The EIS Navigator: Recent Episodes
Brian Moretta, Hardman & Co
For those interested in the UK venture capital industry, particularly the areas that are supported by government schemes. These include the Enterprise Investment Scheme, EIS, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, or SEIS, and Venture Capital Trusts. This means we are looking at small, growth companies - often at the startup stage.
We interview leading people in the industry, whether fund managers, company founders or experts from other service providers. The aim is to dig deeply into topics, getting away from the promotional material that predominates elsewhere. Although we’re not going to ignore the pandemic, venture capital investing is a long-term endeavour and we will focus on topics that are relevant at any time. The first few episodes include discussions of angel investing, intellectual property and accelerators. We’re aiming for a new episode every two weeks.
Your host, Brian Moretta, is Head of Tax Enhanced Services at Hardman & Co. The latter a supplier of independent research in the industry and he has examined many EIS funds and companies. His background is an actuary turned fund manager who then moved into equity research. He also has some academic chops, being an Honorary Fellow at Heriot-Watt University where he does some occasional teaching. He has always had a strong interest in getting underneath companies, getting beyond the superficial and understanding how they really work and finds this space fascinating. Some of this is because transparency is hard, some because the industry is not well understood. This podcast is an attempt to shine a bit more light on what is going on.
Every episode will have show notes at hardmanandco.com/podcast. If you want to contact us or give feedback, whether about the podcast or anything else you can email us at enquiries@hardmanandco.com. We want this to be helpful for listeners so any constructive feedback is welcome. We really hope you enjoy the podcast!
For a business that looks so much at technology, venture capital is often poor in applying it. How should they use AI? Empirical Ventures has already embedded it into their investment process, so we asked Co-founder and General Partner Johnathan Matlock to tell us about what they are doing. We also discussed their approach to deeptech investing.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- using AI in an investment process
- how well AI works in niche areas
- keeping the focus on real people
- using a YouTube channel with millions of subscribers
- what a venture scientist is
- the value of execution over ideas
- getting the right founder
- filtering our weak opportunities
Johnathan and Empirical have been thoughtful about their investment process, including using AI, so there's lots of insights into effective investing. Enjoy!
00:50 Johnathan introduces himself
05:00 how angel investing developed into Empirical Ventures
07:45 what Empirical Ventures does
09:00 what is a venture scientist?
16:30 getting the right founder
18:30 talent scouting in pools of PhD talent
22:00 value in execution not ideas
26:00 challenges in getting good feedback
27:30 using AI in investment process
32:00 how well Ai works in niche areas
35:00 keeping the focus on the real people
38:30 how far can the use of AI go in venture capital?
41:30 using a successful Youtube channel
43:00 filtering out weak opportunities
46:00 using YouTube to help existing portfolio companies
50:00 favourite questions
LinksEmpirical Ventures website: https://www.empiricalventures.vc/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaClear Thinking: The Art and Science of Making Better Decisions by Shane Parrish
BioJohnathan Matlock, Co-founder and General Partner, Empirical Ventures
With a PhD in Organic Chemistry and 15 years at the intersection of science, entrepreneurship, and capital, Johnathan helps build and back technologies that define the next century, focused on Atoms > Bits.
Investor
He is Co-Founder and General Partner at Empirical Ventures, a UK-based DeepTech fund backing entrepreneurial scientists at pre-seed and seed.
-- > £20m AUM | 25 portfolio companies | Top decile TVPI (2022 vintage)
-- > Secured £5m from the British Business Bank as a Regional Angel Programme delivery partner
Portfolio companies have raised £30m in follow-on capital to date, employee 200 people and have an collective enterprise value of £200m (Nov 2025).
Beyond the fund, he has built a 50-company angel portfolio across DeepTech and Life Sciences and made 5 LP commitments to next-generation VC funds.
Operator
Prior to founding Empirical Ventures, he was employee #7 and inventor on the patent behind Ziylo, a University of Bristol spin-out developing a glucose-sensitive insulin, that was acquired by Novo Nordisk for £623m (2018). The largest exit for a University spin-out via acquisition until 2025 (Organox).
In 2024, he co-founded Tru Fit Training UK, a small-group training facility and have currently scaled this business to £250k annual revenue and 140 members (Nov 2025).
He also founded Tru Fit Asset Management in 2024, a commercial property investment business in Bedfordshire that owns 2 x 4,200 sq ft facilities. Built and developed one of those barns with completion in 2025.
Scientist
-- > Published 11 papers, inventor on 4 patents, 5 academic awards
-- > Chartered Chemist (CChem), Royal Society of Chemistry
Driven by a belief that scientific discovery and entrepreneurial drive is the greatest lever for human progress, he now focuses on enabling the next generation of scientist-founders to translate breakthrough research into globally impactful companies.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
There are lots of concerns about how AI will affect software companies, but could deeptech give investors some insulation from that? EMV Capital CEO, Ilian Iliev, certainly thinks so. In this episode we examine the challenges that software may be facing and how deeptech is more of a beneficiary.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- the current worries about how AI will affect software
- how robust B2B SaaS could be
- how AI affects competition for startups
- how AI can help scientific innovation
- examples of how portfolio companies use AI
- how small companies compete with large companies in hardware
- how AI affects IP strategies
- examples of naive IP approaches
Ilian has been working in this space for a long time and gives great insight into the world of deeptech. Enjoy!
00:50 Ilian introduces himself
03:15 Change in EMV Capital (EMVC)
06:00 What is happening with SaaS and AI
10:00 Is B2B SaaS too deeply embedded to replace?
14:00 Changes in the dynamics of competition
15:45 How far AI can help scientific innovation?
19:15 Dangers of increased slop
21:30 Examples of how investee companies use AI
23:00 Use of AI in patents
27:00 Will small companies be able to compete in hardware
29:30 How is AI impacting IP strategies
33:30 Could AI undermine patent protection?
35:50 How valuable is hardware IP?
39:10 Examples of a naive approach to IP
40:30 favourite questions
LinksEMV Capital website: https://emvcapital.com/
EMV Capital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emvcapital/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaTime Shelter by Georgi Gospindov
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts
Politics On the Edge by Rory Stewart
BioIlian Iliev, CEO, EMV Capital
Ilian founded EMV Capital in 2018. After its acquisition by NetScientific PLC (now EMV Capital PLC), he became group CEO. Previously he co-founded and was CEO of CambridgeIP Ltd, which he built into a leading IP strategy and patent data analytics provider. He also worked as a strategy advisor for various corporate blue chip clients and public policy. Previously he founded and co-led a family business in industrials and electric engineering in Southern Africa. He is a Board member on behalf of the Group at many portfolio companies, including , Glycotest Inc. (Chair), Sofant Technologies, PointGrab, Q-Bot, Martlet Capital, DName-iT, Vortex and Wanda Health. He is a Board member of NASDAQ-listed PDS Biotech Inc.
Ilian holds a PhD from Cambridge University’s Judge Business School with a focus on Venture Capital and science commercialisation models; Master’s in Economics and BA Politics, Economics and International Relations from the Witwatersrand University, South Africa. He was an Associate Fellow at Chatham House with a focus on sustainability and renewables. He has authored numerous academic, policy and industry reports.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
You don't need to look too hard to find negative views about AIM, but is it overdone? Oliver Bedford, Lead Manager of the Hargreave Hale AIM VCT certainly thinks so and in this episode we give him a chance to make his case.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- the challenges AIM has gone through
- how undervalued AIM is
- why Britain is not broken
- listing in London versus elsewhere
- the impact of private equity
- why IPOs are not a good goal in themselves
- why its the companies not the macro picture that will change
- how the valuation gap doesn't need to fully close to outperform
- the effect of the recent changes to VCT rules
Oliver has thought about the issues deeply and that shows in the very considered perspective that he brings. Enjoy!
00:50 Oliver introduces himself
03:00 When companies are better being private than public
07:50 The challenges that AIM has gone through
10:00 the undervaluation of AIM
13:30 Britain is not broken
15:10 Why quality matters more than quantity of AIM listed companies
20:00 Why list in London versus the US/NASDAQ
23:00 Impact of private equity
24:00 IPOs are not a goal in themselves
25:30 Is being bullish on AIM contrarian?
28:00 Is looking for a big macro change the wrong idea?
30:00 the recent better period for AIM
34:00 How only a partial rerating is needed
35:45 How the recent legislative changes affect VCTs and investing on AIM
43:00 A further change that would increase capital availability
46:00 favourite questions
LinksHargreave Hale AIM VCT website: https://www.hargreaveaimvcts.co.uk/
Hargreave Hale AIM VCT on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hargreave-hale-aim-vct/?viewAsMember=true
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaThe Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
BioOliver Bedford BSc MCSI, Lead Manager, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT
Oliver Bedford graduated from Durham University with a degree in chemistry. He served in the British Army for nine years before joining the Investment Manager in 2004. After initially working as an analyst in support of the VCT, Oliver was appointed as co-manager in 2011 and then lead manager in 2019.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Founding a new VC firm isn't easy, and one headed by two women is exceptionally rare in the UK. Jessica Rasmussen co-founded Two Magnolia to invest in underrepresented founders and the regions so can tell us all about the challenges of founding and building a female-led firm.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- how Jessica got into angel investing
- why she started a VC firm
- the gaps she found in the market
- the challenges of there being no playbook for starting a fund
- raising money to invest in underrepresented founders
- the investment case
- developing the right investment pipeline
- how VCs just need to do the right thing!
- comparing first and second time fundraising
Jessica's journey has been really interesting and she gives great insight into what she has learnt along the way. Enjoy!
00:50 What is Two Magnolias
03:10 how Jessica got into angel investing
06:50 why start a venture capital firm
09:00 how she identified a gap in the market
10:15 why choose running GP/LP over EIS fund or VCT
13:10 the lack of a playbook for starting a VC fund
18:00 is UK venture capital protectionist?
21:20 the challenges of raising money to invest in underrepresented founders and regions
26:40 investment case for underrepresented founders
29:00 how do you find companies with underrepresented founders
30:45 support for companies in the regions - role of government and local networks
33:40 has support for underrepresented founders stalled recently?
37:00 changing the numbers - just do the right thing
38:40 comparing fundraising for a first & second fund
40:00 favourite questions
LinksTwo Magnolias website: https://www.twomagnolias.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaTrillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle
BioJessica Rasmussen, Co-Founder & CEO, Two Magnolias
Jessica Rasmussen is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Two Magnolias, an early-stage UK venture capital firm established to address structural opportunity gaps within the UK venture ecosystem.
Prior to founding Two Magnolias, Jessica spent three decades in investment banking as a Global Markets specialist in Fixed Income. She held senior leadership roles across international markets, including ten years at Bank of America where she led Macro Sales within the Fixed Income Division, covering both Foreign Exchange and Rates. Her career was defined by managing complex market risk, advising institutional clients, and building high-performing teams in highly regulated, global environments.
Since co-founding Two Magnolias in 2019 with Marie Korde, Jessica has led the firm from its origins as an angel investment platform to its successful launch as an institutional early-stage venture capital fund. Under her leadership, Two Magnolias completed the final close of Fund I in early 2024, establishing a differentiated investment strategy rooted in conviction, discipline, and long-term public value.
Two Magnolias was purpose-built to support underrepresented founders developing solutions in sustainability and human health, exclusively within the UK. Jessica has played a central role in shaping the firm’s investment philosophy, governance, and market positioning, ensuring that female and ethnically diverse founders are afforded equal access to capital, credibility, and decision-making power.
A recognised advocate for diversity and inclusion across the UK venture and private equity landscape, Jessica is committed to demonstrating that inclusive capital allocation is not only a social imperative, but a driver of stronger innovation, better risk-adjusted returns, and more resilient economic outcomes.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Deep maketech is not well known to investors, but is the theme that Everquest Capital Partners focus on. In this episode, Partners Stephane Mery and Hannah Wade discuss this blend of technology and manufacturing and its attractions to investors.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- what deep maketech is
- what's needed to make restoring of manufacturing work
- the current schemes around to support this
- working with university spinouts
- how to help companies optimise manufacturing processes
- the challenge of building robust supply chains in the current environment
- managing capital intensity in businesses
- bringing the right partners on board
- how AI is being used
Stephane and Hannah brings great insights with lots of real life examples from their investments. Enjoy!
01:00 Stephane and Hannah introduce themselves
02:25 introduction to Everquest and CPI
04:15 What is deep maketech?
06:00 How reshoring manufacturing can work
08:45 What is Catapult Network and why it matters
10:40 Challenges of getting good management teams spin outs
12:30 How working with companies can give good diligence
14:45 How to select areas of focus for investment
15:45 Example of how to optimise processes
20:30 Challenges of building robust supply chains
22:30 Managing capital intensity in manufacturing
25:40 Finding the right partners
26:40 How this can generate partial exits
28:00 Role of AI in manufacturing
32:30 What areas are still hot?
39:10 Favourite questions
LinksEverquest Capital Partners website: https://www.everquestcapital.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaThe Medici Effect by Frans Hohansson
Welcome to the War Economy by David Baverez
BioDr Stephane Mery
Stephane has over 20 years’ experience in private equity and entrepreneurship.
He was CEO of BBSF an early-stage fund behind the success of Spirogen (sold to Astra Zeneca for $400m) and Endomagnetics (sold for $310m to Hologic). He was also partner at Beringea leading investments in Life Sciences and Renewables including Biovex (sold for $1bn to Amgen).
Stephane turned around and successfully exited a company manufacturing and selling laboratory monitoring equipment.
Stephane is a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine, a Veterinary Pathologist and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Hannah Wade
Hannah is a Partner and has over 20 years experience.
She is also Managing Director at CPI Enterprises and established CPI’s investor engagement and ventures arm in 2019. Under her leadership, CPI has built a strong portfolio of investments.
Through her long engagement at CPI, she has developed a strong network within the innovation sector. She leverages this network to cultivate a strong pipeline of investment opportunities for investors, attract strategic partners and connect portfolio companies into the infrastructure and research organisation ecosystem for technical, business and funding support. She is also passionate about promoting female entrepreneurship and is a member of the Lifted Project’s North East board.
A qualified lawyer, Hannah has a law degree from Leeds University and was a solicitor in private practice for nearly 10 years before joining CPI as in house legal counsel.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Now the successful Basics series is past, we return to normal programming with our usual year-end panel. An all-star group of experts get together to discuss what happened in 2025 and the prospects for 2026. This year, Philip Hare, Partner at Philip Hare & Associates; Kealan Doyle, CEO & Director of Symvan Capital and Ewoud Karelse, Specialist-Product at Evelyn Partners bring their knowledge and insight.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- how investments and valuations are looking
- whether investors are keeping their hand in their pockets
- how K-shaped the market is really
- whether we are really in an AI bubble
- the return of exits
- timescales to achieve exits
- the state of fundraising for EIS and VCTs
- how the budget changes affect the market
- why the budget could help AIM
- where ESG has gone
- what will happen in 2026
As usual, the panel bring a lot of knowledge and insights. A lot happened in 2025, so listen and find out what it all means for investors and advisers.
00:50 Introductions
01:45 The investing side of the market
06:00 Are we in a K-shaped market?
08:00 Comparing the current market with the tech bubble
10:50 AI first companies and managers with experience
13:20 Are we in an AI bubble?
20:15 The return of exits
25:00 Time to exit and fund lifespans
28:15 How is fundraising?
31:00 VCT fundraising and budget changes
38:50 Effect of raising company investment limits in budget
46:00 Effect on AIM companies
49:00 Where has ESG gone?
54:00 looking forward to 2026 - consultation
60:00 The panel makes predictions!
LinksEIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/
Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
Evelyn Partners - https://www.evelyn.com/
Philip Hare & Associates - https://philiphareassociates.tax/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
BioKealan Doyle
Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
Philip Hare
Philip Hare is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser. He spent 25 years with PwC, fifteen as a senior tax manager. From 2006 to 2014, he led PwC’s team providing services to Venture Capital Trusts, Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme companies, investment fund managers and investors. Philip is a board member of the EIS Association (EISA) and chairs the EISA Tax Committee. He is a member of the VCT Forum of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and our firm advises the VCT Association.
Ewoud Karelse
Ewoud started his career in financial services with Allenbridge in 2000 and joined Towry Law in 2008 before joining Tilney in 2016, and Evelyn Partners in 2022. Ewoud is responsible for the research and selection of Venture Capital Trusts; (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes; Business Relief for Inheritance Tax Planning (AIM and non-AIM), and Social Investment Tax Relief products. He is also well versed in the use of Business Investment Relief for International clients.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
In the last in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss exits and why they matter to investors. Symvan Capital are building a track record of successful exits. Co-founder Kealan Doyle also has prior experience in capital markets so has lots of knowledge of the different kind of exits, as well as some of the wrinkles that investors need to watch out for.
Kealan covers all the different kinds of exits that an investor might come across. These include:
- why exits matter to EIS and VCT investors
- failures are still exits
- why failures come before successes
- how trade sales work
- getting shares versus cash
- what is a secondary sale
- why IPOs are less popular than before
- how timing matters
Kealan has had some unusual exit experiences in the past couple of years, so has some interesting examples to throw into the mix. Enjoy!
LinksSymvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/gRXiZ8pTkwQ
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioKealan Doyle
Co-founder and CEO, Symvan Capital
Before co-founding Symvan Capital and moving into venture capital investing, Kealan led a structured equity products team at HSBC, where he was responsible for developing and managing innovative investment solutions.
Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto and his earlier career included roles at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, and UBS - where he gained extensive experience in capital markets and complex financial products.
For over 20 years, he has worked closely with venture capital-backed businesses, initially in a corporate finance advisory capacity and more recently as a fund manager. This dual perspective has given him a deep insight into the challenges early-stage companies face and how best to support their growth and long-term success.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the latest in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss how investors and advisers can pick the right EIS fund or VCT. SyndicateRoom have moved into third-party management, so have good insight into how to pick a fund. Co-founder Tom Britton joins us to give his views on what investors need to look at and how.
Tom covers lots of areas that investors and advisors need to consider. These include:
- the high level filters
- strategies and sectors
- what is the deployment time
- how does it affect your venture portfolio diversification
- where past performance and exits fit
- the more detailed diligence after filtering
- the existing portfolio and how it fits into current trends
- looking at the fund manager and its stability
- differences in fees and fee structures
- extra factors for VCTs - dividends and buyback policies, cash levels
We cover a lot of ground so get your notebooks ready! Tom definitely has distinctive views, but also great knowledge so it's well worth a listen. Enjoy!
LinksSyndicate Room - https://www.syndicateroom.com/
Tom Britton - tom@syndicateroom.com
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/27sHsBQRY70
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioTom Britton
Co-founder, SyndicateRoom
After completing his MBA in Cambridge, Tom co-founded SyndicateRoom to give a wider audience access to venture capital investment. As co-founder, Tom works across all aspects of the business, with an emphasis on product development and marketing strategy, and as much direct contact with our super angels and investors as possible. He enjoys being plugged into the wider industry and sits on the board of the UK Business Angel Association. He also hosts SyndicateRoom’s Angel Insights podcast, interviewing key industry figures. Prior to founding SyndicateRoom, Tom was Product Manager at TheTrainline, where he headed up the launch of its mobile applications.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the latest in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss how companies can find the right EIS or VCT manager for investment. Symvan Capital has been investing through EIS for over a decade so has seen what happens when companies handle it well and badly. Investment manager, Michael Theodosiou talks us through the angles.
Michael covers lots of important issues for founders and management. These include:
- how do companies approach the idea of raising money
- the benefits and expectations of getting venture capital
- the different types of managers
- sector and stage differences
- how targeting can make fundraising more efficient
- when companies should think about starting a fundraising
- how to approach fund managers
- how to choose between different offers
- how terms and value add can vary
It can seem daunting to a founder who is new to fundraising, but with a little guidance they can manage an effective process without making it too complicated. Enjoy!
LinksSymvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/ImJJuHxGbm0
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioMichael Theodosiou
Investment Manager, Symvan Capital
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the latest in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss how investors should choose between EIS and VCTs. Calculus Capital manage products under both schemes, so their Head of Investor Relations, Francesca Rayneu, is ideally placed to discuss the arguments for both.
Francesca covers lots of different areas that may need to be considered. These include:
- how both have the same aim and company rules
- why the different wrappers lead to different portfolios for investors
- what affects different investor profiles, such as risk profile, tax and liquidity or income needs
- how each gives different portfolio visibility and investee company contact
- the different stage of investment
- how CGT or IHT reliefs figure into factors
- how to look at fees
While we cover a lot of areas, investors may wish to take financial advice to see how each applies to their own situation. They may wish to listen to or watch episodes 113 to 116 before this if they are less familiar with the schemes. Francesca gives a good explanation of what investors should think about. Enjoy!
Note: after the recording, the 2025 budget cut Income tax relief from 20% to 30% from 6 April 2026.
LinksCalculus Capital - https://calculuscapital.com/
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/zJxAr_Ofhnk
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioFrancesca Rayneau
Head of Investor Relations, Calculus Capital
Francesca joined Calculus in 2015 and leads the Sales and Marketing team, overseeing all aspects of fundraising, marketing, and investor communications. She began her career in financial services in Geneva, Switzerland.
She holds a degree in International Management from the University of Manchester, during which she also studied at Bocconi University in Milan. Francesca has also earned the CISI Certificate in Wealth Management and the Client Assets and Money qualification.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the latest in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss Knowledge Intensive EIS funds, sometimes called KI funds. These are still relatively new in the market, so it's good to get a full explanation. Committed Capital have launched a few KI funds now, so we asked their Head of Business Development, Glen Stewart, on to explain them.
Glen covers all you need to know about KI funds and some things to be careful about when selecting one.. We cover:
- what is a knowledge intensive company?
- restrictions on what the company can be/do
- the increased investment limits that KI companies have
- what is an approved knowledge intensive fund?
- how does the timing for income tax relief work?
- what is the EIS5 tax certificate?
- how does this structure affect the other tax reliefs?
- what are the attractions of KI funds for advisers and investors?
- what are the disadvantages?
Note: after the recording, many of the individual company limits were doubled in the 2025 budget.
Glen gives a full picture, but those new to EIS may wish to watch episodes 115 and 116 for the basic structure and tax reliefs too. Enjoy!
LinksCommitted Capital - https://committedcapital.co.uk/
email - info@committedcapital.co.uk
Telephone - 0207 529 1350
HMRC page on KI EIS funds: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/venture-capital-schemes-manual/vcm16050
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/ZYz4ZZmMJX0
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioGlen Stewart
Head of Business Development, Committed Capital
Glen has been raising capital for the best part of the last 20 years for businesses; utilising tax efficient investment wrappers such as Enterprise Investment Schemes and Venture Capital Trusts. During this time, he has raised capital for a number of diverse businesses and asset classes including multi-media, property, renewable energy and AIM listed companies ranging from startups to well established and profitable companies. Prior to this Glen spent the previous ten years at Coopers & Lybrand qualifying as a tax adviser, PwC and Deloitte specialising in High Net Worth, Expatriate tax, and cross border advice.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In our latest in the EIS & VC basics series for the EIS Navigator podcast we discuss the tax reliefs for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). Despite only launching its first SEIS fund a few years ago, Haatch Ventures has been successful in attracting funds and, now, getting exits. Director Olivia Drinnan joins the podcast to explain everything.
Olivia covers all the tax reliefs for SEIS, how they work and how they link together. The topics we cover in the discussion include:
- what is SEIS income tax relief?
- the limits on the tax relief
- how carry-back works
- what is capital gains tax relief for SEIS?
- is CGT payable on exit?
- how loss relief works
- how the reliefs add up
- dividends in SEIS companies
- how IHT relief works for SEIS companies (Note: the 2025 budget increased the proposed limit for full relief from £1m to £2.5m)
As well as explaining the reliefs, Olivia gives lots of examples to make things really clear. Enjoy!
LinksHaatch Ventures - https://haatch.com/
HMRC page on SEIS: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-the-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here.
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioOlivia Drinnan
Director, Advisor Fundraising, Haatch Ventures
**
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the fifth of the basics mini-series for the EIS Navigator we discuss the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). Jenson Ventures is one of the longest standing SEIS managers, and Jeffrey Faustin has been with them for over a decade so has lots of knowledge to share about the scheme.
Jeffrey gives a good introduction to SEIS, covering what an investor needs to get started. The topics we cover in the discussion include:
- what is the aim of SEIS?
- how does the government ensure companies get new money?
- what sort of companies can investors buys shares in?
- what sectors are normal
- how investors can access SEIS investments
- how do investors get their return?
Watch out for the next episode which covers SEIS tax reliefs. Enjoy!
LinksJenson Ventures - https://jensonventures.com
HMRC page on SEIS: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-the-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here. https://youtu.be/**
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioJeffrey Faustin
Managing Partner, Jenson Ventures
Jeffrey Faustin is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Jenson Ventures with overall responsibility for the investment strategy and portfolio management of the Fund’s investments. With over 10 years of experience in venture capital, he has worked with over 150 early-stage high-growth technology companies across all sectors working with management teams to deliver growth through business strategy and board advisory support.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the fourth of basics mini-series for the EIS Navigator we discuss Venture Capital Trust (VCT) tax reliefs. Mercia manage the three Northern VCTs, so we asked their head of investor relations, Paul Mattick, to come on and explain how they work. VCTs are the most popular of the tax advantaged schemes, so it's great to get someone with such deep knowledge to explain the reliefs.
The topics we cover in the discussion include:
- what is income tax relief?
- what are the limits on the tax relief
- how offer periods interact with that
- what is the tax position on dividends
- what dividend strategies do we see in the market
- whether capital gains is payable
Note: after the recording, many of the individual company limits were doubled in the 2025 budget. The rate of Income tax relief was also cut from 30% to 20%.
As well as explaining the reliefs, Paul brings in a few important nuances which will help many investors. Enjoy!
Links
Mercia Asset Management - https://mercia.co.uk/
HMRC page on Venture Capital Trusts: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/venture-capital-schemes-manual/vcm50000
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here.
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
Bio
Paul Mattick
Head of Sales and Private Investor Relations, Mercia Asset Management
Dr Paul Mattick heads the Sales and Investor Relations team for the Mercia EIS Funds and VCTs. He works directly with private clients and advisers to build the EIS fund raising capacity of Mercia. Paul oversees the administration and development of the EIS funds, and ensures that investors receive a high level of service, much of which is delivered through Mercia’s award-winning Investor Centre.
Paul has a variety of experience in early-stage businesses (including being a founder), and formerly worked at another leading EIS fund manager, where he built close relationships with top tier clients, and significantly grew both fund and single company assets under management. Paul has a PhD and Post-Doctorate from the University of Oxford and a 1st Class Bachelor of Science from the University of Leeds.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
In the third of basics mini-series for the EIS Navigator we introduce Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs). Foresight Group manage four VCTs, so we asked Nel Isaac to come on and explain what they are about. VCTs are the most popular of the tax advantaged schemes, so it's great to get someone with such deep knowledge to give us a primer.
The areas we cover in the discussion include:
- what is a Venture Capital Trust?
- what a VCT can invest in?
- the restrictions on a VCT's cash holdings
- the different strategies that we see in VCTs
- what areas VCT managers invest into
- comparing EIS and VCT strategies
- how an investor can buy shares
- returns from dividends
- how to sell shares
Note: after the recording, many of the individual company limits were doubled in the 2025 budget. Income tax relief was also cut from 30% to 20%.
As well as explaining the reliefs, Nel brings in lots of examples. Enjoy!
LinksForesight Group - https://www.foresight.group/
Contact Nel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nel-isaac/
HMRC page on Venture Capital Trusts: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/venture-capital-schemes-manual/vcm50000
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here.
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
BioNel Isaac
Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager, Foresight Group
Nel Isaac is a Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager at Foresight, based in London. Nel has been with the business for 10 years and is currently responsible for managing relationships with key networks and national advice firms across the UK.
Nel holds a BSc in Anthropology from the University of Southampton and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) qualification part one.
DisclaimerPlease note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
This is the second in the new basics mini-series for the EIS Navigator. This episode follows on directly from episode 115 and we go into the tax reliefs that are available on investments using Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). For many investors, these are one of the main attractions of the scheme and the reliefs are amongst the most generous in the world. Remember, video is also available alongside the Hardman Talks videos on youtube so check them out there.
In this episode, host Brian Moretta flies solo, giving a run through of the reliefs. These include:
- what is income tax relief?
- how capital gains deferral relief works
- what is loss relief
- what is the tax position on dividends
- how Business Relief can give EIS investments exemption from IHT (Note: the 2025 budget increased the proposed limit for full relief from £1m to £2.5m)
As well as explaining the reliefs, Brian brings in lots of examples. Enjoy!
Links
HMRC page on Enterprise Investment Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-for-the-enterprise-investment-scheme
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here.
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl7R2kXs_0I&list=PLuaVVfQg5eE8sL-3R2c25u7jcIgqJAxLv
Bio
Brian Moretta
Head of Tax Advantaged Research, Hardman & Co
Brian Moretta is the Head of Tax-Advantaged Research at Hardman & Co, and also covers Financials stocks and Investment Funds.
In addition to his role with Hardman & Co, Brian is an Honorary Fellow at Heriot-Watt University, where he lectures on actuarial science and financial economics. He has also been an examiner for the Faculty & Institute of Actuaries.
Brian has had a 25-year career in Financial Services, including more than a decade as a fund manager. He specialised in analysing financial services companies at SVM Asset Management, as well as managing two traded endowment funds and an equity fund, and working on hedge funds. He has also been a Trustee and Board Member for Scouts Scotland.
Brian joined Hardman & Co in 2013. A qualified actuary, he holds a PhD in Applied Probability and a BSc in Actuarial Maths and Statistics from Heriot-Watt University.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
This is the first in a new mini-series for the EIS Navigator on basics. We had some feedback from listeners that they would like to have more introductory material to EIS, VCTs and SEIS. In the EIS Navigator Basics, we will do shorter episodes discussing the how the schemes work, the tax reliefs available, what restrictions there are and how you invest. Episodes will run weekly and we are also trialling video alongside the usual audio releases. Video will be available alongside the Hardman Talks videos on youtube so check them out there.
For our first episode, we have an introduction to the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) with Nic Pillow who is Senior Ventures Manager at Blackfinch Ventures. He has lots of experience in the industry so is well placed to tell us what its all about.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- what is the aim of the EIS?
- what sort of companies can you invest in under the scheme?
- what is a knowledge intensive company?
- what are the size or other limits on companies? (Note: after the recording, many of these were doubled in the 2025 budget)
- how do you find EIS companies to invest in?
- the need for Advance Assurance
- what are realistic holding times?
As well as explaining the scheme, Nic brings in lots of examples. Enjoy!
Links
HMRC page on Enterprise Investment Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-for-the-enterprise-investment-scheme
HMRC page on tax reliefs for venture schemes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors
Blackfinch Ventures website: https://blackfinch.ventures/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
You can see this episode on video too here.
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
For more information, please read our full disclaimers:
www.hardmanandco.com/research-disclosures
www.hardmanandco.com/disclaimer
The playlist for all the videos of the Basics series will be found here.
Bio
Nic Pillow
Senior Ventures Manager, Blackfinch Ventures
Nic has over two decades of experience in creating value for start-up, fast-growth and multinational B2B technology companies. Since joining Blackfinch Ventures in 2019 he has helped launch and manage the Blackfinch Spring VCT, he has supported over 100 investments into high-tech Seed and Series A stage companies, and he has been an observer on the boards of numerous portfolio companies. Previously, Nic co-founded his own startup, Rhizome Live, a Software-as-a-Service business in the Education Tech sector. He raised £400,000 and gained access to a top accelerator. Prior to that he led a global team at Nokia which exercised portfolio control over 15 software products that grew in annual revenue from £50 to £250 million. He has also held roles including Product Manager at Logica and Solution Architect at Portal Software. Nic holds a first-class degree in Engineering & Computing from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in Computer Vision from the Robotics Research Group at the University of Oxford.
The EIS Navigator host is taking a break, so there will be no episodes of the podcast. We will re-release a few episodes from the back catalogue. We'll be back in the autumn and are planning a great new series on EIS basics, so watch out for that.
Have a great summer!
Links
Check out back episodes at https://hardmanandco.com/podcast/.
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Nine Lives: My Time As MI6's Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda by Aimen Dean
While software may not eat the world, sometimes it seems like it has eaten the venture industry. However, hardware has its merits too. Climatetech investor OnePlanetCapital invests in both, so CEO Matt Jellicoe is well placed to compare them.
Amongst other topics, we talk about:
- finding skilled teams for hardware companies
- building and scaling hardware companies
- sources of IP and protecting it
- whether to work with partners or not
- where the real challenges in supply chains are
- dealing with cash requirements at different stages
- the support available in the UK for hardware
- how climatetech products need to be no-brainers
- getting good gross margins
- scaling climatetech companies
Matt brings great insights with deep use of several real life examples to make his points clearer. Enjoy!
00:45 Matt introduces himself and OnePlanetCapital
03:15 Framing hardware vs software
07:00 Finding skilled teams
12:00 Sources of IP and protecting it
15:30 How partners affect options for exit
18:10 Supply chains - where the real challenges are
21:15 Timescales for hardware vs software
24:00 How technology is affecting development times
26:15 Cash requirements at different stages
27:30 InnovateUK, grants and support within the UK
30:30 Funding at later stages
33:00 The need for climatic products to be no-brainers
36:15 Getting good gross margins
38:00 Challenges of bringing climatetech solutions to market at scale
40:30 Are the trends still going in the right direction? Effect of venture bubble
44:00 favourite questions
Links
OnePlanetCapital website: https://www.oneplanet.capital/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Bio
Matt Jellicoe
CEO, OnePlanetCapital
After a corporate career in public companies, Matthew founded and successfully exited two technology businesses in 2012 and 2018 respectively. He has been an active technology investor since 2012 and serves as a Non-Executive Director for two technology businesses. In more recent years he has specialised in sustainable investments.
Matt Jellicoe is one of the founding directors of OnePlanet.Capital - a climate change focused EIS Investment Fund. The fund aims to combine strong investment returns with climate and environmental impact.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
With climatetech being one of top areas of investor interest, it was time we checked in to see how things are. Dr Nicky Dee is co-founder and CEO of venture builder and fund manager Carbon13. With 25 years of experience in the space, she is very well placed to take a perspective beyond the here and now.
Amongst other topics, we talk about
- how venture building programmes work
- how climatetech has become more commercial
- the role of government in developing the space
- what are the clear trends just now
- opportunities in carbon credits, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and Extended Producer Responsibility
- funding hardware development
- international manufacturing
- how US politics are affecting the space
Its a great discussion: Nicky's deep and broad experiences give great insights into climatetech. Enjoy!
00:55 Nicky introduces herself
02:30 Introduction to Carbon13
04:30 How venture building programmes work
09:30 What does impact mean to you?
13:00 Are people looking at climate investing more commercially now
16:15 the role of government in driving things forward
19:30 where are the trends in needs clear just now
23:30 commercial drivers
28:00 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism , extended producer responsibility
32:30 hardware issues and handling capital intensivity
36:20 international manufacturing challenges
39:10 pushback in the US against climate change and DEI - do we look at other markets?
43:30 navigating the near term uncertainty
45:00 favourite questions
Links
Carbon13 website: https://carbonthirteen.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Blue Commons by Guy Standing
Bio
Dr Nicky Dee
Co-founder and CEO, Carbon13
Nicky has over 25 years of experience engaging with startups and stakeholders to drive sustainability and innovation in ESG. Viewing entrepreneurs as catalysts for transformative shifts, she co-founded Carbon13 in 2019 to apply venture building to protect earth’s vital systems. As CEO the organisation has grown to 84 portfolio investments with a total market value over £200m and 1,000 founders trained with hubs of activity in Cambridge, London and Berlin. Before Carbon13 she pioneered new initiatives spanning innovation prizes, startup acceleration, climate tech investments, and corporate venturing with organizations like UNEP, UK government, World Bank, etc. She has a PhD from the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge (IfM) and a Natural Sciences degree which underpins her interest and evaluation of technology based solutions and impact methodologies. She serves as a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Richard Hoskins has worked in several roles in his two decades in the EIS industry. We talk about his perspective on how it has changed and what more we can do to grow UK venture capital. He also has some exciting news about his business, Kin Group, which he shares with listeners.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- how EIS has evolved over the past 20 years
- where the EIS rules need streamlining
- how to get more GP/LP funds
- the way technology and regulation interact for VC managers
- the growth in private markets
- what the changes at Kin mean for the group
- internationalising fund management businesses
Its an great discussion with someone who is both a fund manager and an entrepreneur. Enjoy!
00:45 Richard introduces himself
02:20 Introduction to Kin
06:40 advantages of in-house developers
07:30 changes in the EIS market over time
13:30 the need for streamlining EIS rules
18:00 effects of costs for GP/LP funds
20:30 how fund managers complement fund mentors/advisers
25:00 technology in the VC industry and interaction with regulations
31:00 growth in private markets and challenge of liquidity
35:00 smaller VC funds
35:40 changes at Kin and what it means for the group
40:00 internationalising the business
45:00 prospects for the EIS market
50:30 favourite questions
Links
Email: rhoskins@kin-group.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoskinsrichard/
Kin Group website: https://www.kincapital.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
(There is a swear free version too for those who prefer it.)
Bio
Richard Hoskins
Co-Principal, Kin Group
Richard is Co-Principal and Co-Founder of Kin Group. Having worked in Venture Capital for 17 years, he has seen the Venture industry move from the niche sector it once was, to the booming asset class it is today. He has worked in a variety of VC roles, including; fundraising, fund management and fund administration. He has been described as “one of the most knowledgable commentators on the venture capital world” (Telegraph, 2017). In particular he has helped numerous aspiring VC asset managers setting up their first VC fund and assisted larger VC asset management firms grow to the next level.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
We have been talking about the lack of women in venture capital for far too long. Although we have tried to add to that on the #EIS Navigator podcast, its taken several attempts to get something out. We are delighted that entrepreneur, investor and soon-to-be Investment Committee member at Sustainable Ventures, Julia Groves joins us to discuss where we are, why this is still a thing and what should be done about it.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- where we are with female participation
- glass ceilings
- how the Rose Review didn't fix the problem
- bringing female investors into venture capital
- the lack of knowledge about EIS
- how women investors get advice
- the relationship to diversity to other issues
- the recent pushback against DEI, ESG and environmental issues generally
- encouraging female founders
- possible strategies to improve matters
Its an great discussion with someone who is passionate about entrepreneurship, the environment and diversity. Enjoy!
00:55 Julia introduces herself
03:15 Sustainable Ventures
04:15 Where are we with female participation entrepreneurship
07:30 Female investors vs entrepreneurs
10:15 Glass ceilings and other diversity issues
14:00 How do we fix the problem?
15:00 Rose review - great data but where's the effect?
22:00 Bringing female investors into venture investing
23:20 The lack of knowledge about EIS
27:00 Access to advice for female investors
31:00 Linking diversity to wider environmental issues
33:10 Pushbacks against DEI and environmental issues
36:00 How the environment has changed for women - pulling up the ladder
43:00 Encouraging female founders and getting them to raise money
48:00 Pools of progress vs overall stats
51:45 Could disclosures help
56:30 favourite questions
Links
Sustainable Ventures - https://www.sustainableventures.co.uk/
Julia on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliasgroves/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Bio
Julia Groves
Investment Committee member, Sustainable Ventures
Julia brings over 20 years experience in the renewable energy and responsible finance sector. A successful entrepreneur with three exits under her belt, she set up the Sustainability team at the British Bank, has served on the Nesta Impact Investment Committee for 3 years, and has recently joined Sustainable Ventures as Investment Partner.
With a career spanning venture capital and private equity she has been at the forefront of shaping responsible investment strategies and regulatory innovation. Previously a Partner and Head of ESG at Downing LLP Julia has raised substantial capital for pioneering businesses, backed early-stage ventures and as an angel investor led high-growth companies through critical transitions. As a serial entrepreneur in wind turbine and solar businesses she has consistently and susscessfuly secured investment and strategic partnerships to expand companies market reach and ultimately their impact. She also volunteers as a mentor for Expect Impact.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Although we generally focus on the investment aspects of EIS and VCTs, the recent budget brought a renewed spotlight onto the tax benefits. Rakesh Murria, COO of Ascension Ventures, has been looking at how the to use the reliefs in a more sophisticated way than the simple scenarios that generally get discussed. In this episode, he runs through some scenarios for us, illustrating how tax advantaged products can be used to reduce investor tax bills.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- tax reliefs for EIS, SEIS and VCTs
- how they may help with those with pension assets that were earmarked for inheritance
- mitigating CGT on carried interest (and how they may help when that changes too)
- how to use Business Investment Relief
- how EIS is an alternative to AIM for IHT relief
Rakesh discusses these issues with advisers regularly so has some great insights. Plenty of ideas for both investors and advisers.
00:55 Rakesh introduces himself
01:40 what Ascension does
03:40 summary of EIS and SEIS tax reliefs
06:00 CGT reliefs
12:20 VCT tax reliefs
14:00 Example 1 - addressing changes to pensions
20:00 ways of diversifying
26:30 Example 2 - mitigating CGT on carried interest
30:00 extra example for large earners
32:30 Example 3 - Business Investment Relief
40:00 Example 4 - EIS as an alternative to AIM for IHT relief
49:00 favourite questions
Links
Ascension Ventures - https://www.ascension.vc/
Links to webinar on tax planning - https://youtu.be/jPupRUp51HY?si=WijvDB2tq0ZdxTrT or https://www.ascension.vc/advisers/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Material World by Ed Conway
Bio
Rakesh Murria
Chief Operating Officer, Ascension Ventures
Rakesh is the COO of Ascension (ascension.vc), where he oversees operations across their tax-efficient and institutional funds. With over 20 years in the technology, media, and telecoms sector, he’s held senior roles like Director of Product at EE, shaping their mobile, broadband, and TV offerings.
He’s also co-founded a FinTech start-up, spearheading its growth and raising £3m in funding, and has spent years advising early-stage tech companies. From corporate boardrooms to start-up hustle, Rakesh brings deep experience and practical insights to scaling businesses and driving innovation.
Disclaimer
The tax planning scenarios provided in this podcast are for information only and only apply in particular circumstances. This can be a complex area and you should speak to a knowledgeable professional before using these in practice.
In this episode, we welcome back Henry Whorwood, Head of Research & Consultancy at Beauhurst. With access to the broad data that Beauhurt collects, Henry has a great overview of trends in the venture capital market over the past couple of years and where we are now.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- tourist venture investors
- whether this is a healthy correction
- the lack of failures and the causes
- trends in valuations and amounts raised
- the strength in AI and cleantech
- different patterns by stage of investment and location
- what's happening in exits
- demand from purchasers
After a down phase in the cycle over the past couple of years, there is much speculation about whether we are close to, at or past the bottom. Listen and find out what the data says! Enjoy!
PS Sorry about uploading the wrong file initially!
00:50 Henry introduces himself and Beauhurst
02:30 what sort of data Beauhurst has
04:50 where is the venture capital market just now?
11:00 the lack of company failures
13:20 valuations and amounts invested
15:00 strength of AI and cleantech
21:15 differences across stages
23:45 down rounds, convertibles and preference terms
30:30 secondary share sales
32:30 what's happening in exits
38:00 demand from buyers
41:40 types of companies being sold
43:30 how are the regions doing
46:00 green shoots elsewhere
51:30 favourite questions
Links
Beauhurst website - https://www.beauhurst.com/
Beauhurst reports page - https://www.beauhurst.com/reports/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation by Anton Howes
Bio
Henry Whorwood
Head of Research & Consultancy, Beauhurst
Henry started and runs Beauhurst’s Research & Consultancy department which produces research on the UK’s startups and scaleups. He has worked on briefs for clients including the British Business Bank, HM Treasury, BEIS and Innovate UK. Henry is an expert on business finance, entrepreneurship and innovation and regularly gives presentations on market trends at events around the country. He studied Classics at the University of Oxford.
This episode is our usual year-end panel. An all-star group of experts get together to discuss what happened in 2024 and the prospects for 2024. This year, Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of the EIS Assocation; Kealan Doyle, CEO & Director of Symvan Capital and Ewoud Karelse, Specialist-Product at Evelyn Partners bring their knowledge and insight.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- fundraising in 2024
- the effect of the budget and how it has brought a focus on tax rather than investment
- performance of the underlying funds
- how EIS has become more attractive for IHT planning
- the effect on the market of the changes in SEIS limits
- how closing deals is taking longer
- valuations and the availability of funding
- exit activity
- how AI and climatetech are still popular
- looking forward to 2025
As usual, the panel bring a lot of knowledge and insights. 2024 was an eventful year so listen and find out what it all means for investors and advisers.
00:50 Introductions from Christiana, Kealan and Ewoud
03:00 how has fundraising been
08:00 the effect of the budget
12:00 the focus on tax rather than investment in 2024
15:30 performance of the underlying funds
19:00 increased attraction EIS for IHT planning
24:00 the administration challenge
27:30 effect of SEIS limit changes on the market
31:50 EIS investing - length of time to close deals
36:00 valuations and down rounds, availability of funding
38:00 exit activity
47:30 hot sectors - AI
53:00 hot sectors - climatetech
59:30 looking forward to 2025
62:30 activity in the regions
66:15 Predictions for 2025
Links
EIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/
Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
Evelyn Partners - https://www.evelyn.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bios
Kealan Doyle
Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.
Ewoud Karelse
Ewoud started his career in financial services with Allenbridge in 2000 and joined Towry Law in 2008 before joining Tilney in 2016, and Evelyn Partners in 2022. Ewoud is responsible for the research and selection of Venture Capital Trusts; (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes; Business Relief for Inheritance Tax Planning (AIM and non-AIM), and Social Investment Tax Relief products. He is also well versed in the use of Business Investment Relief for International clients.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
Tom Wilde helped start and now heads up the EIS and VCT tax practice at Shoosmiths. He has seen a wide range legal issues founders, companies and investors make when setting up and receiving EIS or VCT investment. He pulled together some for a recent presentation and we get him to expand on them.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- starting the right way
- the independent investor rule
- raising SEIS and EIS funds together
- the challenges that buybacks present
- doing subsidiaries correctly
- the types of shares that can be used
- the current state of the EIS and VCT market
- mental health in the workplace
The Shoosmiths practice is deeply involved in EIS, giving Tom great experience and knowledge. Take advantage of that here!
00:40 Tom introduces himself
01:35 what Shoosmiths does in EIS
03:40 starting the right way
04:10 need to use a new company
06:10 get founder shareholdings right
08:00 independent investor rule
11:20 raising SEIS and EIS funds together
13:45 risks of buybacks and losing tax reliefs
19:10 changing trades
25:10 getting subsidiaries right
29:15 types of shares that can be used
33:50 do the rules work effectively?
38:50 state of the market
42:15 current challenges for companies
47:10 favourite questions - mental health discussion
Links
Tom on Shoosmiths website - https://www.shoosmiths.com/people/cvdetails/tom-wilde
Tom on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwildeshoosmiths/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
A Path Through the Jungle by Steve Peters
Bio
Tom Wilde
Partner, Shoosmiths
Tom is the head of Shoosmiths’ EIS tax practice. Tom is one of the UK’s leading experts in this field and has extensive experience advising a wide range of investors and investee companies on structuring and implementing tax efficient investments, reorganisations and exits in compliance with the EIS regime. Tom is also a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser, a member of the EIS Association’s Tax and Technical Committee, and a member of the QCA’s Tax Expert Group.
James Segal cofounded finance-as-a-service house Fin--house and has seen the inside of many startups. His post on 24 founder fails caught my eye, so we asked him onto the podcast to discuss them in more detail.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- scaling too quickly
- forgetting about accounts receivable
- the importance of modelling and stress testing
- confusing cash flow with profit
- over-optimising for short-term gains
- misinterpreting break-even point
- misreading profit margins
- what James sees in companies when he starts with them
- when you need a CFO
James's experience from working with many small companies means he has seen all of these and more so he brings great insights. Enjoy!
00:56 James introduces himself
02:00 what Fin-house does
04:50 scaling too quickly
06:30 forgetting about accounts receivable
10:00 importance of modelling and stress testing / scenario planning
14:15 confusing cashflow with profit
17:20 over-optimising for short-term gains
23:45 misinterpreting break-even point
28:00 elasticity of CAC
30:45 misreading profit margins
34:00 how are companies when you first go in to them
40:00 difference between a CFO and financial controller
44:00 when do you need a CFO?
49:20 favourite questions
Links
Fin-house - https://fin-house.co.uk/
James on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-segal/
24 founder fails (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-segal_24-founder-finance-fails-activity-7254107025771565056-vZeO?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Bio
James Segal
Co-founder, Fin-house
James Segal is the co-founder of Fin-House, a company specialising in providing flexible, in-house finance teams tailored to the needs of startups, scaleups, and SMEs. Founded in 2021, Fin-House supports businesses through their growth journey by delivering finance functions that evolve alongside them, integrating seamlessly into their operations.
Prior to starting Fin-House, James held finance leadership roles at Benchmark Sport International, Decathlon, and SynergyMode. He is a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW and holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance from the University of Leeds.
When an fund manager jumps into a new area, its always tempting to ask why. Blackfinch Ventures has launched a fund focussing on the energy transition, we asked Head of Ventures Reuben Wilcock back on the podcast to discuss it.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- what the energy transition is and why he thinks its attractive
- how he chose the themes to look at
- whether the pace of change in the economy is fast enough
- whether there are enough investments
- the role of strategic investors and their commitment
- prioritising returns over impact
- applications in industry and storage
- translating science into a good business
- the challenge of sequencing
- finding appropriate metrics
- investor interest in environmental investments
Although this is a known area, it is interesting to get the perspective of a new entrant who has analysed the market and found it attractive. There's lots of insights as usual from Reuben - enjoy!
01:00 Reuben introduces himself
03:00 introduction to Blackfinch Investments
04:45 what is energy transition and why chosen
08:10 choosing the themes within that
09:00 whether the pace of change is fast enough?
11:50 are there adequate investments in the sector
15:30 commitment of strategic investors
17:45 concern over prioritising impact over returns
21:20 what other themes he is seeing
25:30 science that makes a good business
27:10 prevalence of secondaries
29:20 technology dependence and sequencing
34:00 energy storage
40:40 appropriate metrics
42:00 investor interest and demand in environmental areas
47:10 favourite questions
Links
Blackfinch - https://www.blackfinch.com/
Blackfinch Ventures - https://blackfinch.ventures/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Working Backwards by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr
Bio
Reuben Wilcock
Head of Ventures, Blackfinch Ventures
Reuben’s expertise in advising early stage companies has developed through a background spanning academia, technology start-ups and start-up acceleration. He has founded or co-founded four technology start-ups including Joulo, a smart home energy spinout which won the 2013 British Gas Connected Homes award and was acquired by Quby in 2014, and Bar Analytics, an IoT start-up that enables global brands to monitor beer quality and sales.
With a PhD in Electronics, Reuben has extensive product design experience with deep technical knowledge of hardware, software and manufacturing. He is an inventor on five patents and named author on over 45 peer reviewed publications ranging from integrated circuit design to genetic algorithms. Before joining Blackfinch, Reuben was a leading figure in entrepreneurship at the University of Southampton where he sat on its IP Panel for five years, guiding the commercialisation of research innovations through licensing and spinouts.
Reuben is a Royal Academy of Engineering award winning entrepreneur, and the lifetime membership that affords has offered visibility of some of the most innovative university spinouts in the UK. In 2015 Reuben founded and ran the Future Worlds accelerator, mentoring over 250 entrepreneurs and 50 companies over a four-year period. Companies included 5G silicon IP spinout Accelercomm, AI computer vision company Aura Vision, IoT transport startup Route Reports and HGV data analytics company Dynamon. Whilst at Future Worlds, Reuben also developed the business plan and was the execution partner for the Z21 Fund, run in partnership with the Solent LEP.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation.
We all have idea of what impact investing means, but how do you measure and systematise it? Conduit Connect is an impact venture capital investor and we have asked Senior Investment Manager Gabby Morgan onto to discuss this. She was hands on in developing their own impact framework and reporting so understands the issues and can talk about how Conduit Connect solved them.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- approaches to measuring impact
- developing a theory of change
- how to make impact robust in a company
- scaling impact
- being intentional about diversity
- negative externalities and avoiding them
- how to treat items that can't be measured
- greenwashing in the venture industry
- the challenges of comparing frameworks
With the new SDR Regulations coming in, this is a very timely discussion. Gabby has thought deeply about many of the issues and applied them in practice, so has some great insights.
01:20 Gabby introduces herself
03:30 What is Conduit Connect?
09:00 How do we approach measuring impact?
11:50 The four buckets of impact in Conduit Connect's framework
26:00 The need for fund managers to be intentional about diversity
28:30 What are negative externalities and avoiding them
32:00 Taking account of what can't be measured
35:00 How lockstep works to keep companies impact orientated
39:40 Greenwashing in the venture industry
41:40 How do investors compare manager frameworks
49:00 Prospects for the impact industry in next couple of years
54:50 Favourite questions
LinksConduit Connect website - https://www.theconduitconnect.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and mediaRange by Daniel Epstein
Ministry of Time by Kallane Bradley
BioGabby Morgan
Senior Investment Manager, Conduit Connect
Gabby is a Senior Investment Manager at the Conduit Connect, responsible for screening and performing due diligence on opportunities for the Conduit EIS Impact Fund. She is also responsible for fundraising and investor relations for the Fund. She is an investor mentor at Carbon13, a leading climate-focussed accelerator, and a Board Advisor at Thalamos, one of the Conduit Fund’s portfolio companies. She has advised early-stage impact ventures through the Huckletree Alpha programme, Village Capital and Founders Intelligence.
Prior to joining the Conduit Connect in November 2019, Gabby was an investment research analyst for a US-based impact investing firm called Align Impact supporting their investment research and direct investment strategies. In 2019, She completed her MBA at the Said Business School at the University of Oxford, where she focussed her studies on impact investing and social entrepreneurship. During her MBA, she was a Director of the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training (MIINT), Oxford Said Chapter, and was accepted into the annual Impact Lab run in coordination with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.
Prior to getting her MBA, Gabby was a Director at Euromoney Institutional Investor in New York City. In this position, she founded and ran a number of their private investment memberships for wealth managers, family offices, HNWIs, pension plans and large asset managers.
Gabby was born in the UK but spent most of her life in the U.S., having grown up in Connecticut and spent four years in Boston for her undergraduate degree.
The Seedrs Portfolio Report gives an insight into how equity crowdfunding in the UK has progressed over the past decade from an idea to a firm part of the venture capital market. Jeff Lynn was a co-founder of Seedrs and has been President since its purchase by Republic. He's ideally placed to give a myriad of insights into what lies behind the data and the report.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- what the aim of the report is
- how the report shows venture is an outlier asset class
- why food & beverage is the most popular sector
- how the variety of crowdfunding companies has improved over time
- why crowdfunding does better than the industry on diversity
- how long should investors expect to hold investments
- the development of Seedrs secondary market
- how people use the platform and how that affects their portfolio diversification
- the future for Republic Europe and areas it is looking to expand into
Its clear that crowdfunding will continue to be a meaningful element in the the startup and venture capital market in the UK. That makes this interview with Jeff a must listen for anyone involved in the market.
00:50 Jeff introduces himself
04:20 Seedrs is now Republic Europe
06:20 the motivation behind creating the Portfolio report
10:30 the role of outliers
13:00 funding food & beverage companies
16:15 do some companies work better for crowdfunding?
19:10 Why Seedrs has had more female founders than the market
25:50 How long is an investment for?
28:45 what has made the secondary market successful
31:30 investor diversification and the different use cases for platform
37:00 how angels and sophisticated investors use the platform
39:10 The future for crowdfunding: international opportunities, funds and blockchain
44:50 Favourite questions
Links
Republic Europe (formerly Seedrs) website - https://europe.republic.com/
Seedrs Portfolio Report Winter 2023 - https://europe.republic.com/insights/blog/seedrs-2023-portfolio-report
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Young Wilhelm by John C.G. Röhl
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
Bio
Jeff Lynn
Chairman, Republic Europe
Jeff Lynn is the Co-Founder of Republic Europe (formerly Seedrs), which he led as CEO from 2009 to 2017 and has served as Chairman since then. Jeff is a qualified lawyer who began his career practicing corporate law with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York and London. He also serves as the Chairman of The Startup Coalition and as a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee for the King's Awards for Enterprise. Jeff holds an MBA and a BCL (advanced law degree) from the University of Oxford, a JD from the University of Virginia and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is now 30 years old! To celebrate, we asked Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of the EIS Association, onto the podcast to discuss the past, present and future of the scheme.
In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:
- the founding of EIS
- the progress it has made
- what has made it so successful
- renewal of the scheme and the efforts underpinning it
- why EIS is still not as well known as it should be
- how awareness could be increased
- the progress with improving diversity and regional investing
- the effects of the recent changes to SEIS limits
Christiana brings together both the big picture on the importance of the tax advantaged schemes and the small scale that each company and investor represents. Its a great discussion - enjoy!
PS This was recorded before the recent Treasury announcement that the EU has approved the extension of EIS.
00:50 Christiana introduces herself and the EIS Association
04:00 The founding of EIS and how it has progressed
07:25 Why has EIS been successful
12:15 How the Patient Capital Review changed the schemes
14:00 Lobbying for the scheme extension
18:50 Why EIS is not as well known as we would like
26:50 How do we increase awareness
30:15 Role of financial advisers
34:45 Progress with diversity of founders and expanding into regions
41:00 Effect of changes to SEIS limits
43:00 Looking forward
46:10 Favourite questions
Links
EIS Association website - https://eisa.og.uk/
HMRC 2023 EIS Statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/enterprise-investment-scheme-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme-and-social-investment-tax-relief-may-2024
30th Anniversary of EIS event - https://eisa.org.uk/30th-anniversary-of-eis/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
Bio
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart
Director General, EIS Association
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.
While fintech has perhaps fallen out of the spotlight in venture capital, it remains a significant part of the UK venture capital scene. It is one of Love Ventures three specialist areas, and in this episode co-founders Marcus Love and Adrian Love give their views on how the sector has developed and what matters now.
In a great discussion, Marcus and Adrian talk about:
- the difference between v1 and v2 of fintech
- why financial services is so attractive for innovators
- how business models have developed
- matching founders to the right product
- how incumbents are responding to new entrants and the advantages the latter have
- why the UK is doing well in supporting fintech
- how AI fits into their investment thesis
- what areas are attractive for investment today
Although Love Ventures is a relatively new manager, both Marcus and Adrian have strong backgrounds in entrepreneurship and investing. This experience allows them to being some great insights into how the world of fintech is progressing today.
PS This was recorded while travelling, so apologies for the echoes in the background for the host.
00:55 Marcus and Adrian introduce themselves
02:55 Love Ventures
05:15 versions 1 & 2 of fintech
08:50 why financial services is so ripe for innovation
11:25 blockages to blockchain in the real world yet
14:00 finding the correct business models going forward
17:00 importance of product/founder fit
19:40 Incumbents vs new entrants
22:00 report on corporate venture capital
25:10 the UK regulatory sandbox
27:10 UK as a model for other countries
28:45 how the need for capital hasn't changed
33:30 looking for right scale of problem to invest in
35:20 role of AI - specialist / small models
40:45 data confidentiality - importance of specialist data
43:40 prime areas for investing now
45:30 Favourite questions
Links
Love Ventures website - https://loveventures.co.uk/
Love Ventures on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/love-ventures/
Report on corporate venture capital - https://loveventures.co.uk/navigating-cvc/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Bios
Marcus Love,
Co-Founder, Love Ventures
In the first part of his career he spent nearly 10 years in Paris working in consulting for Cap Gemini then in a start-up and in various sales roles. In 2005 he moved back to London and worked for 14 years in the City selling global equity research to fund managers.
He started angel investing in 2015 and built up an angel portfolio of 20 companies, building an angel syndicate along the way. HE formed Love Ventures in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic and hasn’t looked back since.
He loves helping portfolio companies where he can, and is super excited by the growth of their first two funds and their super team! Outside work, he enjoy sports, culture and travel. Most recently he cycled 458 miles in eastern Turkey for a charity called 1morechild.
Adrian Love,
Co-Founder, Love Ventures
The early part of his career was spent at The Instant Group, a high growth pioneer within the global flexible workspace sector where he focussed on enterprise sales before its acquisition by MML Capital – their digital assets have now merged with IWG Group. From 2016, he worked at Dorrington PLC, a £1.4Bn private investment company, where he was an investment manager of a £200m portfolio of assets.
During this period, he began his own entrepreneurial journey within property development and also started angel investing, building up an angel syndicate alongside his brother Marcus. Having been in business together since 2009, they co-founded Love Ventures in 2020 and enjoy using their extensive networks to help the founders across our portfolio.
Outside of the world of start-ups, you can usually find him on the sports pitch whether it’s regular five-a-side football, squash, golf or skiing. He also loves an adventure and has been recruiting founders for a round the world cycle to Sydney, starting off with London to Paris in September.
Eos Advisory are rapidly building a solid reputation in science-based venture capital investing. In this episode, Partner Mark Beaumont discusses their roots, philosophy and how that translates into practice, with lots of real-life examples.
In an in-depth discussion, Mark talks about:
- how the Eos investment philosophy developed
- the strengths of the Scottish venture capital eco-system
- what makes good founders and how he assesses that
- getting alignment between managers/investors and founders
- determining whether there is a big enough market
- how to give a company an international outlook as early as possible
- the mistakes founders make
- changing management mindsets as a company progresses
Mark's background gives him a very different perspective, both individually and as part of a team that brings very diverse experiences. His insights into the people side in particular are tremendous. There is much for any founder or investor to learn here.
01:00 Mark introduces himself
04:50 where Eos is now
07:20 how their investment philosophy developed
10:30 lack of competition for deals in Scotland
11:50 Scottish eco-system - current strengths
16:20 what they are looking for in founders
20:30 separating people from company
24:20 alignment between founders, investors and managers
27:40 how do you determine a market
32:15 internationalising - when and how
36:15 how to line up international investors
38:40 what mistakes founders make
41:00 challenges of funding
44:50 changing mindsets in companies as they progress
49:25 favourite questions
Links
Eos Advisory website - https://eos-advisory.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Coffee First, then the World by Jenny Graham
Bio
Mark Beaumont,
Partner, Eos Advisory
Mark Beaumont became a Partner at Eos Advisory in 2019 and has helped lead the business through a period of significant growth, investing in predominantly Scottish science and technology companies addressing key global issues in healthcare and environmental health. Mark Beaumont spent the first chapter his career building teams around sporting success and is publicly known as an athlete and BBC broadcaster. He still holds the 18,000-mile circumnavigation cycling record in a time of 78 days. Mark’s degree education was in Economics & Politics, and for a decade and a half worked with a leading UK mid-market private equity firm. Mark is Patron for Entrepreneurial Scotland, Honorary President for Scottish Student Sport, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was honoured in the Queens New Year’s honours for services to sport and charity.
In this episode of the EIS Navigator we get a great founder story. Despite not having a medical background, Clare Brenner founded Myogenes which specialises in pharmocogenetic testing. She has a very personal story about her motivation for initially focusing on mental health to begin with, as well as her experiences in starting in a new area.
In the discussion, Clare talks about:
- how she found a good area to work on
- the initial focus on clozapine
- why she seeks out the best people to work with
- the challenges of getting initial funding
- how patient advocacy is playing a role
- making a business case to convince the NHS
- moving into the US market
- where we are in developing personalised medicine
Clare's story is both inspiring and insightful, as well as being a great follow-on to the previous episode about female founders.
00:45 Clare introduces Myogenes
04:55 establishing proof of concept
06:40 how she found a test
08:30 how does the test work and the importance of working with doctors
11:50 finding the top people
15:00 why she focused on clozapine
18:00 how they developed the test
19:00 founding the company
21:00 marketing into the NHS: establishing cost/benefit and business impact models
25:00 progress with individual health trusts
28:00 the role of patient/family lobbying
29:00 getting funding for preventative medicine
32:30 moving into the US
37:10 where are we in personalised medicine
41:00 prospects for Myogenes
43:45 Favourite questions
Links
Myogenes website - https://www.myogenes.com/
Telephone - 020 8387 1266
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett
Bio
Clare Brenner,
Founder & CEO, Myogenes
Clare Brenner, CEO & Co-founder Clare began her working career at the BBC, moving from radio to television and then to writing and producing.
Her interest in genetics started in 2010 working for a private hospital and launching their DNA testing programme. She started on her own in 2016 and has dedicated the last six years to becoming expert in the field of genetics and forming her own company Myogenes.
Nick Dimmock founded 350PPM as an incubator for various environmental businesses, but has followed a different path from many incubators. In this episode, he discusses how he developed the 350PPM business model, developing companies more generally and the state of environmental investing.
Amongst other items, Nick discusses:
- how he developed 350PPM's business model
- the importance of the right system
- balancing doing things for a company versus developing internal capabilities
- handling areas that are capital intensive
- where we are in the demand cycle for environmental investments
- how we generate more interest in them
- the need for political support and change
Nick is naturally forthright and brings some strong opinions which make for a very interesting conversation.
01:50 Nick introduces himself
05:00 what 350PPM is and does
07:40 how did the business model develop - developing a system
13:00 doing stuff for a company vs developing internal capability
18:35 what sorts of companies are of interest and why
22:35 capital intensity
27:30 demand for environmental investments
31:45 how do we sustain interest in environmental investments
33:00 need for removal of subsidies
39:40 next steps
41:15 Favourite questions
Links
350PPM website - https://350ppm.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
What You See is What You Get by Alan Sugar
Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith by Ivan Fallon
The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis
Bio
Nick Dimmock,
Founder & CEO, 350PPM
Nick has worked in the environmental sector since 2007 and has so far been involved in over 50 environmental projects from Municipal Solid Waste Composting in India, to 1500 MW Hydroelectric projects in Ecuador. Overall, the projects Nick has been involved in have created on-going emission reductions over 9 Million tons of CO2e per annum. From 2017, Nick has been involved with incubating, accelerating and venture building early stage cleantech businesses.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) founders rightly focus on their product and market, but sound finances underpin any success. Anthony Nitsos founded fractional CFO business SaaS Gurus after working in a couple of successful exits. He has seen the inside of many SaaS businesses so has lots of experience in developing good practice and seeing the mistakes that founders make. In this episode, we tap into that knowledge.
Amongst other topics, Anthony discusses:
- balancing different financial metrics
- sensible gross margin targets and when companies should be hitting them
- changes in SaaS valuation multiples
- the value of market expertise in generating success
- sales cycles and how they differ in B2B and B2C
- finding the right first sales person and who the next recruits should be
- when to bring in a CFO (and its earlier than most think)
- the value of benchmarking
- the difference between finance and accounting in companies
- how to prepare for an exit
Its a great conversation, with Anthony bringing lots of insights from his vast expertise for founders and investors alike.
00:50 Anthony introduces himself
04:45 what financial metrics matter and the difference between venture-backed and bootstrapped businesses
09:45 gross margin - good targets and when you should be hitting them
13:30 how valuation multiples have changed in SaaS
15:45 patterns in CAC and trends in software purchasers
18:05 how to you know you have product/market fit
20:00 difference in sales cycles between B2B and B2C
23:30 the value of market knowledge and how startups are not for on the job training
24:30 why its easier to move from enterprise to SME than vice versa
25:45 how finding the right first sales person is the biggest challenge
31:45 building a sales team
37:00 when to bring in a CFO
39:30 the merits of building finance function when its pre-revenue
42:20 the value of benchmarking
43:15 most companies have problems
45:00 the difference between accounting and finance
49:20 preparing for exits - how acquirers look at finances
56:00 why founders should know what short of exit they want
60:00 favourite questions
Links
SaaS Gurus website - https://saasgurus.io/
Free ebook on "SaaS Secrets for Financial Triumph" - https://saasgurus.io/lab
SaaS Gurus contact page - https://saasgurus.io/contact/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Measure What Matters by John Doerr
Dune
Bio
Anthony Nitsos,
Founder & CEO, SaaS Gurus
Anthony Nitsos elevates your financial strategy to meet challenges and drive your company value. Working with pre-seed to Series B stage SaaS startups, he ensures that founders have reliable metrics and a solid understanding of the true economics of their business to maximize valuation. He optimizes financial operations, sales operations, human resources operations, and risk management systems. He’s worked with various startups, including two unicorn exists. Learn more at SaaSGurus.io.
How we fit EIS funds and VCTs in an advice process is something that the tax advantaged industry has got many different answers for. Rob Bell of Finova Money has been using these for clients for many years. In this episode we discuss their place in a financial plan, how he chooses between different products and investor perceptions of the industry.
Amongst other topics, Rob discusses:
- how he chooses the right scheme for his clients
- how he uses what might go wrong in framing discussions and diversification
- the use of a panel
- assessing track records and their depth
- the true term of EIS investments
- the value of managers having several capital pools
- where SEIS fits into the advice process
- different uses of generalist and specialist managers
- the current state of ESG and impact managers
- improving investor perception of venture capital
Its a great conversation with lots of insights from Rob for investors, advisers and fund managers.
01:15 Rob introduces himself
02:15 what is Finova Money
03:00 how he chooses between EIS and VCT for a client
06:50 loss relief and how discussing what might go wrong helps
07:50 thinking about diversification
12:15 product selection and producing a panel
13:20 assessing manager track records
16:50 thoughts on the depth of track records
19:30 the real term of EIS investments
22:50 value of managers having several capital pools
25:30 how SEIS fits into the advice process
28:45 specialist vs generalist managers
31:00 ESG and impact investments
36:10 challenges of recommending new managers
38:35 investor perception of venture capital
44:10 how do we improve investor perception of financial advice
48:15 favourite questions
Links
Finova Money website - http://www.finovamoney.co.uk
Rob Bell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbell-financialplanner/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan
Bio
Rob Bell,
Founder & Chartered Financial Planner, Finova Money
Rob is a Chartered Financial Planner and one of the founding directors at Finova Money, an independent financial advice business based in London.
Rob is passionate about helping his clients take control of their finances so they can live with confidence knowing they have a solid financial plan for the future in place. Rob’s clients include business owners and professionals with more complex tax positions who can benefit from looking at a broader range of financial planning options. Outside of work Rob’s interest are getting out into the countryside, Munro bagging and scuba diving.
Manufacturing and operations is an area that has been much neglected by venture capital, but has plenty of issues that can be address. Renan Devillieres of venture builder OSS Ventures focuses on this space, with distinct methods and successful results. In this episode we discuss how he goes about creating successful new businesses, with very good results to date.
In a wide ranging discussion, Renan discusses:
- what is venture building
- the process for finding pain points in factories
- how Renan characterises different operations
- why there is still so much low hanging fruit in this area
- what sorts of manufacturers are open to change
- how to make sure there is enough initial customers and how to work with them
- working with different tech stacks
- how to make sure that companies don't customise for specific clients
- making the OSS fire itself from each company
- the different markets and sales processes he sees
- finding the right founders and the skill sets they need
- the effect of AI
- how the global manufacturing model of the past 30 years is changing now
Its a great conversation with lots of insights from Renan and a must listen for investors and founders who want to build successful businesses.
01:30 Renan introduces himself
02:45 introduction to OSS
04:00 what is venture building?
09:00 finding pain points in factories
13:15 how the regulatory environment can affect go-to-market strategies
17:30 why is there so much low hanging fruit
21:00 how different manufacturers are stuck or open to change
25:30 finding the first customers
29:00 working with clients to build viable solutions without customising too much
32:00 how the OSS team fires itself
37:00 how different software has different sales and decision making processes
41:20 the necessary founder skills
44:15 how AI is affecting manufacturing
49:10 trends in manufacturing and how its all changing now
55:30 favourite questions
Links
OSS Ventures website - https://www.oss.ventures/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
Empty Planet by Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson
Bio
Renan Devillières,
CEO OSS Ventures
A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Renan began his career as a consultant at McKinsey, before becoming an economist at the OECD and then strategic project manager for the Richemont Group. After his various experiences, Renan launched into entrepreneurship by founding a start-up, which he sold to Google Ventures in 2018. Having always been attracted to tech and industry, Renan co-founded OSS Ventures in 2019 with the mission of supporting French industry in its technological, environmental, social and societal transition from industry 2.0 to industry 4.0.
Governance is all too often seen in startup companies as a chore, or necessary evil when it can be a positive and enable success. Dermot Campbell, founder of CEEIO, is trying bring more of the latter to the venture world. In this episode, he discusses how startups can enable good governance without spending too much time on it and make it a means to the right end rather than an end in itself.
Dermot covers a lot of areas, including:
- what is governance
- the importance of maintaining stakeholder relationships
- when startups should start introducing governance structures
- how governance should lead growth
- who should take the lead on board creation
- the role of fund managers
- good preparation for board meetings
- building effective board agendas
- the value in identifying risks
- setting up risk assessments and how these can lead to key objectives
- how to generate relevant KPIs
- how to translate a business plan into something useful
- generating the right board
- the commons mistakes made by founders
- the rise of ESG and how its different in startups from quoted companies
Whether you are a founder looking to put governance into place or an investor helping or wanting a company to do it, this is an essential discussion.
01:00 Dermot introduces himself
02:00 What is SEEIO
03:10 What is governance
04:20 the importance of maintaining stakeholder relationships
05:40 importance of creating a governance framework
06:15 how should new startups approach governance
08:40 when to create the board
09:45 who takes the lead
11:30 role of fund managers
12:30 the work in preparing for board meetings
15:00 don't just sell - value in identify risks
16:30 setting up appropriate risk assessment
20:30 how to use a business plan and use it to generate objectives
22:10 working on KPIs
24:00 building effective board agendas
27:20 generating the right board and founder relationship with them
30:30 role of independent NEDs in startups
32:10 what mistakes do founders make
33:30 value of governance in improving odds for fundraising
35:50 rise of ESG and how investors care about G - G facilitates E & S
42:20 favourite questions
Links
SEEIO website - https://seeio.co.uk/
Dermot on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dermot-campbell-3178a326/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
The Go To Market Handbook for B2B SaaS Leaders by Richard Blunder
MEDDICC: The ultimate guide to staying one step ahead in the complex sale by Andy Whyte
Bio
Dermot Campbell
CEO, SEEIO
Dermot Campbell is an experienced fintech leader, known for founding Kuber Ventures and building it up to be a key player in the alternative investment platform sector. As CEO of SEEIO, he's transforming corporate governance for startup and scaleup SMEs. His expertise spans wealth management, financial planning, and navigating regulatory environments. Prior to becoming a startup founder, Dermot was a Chartered Wealth Manager and in his early career he was an airline pilot.
Getting big returns in venture capital can involve stepping away from the mainstream and investing in opportunities that others won't. Will Gibbs of Octopus Ventures has a reputation for investing in areas others see as taboo. We ask him about being a contrarian investor, how to do it well and what needs to change to create a successful investment.
In a discussion filled with numerous examples, Will discusses:
- getting big enough markets when the market is somewhat hidden
- balancing new technology and new markets
- when specialist investors are needed
- judging whether a company will be ripe for follow-on investment
- how taboo investments can interact with social change
- sequencing market expansion
- what a company needs to internationalise
- what problems that internationalising doesn't solve
- building deal flow in taboo areas
- how the venture capital industry is creating some of the problems
- the value of team diversity in looking away from consensus areas
- whether valuations are different in taboo areas.
In a wide ranging conversation, Will brings a great perspective on how to bring mainstream venture capital skills to genuinely new areas. Its a great discussion for investors and companies who dare to be different. Enjoy!
01:00 Will introduces himself
03:40 Who Octopus Ventures are
06:30 Contrarian and tabooo investing
07:45 Example: Elvie - silent breast pump
09:50 Example: Pelago - substance use disorder
13:20 the size of taboo markets, challenges in assessing true market size
16:00 new tech and new markets - need for specialists
17:30 Example Overture - improving and automating IVF
19:20 market meets social movements - will someone follow-on?
22:05 assessing the pace of social change - risk of too early
25:30 sequencing the right national / international markets
25:45 Example Skin & Me - getting expansion right and not too quick
29:30 Time and capital to internationalise
31:00 when is the right or wrong time to internationalise
33:30 building deal flow in taboo areas
35:15 to what extent is the venture capital industry part of the problem - value of diversity
38:05 is the industry going in the right direction?
40:00 are valuations different in taboo areas?
42:35 creating communities supporting companies
47:45 prospects
50:20 Favourite questions
Links
Octopus Investments: https://octopusinvestments.com/
Octopus Ventures website: https://octopusventures.com/
Companies mentioned:
Pelago https://www.pelagohealth.com/
Overture https://www.overture.life/
Vira https://www.vira.health/
Elvie https://www.elvie.com/en-gb
Skin and me https://www.skinandme.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
In the Company of Givers and Takers by Adam Grant (article)
https://hbr.org/2013/04/in-the-company-of-givers-and-takers
Bio
Will Gibbs
Healthtech Partmer, Octopus Ventures
Will joined Octopus in 2013 and sits in its Health team. He works with portfolio companies from consumer to enterprise, with a strong bias towards businesses making the biggest impacts on health.
In recent years he has explored taboo areas within health, resulting in multiple new investments around this theme, from substance addiction to LGBT sexual health. He’s also passionate about the potential for digital therapeutics to deliver superior outcomes for some conditions, US expansion, the future of cannabinoids and novel business models within health.
Will was based in Octopus' US office in New York during 2016, and continues to support portfolio companies looking to expand into the US health market. Many of his portfolio companies are based in the US, and he invests alongside big global investors like SoftBank Group, Kinnevik, Atomico and EQT Partners.
Will is also a vocal champion of diversity and LGBT issues and is happily married to his husband Christopher.
He founded multiple startups before joining Octopus Ventures, including a rare-breed pig farm and an organic spirits company.
Will holds a degree in ancient history and classical archaeology from the University of Oxford.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/willgibbs1/
Valuations are always a popular topic. With much discussion about whether we are at the bottom of the current cycle, it seems a good time to revisit and we invited back someone who has experienced several market cycles: John Glencross, co-founder of Calculus Capital.
We had a great discussion on how the current market, how this compares with recent times and how a fund manager handles them. Topics discussed include:
- how companies are accepting lower valuations
- the danger of growth at any price
- where there are still bubbles and what the consequences of these might be
- how to manage investing when valuations are high
- the psychology of down rounds
- preferential return structures and what John is seeing in the market
- real unicorns versus valuation aberrations
- how valuation matters for investing
- how Calculus values existing portfolio
- John's sense of valuations in the EIS & VCT market and where he thinks the discrepancies are
- how close we are to the bottom of the valuation cycle
Talking with someone who has seen several downturns gave a great perspective on all these topics and there's lots for all advisers and investors. Enjoy!
01:00 John introduces himself
04:30 recent exit patterns
06:00 companies accepting lower valuations attraction of investment vs exits
07:30 avoiding growth at any price - US vs UK
10:15 where there is still bubbles
13:15 investing when valuations are high - changed pace of investments in recent years
16:45 the psychology of down rounds
18:45 preferential return structures and the general tightening of terms in market
26:00 when are unicorns a market aberration?
28:30 how valuation matters for investing
31:10 portfolio valuation - lags, being realistic and getting a good process
35:00 how EIS managers are using unrealised performance as marketing, but its not similar to exits
41:00 what is an acceptable band of uncertainty? How exits matter
44:15 are we at the bottom of the valuation cycle?
48:45 favourite questions
Links
Calculus Capital website: https://www.calculuscapital.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Sunshine & Shadows
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Sing as We Go by Simon Heffer
Bio
John Glencross
Chief Executive and Cofounder, Calculus Capital
John co-founded Calculus with Susan McDonald in 1999, creating one of the UK’s most successful, independent private equity firms focused on investing in entrepreneurial young British companies. John has over 30 years’ experience in private equity, corporate finance, and operational management. During that time, he has invested in, advised on or negotiated more than 100 transactions and served on publicly quoted and private corporate boards. Before co-founding Calculus, John served as a European Corporate Finance Director at UBS and, prior to this he was Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Phillips and Drew, a 100-year-old London-based financial institution. At the start of his career, John qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Peat Marwick (subsequently KPMG), where he then went on to be recruited as a founder member of Deloitte’s newly established consultancy practice in the Gulf Region and then Corporate Finance practice in London. John graduated from Oxford University with an MA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
When we last spoke with Harry Heartfield of Edition, the leisure sector was all about recovering the pandemic. Fortunately, we have moved on so we thought it was time to get him back to discuss where we are now, how his investment philosophy has evolved and what the prospects for exits are now.
We covered a lot areas in our discussion, including:
- the unevenness of the current recovery
- the difference that geography and target market makes
- the need to rebalance portfolio risk now
- how live entertainment and hospitality are doing
- how to run live events professionally and Edition's role in supporting that
- prospects for exits
- how the landscape of purchasers looks
- the challenges of making rollups work
- why profitability matters more than ever
- how and why to set up EIS deals six months in advance
Its another great discussion - Harry is both erudite and insightful, and the lessons are not just about the leisure sector . Enjoy!
00:50 Harry introduces himself
03:00 Why Edition is more than a fund manager
05:00 How does the leisure sector feel now?
08:00 the unevenness of the recovery
10:00 where is recovering and where isn't - geographic and demographic differences
13:40 rebalancing risk in portfolio
15:30 how live entertainment and events are doing
19:30 the return after pandemic
20:30 how to get professionalism in live events
25:30 the prospects for exits returning
28:10 political games amongst the big players in live entertainment and the structure of purchasers
31:20 making rollups work - the danger of multiple arbitrage and focus on synergies
35:45 how long to build a company?
40:15 the importance of profitability in the current market and when there is a trade off vs growth
44:30 messaging around doing something different
47:30 why Edition is lining companies up for investment 6mths in advance
50:20 the challenges of agreeing deals 6 mths in advance
54:00 favourite questions
Links
Edition Capital - https://www.editioncapital.co.uk/
Harry on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-heartfield-2275983a/
Email harry.heartfield@editioncapital.co.uk
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book and media
If This is a Man by Primo Levi
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
Bio
Harry Heartfield
Senior Partner, Edition Capital
Harry has over 15 years’ experience in the leisure sector. In 2011, he joined boutique asset manager Ingenious becoming a Senior Investment Manager in their Live Entertainment Team. At Ingenious, he was responsible for working across several investment funds including several Venture Capital Trusts with a focus on leisure assets. During his time at Ingenious, he also developed and launched several investment products aimed at the retail market, including EIS products which raised more than £25m, and was Head of Investments and Acquisitions for Impresario Festivals plc until the sale of the business to media group Global for more than £28m.
He set up Edition alongside the other Edition Partners in 2015. At Edition, he has overseen the development of Edition EIS and Edition Capital Projects, which have raised over £50m between them. He also was appointed as Strategic Advisor to Superstruct Entertainment (a Providence Equity backed company) from 2017 to 2020 as they made their first acquisitions including Sziget Cultural Management (Hungary) and elrow (Spain). In total, Harry has overseen deals in excess of £220m across the UK and Europe. He sits on the board of a number of Edition’s investee companies including WatchHouse Coffee, Borrow A Boat and Tailwise.
Assessing companies for venture capital investment is often more of an art than a science. Richard Blakesley is trying to change that with Venture Cubed. Its rating system aims to objectively assess how investible new companies are. We asked him to talk about how they built their rating system, what it tells us about the venture industry and how it might change it going forward.
This is the second part of our excellent discussion. In the previous episode, we spoke about his rating system and what matters when assessing companies for investment. In this one, we discuss scaling the UK venture capital industry, indexation and investing at scale. In particular, we talk about:
- the proportion of companies that should be getting investment
- the challenge of getting more investment into different companies instead of boosting valuations
- whether support and investment should come from the same organisation
- creating a index for venture capital and benchmarking
- how to make that index investible
- data and creating systems for intermediate valuations
- buying and selling a venture capital index
- different investment models that might be used
- why bigger funds would expect to outperform smaller funds
As you can see, we covered a lot of ground. This is a really important discussion for the venture capital industry: there could be an opportunity for it to scale up dramatically in the near future, but how it does that really matters. This discussion may not produce all the answers, but at least it asks the questions. And don't forget part 1!
00:45 How many companies get funding that deserve it and what's the shortfall in companies not being funded that should?
05:00 inflating valuations versus broadening the range companies getting investment - need new channels for pension funds
08:00 why the industry needs to change - case for passive management
10:00 the challenges of indexing venture capital
11:00 separating investment and support - how passive managers might arrange that
14:30 the real role of a fund manager
21:00 issue of intermediate valuation (before exit) - data collection on private countries
26:20 data protection & confidentiality
27:40 how to make index investible / expand coverage - without diluting quality
33:00 buying & selling index - fund types, physical vs derivative
35:00 creating funds where industry can write a big cheque
35:45 bigger diversified funds outperform
37:00 the power law and reversion to mean
42:00 co-investment model and role of BBB - public plus private models
45:30 favourite questions
Links
Venture Cubed website - https://www.venturecubed.com/
Richard's email: richard@venturecubed.com
British Business Bank venture capital reviews: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/uk-venture-capital-financial-returns-2023/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books and media
Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock
Walking the Bones of Britain by Christopher Sommerville
Mentioned by Brian
High Stakes, No Prisoners by Charles H Ferguson
Bio
Richard Blakesley
Founder & CEO, Venture Cubed
Assessing companies for venture capital investment is often more of an art than a science. Richard Blakesley is trying to change that with Venture Cubed. Its rating system aims to objectively assess how investible new companies are. We asked him to talk about how they built their rating system, what it tells us about the venture industry and how it might change it going forward.
We had such a good discussion that we have split it into two parts. In this episode, we discuss how he measures companies. In the second part, we talk more about the wider industry. Here we discuss:
- what their rating system aims to measure
- how they assess how good the ratings are
- what are the important factors in the rating
- the weights that are given to those factors
- how they quantify factors that are more qualitative
- the challenges in analysing financial models
- where founders don't understand what investors want
- how founders can get good advice on fundraising
- the process of giving feedback to founders and how receptive they are
- the mistakes that founders often make
- the proportion of companies that are really investible
- what investible really means
- where funding gaps are
As you can see, we covered a lot of ground. Whether you are an investor thinking about how to assess companies or a founder considering fundraising, there's a lot for you here. And don't miss part 2!
01:00 Richard Blakesley introduces himself
02:20 What Venture Cubed does
03:45 What are Venture Cubed scoring? - investibility
06:00 How he measures the success of ratings
09:25 What are the most important factors
12:20 How they quantify qualitative factors
14:20 Issues are around bias in interviews
18:10 Assessing companies without interviewing management
19:00 How founders often don't understand the desires of investors
22:00 Getting good advice on how to fundraise
26:30 How founders get feedback from the rating process
30:20 The receptiveness of founders to feedback
32:45 What mistakes do founders often make?
38:50 How does Venture Cubed weight the factors?
42:40 What proportion of companies are investible?
45:15 How many companies get funding that deserve it and what's the shortfall in companies not being funded that should?
Links
Venture Cubed website - https://www.venturecubed.com/
Richard's email: richard@venturecubed.com
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bio
Richard Blakesley
Founder & CEO, Venture Cubed
**tbc
Investing in companies that are starting out presents different challenges from when they are more established. Oxford Technology has probably been investing in new science and technology companies for longer than than anyone else in the (S)EIS/UK VC world. We get Director Andrea Mica to discuss how to go about it.
In a discussion that is full of examples, both successful and unsuccessful, we cover a wider range of areas:
- how to validate the science / technology when there is no sales
- how to invest without specialist knowledge
- building appropriate experiments
- looking beyond the first experiment
- the importance of testing commerciality
- avoiding solutions looking for a problem
- developing founder skills and encouraging them to try sales
- the value of contrarianism
With lots of experience, Andrea gives lots of great insights into how they approach the challenge and there is plenty for investors and founders to learn from. Hope you enjoy it!
00:45 Intro to Andrea
06:00 History of Oxford Technology
09:40 Geographically close companies versus distant
12:30 Validating the science / product at the early stage
16:00 Example - viral pathway
21:00 The usefulness of specialist knowledge
26:30 How to building experiments - appropriate size and looking to future experiments
28:30 Testing commerciality: balancing exploration vs definitive answers
33:00 Example - value of testing hand strength vs recovering hand functionality
36:00 Solutions looking for a problem
40:00 Challenge of products that reduce pay of those buying. example - technology to discriminate moles
43:00 Founder skills
46:00 Importance of sales and persuading founders to learn to like it
50:00 Recent trends and the value of contrarianism
55:30 Favourite questions
Links
Oxford Technology website - https://www.oxfordtechnology.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book and media
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Bio
Andrea Mica
Director, Oxford Technology
Investment Career
Oxford Technology Management Ltd – OT(S)EIS Fund Director. Responsible for souring selecting and supporting companies in the fund. The Fund now has invested £11m.
2009 - Royal Society Enterprise Fund at the Royal Society.
Short term role to help structure the investment evaluation process, train an incoming analyst and help carry out due diligence on the first investments.
2005 IP Group Plc - Responsible for selecting investment opportunities in the partner universities, conducting technology and market due diligence , building startup up team and presenting the investment case to the investment board.
This was followed by a period as director of the companies formed
1999: CFB Technology, Flintstone Plc - Responsible for investigating the technologies in which the group invested and then in helping the teams/companies get started.
Other
Oxford Creativity Trainer and Problem Solver
Cleansteel Ltd – (Business developing and running a recycling process) Co- Founder
Oxford University Begbroke Business Development Fellow
IntelliKraft Ltd. Oxford, UK Piezoceramic and Battery Technology Founding Director Sales & Marketing, Consultant
JRA Technology Ltd, Marlow, UK, Technology Commercialisation Consultancy Senior Project Engineer
D’Appolonia S.p.A, Genova, Italy, Engineering & Technology Commercialisation Consultancy
Innovation Consultant, Leiden, Netherlands
Study
Masters Product Design – Delft University of Technology
Graduate Study – Creativity and Innovation State University College Buffalo
Yet again, the EIS navigator team has got its all-star panel to discuss what happened in 2023 and how 2024 is shaping up. Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of EIS Association, Neil Cole, Head of Private Markets Distribution, UBS Wealth Management, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the events of the past year and the prospects for 2024.
We chat through many areas of interest:
- how has fundraising gone
- whether some VCTs are sitting on too much cash
- how easy is it for companies to raise money
- the need for discipline when making follow-on investments
- whether valuations have bottomed
- how UK venture capital compares with the US and Silicon Valley
- the renewal of the tax advantaged schemes (EIS, VCT and SEIS)
- whether the increase in SEIS limits is having an effect yet
- effect of the new Consumer Duty rules
- whether some risk warnings are flawed
And, as usual, we get our guests to look forward to 2024 and make some predictions.
Links:
EIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/
Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
UBS Wealth Management - https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/home.html
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bios
Neil Cole
Neil Cole is the Head of Private Markets Distribution at UBS Wealth Management. He has responsibility for the Private Markets product range offered to UBS clients in UK and Jersey, which includes all of the tax efficient investment world including EIS, VCTs, inheritance tax, ISAs, and other relevant product types.
Kealan Doyle
Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.
In this episode we take another look at debt funding for high growth companies. Juice has a novel approach using marketing data and its CEO, Katherine Chan, comes on to discuss their approach and the wider funding market.
We cover a lot topics., including:
- why alternative funders have arisen in the market
- the pros and cons of using revenue based funding
- when debt finance is appropriate in high growth companies
- how Juice uses marketing data in its approach
- what makes reliable marketing data
- how to navigate the risk of rising CAC/CPA
- how lenders can give support to companies
- the concerns that borrowers have and how these can be addressed
We finish off by discussing some recent market trends, including the change in availability of funding. Its a great discussion!
Links
Juice website - https://velocity-group.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books / media
Clara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Bio
Katherine Chan
Chief Executive Officer, Velocity Juice
Katherine serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Juice, a forward-thinking financial services company dedicated to providing growth capital for digital-first businesses. Katherine's journey in the financial sector spans over 19 years, marked by roles in banking and risk management at institutions including Commerzbank AG, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank.
Transitioning from banking to the startup world, Katherine joined Juice in 2019 as the Chief Financial Officer and has played a pivotal role in the company's development and rebranding from Velocity Juice to Juice. Her expertise in finance and risk management has been a key driver in Juice's evolution, leading to her recent advancement to the position of CEO.
Amongst EIS funds and VCTs, consumer companies is less popular than B2B investments but still have their attractions. VGC Partners is one of the few managers that focus on this area and we get Investment Director, Phoebe Scriven to discuss it.
In a fascinating discussion we cover many topics:
- why consumer is still attractive despite the economy
- how the dynamics of returns in consumer venture capital investments is different from B2B
- how to understand the consumer when its not something that you would buy yourself
- getting conviction when data is limited
- developing investment theses
- finding quality within a group of companies within the same space
- how creative companies can find a formula for repeat success
Phoebe brings lots of real life examples and really brings out her thought processes and approach to making investments.
01:00 how Phoebe became involved in venture capital
02:40 what VGC does
04:45 why is consumer attractive now
07:00 consumer brands don't scale as quickly - don't need unicorns to get good returns
13:00 B2C vs B2B investing -
14:00 understanding the consumer if you aren't the consumer
19:00 how to get insights into consumers - qualitative insights
23:15 quantitative insights
26:45 thinness of data and using opinions: testing beliefs and getting conviction
32:45 looking for differentiation when you see a lot of similar companies
36:45 example of circular economy companies
41:30 other areas of current interest - VR gaming,
46:45 creating formulas for repeated creative success
49:50 favourite questions
Links
VGC website - https://vgc.partners/
Phoebe's email - phobe@vgc.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebescriven/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
Bio
Phoebe Scriven
Investment Director, VGC Partners
Phoebe leads early-stage EIS investing at VGC Partners.
After reading English at Oxford, Phoebe began her career in product innovation and strategy, working with major FMCG companies and travelling across the globe to better understand different consumers. From there, she moved into consulting and development finance, while (outside of her day job) getting increasingly involved with the London start-up ecosystem via DevelopHer, a non-profit organsiation. In 2019, Phoebe made the move into venture capital, joining Supernode Global, where she made her first investments and exit. Phoebe joined VGC Partners at the beginning of 2023.
B2B SaaS is a very popular business model amongst venture capital and (S)EIS/VCT investors. Haatch Ventures specialise in investing in this sector and we get Partner Fred Soneya and Principal Jeremy Luzinda to talk about how they work and how they help the companies scale.
We look at several topics about managing these companies:
- what B2B SaaS is and why it is attractive to investors. We discuss the merits of additional service revenue and when its a positive or a distraction.
- when a company should add new features or when it should expand its product range.
- what metrics are of interest, with Jeremy going deep into how they look at a couple of these.
Haatch has a particular interest in supporting sales processes. Within this we talk about:
- how to develop the right channels and what factors to consider.
- how lead times on sales affects how companies operate.
- how investors can support companies in developing their sales.
We also discuss some of the typical mistakes that founders make and the prospects for the future for B2B SaaS and venture capital investors in this area.
00:45 Fred & Jeremy introduce themselves
04:30 What Haatch does
05:50 What is B2B SaaS
08:00 Why is B2B SaaS attractive for investors
12:00 Merits of recurring revenue versus service revenue
15:00 adding features, roadmaps
18:30 12 metrics of interest - net revenue retention
21:30 how to develop the right channel
23:00 lead times in sales cycles
28:00 expanding from narrow to broad
32:30 when to expand product ranges
36:30 how managers can support companies in these processes
40:45 typical mistakes founders make:
47:00 prospects for the future
51:20 Favourite questions
Links
Haatch website - https://www.haatch.com/
Fred Soneya - fred@haatch.com
Jeremy Luzinda - jeremy@haatch.com
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book and media
My Life and Work by Henry Ford
Ashville Weekly by Daniel Ashville (Youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/@thisisashville
Bios
Fred Soneya, Co-founder & Partner
Fred was responsible for a number of high-profile, large-scale innovation projects across Kiddicare.com and, post-acquisition, Morrisons. Fred created award-winning digital customer experiences by working with cutting-edge early-stage technology start-ups, bridging the online-offline gap at Morrisons. This included the launch of browse-and-order points, mobile payments and electronic shelf-edge labels.
Having co-founded Haatch in 2013, Fred is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Haatch funds. He has led both the completion of over 150 investments into 70+ companies over the lat 10 years and the on-boarding of over 600 investors into the funds.
Jeremy Luzinda, Principal
Jeremy began his career as Chief Operating Officer at a VC-backed start-up that raised from venture funds Forward Partners and Founders Factory, as well as esteemed angel investors such as Sir John Hegarty and Tom Teichman, amongst the first investors in the likes of lastminute.com, MADE.co and notonthehighstreet.com. It ultimately failed, but he learnt a lot in the process.
He then became Managing Director at Surechill, a software-enabled cold-storage company co-founded by Peter Saunders OBE, which raised more than £10m. Following this experience, he joined Playfair Capital, an early-stage VC that has backed companies like Stripe, Thought Machine and Trouva. He worked on exciting companies like Omnipresent which he saw go from £0 to over £500m in value in under 18 months. He leans on this wealth of experience to offer hands-on support to our portfolio post-transaction, particularly on B2B SaaS sales.
Alongside Haatch, he's a GTM consultant at Vencha, built by the early commercial team who built and sold MessageLabs for $700m, supporting B2B SaaS companies with GTM challenges.
While there is much discussion in the media of the macro-economy, its effect on startups is not always a obvious as it is for quoted companies. Ewan MacKinnon, a Partner at Maven, has been investing for almost a decade and half and draws on this experience to give us some insights.
In the discussion we focus on three big areas:
- recruitment and wages: we talk about the tightness in the job market and how the effect on startups has changed over the past year. We also talk about hybrid working and how the balance of power in negotiating terms seems to be changing.
- inflation and pricing power: Ewan discusses the different ways that inflation and its various causes are affecting different companies. We also look at pricing power and how startups set prices and negotiate with customers.
- funding: interest rates and the money supply both affect the availability of funding for SMEs. We discuss the lending market and how that has evolved, particularly the difficulty of getting bank funding.
Finally, we look forward to how the economy will develop over the next couple of years and whether founder optimism is justified.
01:00 Ewan introduces himself
04:00 what Maven does
06:30 how the macro economy affects startups
10:00 recruitment challenges
13:00 knock on from big tech redundancies
15:00 hybrid working and trends
21:30 Inflation - differential effect, supply chains
23:40 price setting and price raising - push back,
27:00 different client types - SME vs enterprise
32:40 Interest rates, money supply, ease of funding
34:30 difficulty of bank funding
40:25 Looking forward
44:50 Favourite questions
Links
Maven website - https://www.mavencp.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book
Bad Blood by John Carreyou
Bio
Ewan MacKinnon
Partner, Maven
Ewan joined Maven in September 2009 and is based in their Glasgow and Edinburgh offices. He is responsible for new Private Equity investments across Scotland and North East England and is a member of the Maven Investment Committee.
Ewan has 25 years’ experience managing, advising and investing in SMEs. He joined Maven in 2009, having previously worked in Johnston Carmichael’s corporate finance team. Ewan has extensive industry experience, having been managing director of MacKinnons of Dyce Limited, a specialist retail business which was sold to a FTSE 250 listed company in 2006. He has a first-class honours degree from the Aberdeen Business School and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Outside of work, Ewan enjoys keeping fit, following Manchester United and Aberdeen FC and has a keen passion for music.
Elliot Limb is co-founder and CEO of Cubed and spends his days supporting fintech companies scale. Having worked with many startups, he has a broad insight into their challenges and difficulties. He also has some strong views, which makes for a very interesting discussion!
We covered a huge number of areas, including:
-
why fintech has a long way to go
-
what causes startup companies to fail: Elliot gives the two most essential metrics monitor
-
the relationship on boards between founders and VCs and how both sides often get it wrong
-
the importance of getting the right staff and board members
-
how to thrive with a weak board
-
the merits of generalist vs specialist investors
-
whether work/life balance is possible for founders
-
how founders can pull through when crisis hits
-
how keeping the wrong customers can ruin a business
-
generating a path companies in crisis to recovery
-
the importance of transparency between founders and investors.
And this only scratches the surface! We planned to focus on fintech, but ended up with a much wider discussion which is essential listening for any founder, VC or investor.
Links
Cubed website - https://www.cubed.company/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/cubedcompany/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger
Rules For Revolutionaries: The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services by Guy Kawasaki
From Brian:
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
Lying for Money by Dan Davies
Bio
Elliot Limb
Co-founder and CEO, Cubed
In a career spanning over 20 years, he has held multiple prestigious positions in the Banking and Fintech industry.
Realising the depth of opportunities available as the finance industry reached an inflection point, he founded CoBa - where collaboration and agile (cross eco-systems) operating models have true alignment from strategy through to value realisation, digging deeper than technology, API and standard platform level. CoBa is his vision of how to build sustainable business models, based on collaboration between banks, fintech, regulators and corporates to maximise profitability on an individual and collective basis.
His expertise in Banking & Fintech stems from the major challenges and opportunities he faced over his career, most notably as the technology head for Citibank’s transaction banking business in EMEA, overseeing the strategy, delivery and support of all of the transaction banking services across 53 countries. Post Citibank, he was the head of Corporate Banking for the world’s 3rd largest fintech company Finastra (formerly Misys) which also gave him the experience of how to grow a technology business. In addition, he has also held senior positions at Barclays, Travelex and a subsidiary of the Lloyds banking group, as well as running his own consulting business and Payments advisory. He has been involved in all aspects of the transaction banking business and provided thought leadership in various aspects of payments and transformational change, regularly speaking at industry events around the globe.
Currently a Board Member at World Trade Board, he is a passionate leader and founder of multiple ventures that aim to foster a bridge between the financial sector with disruptive technology.
Based in London, he is a musician at heart, a published author and an experienced keynote speaker offering industry insights, sharing his experiences gained across UK, EMEA, New York, Singapore, India and Australia.
Since its founding eight years ago, British Business Bank has established itself as an important participant in the funding markets for UK SMEs and startups. In this episode, its CEO Louis Taylor tells us what it is doing and how it is going about it.
We start by discussing how the Bank fits into the UK ecosystem. Louis discusses the bank's mandate and how it goes about fulfilling it. It aims to change market failures through a variety of projects. Louis discusses several of these and how the Bank aims to catalyse others to fill the gaps.
There are several specific areas that concern EIS and VCT investors and we look at some of those. The gap in regional equity funding is well known and BBB has some tailored programmes to address them. We also talk about the challenges of improving diversity and addressing issues in the green economy.
Links
British Business Bank website - https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book
The Entrepreneurial Myth: A manifesto for real business by Louise Nicolson
Bio
Louis Taylor
CEO, British Business Bank
Louis Taylor is CEO of the British Business Bank, the UK’s government owned economic development Bank. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, for seven years. He also held roles as a Director General in the Department for International Trade, and a member of its Executive Committee and Management Board.
Before joining UKEF, Louis held a range of senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, including from 2013 to 2015 as Chief Operating Officer of Group Treasury, based in London. Before that, he spent three years as the bank’s CEO for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, based in Ho Chi Minh City. During this time he was also Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham). He joined Standard Chartered in London in 2004, working in Group Corporate Development, which undertakes the bank’s acquisitions, divestments and other inorganic growth initiatives.
His earlier career included eight years working for JP Morgan in debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, and five years in corporate development and strategy with two industrial companies, Cookson Group plc and BTR plc.
Louis is a trustee of the charity Sightsavers, which prevents sight loss and avoidable blindness, and promotes equal rights for the disabled. He is also a former chair of trustees of the charity Music in Prisons, which runs music education projects to help rehabilitate offenders, and a former chair of governors of the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has an MA in Law from the University of Cambridge.
Hardware startups have often struggled to get funding, but Damon Bonser of British Design Fund is trying to change that. In this episode, he talks about his experiences and how hardware can be more attractive than many investors think.
The first half of our discussion focusses on how companies can mitigate risk. Damon discusses how he avoids investing in a warehouse of unsold goods, focussing instead on more normal VC ideas of satisfying customer needs by getting the product into their hands early on.
We discuss how and when companies should tool up and start production. We also talk about where, with Damon highlighting how reshoring into the UK is starting again, especially post-pandemic. We also talk about intellectual property and how to protect it.
Links
British Design Fund website - https://www.britishdesignfund.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book
Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed
Bio
Damon Bonser
CEO, British Design Fund
Damon Bonser is the Founder and CEO of the British Design Fund. A serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience building and running product development and manufacturing businesses.
Anyone with a passing interest in technology or venture capital cannot have missed the rapid increase in interest in AI over the past few months. We are overdue talking about it on the podcast, so we got an expert in James Pringle. He used AI as a founder and it now impacts how he invests so he is the ideal guest to discuss the topic.
We start off by covering some of the basics, drawing out what AI is currently capable of. We discuss broadly how AI works, how it has developed over the past few years and what has changed to bring it to such prominence now.
James explains how AI affects startups and what he is investing in. He discusses how it can supercharge employees, enabling them to move faster with less resources and how management needs to handle that. He talks about how this leads to an investment approach that focuses on applications rather the fundamental building blocks of AI.
Finally, we discuss some of the risks around AI, especially around the speed of change and how that affects James as an investor as well as workers and the wider economy.
PS Encouraged by James, we used AI to generate the title for the podcast - hope you like it!
Links
Portfolio Ventures website - https://portfolio.ventures/
James on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejamespringle/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book
The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman
Bio
James Pringle
Portfolio Ventures
James Pringle is a VC investor at UK venture capital fund Portfolio Ventures. James also co-hosts Riding Unicorns, one of Europe's top venture podcasts. Prior to investing, James founded a VC-backed SaaS company.
When planning this episode with Kealan Doyle of Symvan Capital, he told a story about a venture capital conference where the compere asked who had been through a downturn before and nobody raised their hands. So we decided to discuss the last couple of venture capital cycles and how previous downturns compare with the current one. We also talk about some of the secular changes that have taken place over this period.
We start by looking back to the .com bubble at the turn of the century. We examine some of its main features, including how much of the action took place in quoted markets and the limited effects on the economy.
Next we look at the Great Recession. Although driven by the collapse in housing, particularly in the US, it affected every asset market. We go through the main features, including how venture capital saw a big downturn and, initially, a long slow recovery.
We then briefly go through what happened in the past decade and how the current downturn came about. We talk about valuations, supply of capital and the unevenness of the current market. We also take our lives in our hands and speculate about how the VC market will develop over the next couple of years.
Links
Symvan website - https://www.symvancapital.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book and film
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Volume 1) by Robert Caro
Bio
Kealan Doyle
Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
There have been two recent changes that will affect how ESG is applied in practice by fund managers, advisers and, most importantly, investors. Lee Coates of ESG Accord has been advising on ethical investment for three decades, runs a consultancy to help others implement ESG and and is on a relevant FCA committee. We had such a great discussion that we are giving it to you in two parts: this is the second. You don't need to listen to the previous episode first, but it will help.
In this part, we start by discussing the new Sustainable Disclosure Regulations that are coming. While there is a lot of focus on the labelling, and it is important, Lee believes the disclosures will have a deeper impact. We discuss what they are and how that will affect what managers do.
Greenwashing is obviously a concern. Lee talks about some of the ways this is happening, not all of which are malicious. We also discuss measurement, some of its challenges and how that will fit in with the new labelling.
Finally, Lee looks at how things are evolving and how we might get to a world where we don't talk about ESG because its implicit in what everyone is doing.
Links
ESG Accord website - https://esgaccord.co.uk/
Accord Initiative - https://www.accordinitiative.com/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince
Bio
Lee Coates
Director, ESG Accord
1989 launched IFA firm Ethical Investors, which dealt exclusively in ethical and responsible investment advice. Retired from firm in 2020
1998 launched independent ethical research company Ethical Screening
2010 launched Australia’s first animal-friendly Superannuation fund - Cruelty Free Super.
In 2011 awarded an OBE for ‘services to ethical business and finance’.
In October 2020 co-founded ESG Accord, supporting advice firms implement robust compliance procedures to meet client investment preferences and objectives, including ESG and Sustainability
Lee is part of the FCA’s Disclosures and Labels Advisory Group
There have been two recent changes that will affect how ESG is applied in practice to fund managers, advisers and, most importantly, investors. Lee Coates of ESG Accord has been advising on ethical investment for three decades, runs a consultancy to help others implement ESG and and is on a relevant FCA committee. We had such a great discussion that we are giving it to you in two parts: this is the first.
We start by discussing the background and how sustainable issues have evolved. Lee has strong views on where things are going and sets out an interesting perspective on what this means.
He follows this by discussing Consumer Duty and how it will affect ESG. We initially focus on advisers and the changes they will have to make. Lee outlines the new requirements and how they fit into what advisors are already doing. He also talks about how the changes will be good for advisors' businesses and lead to more involved clients.
Fund managers and investors do not get ignored though and we discuss them all further in the second part, which will come out next week.
Links
ESG Accord website - http://esgaccord.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince
Brian also mentioned:
Lying for Money by Dan Davies
Bios
Lee Coates
Director, ESG Accord
1989 launched IFA firm Ethical Investors, which dealt exclusively in ethical and responsible investment advice. Retired from firm in 2020
1998 launched independent ethical research company Ethical Screening
2010 launched Australia’s first animal-friendly Superannuation fund - Cruelty Free Super.
In 2011 awarded an OBE for ‘services to ethical business and finance’.
In October 2020 co-founded ESG Accord, supporting advice firms implement robust compliance procedures to meet client investment preferences and objectives, including ESG and Sustainability
Lee is part of the FCA’s Disclosures and Labels Advisory Group
Healthcare is a large industry and is a lot more than just drugs. We have two experts, Savvas Neophytou and Ben Carter of Deepbridge, to discuss the industry and how there is a lot of other life science areas that are attractive to venture capital investors.
We talk a lot about devices. We discuss the challenges and benefits of investing in hardware, how they do diligence on technologies and negotiating the regulatory environment, especially how different areas of the health system can be attractive. We also talk about internationalisation, how markets and regulation interact and how the US doesn't always having the most attractive RoI.
AI is flavour of the month and clearly will have a strong effect on healthcare. Savvas and Ben talk about where we are and how it will progress in the near future.
Links
Deepbridge website - https://www.deepbridgecapital.com/
Deepbridge contact - Andrew Aldridge andrew.aldridge@deepbridgecapital.com
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris
Gifted Greek by Moneteagle Stearns
Bios
Dr. Savvas Neophytou
Partner & Chief Investment Officer
Savvas is Chief Investment Officer at Deepbridge. Prior to joining Deepbridge, Savvas enjoyed a 15 year career in the City, working as an investment banker at JP Morgan, Bear Stearns, Shore Capital, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Panmure Gordon. Savvas was also CEO of telemedicine business Now Healthcare Group. As a highly acclaimed analyst, Savvas has won multiple awards, most recently in 2015 when Savvas was ranked 2nd overall in the prestigious Reuters Starmine survey, a position he also held in 2014. In the same year, Savvas was also runner-up in the CityAM Analyst of the Year awards. Savvas holds a PhD in psychopharmacology from Nottingham University and a BSc (Hons) degree in pharmacology from Manchester University.
Ben Carter
Investment Director - Head Of Life Sciences
Ben is the Head of Life Sciences at Deepbridge. Prior to this role, Ben had been the managing director of Touchpoint Service and commercial director of Telmenow the healthcare equipment focussed e-commerce platform. Ben has also been chief commercial officer at Now Healthcare Group, a leading telemedicine provider with its Dr Now app.
With a BA (Hons) in Management from the University of Manchester, Ben’s other corporate experience includes being commercial director at Possum, market leaders in the provision, installation and support of many types of electronic assistive technology.
Venture debt is a niche within the venture capital market that has been growing in importance. In this episode we get David Hayers, who is Head of Venture Debt at Hambro Perks, to explain what venture debt is and how it works.
We start off by going through the basics. David talks about what types of companies venture debt is suitable for, what they look for when doing diligence and how the loans get repaid. We also dig into the typical terms that borrowers get and how those are seen in the market.
After this, we move on to the wider market. We discuss the growth in venture debt and how other market participants are increasingly more accepting of it. We then look at demand in the current environment and how there are good and bad sides to recent market evolution. We also chat about other market participants, including events at Silicon Valley Bank and how David sees the market evolving in the near future.
Links
Hambro Perks website - https://www.hambroperks.com/
David Hayers - LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hayers-44280240/ or email david.hayers@hambroperks.com
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Affluenza by Oliver James
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Bio
David Hayers, Head of Venture Debt, Hambro Perks
Before joining Hambro Perks, David was Head of Growth Finance at Clydesdale Bank/Virgin Money for seven years, preceded by a further year as a Senior Investment Director. During David’s leadership, the team grew its lending to early stage, high growth software and advanced manufacturing businesses by nearly 600%, and generated record income in each of the four years between 2017 and 2020. David devised and implemented an expansionary strategy, which required securing the support of multiple stakeholders in the bank, undertaking a restructuring exercise and then recruiting a strong origination team to execute the plan. This plan has enabled the team to accelerate its origination and completion capabilities, such that the team has now lent in excess of £300m to more than 70 high growth companies.
Prior to joining Growth Finance, David spent eight years in the London-based leverage and corporate finance unit at Clydesdale Bank providing structured senior debt of between £5m and £50m to listed and private equity backed companies.
Before moving into banking, David spent three years in auditing and then eight years in corporate finance advisory helping management teams buy and sell businesses, working for several firms including BDO in London and Deloitte in Sydney. He also spent time in industry working for a private equity backed business as an in-house M&A specialist.
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In today's episode we get more of a corporate finance perspective on venture capital, with two guests from PwC. Antonia Burridge co-founded the Raise team and John Baker is heavily involved in equity crowdfunding, so we get a perspective that extends right across the market.
We start we some background on the Raise Team. Antonia discusses founding a new operation within a such large organisation, what they had to do to get it going and how they think about bringing value to fundraising for both companies and investors. John talks about how equity crowdfunding has developed over the past few years.
We then discuss the current market in some detail. Antonia and John bring some interesting statistics to back up their observations as we talk about volumes and valuations. They bring insights into how founders and investors are adjusting to the new environment and what it takes to fundraise now.
Links
PwC for startups and scaleups information - https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/entrepreneurial-private-business/small-business-solutions.html
John's (non-PwC) Telegram group for ECF - https://t.me/joinchat/vTZKqkWSMmQwNDc0
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingstone
How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
Bios
Antonia Burridge is one of the Co-Founders of PwC Raise | Ventures, with a focus on helping high growth early stage tech companies to raise their Series A and B funding rounds. Before setting up the team she worked in the M&A modelling and analytics team, supporting Private Equity houses and portfolio companies both during and post deal with their Business Planning, Cash Flow forecasting, Reporting and Analytics. She is also a chartered accountant and the Co-Founder of an award winning Femtech startup.
John Baker has been working in deals and restructuring at PwC for nearly 20 years. In this time he has helped companies and management teams with a range of solutions to create value including performance improvement, cash control, managed services, stakeholder management and restructuring. He is currently speaking to a number of startups at the moment about cash focus, operations optimisation and back office efficiency, ESG and overall future funding and strategy. He is also an investor in a number of startups and regularly communicates with a group of 300+ early stage enthusiasts who share insights and intelligence.
While we usually focus on EIS and VCT in this podcast, there is a larger venture capital industry outside this area. Although its been mainly for institutional investors to date, Sprout is looking to change that. In this episode, founder and CEO, Jonny Blausten discusses the GP/LP market in general and how they are opening it up to retail investors.
We start by talking about GP/LP funds. Jonny explains what they are, how they work and how they differ from the EIS funds that we are used to. We chat about how GP/LP funds can invest more widely, both by stage and internationally, and how the breadth of funds means there are plenty with strong track records.
Jonny also discusses Sprout's fund selection process. It uses the "10 Ts": a list of criteria that funds should satisfy. We dig into some of the less obvious ones and Jonny explains why they are important, both to investors and to generate a robust selection process.
Links
Sprout - https://www.viasprout.com/
Jonny's email: jonny@viasprout.com
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bio
Jonny Blausten
Founder and CEO, Sprout
Jonny Blausten is CEO & Co-Founder of Sprout - an investment platform for private investors looking to access top-tier venture capital funds. Having previously worked in strategy and M&A, Jonny founded Sprout to tackle the paucity of quality private market investment opportunities available to professionals, HNWIs and family offices.
Exits were described by an earlier guest as mythical beasts, but the reality is much more positive. Beauhurst used their database in report that they published in 2022, we we get their Head of Research, Henry Whorwood, to discuss it. While our discussion doesn't need the report in front of you, some people will find it helpful to download it using the link below.
Henry starts off by talking about Beauhurt's data and what the report looks at. We discuss how they focus on high-growth companies, where they source data and how timely it is. We then move onto the trends that the report shows. We discuss the steady growth over the past decade and some anomalies in 202, particularly the surge in IPOs.
We also dig into some of the details that the data shows. Henry gives insight into more recents trends, discusses the growth of overseas investment and some of the patterns in different types of companies
Links
Beauhurst - https://www.beauhurst.com/
Exits in the UK report - https://www.beauhurst.com/research/Exits-in-the-UK
Beauhurst research (including latest (The Deal") - https://www.beauhurst.com/research/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
Bio
Henry Whorwood
Head of Research & Consultancy, Beauhurst
Henry started and runs Beauhurst’s Research & Consultancy department which produces research on the UK’s startups and scaleups. He has worked on briefs for clients including the British Business Bank, HM Treasury, BEIS and Innovate UK. Henry is an expert on business finance, entrepreneurship and innovation and regularly gives presentations on market trends at events around the country. He studied Classics at the University of Oxford.
The events with Silicon Valley Bank have been dramatic and concerning for the venture capital industry in the US and UK. The EIS Navigator's host, Brian Moretta, has spent much of his career analysing financial companies, so is uniquely placed to give insights on banking and venture capital in this solo episode.
Brian summarises what happened at Silicon Valley Bank. He outlines how the recent growth in deposits and a poor investment policy led to a bad outcome. He talks about the mistakes that management seem to have made. He then outlines what has happened to the US parent and the UK subsidiary.
He then goes on to talk about the immediate consequences for startups in the UK and the effect on investors. He also highlights some interesting knock-on effects in the US. Finally, he looks at the longer term consequences, both what venture funded companies should do and what might happen in the banking market to service them.
Links
Wikipedia on Silicon Valley Bank - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_Bank
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bio
Brian Moretta
Head of Tax Enhanced Services, Hardman & Co
Brian Moretta is the Head of Tax-Enhanced Research at Hardman & Co, and also covers Financials stocks and Investment Funds.
In addition to his role with Hardman & Co, Brian lectures on actuarial science and financial economics at Heriot Watt University, has been an examiner for the Faculty & Institute of Actuaries, and is on the Bankers without Borders Financial Modelling Reserve Corp.
Brian has had a 20-year career in Financial Services, including more than a decade as a fund manager. He specialised in analysing Financial Services companies at SVM Asset Management, as well as managing two traded endowment funds, an equity fund and working on hedge funds.
Brian joined Hardman & Co in February 2013. He holds a PhD in Applied Probability and a BSc in Actuarial Maths and Statistics from Heriot Watt University.
Whether agritech or agtech, agricultural technology is an area that hasn't quite hit the heights of some other areas of technology venture capital. In this episode, Paul Rous of Regenerate Ventures discusses how and why that is changing, with a more promising future ahead.
Paul starts by talking about the history of agtech, talking about why it hasn't taken off as it might and what the barriers have been. He then moves onto how the world is changing, with agtech getting increased attention from both entrepreneurs and funders and how this is changing the area radically.
We also dig into some of the themes that Paul has seen. He highlights the difference in attention that the consumer side of food has received versus the "upstream" end. We also talk about the agricultural industry, its structure, regulation and how changes in these are now helping agtech develop.
Finally, in our favourite questions, Paul puts forth some strong views on the current state of ESG in the EIS fund and VCT industry and what needs to change there.
Links
Regenerate Ventures - https://www.regenerate.ventures/
Paul Rous on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-rous/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M Christensen
Bio
Paul Rous
Managing Director, Regenerate Ventures
Paul Rous is a Founder and Managing Director of Regenerate Ventures, the UK's only agricultural focussed venture capital fund. He is also a Co-Founder of the UK’s first agritech accelerator, Shake Climate Change and has been a consultant on digital agricultural innovation for international companies.
Paul has been involved in investment, innovation, and agriculture for over a decade, having founded two venture capital funds, Fuel Ventures and Blackfinch Ventures. He has also been involved in the launch and scale of tens of companies and had over five successful exits. After serving as an Officer in the Army and at Goldman Sachs, he took an active role in the family's multi-generational arable farm in Suffolk.
Paul has an MBA from Imperial College London and is a PhD Candidate at Cranfield University.
In venture capital investing it is easy to focus on the excitement of doing deals, but the reality is all the hard work happens after the investment is made. In this episode, Ben Leslie of Puma talks about how fund managers can support companies and help them achieve their goals.
In a wide ranging discussion we cover many areas. Ben discusses how and where he provides support. He talks about the importance of relationships, and how fund managers need to make sure they are the ones that get called for help by adding value when they do. We also dig into the balance investors have to strike between helping businesses and not getting too involved. We talk about recruitment, how that can be a challenge for founders and the different ways a fund manager can help.
We also look at how the support that companies requires vary over time. Ben talks about how they invest at a certain stage and specialise in support at that point, but are also prepared to take a company further if necessary.
Links
Puma Investments - https://www.pumainvestments.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
Lean Startup Eric Ries
Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse
Bio
Ben Leslie
Director, PPE, Puma Private Equity
Ben Leslie is an Investment Director at Puma Private Equity, a leading VCT and EIS provider. Ben joined Puma in 2018 from Deloitte and brings a keen focus on social purpose businesses having managed successful investments into Connectr, Everpress, and Puma’s early years education positions. Ben is responsible for the firm’s investment activity in Scotland.
Venture builders has only one representative amongst SEIS and EIS fund managers, but Andy Davidson of Nova strongly believes it will become more important in the future. We get him to explain how venture building works and why he's so bullish.
We start off digging into venture building, using Nova's business as an example. We talk about finding founders, founder/venture builder fit and how ideas can be developed. We discuss how doing small experiments can build evidence over time to support companies and justify further funding.
Andy also talks about how the model works at a practical level, including how services are provided, how that changes as companies grow and the challenge of when companies should fly the nest. He also highlights the benefits of the model in challenging times and how it can be used to give entrepreneurs more time to develop their product, market or business.
In our favourite questions, Andy talks about the challenges of the EIS industry and how he thinks it could be many times bigger.
Links
Contact Andy Davidson at andy@wearenova.co.uk
We Are Nova (for founders and investors) - https://www.wearenova.co.uk/
Nova Growth Capital (for investors) - https://invest.novagrowthcapital.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Lean Startup Eric Ries
Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur
Bio
Andy Davidson
CEO, Nova
Andy is a serial tech entrepreneur having co-founded more than 100 tech businesses either directly or through Nova throughout his career. Andy started as a software engineer before his entrepreneurial career where he has spent the past 12 years creating and managing growth-focused EIS & SEIS investment portfolios.
Raising money through angels or fund managers is something that most management does, at best, infrequently. For SEIS, EIS and VCT money, it is often the first time founders have sought equity. Richard Cooper of Oxford Innovation Finance has advised many companies in the past and is now a fund manager, so has lots of experience to help founders prepare.
We start with some of the basics, such as whether a company should be raising money at all and what sort of money it should look for. We then discuss the practical things that can be done, and the importance of the pitch and data rooms. Richard gives some great insights into some of the little things founders can do to impress potential funders. He also highlights the value of education and some of the resources and support founders can get.
Richard also discusses the process of seeking a funder. He talks about how to shortlist potential angel syndicates and fund managers and, when you have a choice, how to differentiate between them. He also highlights the advantage of a warm introduction. Finally, we discuss some of the common mistakes that founders make when fundraising, most of which are easily avoided.
Links
Oxford Innovation Finance - https://www.oxfordinnovationfinance.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
Young Bloods: Revolution 1769-1795 (The Wellington and Napoleon Quartet) by Simon Scarrow (first in series of 4)
Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Bio
Richard Cooper
Managing Director, Oxford Innovation Finance
Richard is the Managing Director of Oxford Innovation Finance. He has been working with early-stage companies for the past twenty years, both in the UK and Australia in both a funding and business advisory capacity. Having developed two early-stage software companies himself, he has advised on hundreds of early-stage companies to develop their growth strategies and raise them funding as a result. This allows Richard to be able to identify companies with strong growth potential and advise them if needed. Richard has an MSc in Marketing from the University of Leicester and post graduate qualifications in applied finance and project management. Richard also has a CFA Certificate in Investment Management and the foundation course in Private Equity from the Australian Venture Capital Association
Although investing on AIM through EIS fund and VCTs would appear to have several attractions, there are very few fund managers who invest in this area. Seneca Partners are one and we get fund manager Matt Currie to talk about it.
We cover many areas in the discussion. We talk about the differences in governance between AIM, fully listed companies and unquoted companies and what this means for investors. We then go into the flow of investments, how strong it is, and the how brokers help. Matt also discusses the different level of diligence that's possible and how AIM-listed company management differ in how they and raise from unquoted companies.
Matt also talk about what happens after investment. He talks about the relationship with company management and the challenges that some private investors present. We also discuss liquidity and selling shares, how exits on AIM need to be managed and different approaches to doing that. Finally, we talk about the current market and what Matt sees about how companies are behaving.
Links
Seneca Partners - https://senecapartners.co.uk/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books
The Accidental Billionaires: Sex, Money, Betrayal and the Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich
Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich
Legacy by James Kerr
Bio
Matt Currie
Investment Manager, Seneca Partners
Matt joined Seneca from the RBS Structured Finance team in January 2017 where he completed 15 Leverage Finance transactions, being primarily mid-market private equity deals. Working alongside the top private equity institutions in the region, Matt led deals across the Leisure/Consumer, TMT, Professional Services, Manufacturing and Infrastructure sectors. Prior to that Matt spent four years with Deloitte, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and working on both audit and advisory engagements throughout the North West. Matt graduated from the University of Manchester in 2010 with a degree in Management with Accounting & Finance.
Despite hopes that we may have a quieter year, 2022 turned out to be much more dramatic than 2021. The EIS navigator team have got another all-star panel to discuss what happened. Cristiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of EIS Association, Neil Cole, Head of Wealth Planning Solutions, UBS Wealth Management, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the events of 2022 and the prospects for 2032.
We chat through what's happened in fundraising, how demand for risk assets is going and how investors are viewing things. We also look at the effect of the falls in valuations, how the disconnection between public and private markets is being viewed and the balance between raising and deploying money. We also look at the renewal of the EIS and VCT schemes and the increase in SEIS limits, progress in ESG and get the panel to make some predictions for 2023.
Links
EIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/
Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/
UBS Wealth Management - https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/home.html
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Bios
Neil Cole
Neil Cole is the Health of Wealth Planning Solutions at UBS Wealth Management. He has individual responsibility for the tax efficient investment world, focused on EIS, VCTs, inheritance tax, ISAs, and other relevant product types, and provides recommendations to UBS Advisers on which of these products should be offered.
Kealan Doyle
Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.
Cristiana Stewart-Lockhart
Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.
The leisure sector faces very different challenges from the more tech focussed companies that most EIS and VCTs focus on. Harry Heartfield of Edition Capital specialises this area and gives insights into its past, present and future.
We start by chatting about the challenges that covid brought. We talk about how leisure companies coped with their doors being closed and how they managed finances to survive. We also discuss how companies maintained brand awareness, so people would come back when they were allowed. Harry contrasts the challenges that different businesses had and how they coped.
The discussion then turns to the current environment. Harry talks about some of the changes in the market, including relationships with landlords and availability of capital. His inherent optimism comes through, even with a recession coming, underpinned by the belief it will be a lot milder that what companies have been through recently.
Links
Edition Capital - https://www.editioncapital.co.uk/
Harry on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-heartfield-2275983a/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books:
Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
Bio
Harry Heartfield
Senior Partner, Edition Capital
Harry has over 15 years’ experience in the leisure sector. In 2011, he joined boutique asset manager Ingenious becoming a Senior Investment Manager in their Live Entertainment Team. At Ingenious, he was responsible for working across several investment funds including several Venture Capital Trusts with a focus on leisure assets. During his time at Ingenious, he also developed and launched several investment products aimed at the retail market, including EIS products which raised more than £25m, and was Head of Investments and Acquisitions for Impresario Festivals plc until the sale of the business to media group Global for more than £28m.
He set up Edition alongside the other Edition Partners in 2015. At Edition, he has overseen the development of Edition EIS and Edition Capital Projects, which have raised over £50m between them. He also was appointed as Strategic Advisor to Superstruct Entertainment (a Providence Equity backed company) from 2017 to 2020 as they made their first acquisitions including Sziget Cultural Management (Hungary) and elrow (Spain). In total, Harry has overseen deals in excess of £220m across the UK and Europe. He sits on the board of a number of Edition’s investee companies including WatchHouse Coffee, Borrow A Boat and Tailwise.
The power law is something that most venture capital investors are aware of, but usually only in the most general sense. Graham Schwikkard, CEO of SyndicateRoom, has just written a white paper on the topic using their data driven approach.
We start on a bit of background, discussing what the power law is and what motivated the paper. Graham then explains how they approached the data, what decisions they made in their analysis and why. Fortunately it did show that returns fit a power law!
We then go into what effect this should have on investors and, most particularly, how they should build a portfolio. We discuss how the characteristics of the power law mean that returns can improve alongside diversification. We also discuss what this says about stock selection and spray and pray approaches. Graham also talks about how different stages of investment give slightly different results and how that influences their investment strategy.
Links
SyndicateRoom - https://www.syndicateroom.com/
White paper on the power law - https://www.syndicateroom.com/invest/whitepaper-power-law
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book:
The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-alt
Brian also mentioned The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
Bio
Graham Schwikkard
CEO, SyndicateRoom
SyndicateRoom CEO Graham Schwikkard has over a decade of experience with data science and working with large datasets. He has a fascination with the dynamics of the startup investment network and after coming across the Companies House dataset in 2017, he spent many hours designing much of the analysis behind the Access Fund. Graham would like to see Access become a vehicle for delivering efficient capital throughout the network, and increase the odds of the system producing more Unicorns and economic growth. Prior to working at SyndicateRoom, Graham spent seven years as a management consultant, and has significant experience of helping companies develop market strategies and optimise business models. He also has in-depth technical expertise, focused on maximising efficiency.
The lack of secondary market liquidity has been a long term challenge, especially for companies that are not venture scale but still viable. Rufus Pearl is trying to improve that with a new scheme for investors to exit some of these investments and bring forward their loss relief.
We start by talking about secondary markets for EIS and venture capital investments. We discuss the challenges, why its hard and what progress is being made. We also talk about different types of progress that companies can have, not just the successes and failures but also the spectrum in between.
This leads us onto to talking about PlanD. We chat about the mechanics of how it will work and the likely effects on both investors and the companies they are invested in. Rufus then covers how he thinks it will develop in the near future and what will happen with the new fund.
Links
PlanD - https://pland.co/
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested book:
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann
Bio
Rufus Pearl
Founder, PlanD
Has 20 years of corporate finance experience, including smaller company fund raising and flotations in sectors ranging from media to mining and film to fintech. Rufus was founder & CEO of a multi-award-winning lifestyle accessories business with global sales, and the founder of Pearl Corporate Finance, providing advisory services to investment trusts that grew to c.$75m AUM via a ‘swaps methodology’ that became the foundation idea for planD.
While the business world is an ever-changing place, we seem to be in an exceptional time of flux. Reuben Wilcock has seen many small growth companies pivot and adapt and we tap into his knowledge. Our discussion starts with what drives pivots and what sort of changes we might see. Reuben gives several examples and talks about the evidence that companies should be obtaining to make these changes. We discuss some of the different circumstances that can drive the change and how these might affect what happens. We then move on to how companies manage these changes. We talk about the importance of boards and the role directors should play. Managing staff can also be challenging. Finally, Reuben talks about the common mistakes that he sees management making and what advice he would give to those contemplating pivots. Links Blackfinch - https://www.blackfinch.com/ (https://www.blackfinch.com/)
Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Influence-New-Expanded-Psychology-Persuasion-ebook/dp/B08HZ57WYN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PH4DGSPVUGYB&keywords=psychology+of+persuasion&qid=1666878303&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjgyIiwicXNhIjoiMi4zNyIsInFzcCI6IjIuNDgifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=psychology%2520of%2520persuasion%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1 (Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion) by Robert Cialdini
Bio Reuben Wilcock Head of Ventures, Blackfinch Ventures Reuben’s expertise in advising early stage companies has developed through a background spanning academia, technology start-ups and start-up acceleration. He has founded or co-founded four technology start-ups including Joulo, a smart home energy spinout which won the 2013 British Gas Connected Homes award and was acquired by Quby in 2014, and Bar Analytics, an IoT start-up that enables global brands to monitor beer quality and sales. With a PhD in Electronics, Reuben has extensive product design experience with deep technical knowledge of hardware, software and manufacturing. He is an inventor on five patents and named author on over 45 peer reviewed publications ranging from integrated circuit design to genetic algorithms. Before joining Blackfinch, Reuben was a leading figure in entrepreneurship at the University of Southampton where he sat on its IP Panel for five years, guiding the commercialisation of research innovations through licensing and spinouts. Reuben is a Royal Academy of Engineering award winning entrepreneur, and the lifetime membership that affords has offered visibility of some of the most innovative university spinouts in the UK. In 2015 Reuben founded and ran the Future Worlds accelerator, mentoring over 250 entrepreneurs and 50 companies over a four-year period. Companies included 5G silicon IP spinout Accelercomm, AI computer vision company Aura Vision, IoT transport startup Route Reports and HGV data analytics company Dynamon. Whilst at Future Worlds, Reuben also developed the business plan and was the execution partner for the Z21 Fund, run in partnership with the Solent LEP.
We've spoken a lot about tax advantaged investing, but how should an investor choose which VCT or EIS fund to give their money to? Ewoud Karelse is one of the long-standing analysts in the tax-advantaged market and has immense experience of looking at these products. In this episode, he discusses what to look at giving a wealth of tips. Essential listening for investors, IFAs and even providers who want to know how to improve their products! We start off with Ewoud emphasising the primacy of investor needs, especially where they have specific requirements. This leads onto discussing VCTs. We dig into the different dividend policies and how to look at their sustainability. We also talk about discount policies and how relevant they are. We follow this up by looking at factors that VCTs and EIS have in common. We talk about teams, what experience and how big they need to be. We discuss expenses, some of the different ways that they are charged and the debates around them. We also look at diversification and more. Links Evelyn Partners - https://o2hventures.com/ (https://o2hventures.com/) Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen
Suggested books: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Malazan-Fallen-Steven-Erikson-Collection/dp/9123820659/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=malazan+book+of+the+fallen&qid=1664434950&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjkxIiwicXNhIjoiNC4wMyIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTkifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=malazan%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-6 (Malazan Book of the Fallen) (10 books) by Steven Erikson First one - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Gardens-Moon-Malazan-Book-Fallen-ebook/dp/B0031RS64G/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=malazan+book+of+the+fallen&qid=1664435066&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjkxIiwicXNhIjoiNC4wMyIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTkifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=malazan%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1 (Gardens of the Moon)
Bio Ewoud Karelse Product Specialist, Evelyn Partners Ewoud started his career in financial services with Allenbridge in 2000 and joined Towry Law in 2008 before joining Tilney in 2016, and Evelyn Partners in 2022. Ewoud is responsible for the research and selection of Venture Capital Trusts; (Seed) Enterprise Investment Schemes; Business Relief for Inheritance Tax Planning (AIM and non-AIM), and Social Investment Tax Relief products. He is also well versed in the use of Business Investment Relief for International clients.
The biotech industry attracted huge amounts of capital during the pandemic, but how is it faring in the post-pandemic world? Sunil Shah of o2h returns to give us an update on what's been happening. We start off by talking about the wider market. We discuss what's happening with capital and valuations, the contrast between public and private markets and how the US differs from the UK. We also dig into the M&A environment and, in particular, what is happening with big pharma who ultimately are the key buyers. We don't ignore the "operational" side either. Sunil gives some great insights into trends in the market, particularly around the use of AI for drug discovery and how perspective on that are changing. We look at some particular areas that seem promising, especially those where Sunil is invested. Links o2h Ventures - https://o2hventures.com/ (https://o2hventures.com/) o2h Chai Time webinars - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YqoMJ566H7uau0E2WC3Qw (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YqoMJ566H7uau0E2WC3Qw) UK BioIndustry Association guide to investing in the UK biotech sector - https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html (https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html) Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen (https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen) Bio Sunil Shah Managing Partner, o2h Ventures Sunil Shah is an entrepreneur having begun his career in the Life Sciences team at PA Consulting. He co-founded Oxygen Healthcare Ltd which was fully acquired by Piramal Enterprises Ltd (BSE: PEL) in 2013. Since this time, Sunil has co-founded the o2h Group, this includes o2h Ventures, an investment firm that manages the HMRC approved ‘ Human Health’ Knowledge Intensive EIS fund and the o2h human health SEIS SEIS Fund; o2h Discovery, a medicinal chemistry research services company and o2h Co-Work Labs, a 2.7Acre Science Park in South Cambridge. Sunil has won the UKBAA Angel Investor of the year award in 2019 as well as the OBN Special Recognition Award for his significant contribution in the Life Sciences Industry. He serves on the Board of the BIA as well as Cambridge Angels. He is either Chairman, Non-Executive Director, Board Observer or an investor in over 20 Biotech companies in the UK. Sunil has a degree in Biochemistry from Keele and an MBA from Cambridge University.
While we have focused on venture capital and EIS/ VCT investors on the podcast, ultimately it is all about the companies that we invest in. Here we find out about two of them, together with the EIS fund managers who invested in them. Weedingtech supplies machines and supplies that can kill weeds without using herbicides. Its CEO, Leo de Montaignac, discusses how it works, some of the challenges he has had and how they have internationalised the business. Dan Somers of Boundary Capital talks about why it was an attractive investment, what its attraction were to an impact investor and how he overcame the concerns that many investors have about hardware businesses. Go Thrift is a retailer of second-hand clothing at industrial scale. Carl Walker, its CEO, talks about building scale when resources are scarce, how he overcame the supply and single SKU issues and what the barriers to competition are. OnePlanetCapital is an investor and Matt Jellicoe talks about why they invested, how he measured its impact and why he thinks it could be the safest investment in their portfolio. Links Weedingtech website: https://www.weedingtech.com/ (https://www.weedingtech.com/) Boundary Capital website: https://www.boundarycapital.com/ (https://www.boundarycapital.com/) Go Thrift website: https://gothrift.co.uk/ (https://gothrift.co.uk/) OnePlanetCapital website: https://www.oneplanet.capital/ (https://www.oneplanet.capital/) Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen (https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen)
Bios Leo de Montaignac is CEO and co-founder of Weedingtech. He is a keen foodie, cook and traveller. Responsible for building the world class team and steering its growth. he ensures Weedingtech remains focused on helping organisations around the world make their local areas greener, cleaner and safer than ever before. Committed to building long lasting relationships where their customers remain the top priority, he cares passionately about Weedingtech being the best partner to anyone we work with.
Dan Somers is the managing partner of Boundary Capital. He is a serial entrepreneur; founder and CEO of several IT businesses as well as executive and non-executive position of other growing electronics, software and green tech businesses. Dan is passionate about sustainability and impact as well as technology, and leads the business development for Boundary as well as managing some of the investments. Formerly a strategy consultant with LEK Consulting. He holds an MA from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and a Diploma in Business Studies. A keen skier and ex-rugby player, now vicarious fan. Dreaming of post-lockdown on the ski slopes and rugby terraces!
Carl Walker is CEO & Co-Founder of Go Thrift. Carl has worked in used clothing and the circular fashion sector for over 10 years and was recently nominated as a top 40 Northern Gamechanger. Go Thrift are one of the UK's leading vintage & used clothing retailers and pride themselves on being part of the solution to fast fashion pollution. They have won multiple awards for sustainability and circularity, including the Marie Claire award for best re-commerce brand.
After a corporate career in public companies, Matthew Jellicoe founded and successfully exited two technology businesses in 2012 and 2018 respectively. He has been an active technology investor since 2012 and serves as a Non-Executive Director for two technology businesses. In more recent years he has specialised in sustainable investments. Matt is one of the founding directors of OnePlanet.Capital - a climate change focused EIS Investment Fund. The fund aims to combine strong investment returns with climate and environmental impact.
Valuations are a frequent topic of discussion for venture capitalists and founders alike, and are extra topical just now. We get Dave Foreman to draw on his experience to place them in context. He starts off by outlining what's happened in the past couple of years and where the market is now. He talks about what is or is not a reasonable valuation, with a particular focus on SaaS companies. Dave draws on examples to give us an idea of what he is seeing. We then dig into how valuations fit into the investment process. We talk about founder expectations and to what extent they are realistic or not. Dave digs into how dilution of founders is also a key factor when looking at valuations. He also digs into what extent as a manager you have keep investing when valuations are high and what he things of down rounds and market approaches to them. Praetura Ventures website: https://www.praeturaventures.com/ (https://www.praeturaventures.com/) Dave Foreman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-foreman-praetura/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-foreman-praetura/) Bio Dave Foreman Managing Director, Praetura Ventures
As the MD and founder of Praetura Ventures, one of the only VCs head-quartered in the North, David Foreman has championed tech and health founders from the region and helped them grow exceptional businesses. The Praetura Ventures investment team review over 200 funding applications a month and £3bn worth of opportunities each year, deploying into just 15-20 select businesses per year. The Praetura EIS Growth Fund has now backed success stories such as BaniFi, Culture Shift, Patchwork, PEAK, Transreport and XR Games. Praetura pride themselves on their ‘more than money’ approach, which helps their portfolio founders build the best businesses they can. This includes initiatives such as their Operational Partners programme, which matches founders with active mentors from dedicated industry heavyweights from companies such as Apple, Dr Martens, AO.com and Social Chain.
Edtech is far from uncommon in EIS investing, but is still a little away from the mainstream. Today Matthew O'Kane from Nexus Investment Ventures discusses his experiences from investing in the area. We talk about the sector a little and why the target customers may not be who we think they are. However, the bulk of our discussion is a dive into the eight year journey with Boclips, a market place for providing licensed video clips for educational purposes. We dig into some of the bumps along the way, particularly what happened when a founder left and how the company and Nexus coped with that. Matthew contrasts this, ultimately, successful investment with a recent failure to draw out several lessons that can be taken from the difference between the two companies. Nexus Ventures website: https://www.nivl.co.uk/ (https://www.nivl.co.uk/) Scale-up Fund: https://www.scaleupfund.co.uk/ (https://www.scaleupfund.co.uk/ ) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Islander-My-Life-Music-Beyond/dp/1788705750/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MT3D97MC93RL&keywords=the+islander+chris+blackwell&qid=1660830625&sprefix=the+islander%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1 (The Islander) by Chris Blackwell Bio Matthew O'Kane Managing Director, Nexus Investment Ventures Matthew left Deloitte to join Nexus in 2013. He devised and launched Nexus’s first EIS Fund, the Nexus Investments Scale-Up Fund, which was shortlisted for Best Generalist EIS Fund and Best Sector Specialist at the 2019 Investment Week Tax Efficiency Awards. He acts as an angel investor and active mentor to many of the UK’s brightest healthcare and education and food tech founders.
Foresight Group recently announced that it was buying most of Downing's venture business, including two VCTS and EIS funds. To talk about, this episode's guests are Matt Smith, a long-standing Partner at Foresight, and Jack Eadie, who moved across with the Downing business. After introducing the deal itself, we discuss some of the motivations for the transaction and where Foresight see complementarity with their existing business. We also talk about how the integration will work, what effect there will be on day-to-day management and how these will affect investors. Finally, we touch on current market conditions and outlook and how that may affect things going forward. Foresight website: https://www.foresightgroup.eu/ (https://www.foresightgroup.eu/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Great-Companies-published-HarperBusiness/dp/B00E327SVA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=L140HK208NUB&keywords=good+to+great+jim+collins&qid=1659186324&sprefix=good+to+great%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-1 (Good to Great) by Jim Collins https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Wirecard-Dan-McCrum/dp/178763504X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=L79CV9TBNGQJ&keywords=money+men&qid=1659186539&s=books&sprefix=money+me%2Cstripbooks%2C136&sr=1-1 (Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth) by Dan McCrum https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone/dp/1408855658/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=harry+potter+books&qid=1659186376&sprefix=harry+po%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-4 (Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone) by J.K. Rowling
Bios Matt Smith Matt is a Partner based in Foresight Group’s London office. Prior to Foresight, Matt worked at Rothschild. Matt holds a post graduate Diploma with distinction in Physiology and an MA in Biological Sciences, both from Oxford University.
Jack Eadie Jack is a Managing Director based in Foresight Group’s London office. Prior to Foresight, Jack worked at Downing Ventures as a Partner, he also previously worked at venture funds Next 47 and Eight Roads Ventures. Jack holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bath.
While we have touched on regional investing several times in the podcast, we have never discussed it directly. Michael Vassallo worked as in London before returning to the North East, where he set up Maven's regional office, so he is well placed to discuss the pros and challenges of investing there. We start by looking at the big picture and some of the reasons why the UK regions get less investment funding than south-east England. We talk about how this has evolved over time, with Micheal bringing insights from what has happened in north-east England over the past few years. Michael also goes into the valuation gap that persists in the regions, talking about where it applies and some of the possible reasons behind it. Finally, we discuss what needs to change and how and who may drive change in the regions and aid the "levelling up" agenda. Maven website: https://www.mavencp.com/ (https://www.mavencp.com/) Maven Durham: https://www.mavencp.com/maven-durham (https://www.mavencp.com/maven-durham )
Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Warren-Buffett-Way-Robert-Hagstrom-dp-1118503252/dp/1118503252/ref=dp_ob_title_bk (The Warren Buffet Way) by Robert Hagstrom https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shogun-First-Novel-Asian-Japan/dp/0340766166/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2P575DF6ZIJNH&keywords=shogun+james+clavell&qid=1658138609&s=books&sprefix=shogun%2Cstripbooks%2C79&sr=1-1 (Shogun) by James Clavell
Bio Michael Vassallo North East Investment Director, Maven Michael joined Maven in February 2017 and works in their Newcastle and Durham offices. Michael leads the North East investment team and his responsibilities include deal origination and execution and portfolio management across North East England. Prior to joining Maven, Michael worked at FW Capital for five years and was based in their Newcastle office. At FW Capital he was involved in executing and completing mezzanine finance transactions with SMEs across the region. Prior to that, Michael worked at Brewin Dolphin for nine years and was based in their Newcastle and London offices. At Brewin Dolphin he was involved in equity research and IPOs of listed companies across multiple sectors. Michael began his career as a Chartered Accountant at Ernst & Young, in the audit department. He has an MA Hons in Mathematics from the University of Oxford and is an ACA qualified chartered accountant. Outside of work Michael enjoys golf, gardening, and days out with the family.
ESG is an area that is work in progress at the moment. Andrew Noble is a partner at Par Equity, but is also on the Steering Committee of the ESG_VC initiative, which is trying to pull together a standard framework for venture capital. We cover a wider range of areas in our discussion. Andrew talks about ESG generally and gives a framework for how he thinks about different types of ESG. We discuss how the market looks at these things and outline some of the challenges. We dig into how ESG works in venture capital in particular. We talk about the challenge of setting goals in companies that have limited resources and how to think about when companies should look at these things. Referencing the ESG_VC report, we talk about how companies set priorities and how breaking down the data gives insight into when companies are progressing in different areas. Finally we talk about how these issues are presented in the market and how to avoid greenwashing. Par Equity website: https://www.parequity.com/ (https://www.parequity.com/) ESG_VC website: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/ (https://www.esgvc.co.uk/) ESG_VC report: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ESG_VC_Report_2022.pdf (https://www.esgvc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ESG_VC_Report_2022.pdf) After our recording, Andrew also suggested the following podcast episode for further perspective on ESG: https://thisweekinstartups.com/proof-of-impact-ceo-fleur-heyns-on-meaningful-metrics-for-measuring-environmental-impact-this-week-in-climate-startups-e1466/ (https://thisweekinstartups.com/proof-of-impact-ceo-fleur-heyns-on-meaningful-metrics-for-measuring-environmental-impact-this-week-in-climate-startups-e1466/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hard+thing+about+hard+things+ben+horowitz&qid=1655993402&sprefix=hard+thin%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1 (The Hard Thing about Hard Things) by Ben Horowitz Bio Andrew Noble Partner, Par Equity Andrew is a member of Par Equity's Investment Committee and sponsor partner to several Par portfolio companies. In addition, Andrew leads Par's distribution of its discretionary managed funds, takes an active role on improving Par’s operations and technology infrastructure and represents Par Equity on the Steering Committee of ESG_VC, a pan-European initiative aimed at improving the ESG credentials of VC backed companies. Andrew is a former management consultant with McKinsey & Co, specialising in sales optimisation for FTSE 100 clients, before rejoining Par Equity in May 2019. Andrew has broad experience across the early stage venture capital and private equity markets having personally invested in more than 50 innovative, high growth companies since 2008, as well as founding Transition Capital, a management buy-in vehicle, in 2017, where he was managing director, leading the deal sourcing, due diligence, and fundraising efforts. Andrew is a former athlete, having competed for TeamGB in Alpine Skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School.
Platforms are part of the essential plumbing for advisers and investors in most investment areas, but the tax-advantaged space has lagged mainstream markets. Dan Rodwell, CEO of GrowthInvest, comes on to discuss why that is and how they are looking change it. GrowthInvest has been on a journey itself, so we start by finding out how it has evolved and why. We chat about the tax advantaged market as whole, the additional complications that this space brings for platforms and what can be done about them. We also dig into the challenge of platforms getting to profitability, with Dan setting our clear benchmarks and how & when he thinks GrowthInvest will get there. With GrowthInvest announcing it is taking on Kuber's former clients, we explore the failure of the latter. We get Dan's perspective on what went wrong there and what lessons he takes away from it. We also discuss the recent transaction and what it means for Kuber's former clients, GrowthInvest and the market as a whole. GrowthInvest website: https://growthinvest.com/ (https://growthinvest.com/) GrowthInvest email: enquiries@growthinvest.com Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Factfulness-Reasons-Wrong-Things-Better/dp/147363749X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24RHVDN8U26L&keywords=factfulness+by+hans+rosling&qid=1655908189&sprefix=factfu%2Caps%2C418&sr=8-1 (Factfulness) by Hans Rosling
Bio Dan Rodwell: Chief Executive Officer, GrowthInvest Daniel is the founder and CEO of GrowthInvest, a market leading adviser platform specialising in tax efficient and alternative investments. Prior to this he managed institutional and private funds in equities and derivatives for nearly 20 years. Daniel managed the UK division of Van der Moolen Equities AG and founded the equity derivatives boutique Ten Derivatives LLP. Daniel has been an Angel Investor for over 15 years, and mentors a number of high growth businesses, focusing on digital transformation. He is passionate about increasing efficiency in the alternative investment sector, having been a driving force in the digitisation of Open Outcry traded products in the late 1990s.
Its rare for an IFA firm to be started from scratch, and even rarer for it to have a preference for tax advantaged or efficient business like EIS, VCTs, BR and SEIS products. Matthew Bugden cofounded One Four Nine, an IFA firm that does just that. We talk about why they started the firm and why they settled on the strategy they did. We discuss the challenges of getting a new firm off the ground, including developing a strategy that will satisfy funders and getting the right compliance in place. Matthew also gives his views on how to give best advice in this area and the challenges of doing that. We talk about the complexity of advice and the need to get investment and tax aspects right. We also explore issues in the market, such as reporting, transparency and platforms and how he sees the market developing in the future. One Four Nine Group website: https://www.onefourninegroup.co.uk/ (https://www.onefourninegroup.co.uk/) One Four Nine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-four-nine-group/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-four-nine-group/)
Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jam-Retrospective-Visual-History-Releases/dp/0952840626/ref=sr_1_1?crid=DUC8DSIWBLSQ&keywords=the+jam+retrospective&qid=1654251471&s=books&sprefix=the+jam+retrospective%2Cstripbooks%2C55&sr=1-1 (The Jam Retrospective: A Visual History )by Agent Provocateur Bio Matthew Bugden Chief Executive Officer, One Four Nine Group He leads One Four Nine in its pursuit to become one of the UK’s leading independent financial advice and fund management groups. With a career spanning over 35 years within the financial services industry, Matthew has enviable strategic management experience and a significant network of relationships with financial advisers, their support teams and professional connections. Previously working at one the UK’s leading alternative investment managers for 18 years, he and his large team was responsible for its direction and interaction with financial advisers and successfully built and maintained relationships across the entire advice sector, whilst raising in excess of £8 billion through tax efficient alternative investments. The first 16 years of his career were spent working across corporate and retail banking clients for a major bank prior to moving to a large corporate client. Matthew is perfectly placed to talk to owners of financial advice firms on how they can spend more time doing what they enjoy – delivering excellent service to and quality outcomes for One Four Nine clients.
Modwenna Rees-Mogg has been involved in the world of angel investing for a couple of decades. As the founder of AngelNews, a news service focus on this area, she had a wide perspective on the market and the trends within in. We spend the first half of our discussion talking about the angel market and its structure. She discusses the rise in "tourists", how experience investors have recently been cautious and what effect will have. We touch on syndicate structures and whether investors are getting value for money. In the second half we discuss the prospects for the market, and valuations in particular. Modwenna is quite bearish on the near future: we discuss why this might be and what is likely to happen. AngelNews website: https://www.angelnews.co.uk/ (https://www.angelnews.co.uk/) Funding Index website: https://www.funding-index.com/
Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-War-Sun-Tzu/dp/0981162614/ref=sr_1_3?crid=39DK4P2SLF4FQ&keywords=art+of+war+sun+tzu&qid=1653581328&sprefix=art+of+war%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-3 (The Art of War) by Sun Tzu
In a slightly different episode, the EIS Navigator host, Brian Moretta, talks about diversification drawing strongly on excerpts from previous guests. Support is supplied by Tom Britton of SyndicateRoom, Sanjeev Gordhan who was then at Newable, Stephen Page of SFC Capital and Paul Tselentis of 24 Haymarket. We start by talking about how venture capital differs from quoted equities and how this leads to a slightly different approach to diversification. In particular, the number of investments required is a lot more than people usually think. We also discuss how to get there, highlighting the differences between VCTS and EIS funds, showing that choosing them is a more balance decision than might seem on first glance. Diversification by stage, sector and over time are also discussed. Each matters when building a portfolio and there isn't a short cut to choosing several investments. As this episode is a bit of experiment, please let us know whether you love it or hate by emailing us at enquiries@hardmanandco.com. Hardman & Co website: https://www.hardmanandco.com/ (https://www.hardmanandco.com/) Asset allocation white paper: https://www.hardmanandco.com/tes-white-paper-how-much-should-clients-invest-in-venture-capital/ (https://www.hardmanandco.com/tes-white-paper-how-much-should-clients-invest-in-venture-capital/) EIS Navigator episodes from which episodes taken: Tom Britton, SyndicateRoom: https://hardmanandco.com/18-systematic-venture-capital-investing-and-radical-diversification-tom-britton-of-syndicateroom/ (https://hardmanandco.com/18-systematic-venture-capital-investing-and-radical-diversification-tom-britton-of-syndicateroom/) Sanjeev Gordhan, Newable: https://hardmanandco.com/11-how-much-to-invest-in-venture-capital-sanjeev-gordhan-of-newable/ (https://hardmanandco.com/11-how-much-to-invest-in-venture-capital-sanjeev-gordhan-of-newable/) Stephen Page, SFC Capital: https://hardmanandco.com/37-state-of-seed-investing-stephen-page-of-sfc-capital/ (https://hardmanandco.com/37-state-of-seed-investing-stephen-page-of-sfc-capital/) Paul Tselentis, 24Haymarket: https://hardmanandco.com/42-building-a-differentiated-angel-investment-network-paul-tselentis-of-24haymarket/ (https://hardmanandco.com/42-building-a-differentiated-angel-investment-network-paul-tselentis-of-24haymarket/) SyndicateRoom Beating the Dragons white paper: https://www.syndicateroom.com/guides-and-reports/how-to-outperform-vcs (https://www.syndicateroom.com/guides-and-reports/how-to-outperform-vcs )
Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/060980698X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (High Stakes, No Prisoners) by Charles H. Ferguson
Bio Brian Moretta Head of Tax Enhanced Services, Hardman & Co Brian Moretta is Head of Tax Enhanced Services at Hardman & Co. He is an actuary turned fund manager, who then moved into equity research, and has analysed many EIS funds, VCTs and companies, both listed and unquoted. He also has academic credentials, being an Honorary Fellow at Heriot-Watt University, where he does some occasional teaching. This has included teaching MSc students about, inter alia, Modern Portfolio Theory. He has always had a strong interest in getting underneath companies and understanding how they really work, and he finds venture capital fascinating. Some of this is because transparency is hard, some because the industry is not well understood. He is doing his best to change both of these. Brian Moretta is also host of the EIS Navigator podcast, and received Highly Commended at the 2021 EISA awards for the category Best Journalist or Advocate.
One of the challenges that venture capital investors have to accept is that there probably won't be liquidity for their shares until the company exits. Several companies have been trying to change that, not entirely without success, with JP Jenkins one of the longest standing. Their Head of Corporate Development, Mason Doick, comes onto the podcast to discuss the state of play and prospects for things getting better. We talk about the challenges for improving matters. Mason gives good perspectives on the lack of liquidity, as we dig into why its so hard. He compares the UK and the US, which has been doing better, and we discuss what lessons we can learn here to improve matters. We also get into the challenges of getting appropriate information flows, how some private companies don't understand the long-term benefits of getting those flows right. Mason also talks about the typical companies that achieve successful secondary markets and how companies can start preparing facilities for their investors when the time is right. Email: md@jpjenkins.com JP Jenkins website: https://www.jpjenkins.com/ (https://www.jpjenkins.com/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Add-Then-Multiply-businesses-exponential/dp/1781333688/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GMWXB9E38SGG&keywords=add+then+multiply&qid=1649771419&sprefix=add+and+mul%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1 (Add then Multiply) by David B. Horne Bio Mason Doick Head of Corporate Development, JP Jenkins Having worked for a number of years in financial services, private equity and investment management, Mason has come across his fair share of deals. He is currently Head of Corporate Development at JP Jenkins, responsible for all new admissions on the matched bargain trading platform / secondary market. From public markets to private, Mason has raised capital for both SME’s and established private businesses, and latterly in providing liquidity and exits options for those locked in shareholders. He was educated at the University of Portsmouth and holds the CISI Investment Advice Diploma.
The venture capital industry has seen steady flow of new entrant over the past few years, whether EIS or GP/LP funds. Richard Hoskins of Kin Group speaks with almost all of them and discusses the challenges and pitfalls for those who want to start a new fund or invest in one. We start by discussing the current environment. We talk about the people who want to start funds, what their motivations are and what they usually bring the table. Richard talks about how these people are really building a new business and the challenges of differentiating themselves. We also talk about some of the specific areas that can be challenging. Raising funds is at the front of many people's minds and Richard has some insights into how the current environment means that its may come from unexpected directions. We also dig into the importance of high quality deal flow and how new managers might establish and improve it. Email: rhoskins@kin-group.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoskinsrichard/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoskinsrichard/) Kin Group website: https://www.kincapital.co.uk/ (https://www.kincapital.co.uk/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/1847941834/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=atomic+habits&qid=1648664098&s=books&sprefix=atomic+%2Cstripbooks%2C128&sr=1-1 (Atomic Habits) by James Clear https://www.jimcollins.com/books.html (Books) by Jim Collins Bio Richard Hoskins Co-Principal, Kin Group Richard is Co-Principal and Co-Founder of Kin Group. Having worked in Venture Capital for 17 years, he has seen the Venture industry move from the niche sector it once was, to the booming asset class it is today. He has worked in a variety of VC roles, including; fundraising, fund management and fund administration. He has been described as “one of the most knowledgeable commentators on the venture capital world” (Telegraph, 2017). In particular he has helped numerous aspiring VC asset managers setting up their first VC fund and assisted larger VC asset management firms grow to the next level.
The partnership between Foresight and Williams Advanced Engineering is unique in the EIS and VCT space. Andy Bloxam manages this area for Foresight and he gives us an insight into this unique relationship. We start off by discussing how the relationship came about, and how it works in practice. We dig into how it has evolved over time, how Foresight and Williams balance their relative strengths and its set up to avoid a extractive relationship. Given the emphasis on deeptech, we also discuss investing in hardware. We talk about the evolving landscape, how technology is affecting lead times and the challenges of testing markets and first customers in this area. Finally, Andy gives one of the most innovative ideas to improve the EIS and VCT market that we have had on the podcast! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bloxam/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bloxam/) Foresight website: https://www.foresightgroup.eu/ (https://www.foresightgroup.eu/) Foresight Williams website: https://www.foresightwilliams.co.uk/ (https://www.foresightwilliams.co.uk/) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Thrive-Despite-ebook/dp/B005VB99GE/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=great+by+choice+jim+collins&qid=1647356066&sprefix=great+by%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-2 (Great by Choice) by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
Bio Andy Bloxam Director, Private Equity, Foresight Group Andy joined Foresight’s Private Equity team in 2018 and is a Director in the London office. His primary responsibility is sourcing, making and managing investments on behalf of the Foresight Williams Technology EIS and VCT funds. Prior to joining Foresight, Andy spent more than 15 years advising and investing in early-stage UK technology companies. Most recently he was a Director at Committed Capital, a tech-focused private equity and advisory firm. Prior to that, he was an Associate at Strata Partners, a tech-focused corporate finance advisor, and previously an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan, as part of the tech M&A team. Andy holds a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA with distinction from Surrey Business School.
Getting financial and transaction data on private companies can be challenging. MarktoMarket aims make that easier, which gives CEO Doug Lawson a great perspective on the market, which he shares in this episode. First we talk about data. We chat about what the issues are, and how MarktoMarket aims to get around those. Doug talks about how some of it is looking in the right place and how patterns emerge when there is enough data. He also discusses the extent to which processes can be automated with AI and when an analytical input is needed. We then discuss some of the insights that this has given them about the private markets, especially valuation. Doug breaks down how not everything is a bubble and talks about how different parts of the markets have behaved. We also talk about how valuations affect investment strategies and where they are being used in a kind of valuation arbitrage to enhance value. Email: doug@marktomarket.io MarktoMarket website: https://marktomarket.io/ Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup-ebook/dp/B07BW911F7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DZ52Z040S0NA&keywords=bad+blood+john+carreyrou&qid=1641571145&sprefix=bad+blood+%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1 (Bad Blood) by John Carreyrou
Bio Doug Lawson CEO and Co-founder, MarktoMarket Doug is cofounder and CEO of MarktoMarket, a data platform specialising in private company intelligence, which is backed by VCs 24Haymarket, Techstart and Par Equity. Doug founded MarktoMarket following a career in fund management, where he specialised in investing in private and public companies. Before this he worked in M&A and qualified as a chartered accountant.
St James Place is the biggest writer of business in across the whole tax advantaged market. In this episode we get Luke Barnett on to discuss how they select individual products and how that translates into panel building. Luke gives great insights into how they look at individual products and how they weight up the different strategies, how they look at teams and track records. We also discuss fees and how to look at them. When it comes to panel building, St James Place has a relatively straightforward strategy. But the current environment is bringing additional challenges and we talk about the strong demand for VCTs and how they manage a panel when offers close so quickly. St James Place Wealth Management website: https://www.sjp.co.uk/ (https://www.sjp.co.uk/) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup-ebook/dp/B07BW911F7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DZ52Z040S0NA&keywords=bad+blood+john+carreyrou&qid=1641571145&sprefix=bad+blood+%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1 (Bad Blood) by John Carreyrou Bio Luke Barnett Head of Tax Advantaged Strategies, St. James Place Wealth Management Luke is the Head of Tax Advantaged Strategies at St James’s Place, and oversees the firms panel of products in the Tax-Advantaged market. He recently joined from MJ Hudson where he covered the same space and oversaw the manager research and due diligence process across EIS, VCT and BR products.
Unusually for an EIS fund manager, VGC has moved it the market from the institutional end. Their focus on consumer and digital media is somewhat unusual in the sector and we effectively do a case study on one of their investments. Kick Game is a premium sneaker retailer. Parminder talks about how they identified the company as the right player in a market and stalked it to invest. He also discusses what they did after investing, how they developed its retail and marketing strategy to enable its growth. We also look at how corporate partners fit into the venture landscape. We talk about the benefits for corporates and startups, finding the right partner and how to avoid problems that may arise. VGC Partners website: https://vgcp.co.uk/ (https://vgcp.co.uk/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Great-Jim-Collins/dp/0712676090/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3U2V5267UEERB&keywords=good+to+great+jim+collins&qid=1643906641&sprefix=good+to%2Caps%2C270&sr=8-1 (Good to Great) by Jim Collins Bio Parminder Basran, Founding Partner and CEO, VGC Partners
Parminder worked in FMCG for 7 years before attending business school, subsequently founding VGC in 2011. The first investments were made on a deal-by-deal basis, and these included Metropolis London, a music studio, production, publishing and agency business. Subsequent investments included Round World Entertainment, the holding company of 10Ten Talent, the football and talent management business, Iconic Images, the owner of the photographic archive of Terry O’Neill and Super Awesome, the fast-growing kid tech business based in London. In March 2019 the team achieved a final close of VGC Partners Fund I, backed by institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals, to focus on growth companies in the consumer and media sectors in the U.K. Parminder attended Rutgers University in New Jersey and has a BA in Management Studies from the University of Leeds. He also holds an MBA from London Business School.
Social impact investing is an area that sounds good in principle but is often not well understood by those not involved in it. We asked Emma Steele, who runs the social benefit funds at Ascension, to come on and discuss investing in this topical area. We get her to define a social benefit that is investible and she brings some examples. We talk about the twin objectives of profit and social benefit, how they conflict (spoiler: they don't necessarily) and how to ensure companies don't pivot away from providing a social benefit. We also talk about measurement She discusses the wider environment, how companies view impact investing and for-profit companies as instruments of societal change. We also talk about the investor perspective and how this area may develop going forward. Ascension website: https://www.ascension.vc/ (https://www.ascension.vc/) Emma Steele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-steele-b7a98832/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-steele-b7a98832/) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Impact-Innovate-Radically-Greater-ebook/dp/B07K2M9XRV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BK5GDEQUFHDH&keywords=lean+impact&qid=1642785855&s=books&sprefix=lean+impac%2Cstripbooks%2C93&sr=1-1 (Lean Impact) by Ann Mei Chang and Eric Ries Bio Emma Steele - Investment Director, Ascension Emma heads up Ascension’s impact funds, immersed in sector verticals and business models with potential for both commercial and impact returns at scale. She manages fundraising, deployment and portfolio management for the Fair By Design and Good Food Funds across Fintech/Insurtech (improving financial inclusion), Energy (reducing costs), Transport and Food (helping healthy and affordable food environments to scale). Prior to joining Ascension in January 2018, Emma spent some time in the charity sector at Eastside Primetimers, progressing the sustainability of charity revenue models and encouraging social investment in the sector (such as FSE’s debt deal into the Giving Machine). Prior to that, she spent five and a half years in the corporate banking division of Santander UK as a Credit Partner in the Large Corporates team and Associate Director in the Healthcare Finance team. Emma holds an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and a BSc in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from the University of Warwick.
Most angel networks start organically, with the members drawn from a geography or having a particular interest. 24Haymarket has taken a different approach, with a distinct philosophy. We invited its CEO, Paul Tselentis, to discuss what it did and why. He talks about how 24Haymarket started, with an early focus on experienced private equity professionals. We discuss how they leveraged these contacts and how it has influenced factors, such as ow the Network invests at a much later stage than most angel networks. Paul outlines how 24Haymarket has evolved its processes in the light of experience. We also talk about the membership of the Network, the expectations for members in terms of fees and commitment and how it grows. We ask Paul about how he expects it to evolve in the future. 24Haymarket website: https://24haymarket.com/ (https://24haymarket.com/) Address; 24 Haymarket, London Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup-ebook/dp/B07BW911F7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DZ52Z040S0NA&keywords=bad+blood+john+carreyrou&qid=1641571145&sprefix=bad+blood+%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1 (Bad Blood) by John Carreyrou https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-Pain-History-Sackler-Dynasty-ebook/dp/B08QJMJWQ3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2S141WYVJIHBY&keywords=house+of+pain+book&qid=1641571093&sprefix=house+of+pain%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-4 (House of Pain) by Patrick Radden Keefe Bio Paul Tselentis CEO and Board Member, 24Haymarket Paul is a co-founder and the CEO of 24Haymarket having been working with the business for the past 8 years. He previously worked in institutional private equity and venture capital at The Carlyle Group and CCMP Capital and began his career at Lehman Brothers in the Investment Banking Division in New York. Paul has a Bachelors degree in Economics from Harvard University.
While 2021 wasn't quite as dramatic as the previous year, it was still an eventful one. The EIS navigator team have got another all-star panel to discuss what happened. Mark Brownridge, Director General of EIS Association, Neil Cole, Head of Wealth Planning Solutions, UBS Wealth Management, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the debris and the prospects for 2021. We chat through what's happened in fundraising, including the recent surge in demand for VCT offers. We also talk about the challenges of deploying all this money, particularly with valuations being so high. We also cover the normalising of ESG, how platforms look after the Kuber failure and get the panel to make some predictions for 2022. Finally, we get Mark to look back on his term as Director-General and what challenges the new DG will face. Links: EIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/ (https://eisa.org.uk/) Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/ (https://www.symvancapital.com/) UBS Wealth Management - https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/home.html (https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/home.html)
The recent COP26 conference has stimulated a surge of interest in how we can make a difference as investors. Nick Lyth set up Green Angel Syndicate to solve that problem and in a wider ranging discussion we cover his story, experiences and philosophy. There are many practical challenges, from finding the right companies, what could be their impact and how you measure that. We also discuss timescales, balancing the long-term view of an angel investor with the immediacy of the climate issue. We also cover many of the wider aspects of the climate crisis. Nick's background in advertising gives an good perspective on the use of language and how the green movement has been losing that battle. We also discuss the role of politics in both environmental movements and investments. Green Angel Syndicate website: https://greenangelsyndicate.com/ (https://greenangelsyndicate.com/) Email: nick@greenangelsyndicate.com
Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Angels-Dragons-Vultures-Investors-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B0073EDBZ2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639398495&sr=8-1 (Angels, Dragons and Vultures) by Simon Acland
In this episode the tables are turned as the usual host, Brian Moretta, has recently published a paper on how venture capital fits into retail investor portfolios, with some surprising results. Andrew Aldridge steps into the host seat to discuss the paper. The heart of the paper is the consequences of venture capital being a diversifying asset compared with equity and bonds. Brian discusses what this means for investors and how investors can increase expected returns on their portfolios without taking any additional risk by adding venture capital in the right way. There are consequences for the overall asset allocation which are easily dealt with, but are important. They also talk about several other areas covered in the paper. The analysis initially shows the benefits are significant without tax reliefs, but also look at what happens when these are added. The genuine exceptions get discussed, as well as common misoconcpetions. These include the pension fallacy, the idea that pensions should be filled first, and the idea that high risk investments are only for high-risk investors - both are demonstrably false. Hardman & Co website: https://www.hardmanandco.com/ (https://www.hardmanandco.com/) Link to white paper: https://www.hardmanandco.com/tes-white-paper-how-much-should-clients-invest-in-venture-capital/ (https://www.hardmanandco.com/tes-white-paper-how-much-should-clients-invest-in-venture-capital/) Thanks to our white paper sponsors: SyndicateRoom, One Four Nine Wealth, Nova Growth Capital and Deepbridge Capital. Thanks also to Andrew Aldridge, Head of Marketing at Deepbridge, for interviewing so ably. Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-true-story-hope/dp/1846045126/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23KSCW98HJ2CW&keywords=the+choice+edith+eger&qid=1637928473&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&sprefix=the+choice%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1&sres=1846045126%2C9124052094%2CB08HQKGB4H%2CB097NHVZ73%2C9124052116%2C9123950455%2C1846046289%2CB07W72NJMY%2C1844132390%2C184604636X%2C1913183572%2CB07K6T2F1T%2CB06XWDJRGS%2C0141978619%2C1405937181%2C1471197719&srpt=ABIS_BOOK (The Choice) by Edith Eger https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/1788160061/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1K0XSO812P0GL&keywords=trust+me+im+lying&qid=1637928506&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&sprefix=trust+me+i%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-1&sres=1788160061%2C9124038040%2C0385744137%2CB09HN4TKG7%2CB00NBFEZ1Q%2C1791374255%2C1980997942%2C1795250976%2CB07T419R3W%2C1788171829%2C1781257655%2CB09G9Q2WX7%2CB01NB1DNI6%2C1953094007%2C1788162609%2CB08XLLF3PG&srpt=ABIS_BOOK (Trust Me I'm Lying) by Ryan Holiday
With COP26 having just finished, ESG is back on investors agenda but so far it hasn't delivered. We get Matt Jellicoe of OnePlanetCapital on to discuss why and what we can do about it. Matt draws on his experience of setting up a new fund that is environmentally focused, and finding out that the way ESG is applied to investments wasn't helpful. We discuss the difference between ESG and genuine impact investments and how this is leaving advisers and investors somewhat confused. We also talk about the extent this is a binary categorisation or whether investments exist on a spectrum, how the UN Sustainable Development Goals seem to generating a common language and how close we are to getting clarity so investors can get what they want: investments that are doing good things. OnePlanetCapital website: https://www.oneplanet.capital/ (https://www.oneplanet.capital/) Suggested books: No single recommendation from Matt, but he did suggest the histories that Winston Churchill wrote.
Recently, SFC Capital and Beauhurst issued a report about the seed investing market. It showed some interesting, and rather worrying, trends. In this episode, Stephen Page, CEO of SFC Capital discusses the report and the seed market. The big news in the report is a decline in seed funding over the past couple of years. Given this seems to go against trends in other parts of the venture capital market, we discuss possible reasons why. Stephen suggests some possible solutions, including the government updating the SEIS scheme. With SFC doing more SEIS deals than anyone else, we can get some insight into other market trends. We also discuss inflation in valuations and how this can make things harder for founders to get funding. Seeding to Succeed: https://www.beauhurst.com/research/seeding-to-succeed/ (https://www.beauhurst.com/research/seeding-to-succeed/) SFC Capital website: https://sfccapital.com/ (https://sfccapital.com/) Emails: stephen@sfccapital.com, info@sfccapital.com Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Noise-book-authors-Thinking-Nudge-ebook/dp/B08LCZFJZ2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37ANEHE7P9L8&dchild=1&keywords=noise+daniel+kahneman&qid=1634827424&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&s=books&sr=1-1&sres=0008308993%2CB098RCXHDQ%2CB09BGHX7KP%2CB08MCBXY9J%2CB095NB53C6%2CB096TTDVP6%2CB095T3D4Q2%2C273815705X%2C0141033576%2CB00ATLM02Q%2C1642505625%2C0241552109%2C8418006366%2C1847947158%2C0141031484%2C1473685451&srpt=ABIS_BOOK (Noise) by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein Bonus book from Brian: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peak-How-achieve-extraordinary-things/dp/0099598477/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=peak+anders+ericsson&qid=1634827589&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&sr=8-1&sres=0099598477%2CB01F4D6VEQ%2CB01M7XWI0T%2CB01H3XBIAW%2C9123802065%2C9123957387%2C8366337057%2C7111551281%2C1603588094%2C0805822321%2C147213995X%2C0521740088%2C0670068764%2C8416029814%2CB07BNQRTF7%2C9000357578&srpt=ABIS_BOOK (Peak) by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
In September, Gresham House announced the intention to buy Mobeus and add their four VCTs to its existing Baronsmead VCTs. Bevan Duncan returns to the podcast to discuss the deal and its rationale. We cover the strategic reasoning as well as how they chose a manager. We dig a bit into the diligence, including how they assessed past performance. As a deal that is about growing rather than cost savings, we also discuss how the new company will operate and what opportunities it may bring. With some recent VCT fundraisings flying off the shelves , we also chat about the current state of the market. We chat about investor demand for VCTs and also dig into how the market is developing for VCTs making investments and how the strong liquidity at later stages is filtering down. Gresham House website: https://greshamhouse.com/ (https://greshamhouse.com/) Gresham House VCTs website: https://greshamhouse.com/venture-capital-trusts/ (https://greshamhouse.com/venture-capital-trusts/) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-James-Kerr-ebook/dp/B00AN2KTKQ/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=all+blacks&qid=1633973188&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&s=books&sr=1-8&sres=1509856684%2C1556527861%2C1913538206%2CB091C492CX%2CB08SH41XVV%2C0141997443%2C1452158711%2C147210353X%2C178739901X%2C1782277536%2CB09HPBWGSW%2C1914933109%2CB08DSX8Y8M%2C1784162817%2CB086ML4KWH%2C1999753038&srpt=DOWNLOADABLE_TV_EPISODE (Legacy) by James Kerr
Fintech has been a hot VC area for some time, so its about time we discussed it on the podcast. For this we turn to James Pringle, a former entrepreneur turned fund manager who specialises in fintech investing. We start with the big picture: what is fintech and why the UK is one of the global centres for it. James also gives some perspective on how the area has developed over the past few years, moving from universal providers to specialists and, perhaps, returning. The second half of our discussion on what makes a good fintech now. We discuss the common business model of acquiring customers in one product area, then growing by adding products. James talks about what makes companies defensible and what he looks for in new fintech investments. He brings out lots of examples, both well-known and up-and-coming, as well as a few of the lessons he has learnt along the way. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejamespringle/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejamespringle/) Email: james@pringlecapital.com Host of https://ridingunicorns.buzzsprout.com/ (Riding Unicorns) podcast Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Personal-MBA-World-Class-Business-Education/dp/0670919535/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XXZNPGEVELT3&dchild=1&keywords=personal+mba+josh+kaufman&qid=1632926616&qsid=260-4024862-8370840&sprefix=personal+mba%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1&sres=0670919535%2CB0096FA0NM%2CB00I619LPA%2CB08ZMBQN96%2CB08XBX6HD6%2CB00D9T9VM2%2CB01MT6E9LC%2CB0062XCKNE%2C0670919519%2CB082SYJ5WN%2CB08SLVX8NS%2C6073165188%2C606722397X%2C9400513917%2C8380877888%2C0670921920&srpt=ABIS_BOOK (The Personal MBA) by Josh Kaufman
Lucius Cary first raised money for a small restaurant chain in the late 1970s. The difficulties of doing that inspired him to start a newsletter connecting startups and investors. Four decades later, he is on the seventh iteration of his fund. We start with Lucius's own story. He tells us how he found his first investors in an environment with no infrastructure at all. He tells us how this inspired him to help others with the same problems, and how that business led into fund management. Oxford Technology still invests in very early stage-science companies, often investing before there is even a product. We talk about how he assesses such companies and how he paces investment to help manage the risk of being too early. We also talk about his 'one-hours drive rule'. As an investor in over 150 companies, Lucius brings a wealth of examples, both of companies and his unique way of working. Website: https://www.oxfordtechnology.com/ (https://www.oxfordtechnology.com/)
John Glencross has been at the forefront of the EIS and VCT world for over two decades, co-launching the first approved EIS fund in 1999. We take advantage of this to get a long-term perspective on how the market and the Calculus investment process has changed over time. We start at the launch of their first fund, with the challenges of a product that was even less well known that it is now. John talks about how they found an investor base and avoided the worst of the bursting of the internet bubble. The areas that Calculus invest in have evolved over this period. We discuss how these change, the challenge of choosing areas that will be do well over the next few years. We also discuss how economic cycles interact with this, including the financial crisis in 2008 and the more recent pandemic. We also chat about the evolution of the EIS & VCT market, how it has got better and what problems still need addressed. Website: https://www.calculuscapital.com/ (https://www.calculuscapital.com/)
Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROPHET-Wisehouse-Classics-Khalil-Gibran/dp/9176376656/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1HDIEW03SNMP7&dchild=1&keywords=the+prophet+khalil+gibran&qid=1629880980&sprefix=the+prophet%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-3 (The Prophet) by Khalil Gibran https://www.amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Infantry-Officer-Siegfried-Sassoon/dp/0571064108/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MK6XBAURHYS7&dchild=1&keywords=memoirs+of+an+infantry+officer&qid=1629881138&s=books&sprefix=memoirs+of+an%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=1-1 (Memoirs of an Infantry Officer) by Siegfried Sassoon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crisis-Deluxe-Chris-Coffman/dp/1736739123/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=deluxe+chris&qid=1629881073&s=books&sr=1-4 (Crisis Deluxe) by Chris Coffman
Scott Weavers-Wright is a serial entrepreneur. When we had him on last year (https://www.hardmanandco.com/12-building-a-family-company-into-a-70m-exit-scott-weavers-wright-of-haatch/ (episode 12)), we only managed to discuss one of his first exit so we had to get him back for more. We pick up his story from where we left off, with Scott getting into investing with his business partner Fred. He explains how this led to him funding the creation, then running Elevaate, a platform that allows online stores and brands to manage and monetise product placement. We discuss the challenges that this brought, many of which were different from his previous business. We discuss the challenge of managing the company prudently when there is money in the bank. We also talk about keeping staff motivated when sales and business is slow to appear and why the company took venture capital funding. Scott also talks about how he raised the company's profile and how this helped generate interest for an exit. Finally, we chat about the lessons Scott has learned, include the need for patience and belief, and how he applies these to his investing. Websites - https://haatch.com/ (https://haatch.com/) https://scottweaverswright.com/ (https://scottweaverswright.com/)
Investors and founders all-to-often see legals as a necessary evil. SeedLegals is changing that, thinking about how how to get better and solutions for all parties. In this episode its Founder, Anthony Rose, talks about what they are doing and how they have developed one the past few years. We discuss what the aims of legal documents really are, how investors and founders should think about them and how they are involved in a kind of social engineering. We also chat about how good legal documents can help solve problems and the mistakes that investors and founders make when creating them. As well as what it does for investors, SeedLegals is still a relatively new business. Anthony also talks about product development, how they balance automation and customisation and how playing the long game is paying off for them. Website - https://seedlegals.com/ (https://seedlegals.com/) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anrose/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anrose/) Twitter - https://twitter.com/anthonyrose (https://twitter.com/anthonyrose)
Video gaming is a huge market, but relatively niche within EIS. Steve Iles has spent his whole career working in and helping the video games industry and his current focus is at the intersection with funding. We start off by talking about the history of video gaming and how it has shaped the industry as it stands today. This leads into the attractions of the different business models and what what does or doesn't make a good video game. Steve then talk about lower risk ways create games, trends, how investors should or shouldn't diligence video game companies and why gaming hasn’t taken off in EIS yet. Website - http://originvp.com/ (http://originvp.com/) Suggested reading: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/) https://newzoo.com/ (https://newzoo.com/) https://gamasutra.com/ (https://gamasutra.com/)
EIS & VCTs have been described by several guests as one of finances best kept secrets, which makes the job of advisers challenging when they recommend them. Stephen Jones has a lot of experience dealing with these, and has won several awards for the quality of his services in the tax-advantaged area. This is the second part of a really good discussion which is split over two episodes (see episode 29 for the first part). In this one, Stephen goes into more details about some aspects of EIS and VCT product selection. We talk about how he looks at fees and what fee structures he likes, past performance and the challenges of getting good reporting systems. Website - https://www.clearsolutionsifa.co.uk/ (https://www.clearsolutionsifa.co.uk/) Phone - 01283 730080 Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Inc-Business-Principles-Maximize/dp/1119219736/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IT1E5YQV3MKP&keywords=family+inc&qid=1625837248&sprefix=family+inc%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1 (Family Inc) by Douglas McCormick
EIS & VCTs have been described by several guests as one of finances best kept secrets, which makes the job of advisers challenging when they recommend them. Stephen Jones has a lot of experience dealing with these, and has won several awards for the quality of his services in the tax-advantaged area. We had a really good discussion which will be split over two episodes. In this one, Stephen talks about the framework that he uses for giving advice and how & where tax-advantaged investments fit into that. We discuss some of the issues around suitability and how to choose between EIS and VCTs. We also talk about product selection at a high level, but will dig into that more in next week's bonus episode. Website - https://www.clearsolutionsifa.co.uk/ (https://www.clearsolutionsifa.co.uk/) Phone - 01283 730080
International expansion is key to success for many startups, but also fraught with difficulties. Tofiq Qureshi of Innvotec has worked in several countries and brought technology to many more, so has lots of experience of internationalising. Getting timing right is the first challenge and we discuss when is right for a startup to look overseas, and when is too early. We also talk about figuring out when to find a local partner, what sort of partner and how to find them, as well as when to go direct and build a local presence instead. Tofiq also gives his views on overcoming language, culture and local regulatory challenges. We don't ignore the pandemic either, as this has changed how several of these can be approached. Innvotec Website - https://www.innvotec.com/ (https://www.innvotec.com/) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/innvotec/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/innvotec/) Twitter - @innvotec1986 Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exponential-Organizations-organizations-better-cheaper/dp/1626814236/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31WGI1QCFULVT&keywords=exponential+organizations&qid=1624900871&sprefix=exponen%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1 (Exponential Organizations) by Salim Ismail https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Startup-Innovation-Successful-Businesses/dp/0670921602/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FSZCFI3A806A&keywords=lean+startup&qid=1624900994&sprefix=lean+startu%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 (The Lean Startup) by Eric Ries
We've touched on angel investing several times on the podcast, so it was time we got a business angel on. Kirsten Connell is an unusual angel, in that she has a background in venture capital, but, like many angels, has strong experience in one area, which in her case is cybersecurity. We talk about how she got into angel investing and what her approach is. We talk about sourcing deals and diversification, particularly balancing her sector expertise against a desire to broaden her exposure. We also discuss what is the right diligence to do and who you can trust while doing it. She also gives some tips for those who want to start angel investing. LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenconnell/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenconnell/) Twitter - https://twitter.com/kirst (@kirst) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/145550890X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FJFVL2FJ5KYP&keywords=delivering+happiness+zappos&qid=1623312167&sprefix=delivering+happiness+zappo%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1 (Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose) by Tony Hsieh https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup/dp/1509868089/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3B9CP46J1592C&keywords=bad+blood+john+carreyrou&qid=1623312276&sprefix=bad+bl%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1 (Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup) by John Carreyrou
Generating sales in critical for any business, so its good to get someone on who has a playbook that works. Mads Jensen of Superseed focusses on B2B SaaS and helping his investee companies get those early sales and, when appropriate scale up. We talk about the challenges for startups: how to find those early customers, the difference between soliciting enough customer feedback and losing focus, when you know you have customer market fit and when to start scaling your sales up. We also talk about pricing and the role investors can play. Superseed - https://www.superseed.com/ (https://www.superseed.com/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Strategy-Bad-difference-matters-ebook/dp/B005331U7Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1PXN9LDJOF15D&dchild=1&keywords=good+strategy+bad+strategy&qid=1622138000&sprefix=good+strategy+%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1 (Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters) by Richard Rumelt
While multi-stage venture capital management is common in the US, few firms have, so far, managed to develop it successfully here. Mercia is has probably developed the widest range of capital pools in the tax-advantaged world. We get Dr Paul Mattick on discuss their approach. While the benefits of multiple pools are clear, it does bring challenges to. We discuss how Mercia addresses these, building up strong processes and using its scale to its benefit. We also discuss Mercia's regional focus - the advantages and challenges, why the regions are underfunded and whether that can change. Paul also explains his idea of geographical arbitrage, to buy at low regional valuations and sell at a premium in the south east! Mercia Asset Management - https://www.mercia.co.uk/ (https://www.mercia.co.uk/) Paul.Mattick@mercia.co.uk Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Travelers-Wife-Audrey-Niffenegger/dp/0099464462/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T4IIOFLB7PJ5&dchild=1&keywords=time+travellers+wife&qid=1620897281&sprefix=time+trav%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1 (The Time Traveler's Wife) by Audrey Niffenegger
We all can see big ideas, but its often not clear how to translate them into investible ideas. Impact investment is one of the highest profile ideas just now, so we have Dan Somers of impact investors Boundary Capital to talk about this. He talks about how they drew investible themes out of the big idea, and how that works when it comes to looking at companies. Inevitably, this involves measuring impact. We discuss the Boundary approach, how the market looks at it and the challenge of comparability. We also give investors ideas about how to get started in this area. Boundary Capital - https://www.boundarycapital.com/ (https://www.boundarycapital.com/) Dan would love more book ideas, and to discuss anything we raised on the podcast, and can be contacted at dan@boundarycapital.com. Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0141033576/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26Q2WIQ8RX7IC&dchild=1&keywords=thinking+fast+and+slow&qid=1619698089&sprefix=thinking+fast%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1 (Thinking, Fast and Slow) by Daniel Kahneman https://www.amazon.co.uk/Descartes-Error-Emotion-Reason-Human/dp/0099501643/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RI34XF68YXRU&dchild=1&keywords=descartes+error&qid=1619698142&sprefix=descar%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 (Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain) by Antonio Damasio
Corporate finance is an essential aspect of venture capital investing. Steve Harris is CEO of Committed Capital, with a strong corporate finance background and a long history of venture capital investing. In a widely ranging discussion, we cover many important areas, including company valuations, how to assess financial projections and plans for what happens when things go wrong. We also ask whether corporate financiers or former entrepreneurs make better venture capital investors! Committed Capital - https://www.committedcapital.co.uk/ (https://www.committedcapital.co.uk/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Passion-Western-Mind-Understanding-Shaped/dp/184595162X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3Q7GAE07FBA7C&dchild=1&keywords=richard+tarnas+the+passion+of+the+western+mind&qid=1615812028&sprefix=richard+tar%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1 (The Passion Of The Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View) by Richard Tarnass https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Soul-Psychotherapy-Logotherapy/dp/0285637010/ref=sr_1_1?crid=P9ULVZA7028X&dchild=1&keywords=the+doctor+and+the+soul&qid=1615812086&sprefix=the+doctor+and%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1 (The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy) by Victor Frankl https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mans-Search-Meaning-classic-Holocaust/dp/1844132390/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/260-4024862-8370840?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1844132390&pd_rd_r=11622ba7-29c4-4fd6-9824-5604a77b9d90&pd_rd_w=sllG2&pd_rd_wg=bGfon&pf_rd_p=dcf35746-0212-418b-a148-30395d107b2d&pf_rd_r=42DTYFR92JRKKBVQJF0W&psc=1&refRID=42DTYFR92JRKKBVQJF0W (A Man's Search for Meaning) by Victor Frankl
Although consumer markets are a big part of quoted markets, they are something of a niche in EIS & VCTs. Pembroke specialise in consumer companies, with a portfolio including hospitality, food, fashion and wellness businesses. We talk about the philosophy for investing, how they can make venture scale businesses and the challenges of operating consumer-facing locations and online facilities simultaneously. COVID has loomed extra large for consumer businesses, and we discuss how the portfolio has responded and the importance of management teams in this process. Pembroke VCT - https://www.pembrokevct.com/ (https://www.pembrokevct.com/) Pembroke's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pembrokevct/ (https://www.instagram.com/pembrokevct/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compound-Effect-Jumpstart-Income-Success/dp/0306924633/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IDN464ZQRPHC&dchild=1&keywords=compound+effect+darren+hardy&qid=1615310478&sprefix=compound+effec%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1 (The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success) by Darren Hardy https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindf-Inside-Cambridge-Analyticas-Break/dp/1788165004/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RVI3AZM1HBAR&dchild=1&keywords=mindfck+by+christopher+wylie&qid=1615310522&sprefix=mindfck%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1 (Mindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World) by Christopher Wylie https://www.amazon.co.uk/Humble-Pi-Comedy-Maths-Errors/dp/0141989149/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WFTY30REB3IP&dchild=1&keywords=humble+pi+matt+parker&qid=1615310579&sprefix=humble+pi%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1 (Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors) by Matt Parker
Product market fit is a much discussed, and much misunderstood topic, in venture capital. Matthew Cushen from Worth Capital recently wrote a great blog article on the topic, so we though we'd get him on to speak about it. We chat about what product market fit actually is and how you get it in practice. We also discuss how the company knows they have it and how an investor knows that too. Matthew brings lots of great examples from his portfolio, both good and bad. We also talk a little about coronavirus and distinguishing between short-term and long-term effects. Blog article on product-market fit - https://worthcapital.uk/obsessing-about-market-need/ (https://worthcapital.uk/obsessing-about-market-need/) Worth Capital - https://www.worthcapital.uk/ (https://www.worthcapital.uk/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/0141040017/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C4KQVCNEHR9Z&dchild=1&keywords=nudge+book&qid=1614600698&sprefix=nudge%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1 (Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness) by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein https://www.amazon.co.uk/Factfulness-Reasons-Wrong-Things-Better/dp/147363749X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2KJPKPVX43O55&dchild=1&keywords=factfulness&qid=1614600920&sprefix=factfulne%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1 (Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think) by Hans Rosling https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airhead-Imperfect-Art-Making-News/dp/140593834X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9TUMFZBLKVMX&dchild=1&keywords=airhead+emily+maitlis&qid=1614601035&sprefix=airhead%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1 (Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News) by Emily Maitlis
We love a good entrepreneurial story and Jasper Smith has a great one. We discuss how he started as an 18-year old building demonstrators for Sky, and how that developed into a series of television related jobs and businesses. As importantly, these experiences have strongly influenced his philosophy as an investor, giving him a holistic view of what founders need from their investors. We also touch on mental health for founders and investors, something that is often swept under the carpet but is particularly pertinent in current times. Vala Capital - https://www.valacap.com/ Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Touching-Void-Joe-Simpson/dp/0099771012/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O064NF2UQ66Z&dchild=1&keywords=touching+the+void+book&qid=1613585164&sprefix=touching+the+void%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1 (Touching the Void) by Joe Simpson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Courage-Sea-Tales-Heroic-Voyages/dp/0881623202/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=courage+at+sea+naomi&qid=1613585355&sr=8-1 (Courage at Sea: Tales of Heroic Voyages) by Naomi James The Marine Quarterly - https://www.themarinequarterly.com/ (https://www.themarinequarterly.com/)
Although investing in drug development would seem to be ideal for EIS investment, it has been a somewhat niche area. Sunil Shah is hoping to change that, with o2h Ventures have recently launched the UK's first Knowledge Intensive Fund focused on this area. Sunil gives a great perspective on how investing in the industry has evolved over the last couple of decades, and how these changes work in the favour of early-stage investors. We also talk about the challenges of investing in this area, where specialist knowledge is needed and how the growth in private capital has affected the industry. Any discussion in this area can't ignore COVID and we also talk about how the industry has been rising to the challenge. o2h Ventures - https://o2hventures.com/ (https://o2hventures.com/) o2h Chai Time webinars - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YqoMJ566H7uau0E2WC3Qw (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YqoMJ566H7uau0E2WC3Qw) UK BioIndustry Association guide to investing in the UK biotech sector - https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html (https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html)
Venture capital has long been dominated by idiosyncratic decision making, so SyndicateRoom's systematic data-driven approach is genuinely unique. This hasn't developed overnight, and we discuss SyndicateRoom's progression from a platform offering individual investments to the radical diversification approach that they use now. This is built on studying the whole of the UK market, which gives insights that will be useful to almost any investor. We discuss how many investments the data suggest, how SyndicateRoom selects angels to invest alongside, the challenges of following on and what they can't take account of. SyndicateRoom - https://www.syndicateroom.com/ "A data driven approach to venture fund portfolio building" (white paper) - https://www.syndicateroom.com/data-driven-portfolio Tom Britton - tom@syndicateroom.com Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/1847941834/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=atomic+habits&qid=1612019200&sr=8-1 (Atomic Habits) by James Clear https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Management-Innovation/dp/1633691780/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UVN68ZEOLBNX&dchild=1&keywords=clayton+christensen&qid=1612197849&sprefix=clayton+ch%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1 (The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail) by Clayton M. Christensen https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Will-Measure-Your-Life/dp/0007449151/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2UVN68ZEOLBNX&dchild=1&keywords=clayton+christensen&qid=1612290232&sprefix=clayton+ch%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-2 (How Will You Measure Your Life?) by Clayton Christensen & James Allworth
While most VCT and EIS investors probably have some knowledge of quoted equity markets, listed investments using these schemes have very different characteristics from the mainstream. The Baronsmead VCTs invest in both unquoted and quoted companies and Bevan Duncan and Ken Wotton manage the respective portfolios there. We go through the whole process, discussing the differences in how investments are sourced and focussing on how managers can work with companies once invested. We dig into what the real differences are and how these can affect outcomes. We also get their views on how the steady reduction in listed companies and increase in capital in unquoted markets affects their world. Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Ideas-Power-Diverse-Thinking/dp/1473613949/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OPY4SE1CH442&dchild=1&keywords=rebel+ideas+matthew+syed&qid=1611245866&quartzVehicle=773-1212&replacementKeywords=ideas+matthew+syed&sprefix=rebel+id%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1 (Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking) by Matthew Syed https://www.amazon.co.uk/Undoing-Project-Friendship-Changed-World/dp/0141983043/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2X2A7RF053X3D&dchild=1&keywords=the+undoing+project+by+michael+lewis&qid=1611245929&sprefix=the+undoing+%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1 (The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed the World) by Michael Lewis Baronsmead VCTs - https://greshamhouse.com/strategic-equity/private-equity/baronsmead-vcts/ (https://greshamhouse.com/strategic-equity/private-equity/baronsmead-vcts/) Gresham House - https://greshamhouse.com/ (https://greshamhouse.com/)
Marketing is a make-or-break area for almost all startups. Having started his career in advertising, Velocity Capital's Rajeev Saxena is an expert on the topic, particularly digital, and we probe his knowledge to get insight for both investors and startups. We discuss wide range of areas: the growth of subscription models and how startups looks at them, the mistakes startups make and the support that they need. We also touch on the dominance of Google and Facebook and the pros & cons of this. Rajeev also brings plenty examples of the steps that startups have taken to put them on a better marketing path. Finally, Velocity has one of the most diverse teams in the EIS industry and we discuss how well the latter is doing. Velocity Capital Advisors - https://www.velocity.co.com/ (https://www.velocity.co.com/) Juice Ventures - https://juice.ventures/ (https://juice.ventures/)
2020 has been a challenging year for many and the EIS industry is no exception. The EIS Navigator team have got together an all-star panel to discuss what happened. Mark Brownridge, Director General of EIS Association, Ewoud Karelse, Head of Tax Advantaged Investments, Tilney Smith & Williamson, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the debris and the prospects for 2021. We discuss fundraising and investing, whether the government support schemes have worked for EIS companies and what area needs to change. We also discuss the new Knowledge Intensive Approved Funds as well as EISA's fees initiative before a poke around Brexit and what may or may not happen in 2021. On the latter point, we recorded this in early December when a deal looked unlikely so our comments may be less prescient than we had hoped! Links; https://eisa.org.uk/ (EIS Assocation) https://www.symvancapital.com/ (Symvan Capital) https://www.tsandw.com/ (Tilney Smith & Williamson)
Measuring sustainability is not a trivial challenge and there seems to be a plethora of options now. Vala Capital's Max Middleton and Jake Wombwell-Povey have done a huge amount of work in figuring out how to apply sustainability frameworks to startups and small companies. We take advantage of this to discuss some of the different frameworks, the differences between them and what they really mean to startups. We also discuss what the current surge of interest in ESG means for investors and the outcomes that companies may have. https://www.valacap.com/ (Vala Capital) Frameworks Impact Management Project - https://impactmanagementproject.com/ (https://impactmanagementproject.com/) Sustainable Accounting Standards Board - https://www.sasb.org/ (https://www.sasb.org/) Certified B Corporation - https://bcorporation.uk/ (https://bcorporation.uk/) Suggested books: Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth https://www.amazon.co.uk/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman-Including/dp/0143109677/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3W1LSCZFUL66R&dchild=1&keywords=let+my+people+go+surfing&qid=1606325828&sprefix=let+my+people+%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1 (Let My People Go Surfing) by Yvon Chouinard https://www.amazon.co.uk/Value-Everything-Making-Taking-Economy/dp/0141980761/ref=sr_1_1?crid=30Z6SCVUR3MN0&dchild=1&keywords=mariana+mazzucato+the+value+of+everything&qid=1606321696&sprefix=mariana+ma%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1 (The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy) by Mariana Mazzucato
Ian Warwick worked in various executive roles in the US before founding Deepbridge. We focus on one of these, Aftersoft, a software company that Ian was brought in to turn round. Over five years, he turned things round and put the company on course for a successful exit later on. We discuss the challenges of entering a difficult situation and finding the right path, including what to cut and when. The challenges for companies selling into the US are well known, and we tap Ian's very practical experiences. We also talk about how he applies the lessons he learnt to investing and supporting startup companies and how EIS is actually secondary in this. https://deepbridgecapital.com/ (Deepbridge Capital) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0091906814/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OBNUO62M3LEC&dchild=1&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people&qid=1605615847&sprefix=how+to+win+fr%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-1 (How to Win Friends and Influence People) by Dale Carnegie https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alchemist-Fable-About-Following-Dream/dp/0722532938/ref=sr_1_1?crid=C57XULJ2YVCX&dchild=1&keywords=paolo+coelho+the+alchemist&qid=1605615882&sprefix=paolo+c%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1 (The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream) by Paulo Coelho https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Planted-Trees/dp/0720613345/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NUN3VYWQE7O4&dchild=1&keywords=the+man+who+planted+trees&qid=1605615966&quartzVehicle=69-2047&replacementKeywords=the+who+planted+trees&sprefix=the+man+who+planted+t%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1 (The Man Who Planted Trees) by Jean Giono
Scott Weavers-Wright achieved two very successful exits before he founded Haatch. In the late 1990s, Kiddicare was a family shop selling pushchairs, car seats and the paraphernalia that babies and young children need. Scott persuaded the family to launch a website, which was the start of a decade of immense growth in which it beat many household names and became the largest in its category in Europe, before selling out to Morrisons. We discuss the challenges of managing the business through a period of such fast growth, about serial re-platforming while empowering staff keeping customer focus throughout. We also discuss the stresses of doing this in a family business, how the sale decision came about and what happened to the business once it was inside Morrisons. Haatch - haatch.com Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Losing-My-Virginity-Richard-Branson-ebook/dp/B005F3GMAO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1604676600&sr=1-3 (Losing my Virginity) by Richard Branson
Before joining Newable, Sanjeev Gordhan worked on the advisory side of the industry. He has a lot of experience in helping investors decided how much money to put into venture capital and unquoted investments. We discuss how investors should approach this and the difference between theory and practice. We also get into how you should spread your venture capital allocation between different segments, discussing how risk and value interact. And we can't ignore COVID and how investors are reacting to it in their portfolios. Newable Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lessons-21st-Century-Yuval-Harari/dp/1784708283/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O798A6KCJQOE&dchild=1&keywords=21+lessons+for+the+21st+century&qid=1603737352&sprefix=21+%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1 (21 Lessons for the 21st Century) by Yuval Noah Harari https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chimp-Paradox-Management-Programme-Confidence/dp/009193558X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39THTODZZCYN5&dchild=1&keywords=chimp+paradox&qid=1603737569&sprefix=chimp+%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1 (Chimp Paradox) by Prof Steven Peters
As a relative newcomer to the EIS industry, Andy Davidson of We Are Nova sees it a little differently to many of us. For the last year or so, he's been challenging the industry to create market funds for EIS, akin to index funds for equities and bonds. We discuss what that would mean for investors - not only the advantages but also some of the challenges of making it happen. This is the second part of the conversation with Andy, following-on from the preceding episode where he discussed his investment philosophy and the five reasons startups fail. https://www.wearenova.co.uk/ (We are Nova) Suggested books/reading: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Ocean-Strategy-Expanded-Uncontested/dp/1625274491/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IJWO0SCY9B15&dchild=1&keywords=blue+ocean+strategy&qid=1602775903&sprefix=blue+oc%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1 (Blue Ocean Strategy) by W Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Startup-Innovation-Successful-Businesses/dp/0670921602/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19O0US42ZPMFE&dchild=1&keywords=lean+startup+eric+ries&qid=1602091086&sprefix=lean+startup%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1 (The Lean Startup) by Eric Ries https://www.amazon.co.uk/Running-Lean-Iterate-Works-OReilly/dp/1449305172/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ash+maurya&qid=1602776359&sr=8-1 (Running Lean) by Ash Maurya https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scaling-Lean-Mastering-Metrics-Startup/dp/0241279240/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ash+maurya&qid=1602776430&sr=8-2 (Scaling Lean) by Ash Maurya https://www.strategyzer.com/blog (Strategyzer blog) (Alexander Osterwalder and co-authors)
Andy Davidson has created the Nova Co-foundery to help develop businesses from before day one. We discuss how it works and how he developed his company building philosophy. As well as his practical experience, he has extensively researched the issues that startups have. A significant focus is the 5 reasons that startups fail (100firsthits.com). We discuss what these are, why they are a problem and how Nova works to avoid them. This is the first of a two-parter - we were having such conversation we kept going longer than usual. In the next episode we turn our attention to the EIS industry. https://www.wearenova.co.uk/ (We are Nova) Books mentioned: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Startup-Innovation-Successful-Businesses/dp/0670921602/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19O0US42ZPMFE&dchild=1&keywords=lean+startup+eric+ries&qid=1602091086&sprefix=lean+startup%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1 (The Lean Startup) by Eric Ries https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1W5LIQHCAEL9S&dchild=1&keywords=crossing+the+chasm&qid=1602090915&sprefix=crossing+the%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1 (Crossing the Chasm) by Geoffrey Moore https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-Strategies/dp/1119690358/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=steve+blank&qid=1602158410&s=books&sr=1-2 (Four Steps to the Epiphany) by Steve Blank
Hardware investing is a relatively niche area within EIS investing, but still has many attractions. Dr Ilian Iliev of EMV Capital talks about how the capital intensity has improved and how the ecosystem is attractive. We also draw on his background in intellectual property to discuss the different strategies that startup companies can use. We go through the pros and cons, with lots of information on what both investors and founders need to consider. This episode is the last one that was recorded before the COVID-19 lockdown. https://emvcapital.com/ (EMV Capital) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Posh-Boys-English-Schools-Britain/dp/1786076128/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3J7Q79FDEIVSB&dchild=1&keywords=posh+boys+how+the+english+public+schools+ruin+britain&qid=1601895120&sprefix=posh+boys%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1 (Posh Boys: How English Public Schools Ruin Britain) by Robert Verkaik https://www.amazon.co.uk/Architects-Intelligence-truth-people-building/dp/1789131510/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SY3KAVAIBT5C&dchild=1&keywords=architects+of+intelligence&qid=1601895149&sprefix=architects+of+inte%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1 (Architects of Intelligence: The Truth about AI from the People Building it) by Martin Ford As usual, full shownotes are at https://www.hardmanandco.com/podcast/ and you can contact us at info@hardmanandco.com.
Film investing through EIS has changed radically since the Patient Capital Review. Andeas Roald is CEO of Sovereign Media, whose background is in making films rather than simply financing them, talks about the return to more traditional structures. We go through some of the basics of film investing, discussing where and how investors get their returns. Distribution is key, and the landscape is changing rapidly. We discuss video-on-demand services and how to get the best deal from them. We also go into the effect COVID-19 is having, both on distribution and production, finding the pluses as well as the minuses. https://sovereign-group.com/ (Sovereign Media Group) https://sovereignfilms.co.uk/ (Sovereign Films) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Against-Hitler-Courageous-Sisters/dp/1529300215/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3DWFCQT3DVYHE&dchild=1&keywords=two+against+hitler&qid=1600257565&sprefix=two+against+hi%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-2 (Two Against Hitler) - Isabel Vincent (released May 2021) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinner-Edward-Story-Unexpected-Friendship/dp/1911590189/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= (Dinner with Edward) - Isabel Vincent As usual, full shownotes are at https://www.hardmanandco.com/podcast/ and you can contact us at info@hardmanandco.com.
While equity crowdfunding hasn't taken off the way that many hoped, it is an important influence on startups and the EIS industry. Rob Murray Brown is one of the few crowdfunding experts outside the platforms, with strong opinions on what is and isn't working for investors. We discuss many of the issues for investors, the challenges of getting the right information, what diligence the platforms are or are not doing and what investors should be doing to minimise their chances of being involved in any of the disasters. We also talk about the UK insolvency process and how it isn't serving investors well. https://www.ecf.buzz/ (ECF.Buzz) Suggested book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empty-Raincoat-Making-Sense-Future/dp/0099301253/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=empty+raincoat&qid=1599233753&sr=8-1 (The Empty Raincoat) - Charles Handy As usual, full shownotes are at https://www.hardmanandco.com/podcast/.
As investors, it is easy to focus on the process of making investments and forget that the real work happens afterwards. Dr Andy Round discusses supporting companies after an investment is made. We cover getting the right board in place and different sources of support, including various government schemes. We also discuss the challenges of fund managers supporting companies, including getting the right balance of involvement and how to deal with with difficult situations. Startups and entrepreneurs will find this an extra useful episode. Links: https://www.praeturaventures.com/ (Praetura Ventures) https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ (British Business Bank) https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk (Innovate UK) https://www.bgateway.com/ (Business Gateway) (Scotland) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_development_agency (Regional Development Agencies) (England) In the Northwest: https://www.bionow.co.uk/ (Bionow) https://www.sci-techdaresbury.com/ (Daresbury) https://www.alderleypark.co.uk/ (Alderley Park) Recommended books: Southern Reach Trilogy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Annihilation-thrilling-anticipated-Southern-Trilogy/dp/0008139105/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=jeff+vandermeer&qid=1598087187&s=books&sr=1-2 (Annihiliation) - Geoff VanderMeer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invisible-Women-Exposing-World-Designed/dp/1784706280/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NDNR4UMZQ3I4&dchild=1&keywords=invisible+women+caroline+criado+perez&qid=1598087331&s=books&sprefix=invisible+w%2Cstripbooks%2C161&sr=1-1 (Invisible Women) - Caroline Criado Perez
We are joined by Pippa Gawley from Zero Carbon Capital who are focussed on climate investing. We talk about Pippa's belief that the climate crisis is the most important issue an investor can look to help solve. We discuss the challenges of small companies making meaningful contributions on a global scale and making judgements about what will and won't work. We also discuss the challenges of improving the EIS and venture capital world for under-represented groups. Links: https://www.zerocarbon.capital/ (Zero Carbon Capital ) https://cranetool.org/ (Crane tool for assessing impacts) Recommended books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Strategy-Bad-difference-matters/dp/1781256179/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39Q7J94RQ46IZ&dchild=1&keywords=good+strategy+bad+strategy&qid=1596650723&sprefix=good+str%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1 (Good Strategy, Bad Strategy) - Richard Rumelt https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drawdown-Comprehensive-Proposed-Reverse-Warming/dp/0141988436/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36ILETU88MZFC&dchild=1&keywords=drawdown+paul+hawken&qid=1596657289&sprefix=drawdown%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1 (Drawdown) - Paul Hawken Full information on the podcast is https://www.hardmanandco.com/podcast/ (here).
We are joined by Matthew O'Kane from Nexus Ventures. Nexus are thematic investors and we discuss how to find and invest in good themes. Matthew gives a couple of examples, showing how he built an investment thesis and how these have worked out. https://www.nivl.co.uk/ (Nexus Ventures website) https://www.scaleupfund.co.uk/ (Scale-up Fund website) Matthew's suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dexys-Midnight-Runners-Young-Rebels-ebook/dp/B0030V0P5G/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=history+of+dexys+midnight+runners&qid=1595495204&sr=8-2 (Dexy Midnight Runners: Young Soul Rebels - Richard White) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Bounce-Ball-Turning-Opportunity/dp/0753824361/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RV6OYTBXZ7LY&dchild=1&keywords=second+bounce+of+the+ball&qid=1595494873&sprefix=second+bounce+o%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1 (Second Bounce of the Ball - Ronald Cohen) As always, further show notes https://www.hardmanandco.com/podcast/ (here).
This is the second of our bonus episodes introducing EIS and tax-advantaged schemes. This time we take the perspective of companies trying to raise money. To help us, our guest is Simon Thorn from Acceleris. We discuss some of the options available to companies and what considerations they should think about when choosing an investor. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-for-the-enterprise-investment-scheme (HMRC guide to raising money under EIS) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-the-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme (HMRC guide to raising money under SEIS)
Interview with Paul Miller, Managing Partner and CEO at Bethnal Green Ventures. We talk about running an acclerator, what Paul thinks is important for companies to develop and how the markets for startups are changing. We also discuss social impact investing and how companies can move from ideas to having a measurable impact. Suggested book: "Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm" - Isabella Tree
We had requests for episodes that were more introductory, for those new to investing in the Enterprise Investment Scheme, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts. In the first of two bonus episodes, Mark Brownridge, Director General of the EIS Association, talks about the schemes from the perspective of investors and advisors. We outline why the schemes exist, what the advantages for investors are, the various routes to investing and some of the things investors should think about before committing money. The second bonus episode will talk about the schemes from the perspective of companies looking to raise money.
Interview with Dr Reuben Wilcock, Ventures Director at Blackfinch Ventures. We talk about the challenges of creating an investment process from scratch, including establishing a quality pipeline and creating effective decision making. We also talk about some of the challenges of the Advanced Assurance process. Suggested books: "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - Dale Carnegie "The Hard Thing about Hard Things" - Ben Horowitz
Interview with Andrew Castell from Par Equity in Edinburgh. We talk about angel investing, running an angel syndicate and the merits of being an angel versus a passive investor.
A brief discussion of this new podcast on EIS and venture capital and what you can expect to hear about very soon.