Sign-up to the Nothing Ventured newsletter and never miss an episode.
👋🏾 Hi friends!
Well we’re about a week away from elections in the UK where we may well see a significant shake up in the composition of our parliament. I have found myself becoming fairly vocally critical of what’s going on in the governance of this country, but rather than yelling into an echo chamber, I thought I would take a look at what impact the various policies from the main parties may have on the startup and venture ecosystem – read on for the breakdown.
In other news, this Thursday, I will be joining a panel hosted by Vertice the cloud cost opimisation platform co-hosted by Pleo the spend management platform to talk about whether Consolidation is the new digital transformation.
Join me and CFOs from some spectacular organisations this Thursday June 27th at 1000 BST / 1100 CEST to dig into how finance is thinking about growth and spend in the tough funding environment we find ourselves in, as well as the impact of new tools and AI on the finance stack now and in the future.
Sign up to join the webinar or to receive the recording here.
I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance – The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.
Now let’s get down to business…
In this weeks Off Balance:
🎙️ Lyuba Guk and David Gilgur from Blue Lake Ventures on Nothing Ventured
🇬🇧 What impact would the various parties’ policies have on the startup and venture ecosystem
𝗗𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀?!
In last week’s episode of Nothing Ventured, I spoke to Lyubov Guk and David Gilgur, Founding Partners at Blue Lake Ventures, an early stage firm investing and supporting pre-seed and seed stage exceptional immigrant founders in the UK focussed on b2b and software startups.
Prior to founding Blue Lake, David was founder of the VimesVC consultancy in Kyiv whilst Lyuba was a partner at VimesVC. David also spent 6 years at Bloomberg ultimately as a Strategic Account Manager within Data Sales.
Our top takeaways:
➡️ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺: Despite facing desperate challenges, the Ukrainian ecosystem is marked by resilience. The founders from Ukraine have shown remarkable strength and determination in the face of adversity.
➡️ 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Immigrant founders, especially from Eastern Europe and India, exhibit a strong work ethic, a willingness to take risks, and a drive to succeed. Their diverse backgrounds and experiences contribute to their success in the startup world.
➡️ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Blue Lake is working towards creating a super community for international founders in the UK. By fostering collaboration and support among founders from different cultural backgrounds, they aim to create a thriving ecosystem for startup growth and success – check out their International Office Hours 3.0 here.
We also discussed:
🚀 How they went from working with SMEs, to launching an accelerator to investing first in Ukrainian immigrants then to all immigrant founders in the UK
✋🏼 Too many people being pushed into ‘founder’ roles
🦄 62% of unicorn ventures across the UK and the US were founded by migrants.
🕸️ Building a super community for international founders in the UK
💰 Why VCs need to shut up and stick to investing
Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts!
If you have any feedback on the podcast or the newsletter, just reply to this mail or ping me online!
If you like what I’m putting out, do give me a follow on LinkedIn and Twitter.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with “Off Balance” and, importantly, tell me why you’d like to connect 💪🏾)
Now let’s get into it.
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If you’re a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If you’re a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale 🚀
As we gear up for the 2024 UK General Election, it’s essential we understand how each party’s policies might impact us.
So I took to the interweb sprinkled with a bit of chatgpt to see what we need to keep an eye on.
Economic Policies: Cutting NI by 2p could enhance cash flow for startups. However, a legal cap on migration might restrict access to international talent, essential for innovation.
Education: 100,000 high-quality apprenticeships and the Advanced British Standard could produce industry-ready grads, aligning with our tech needs.
Economic Reform: Wide ranging reforms and green energy initiatives could create new opportunities, though higher taxation might affect net earnings.
Carried Interest Taxation: Labour plans to change how carried interest is taxed, potentially increasing tax liabilities for VCs by taxing it like income instead of capital gains. This could affect investment returns and strategies, making the UK less attractive for investment managers compared to other European countries.
Social Policies: Expanded social safety nets might lead to a more stable consumer base, increasing market potential and share of wallet for tech products.
Healthcare & Mental Health: Investing £8.4 billion in the NHS might improve employee productivity and reduce absenteeism.
Green Economy: Support for green energy investments creates opportunities for startups focused on sustainability, climate and greentech.
Green Economy Transition: Investments in renewable energy and banning fracking open doors for clean tech startups.
Social Justice: Enhanced social programs could expand the customer base for tech products by increasing disposable income across the population.
Tax Reduction & Deregulation: Lower taxes and reduced regulatory burdens can boost profitability and attract VC investment.
Immigration Controls: Stricter policies might limit access to the international talent pool.
Opportunities: Tax cuts, apprenticeship programs, and green investments are all net positives for reducing costs and encouraging growth.
Clearly, none of these can be guaranteed, and of course, many of the policies have been challenged in terms of affordability though for some of the parties – as they themselves have said – these are the themes they’re interested in given they won’t be likely to form a government in the upcoming elections.
Challenges: Immigration caps and higher taxation may restrict talent acquisition and increase operational expenses. Labour’s proposed changes to carried interest taxation could impact investment returns and disincentivise emerging managers.
Equally, whilst these may seem negative on the face of it, one can never be sure of the second order effects that will flow out of these policies though, in speaking with VCs the changes in carried interest are definitely a point of concern. I have long maintained that talent and capital are interlinked, if we see a flight of one, it won’t be long before we see a potential flight of the other.
Obviously I can’t capture it all, for example corporate tax reform might have an impact on whether you choose to incorporate in the UK or elsewhere. And, equally, I didn’t go into the detail of how viable these policies or reforms actually are (and obviously only one party gets to implement anyway).
All I think we can really say right now is that we are likely to see some changes in the shape of UK PLC post the elections on the 4th of July, and only time will really tell what impact they’ll ultimately have on the ecosystem – one thing is for sure, whilst a rising tide lifts all boats, is the tide goes out, we might just be left with a bunch of rubbish on the beach.
As always, my office hours are open, if you’d like to chat about this or anything else, just grab some time 😊.
I hope you found Off Balance #41 useful. As always, I’d love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know 😊
🚀And that’s a wrap for this edition of Off Balance – I’d appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if you’ve got something you’d like to say.
📨 And if you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
🎧 Finally, if you’re a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods – it really helps us spread the word.
That’s it from me so until next time…
Stay liquid 🙂
Aarish
Rho is the business banking platform with everything you need to manage your company cash and scale your business. Apply in minutes and enjoy 24/7 customer support plus enterprise-grade spend management – all with zero monthly, wire, or ACH fees.
Open a Rho account in minutes today.
Sign-up to the Nothing Ventured newsletter and never miss an episode.
👋🏾 Hi friends!
This week I sit down with Kiran Mehta, investor at Mercia Ventures, we talk about everything from the changing VC landscape to why decks and financial models aren’t the be all and end all and why founders might want to think about them differently.
In other news, I’ll be joining a panel of CFOs hosted by Vertice and Pleo to discuss:
How to balance daily tasks with tech management
Identifying and preventing tech overspend
Tips for conducting tech audits
How to decide on tech contracts
And plenty more… So if you’re a finance pro working in a high growth venture, join us on the 27th June at | 10AM BST | 11AM CEST | 3PM EST.
Register here to watch live or to get the recording 💪🏾
Register here to join us on 27th June at 10am BST
I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance – The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.
Now let’s get down to business…
In this week’s episode of Nothing Ventured, I sat down with Kiran Mehta, Investment Manager at Mercia Ventures, a national venture capital provider, which has been closing the funding gap across the UK, partnering with exciting start-up and scaleup businesses.
Prior to joining Mercia, Kiran worked at Lloyds Bank and the Real Estate Equity Fund.
My top takeaways:
1️⃣ 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐭: Kiran noted the importance of pursuing something you enjoy and excel in. He highlighted the significance of prioritising working with smart people and how venture is chaotic yet rewarding. Good founders will always have a chance in any market, regardless of the challenges they face.
2️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭: Kiran discussed the rapid changes in the job market and the evolving landscape of education. He highlighted the need for students to prioritise their interests and skills, especially if they aspire to head into the world of venture capital. The discussion shed light on the importance of adapting to changing job cycles and market conditions.
3️⃣ 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: The conversation touched upon the shift towards capital efficiency and the intersection of venture-style growth with financial prudence. Kiran highlighted the challenges faced by founders in deciding between pursuing profitability or continuing to raise capital. The discussion provided valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of venture funding and the need for sustainable growth strategies.
We also touched on:
🪐 How you can’t live in a parallel universe, do what you love and what you’re great at.
🧠 Why you should prioritise working with really smart people.
🦋 How venture is chaos.
💪🏾 Why great founders will have a chance in any stage of the market
📈 Why founders need to internalise that growth is still very important even as they have to be more capital efficient.
👩🏼🏫 Decks and financial models are great, but they aren’t everything.
💥 The disproportionate effect that investors can have by driving support.
Check it out!
Else listen on Spotify or Apple
If you have any feedback, or if there’s something you’re desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail or ping me online – I’m very open to conversations.
If you like what I’m putting out, do give me a follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with “Off Balance” and, more importantly, tell me why you’d like to connect 💪🏾)
Don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe to Nothing Ventured on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, it really helps more people see what we’re doing – you can find links to these (and more including my Office Hours) right here!
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If you’re a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If you’re a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale 🚀
As always, my office hours are open, if you’d like to chat about anything finance, tech or venture releated, just grab some time 😊.
I hope you found Off Balance #40 valuable. As always, I’d love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know 😊
🚀And that’s a wrap for this edition of Off Balance – I’d appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if you’ve got something you’d like to say.
📨 If you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
🎧 Finally, if you’re a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods – it really helps us spread the word.
That’s it from me so until next time…
Stay liquid 🙂
Aarish
High upside startup investments used to be reserved for big funds and billionaires. Now we’re reserving them for Deal Sheet members. Subscribers have gotten access to deals alongside Sam Altman, Google Ventures and a16z. Join to get the hottest startup investment opportunities emailed to you every week.
Sign-up to the Nothing Ventured newsletter and never miss an episode.
Sign-up to the Nothing Ventured newsletter and never miss an episode.
👋🏾 Hi friends!
Well last week was a bit of a blur to say the least! After landing late into Berlin on Tuesday evening and getting stuck for an hour waiting to get through passport control, I had a super early start the next day hosting a series of talks at TOA 2024.
I’m going to talk a bit more about the panel I was on further down, but overall, it was great to have had the chance to host the startup pitch competition watching around 20 startups do a 2 minute cold pitch without slides which the TOA audience then judged followed by the final 10’s (slightly!) longer 3 minute pitches to the judges the next day.
It was probably the first conference I have attended since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and certainly the first I have participated in to this extent and I LOVED IT!
Also thought it was time for a bit of a personal rebrand and refresh so say hello to my new profile pic cross platform!
I’m also super proud to be partnering with the London Venture Capital Summit this Saturday, hosted by LVCN (London Venture Capital Network).
Come along on the 15th of June for London’s premier forum for VCs, operators, and innovators, and make sure you grab a ticket quick, they’re selling out fast!
Get your discounted ticket on me, here!
I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance – The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.
Now let’s get down to business…
In this weeks Off Balance:
🎙️ Tamta Gamezardashvili, founder of Unorthodox Ventures on Nothing Ventured
🔮 Reimagining Work – The Future of Productivity and Value
Do investors have inferiority complexes too???
Check out the latest episode of Nothing Ventured where I spoke to Tamta Gamezardashvili founder of Unorthodox Ventures, an advisory firm that leads capital raising strategy helping VC funds to raise capital by incorporating analysis of explicit and implicit data and human behaviour.
She is also the founder of Founders’ Social, an all-female community of founders and investors bringing together like minded, supportive, high calibre females as well as the host of My Kitchen, Her Story a show that celebrates female leaders whilst cooking their favourite dish.
Prior to founding Unorthodox Ventures, Tamta held senior sales roles at Palantir, Google, Salesforce and IBM.
We got into the weeds of some pretty interesting topics, here were my top takeaways:
➡️ Leveling the Power Dynamic in Venture Capital
Tamta highlighted the struggle that many VCs face when it comes to fundraising. The inferiority complex amongst investors can create a tricky situation where ego comes into play. By understanding the psychology behind fundraising and focusing on building relationships, VCs can level out the power dynamic and approach investors with confidence.
➡️ Empowering Women in the VC Ecosystem
Tamta’s initiative, My Kitchen Club, and the female-focused community she has built are empowering women in the VC ecosystem. By providing a safe space for women to connect, share experiences, and support each other, these communities are breaking barriers and fostering diversity in the industry.
➡️ Understanding the Importance of Empathy and Compassion
One of the key insights from the episode was the importance of empathy and compassion in our interactions. Tamta shared her contrarian conviction that understanding the experiences and backgrounds of others can lead to more meaningful and positive interactions. By taking the time to empathise with others, we can contribute to a better and more inclusive environment.
We also talked about:
💰 How VCs struggle to raise too
⚡️ Levelling out the power dynamic.
🤝 How people buy from people.
⚥ The difference between how men ask for money versus how women do.
🔪 How Tamta is bringing women back into the kitchen.
🙋🏽♀️ Tamta’s contrarian conviction – ask the question first.
Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts!
If you have any feedback on the podcast or the newsletter, just reply to this mail or ping me online!
If you like what I’m putting out, do give me a follow on LinkedIn and Twitter.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with “Off Balance” and, importantly, tell me why you’d like to connect 💪🏾)
Now let’s get into it.
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If you’re a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If you’re a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale 🚀
My elder daughter has just entered the workforce. She’s not yet in the field she wants to be in, but as we all know, it’s easier to get a job when you’re in a job. Or at least that used to be the standard thinking.
But the reality is that the nature of work has changed substantially over the last couple of decades, even more so since the pandemic and now with the advent of AI.
So it was a real pleasure to try and unpack some of the themes we believed were going to impact how we might think about work in the future on a panel during TOA 2024 in Berlin.
I was lucky enough to be sat with some pretty interesting individuals – Joshua Greene – Founder of Groove, the co-working community app built for a remote world (Joshua used to be Adam Neumann’s Chief of Staff at WeWork), Felix Steffens, Founder of WorkMotion, a remote first business building the EOR built for the DACH region and Megan Knab, Founder of Franklin Payroll the platform that allows you to pay your team in cash and crypto. All masterfully moderated by Caro Henne.
Now 30 minutes is nowhere near enough time to try and unravel the complexity and the nuance around this topic, but we hopefully gave the audience some things to think about. Here’s a bit of a summary and exploration of everything we discussed.
At the same time as we are seeing calls to restrict migration from throughout Europe, it’s also never been truer that there is a significant deficit of skills especially in key areas like software engineering. Felix argued that the advent of remote, precipitated and fuelled by the pandemic has meant that Europe has not only had to get its head around the concepts of remote or hybrid work, it has had to embrace it. This has obviously been facilitated by employer of record (EOR) businesses such as WorkMotion, Omnipresent, Remote and others but these tools actually highlight one of the big problems or inefficiencies that as yet has not been tackled – the red tape, bureaucracy and tax systems that are still largely stuck in the old paradigm of working. These make it less viable for smaller businesses to compliantly employ people overseas forcing them to look for solutions in country which may well be more expensive.
Gone are the days where you would leave university, get a job with a corporate (probably through the milk rounds) and stick with them for most (if not all) of your career. Sure, you may move a couple of times for a more senior title, better money, or more benefits, but the role is much the same, the career is still the career and it’s one job to rule them all. We are seeing the rise and rise of freelancers, contractors, fractional talent and talent from throughout the gig economy as well as the fact that even when an individual lands a full time role they are neither tied to the company nor, in many instances the functional role either. Now I personally think that we are going to see changes as people who entered the fractional world during the pretty bullish 2021 / 2022 period start finding it tougher to secure new roles, but directionally, the whole panel felt that this need for autonomy and to own your own future will just continue. As Josh said, switching jobs is as easy as switching Slack channels nowadays.
I have long been an advocate for moving away from a model where we charge for our time to one where we charge for our output. But this is easier said that done, it requires firstly the experience to actually know where your value lies, as well as the ability to productise your service. People also are redefining what value they want from their employers, it’s not about the free beer and the ping pong but really allowing them to do meaningful work every day. But taking it back a step even, and thinking about the weird situation where you are effectively providing your employer with working capital via your monthly (or fortnightly) salary is something that can be redifined – precisely what Megan is working on with crypto payroll. Imagine how much more stimulus that would bring to the economy, how much better people could plan and match their income to their expenses on a daily basis and what value that could unleash.
I am a massive bore on this subject, mention education once in my presence and be prepared to have your ears chewed off for a pretty good portion of time. But, at the risk of repeating myself, we have to change the way we educate our kids, we are not preparing them for the workforce they are going to enter (see below). I have a 23 year old and a 16 year old and I am very proud of the fact that we were able to send them to an IB school which I feel does a much better job of providing them with the skills they’ll need than the standard UK system does. What are these skills? Sales, finance, teamwork, empathy, communication, feedback loops, empathy and many more. Let’s face it, our current system was built to suit the first industrial age 150 years ago – the problem is that we’re now entering the fourth.
And all of this, of course, leads to the advent, and impact, of AI. None of us truly know the size of the impact that AI will have on the existing and future workforces, but one thing we do know is that it will have an impact. So the best advice for everyone, whether in or entering employment, is to get yourself as acquainted as you can with the new tools that are coming up on almost a daily basis at the moment because whilst the tools themselves may not replace you, the people who know how to use them probably will. But we also cannot underplay the reality that AI will have a dual impact, some negative, some massively positive – on the negative side, it will mean that companies will need less headcount to deliver, but on the positive side, AI means that more businesses will be created as new entrepreneurs embrace the tech which hopefully then means more jobs overall. Whatever the coming reality, the only thing you can count on is that things are going to change fast, so you need to be prepared.
Sadly we only got to scratch the surface of many of these topics given the time we had available, but would love to hear other people’s thoughts on what they think the future of work is going to look like over the next decade and beyond.
Gif by goldenglobes on Giphy
As always, my office hours are open, if you’d like to chat about this or anything else, just grab some time 😊.
I hope you found Off Balance #39 useful. As always, I’d love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know 😊
🚀And that’s a wrap for this edition of Off Balance – I’d appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if you’ve got something you’d like to say.
📨 And if you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
🎧 Finally, if you’re a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods – it really helps us spread the word.
That’s it from me so until next time…
Stay liquid 🙂
Aarish
👋🏾 Hi friends!
This week’s podcast catch up explores the interesection of venture capital, startups, journalism, PR and, for a short while, quick commerce too.
I’m in conversation with Steve O’Hear, founder of O’Hear & Co who is probably bet known for the decade or so he spent covering the European tech ecosystem for TechCrunch.
Check out the conversation and let me know your thoughts 🙂
I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance – The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.
Now let’s get down to business…
In the latest episode of Nothing Ventured, I spoke to Steve O’Hear. Steve has played a pivotal role in the European technology sector for more than 20 years, as a journalist, founder, executive, and angel investor.
Steve is currently the CEO and co-founder of O’Hear & Co, a strategic communications agency helping startups, scale-ups and venture capital firms tell their story while reducing risk and increasing commercial success. He also serves as SVP at Zapp, London’s leading premium 24/7 on-demand convenience app.
With over 15 years of experience as a technology and business journalist, Steve spent over a decade at TechCrunch, where he is famous for having covered European startups and venture capital and being the first journalist to report on companies such as Wise, Deliveroo, Monzo Bank and Wayve.
He was also the CEO of the social question and answer platform Beepl, which he founded and led until its acquisition in 2012 and in 2006, he wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary “In Search of the Valley.”
My top takeaways:
➡️ 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲:
Steve highlighted the misconceptions surrounding the quick commerce space, noting the importance of understanding the convenience retail model. He discussed the need to attract customers willing to pay for convenience and the significance of serving the right use cases with premium products.
➡️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴:
We explored the intersection of journalism and venture capital, discussing how storytelling plays a crucial role in attracting customers, investors, and aligning stakeholders. Steve really highlighted the value of a compelling story and the impact it can have on a startup’s success.
➡️ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:
Steve shared a contrarian conviction about the importance of intent, highlighting the human element often overlooked in debates and culture wars. He talked about the significance of understanding people’s intentions and the role it plays in shaping our interactions and perceptions.
We also discussed:
📰 Whether journalists move through the hype cycle, bullish when startups are small, but critical when they’re bigger.
🚦When an investor puts capital into an early stage startup, that’s a signal where very few exist.
🥴 Can you have too much press.
⚖️ The Ideal Balance of Story, Relationships, and Execution in PR.
💻 Steve’s thoughts on remote work and the impact on social mobility.
Check it out!
Else listen on Spotify or Apple
If you have any feedback, or if there’s something you’re desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail or ping me online – I’m very open to conversations.
If you like what I’m putting out, do give me a follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
(If you are trying to connect with me on LinkedIn, maybe read this post I wrote and make sure to start your request with “Off Balance” and, more importantly, tell me why you’d like to connect 💪🏾)
Don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe to Nothing Ventured on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, it really helps more people see what we’re doing – you can find links to these (and more including my Office Hours) right here!
This edition of Nothing Ventured is brought to you by EmergeOne.
EmergeOne provides fractional CFO support to venture backed tech startups from Seed to Series B and beyond.
Join companies backed by Hoxton, Stride, Octopus, Founders Factory, Outlier, a16z and more, who trust us to help them get the most out of their capital, streamline financials, and manage investor relations so they can focus on scaling.
If you’re a CFO working with venture backed startups and want to join a team of incredible fractional talent, drop us your details here.
If you’re a growing startup that knows it needs that strategic financial knowhow, drop your details here to see how we can support you as you scale 🚀
As always, my office hours are open, if you’d like to chat about anything finance, tech or venture releated, just grab some time 😊.
Gif by YellowstoneTV on Giphy
I hope you found Off Balance #38 v. As always, I’d love to get your feedback and understand the sort of topics you would love to hear about.
Just hit reply to this mail or drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know 😊
🚀And that’s a wrap for this edition of Off Balance – I’d appreciate your feedback so just reply to this email if you’ve got something you’d like to say.
📨 If you think someone else might love this, please forward it on to them,
🎧 Finally, if you’re a fan of the Nothing Ventured podcast, please don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe wherever you get your pods – it really helps us spread the word.
That’s it from me so until next time…
Stay liquid 🙂
Aarish
Sign-up to the Nothing Ventured newsletter and never miss an episode.