![]() ![]() We understand the start-up journey is not a linear path. How? By working with them proactively along the journey surrounding them with like-minded people from within our community who can help and advise them along the way and by pointing out some of the key challenges they will face. Once we have made the decision to invest this then comes down to the systematic application of a way of working designed to help (not tell) the founders we invest in to be as good as they can be to become great CEOs and to build great teams and big valuable businesses. But we know from our experience that, while it is hard, it is possible to build a great company based upon a contrary view of the world, a great team and a relentless focus on fundamentals of business and execution. You cannot cookie-cut investing, and you cannot cookie-cut company success. The very essence of the great company is their difference. Thiel’s principle is that what makes a company great and gives them the ability to create a ‘monopoly’ and generate significant value for the world and the company is always something that has not been done before. The conventional stuff: how the problem realisation happened and why they want to solve it their unique in-depth domain knowledge, expertise and connections their ability to learn super-fast their ambition, drive and resilience to realise their vision.Īnd we look for the unconventional: a brilliant mind, a deeply held conviction, an ability to see around corners, their – as Peter Thiel puts it – belief in something that no one else believes. There are broadly two key aspects at play here. ![]() Do I want to build a big company with this team? Do I want to build a company with this team? And do my partners believe that we can build an iconic business & a big return? Chris Tottman. And we focus on the isolation of the critical characteristics that define – for us – a great investment opportunity and then work hard with the teams we invest in over a long period to help them realise their vision. We meet with those founders over extended periods, often way before they are ready for our money or time. We meet hundreds of founders for every investment we make. Not because we are misty-eyed unicorn hunters and not because we are ignoring the evidence before our eyes. This is all summarised well in Stephen Piron’s “ The State of Investments in Europe: A Review of the Last Five Years” on Crunchbase.Īnd so despite this evidence, the start-ups still charge, and still we invest. ![]() If we assume that 50% of companies that receive Series B receive Series C (what we call growth capital) then the likelihood of successfully navigating the path from Seed to Series C is a whopping 0.7%. Of 2,500 European start-ups between 20, only 6% of seed went on to receive Series A and of those, 23% went on to achieve a Series B (i.e. But the odds for seed funded start-ups by contrast are far worse, and every VC worth their salt knows them by heart. This is now well entrenched as a common British short hand for crass stupidity. The cavalry attacked, bravely carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome and out of 670, 110 were killed, but incredibly 400 survived unscathed. In fact, worse odds than the apocryphal Charge of the Light Brigade, when sword-wielding cavalrymen rode to their deaths in a frontal assault on well defended artillery. What are the chances of a company going from seed investment to a growth round? Pretty slim. ![]()
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