telefonica backed accelerator, called Wayra. Unusually the business was born by Alena and her brother, who through their childhood in Belarus grew a love of 80's and 90's US hip-hop which they then  combined with their technological expertise. Consequently, the Technology and Rap Fame platform enables independent Hip-Hop and Rap artists to showcase their talents directly to the community, which, in turn has led to some artists actually getting recording contracts. Additionally since we first met Alena, the business has scaled into becoming a major scale-up, with both a growing content and tech team of 20 people, resulting in being featured as APP of the day in 163 countries, by Apple. Balancing this, during the chat, Alena also highlights the stresses of scaling a Technology during  the pandemic and how it's not been plain sailing: 1/ Zoom fatigue set in several times- where she didn't really enjoy hours of back to back daily calls - without any breaks. 2/ She also highlights how impersonal her role as a founder has become, like many founders - she's not actually met some of her team face to face, which she really dislikes 3/ Alena is big on team spirit and is super keen to get her team all back together in the office to bounce of each other and stimulate innovation 4/ On diversity, Alena highlighted that the gender balance just magically swung towards more women come into the business during Covid, not by any design though, just by consequence and RapTech now has a 50/50 split But in general / practical terms - she found doing business successfully in the Pandemic pretty tough - something that the wider Tech press tend to overlook with their extreme focus on mental health ! Net/Net, RapTech is a real success story led by a great Eastern European female founder, based in London who has overcome many challenges from investors and the industry she and her brother has disrupted. We hope the podcast provides some useful insight for other founders on how to navigate the UK an US tech ecosystem and globally grow a strong B2C brand and technology business, from the UK.....at the moment.

F&F Season 3 Episode 8 - Alena Gold of Raptech

Jackie Fast

We love Jackie as a straight talking, go getting, no holds barred type of VC investor- a real tour de force  and this 40 minute pod shows you just why she is destined to become even more successful with her latest venture, Sandbox Studios. Jackie provides great insight and wisdom, whilst explaining more about Sandbox and how they plan to invest globally, from the Los Angeles base. Being in LA - Sandbox helps align Jackie's past in the world of sponsorship agencies (where she successfully exited her first business for £multi milion exit). They combine their agency expertise on one side of the business, by matching these celebrities with pre-seed, brand led VC investments. So Jackie speaks with authority having been both a founder and investor on these areas... 1/ Current D2C Trends in brand and consumer preferences 2/ A focus on stuff that ships well - especially in the US (that Anthony knows called: Babe Rose, White Girl Wasted, Dr Dre &amp; Beats are some of the names discussed 3/ The difficulty in raising a fund for the first time and trying to raise for what is a next generation fund...combining an agency/brand/celebrity and fund 4/ Some great tips for founders - that you should dig in and put in the work 5/ Don't believe the hype of being a co-founder, being a sole founder is great, especially when you exit 6/ The collaborative nature of VC - which has surprised Jackie 7/ The increasing influence of NFT's on the brand space 8/ Her tip to buy Polka Dot - if dabbling in Crypto-currency We also skirted around her time in The Apprentice - but Jackie offered to talk about - where she was one of the greatest students of Sir Alan, not to be hired in our opinion. However that hiring has fired her onto bigger things, including her latest book on leadership called Rule Breaker.. A super watch and listen...

We love Jackie as a straight talking, go getting, no holds barred type of VC investor- a real tour de force  and this 40 minute pod shows you just why she is destined to become even more successful with her latest venture, Sandbox Studios. Jackie provides great insight and wisdom, whilst explaining more about Sandbox and how they plan to invest globally, from the Los Angeles base. Being in LA - Sandbox helps align Jackie's past in the world of sponsorship agencies (where she successfully exited her first business for £multi milion exit). They combine their agency expertise on one side of the business, by matching these celebrities with pre-seed, brand led VC investments. So Jackie speaks with authority having been both a founder and investor on these areas... 1/ Current D2C Trends in brand and consumer preferences 2/ A focus on stuff that ships well - especially in the US (that Anthony knows called: Babe Rose, White Girl Wasted, Dr Dre &amp; Beats are some of the names discussed 3/ The difficulty in raising a fund for the first time and trying to raise for what is a next generation fund...combining an agency/brand/celebrity and fund 4/ Some great tips for founders - that you should dig in and put in the work 5/ Don't believe the hype of being a co-founder, being a sole founder is great, especially when you exit 6/ The collaborative nature of VC - which has surprised Jackie 7/ The increasing influence of NFT's on the brand space 8/ Her tip to buy Polka Dot - if dabbling in Crypto-currency We also skirted around her time in The Apprentice - but Jackie offered to talk about - where she was one of the greatest students of Sir Alan, not to be hired in our opinion. However that hiring has fired her onto bigger things, including her latest book on leadership called Rule Breaker.. A super watch and listen...

F&F Season 3 Episode 7 - Jackie Fast of Sandbox Studios

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!!!

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!!!

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

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.

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 <a href="https://begincl.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">HERE</a> 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.

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

FUNDstars & FOUNDstars from NOTWICS

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Best Episodes on Global Issues

The best podcast episodes of the most interesting stories and things. From skyping someone while they're in space, to tracking down and meeting a telephone scammer in person, to the story of a Galapagos. These episodes will keep you and all your friends entertained and captivated for hours. Learn something new in every episode! Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!