The Exchanges

Q Now, can you get the ball rolling by telling us how you made the move into the VC industry from the very startup-centered background that you had?

A Um, yeah, so, I think my move into VC's been very, uh, unusual. Um, so, my background is pretty much, um, Working in startups, uh, either doing software development, um, and then probably for the last eight years, product management. Um, so the last company I worked for was Mindcandy, uh, where I kind of joined them very early on, uh, and had three years of, you know, pretty amazing growth. Um, and I've had a couple of startups myself, um, with sort of the first one, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, and the second one, uh, managed to get a small exit. So I've kind of done the startup thing myself. Um, and then after I left Mind Candy, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Um, I was kind of wanting to do, um, you know, another product role. Uh, wasn't sure if I wanted to do another startup, but I wanted to stay in the startup space. Um, I loved strategy and early stage stuff. Um, and then met Nick Brisbane, who's the managing partner. Um, and he was kind of, uh, setting up this new model, um, super early stage. They, at the time, they weren't even sure whether they needed a product person or not. So, um, I, I said, look, I don't know either. Never done this before. Let's, let's, you know, let's work together for six months and see how it goes. And then, you know, very quickly it was, um, uh, clear that there was a, you know, there was a synergy between, uh, my desire t…

AI assessment note: “then met Nick Brisbane, who's the managing partner... so that's how I kind of joined”

Q Now, can you get the ball rolling by telling us how you made the move into the VC industry from the very startup-centered background that you had?

A Um, yeah, so, I think my move into VC's been very, uh, unusual. Um, so, my background is pretty much, um, Working in startups, uh, either doing software development, um, and then probably for the last eight years, product management. Um, so the last company I worked for was Mindcandy, uh, where I kind of joined them very early on, uh, and had three years of, you know, pretty amazing growth. Um, and I've had a couple of startups myself, um, with sort of the first one, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, and the second one, uh, managed to get a small exit. So I've kind of done the startup thing myself. Um, and then after I left Mind Candy, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Um, I was kind of wanting to do, um, you know, another product role. Uh, wasn't sure if I wanted to do another startup, but I wanted to stay in the startup space. Um, I loved strategy and early stage stuff. Um, and then met Nick Brisbane, who's the managing partner. Um, and he was kind of, uh, setting up this new model, um, super early stage. They, at the time, they weren't even sure whether they needed a product person or not. So, um, I, I said, look, I don't know either. Never done this before. Let's, let's, you know, let's work together for six months and see how it goes. And then, you know, very quickly it was, um, uh, clear that there was a, you know, there was a synergy between, uh, my desire t…

AI assessment note: “met Nick Brisbane, who's the managing partner. Um, and he was kind of”

Q And then what's your most recent investment at Forward Partners, and why did you say yes to it?

A Yeah, so the most recent, um, uh, investment is, is a company, um, called The Gifting Company. Um, and Ben, um, has for the last year, um, from home, uh, you know, loves buying gifts, um, and started to do it for other people, um, just as a kind of, an evening thing. Um, for friends and for family. You know, he's been doing it by hand, um, but people love the gifts that he buys for them, or recommends for them. Gifting is a huge market, um, you know, we invest in e-commerce companies, and gifting is a huge part of that space, and I've never really seen anything that, um, solves the problem. You know, you get a lot of these, um, uh, you can buy vouchers or experiences, um, or you get big marketplaces where you still have to do a lot of work to kind of go through and Um, find a product. Um, whereas his solution by hand is a 10 X improvement. Um, it's actually, you know, uh, you don't have to go and search on Amazon or not on the high street. Um, and the, the ideas that he comes up with are really creative. Um, and people just love them. And the big challenge is how do we automate that process? How do we find a way for this to scale? Um, which might be a combination of, you know, um, software and, um, AI. Um, maybe a bit of sharing economy. Um, so that, you know, there's, there's a few memes that are coming together, um, to solve this, which, you know, I like, I like having hard t…

AI assessment note: “most recent, um, uh, investment is, is a company, um, called The Gifting Company.”

Q And do you have any tips, then, or advice for anyone, kind of, looking to come up with some ideas, so maybe tips for idea creation and brainstorming? What do you guys do at Forward Partners, kind of throwing ideas at the wall, and what is it for you?

A So I guess, I mean, internally, we have our own investment themes, um, where we will be researching different sectors. We'll be, you know, looking at, like, long-term trends in technology and, um, you know, seeing where kind of consumer behavior is going. Internally, we're not actually brainstorming specific ideas because then we throw that out to the world and say, hey, who's got ideas in that space that make sense? But I guess for founders, so I guess there's, there's multiple routes, um, to this. You know, one is you've experienced a problem yourself. And you just know that there's no solution out there that makes sense. Um, you know, that, that's an easy one. Um, another one is, uh, So for me, I think a big thing is you can have, you know, you brainstorm lots of ideas, but then the next step is to go out and, you know, talk to people and interview them and observe them and try to understand more detail in that problem. You know, how are people trying to solve it now? Um, where are their frustrations? Which parts of competitive products do they enjoy? You know, and, and you have to develop that muscle before you go out and spend the next five to 10 years of your life, um, You know, building something.

AI assessment note: “for founders, so I guess there's, there's multiple routes”

Q And, and do you think all VC firms then should have product people?

A So I would probably say yes, wouldn't I? So no, it's interesting actually, um, you know, we, we can see a trend that, um, you know, as startups are looking, as they raise money, they're looking for more than just, um, you know, the money itself. They want something, uh, they want some synergies, whether that's, um, sector expertise, or whether you have some skills that can help them. I think for the, for the early stage funds, you know, having someone that understands products, um, can help massively because, you know, uh, depending on the company, there's, there's a lot of challenges, either, uh, seed or series A, where they need to start scaling up. Maybe the CEO has, um, Been doing the product function themselves, and now suddenly they're like, okay, how do I create a product function? How do I hire in that expertise? What processes do I need to put in place? And for us, for the idea stage, it's even more important because, you know, our founders don't even have any, um, they don't even have a product yet. So, uh, I think at those stages, like, having someone that gets products can be really, really helpful. Kind of seeing the different stages of, uh, startup growth and understands how product functions need to change. In that, in that landscape.

AI assessment note: “I would probably say yes, wouldn't I? [...] for the early stage funds”

Q And having worked at Mindcandy, uh, and having that startup background, how do you think that's altered, uh, how you view your investment pattern and how you invest yourself? Would you say there are kind of benefits to it, or, or can it have detrimental effects sometimes?

A I, I, I'm relatively new to the, to the investment world, but I can kind of see, you know, working in startups, um, you only get to see a few ideas get to any stage. So you're very into detail, and you're really into, like, growing that one company, um, versus suddenly, you know, I'm exposed to, you know, thousands of ideas, and, um, trying to think about longer-term trends, which I think I'm intuitively good at, but you can still see the difference between someone like Nick, who's done it for a long time, and has got a muscle that is developed, uh, you know, in that, and I'm still developing that. Having said that, You know, with, with my kind of product background, I'm able to look at companies with that lens, and I think that, that's useful, right? That, that's a useful lens to look at, because these are all software companies, and the products are huge parts of their businesses.

AI assessment note: “with my kind of product background, I'm able to look at companies with that lens”

Q And do you have any tips, then, or advice for anyone, kind of, looking to come up with some ideas, so maybe tips for idea creation and brainstorming? What do you guys do at Forward Partners, kind of throwing ideas at the wall, and what is it for you?

A So I guess, I mean, internally, we have our own investment themes, um, where we will be researching different sectors. We'll be, you know, looking at, like, long-term trends in technology and, um, you know, seeing where kind of consumer behavior is going. Internally, we're not actually brainstorming specific ideas because then we throw that out to the world and say, hey, who's got ideas in that space that make sense? But I guess for founders, so I guess there's, there's multiple routes, um, to this. You know, one is you've experienced a problem yourself. And you just know that there's no solution out there that makes sense. Um, you know, that, that's an easy one. Um, another one is, uh, So for me, I think a big thing is you can have, you know, you brainstorm lots of ideas, but then the next step is to go out and, you know, talk to people and interview them and observe them and try to understand more detail in that problem. You know, how are people trying to solve it now? Um, where are their frustrations? Which parts of competitive products do they enjoy? You know, and, and you have to develop that muscle before you go out and spend the next five to 10 years of your life, um, You know, building something.

AI assessment note: “Internally, we're not actually brainstorming specific ideas because then we throw that out”

Q And, and do you think all VC firms then should have product people?

A So I would probably say yes, wouldn't I? So no, it's interesting actually, um, you know, we, we can see a trend that, um, you know, as startups are looking, as they raise money, they're looking for more than just, um, you know, the money itself. They want something, uh, they want some synergies, whether that's, um, sector expertise, or whether you have some skills that can help them. I think for the, for the early stage funds, you know, having someone that understands products, um, can help massively because, you know, uh, depending on the company, there's, there's a lot of challenges, either, uh, seed or series A, where they need to start scaling up. Maybe the CEO has, um, Been doing the product function themselves, and now suddenly they're like, okay, how do I create a product function? How do I hire in that expertise? What processes do I need to put in place? And for us, for the idea stage, it's even more important because, you know, our founders don't even have any, um, they don't even have a product yet. So, uh, I think at those stages, like, having someone that gets products can be really, really helpful. Kind of seeing the different stages of, uh, startup growth and understands how product functions need to change. In that, in that landscape.

AI assessment note: “So I would probably say yes, wouldn't I?”

Q And you mentioned there about single founders, and we had a little chat about Ross Bailey appear here. Yeah. And building a strong company, uh, the only way to do this is with a great founder, really. So what do you think makes a great founder? Have you seen any kind of commonalities in the great founders you admire or have worked with?

A Yeah, so I start, you know, we've seen a few founders, and I've worked with quite a few now at Forward Partners. Um, obviously that, you know, on my side, the ones that I've seen that do well, um, they have, uh, a very good understanding of, of their users. Um, they've got, you know, it's internalized, it's, it's there, they really got really strong. So when they're making these calls about, you know, to do X or Y, um, they're making good calls, um, Or, and they're going out and they're speaking to people a lot. Um, so I've started to, you know, look at, assess people in terms of, like, their product muscle, because ultimately they're building products, coupled with a whole manner of other things, right, like, um, their ability to, um, inspire people, their ability to have a big vision, but, you know, for me, I'm now looking at, like, you know, what's their kind of product strength, or do they just think that, you know, someone else will build it for me, and I'll just build the business, because I think that, that, that's hard.

AI assessment note: “they have, uh, a very good understanding of, of their users”

Q And moving to the startups themselves now, you did say, um, about some of them being pre, pre-product, and just purely at the idea stage, and look forward, you have the open office hours, where people can come and share their ideas. So what is it about the ideas That you like, that make you like them, and what it is about the bad ones that make you dislike them?

A Yeah, so we do this monthly office hours where, um, you know, people with ideas can come and just spend 15 minutes with us, whether that's pitching or whether that's, um, you know, uh, actually just getting some advice. The good ideas, we see a lot, and I've kind of seen, you know, you see certain memes that, that, that kind of float through, so whether that's a marketplace for this or a marketplace for that, or the sharing economy of this, and people are slightly picking away at a new niche. Um, so I think the ones that seem to be most exciting, when you start to see so many, the ones that seem exciting, they pop out clearer, because they are slightly different, or the problems that they're trying to solve, you can clearly have a sense that, yes, there's, there's something here that no one's solving at the moment. Um, coupled with the founder, um, So we've seen lots of like the similar ideas, but the founders don't have the kind of, um, deep understanding of the problem. They found a problem and they're going to go, right, we're going to build a startup, but they don't have that kind of deep understanding of either they felt it themselves or they've spent time really researching that problem. And therefore we won't do the investment. You know, the best ones are, um, a strong idea that feels very different to the ones that you see normally. Um, either that's because, um, Um, it…

AI assessment note: “the ones that seem exciting, they pop out clearer, because they are slightly different”

Q And having worked at Mindcandy, uh, and having that startup background, how do you think that's altered, uh, how you view your investment pattern and how you invest yourself? Would you say there are kind of benefits to it, or, or can it have detrimental effects sometimes?

A I, I, I'm relatively new to the, to the investment world, but I can kind of see, you know, working in startups, um, you only get to see a few ideas get to any stage. So you're very into detail, and you're really into, like, growing that one company, um, versus suddenly, you know, I'm exposed to, you know, thousands of ideas, and, um, trying to think about longer-term trends, which I think I'm intuitively good at, but you can still see the difference between someone like Nick, who's done it for a long time, and has got a muscle that is developed, uh, you know, in that, and I'm still developing that. Having said that, You know, with, with my kind of product background, I'm able to look at companies with that lens, and I think that, that's useful, right? That, that's a useful lens to look at, because these are all software companies, and the products are huge parts of their businesses.

AI assessment note: “with my kind of product background, I'm able to look at companies with that lens”

Q And how do you think then, uh, startups and companies can build a kind of emotional connection then with their customers?

A Yeah, so I'll kind of tell you a bit about what we do when, when we get a founder that comes in. So, um, they come in with an idea. They've thought about it for quite a while. Um, they, they can see the problem. Um, so we, uh, they come in, they've got investments from us. And we will tell them, um, the thing they don't want to hear really, they think, oh right, I'm going to go and build my product now, let's get going. And the first thing I say is like, actually, we're going to probably spend the first month going out and talking to people. They sometimes, depending on who it is, they struggle with sometimes. Um, you know, and we go out and we maybe, uh, speak to 40 people, um, of different sort of customer segments that make sense for their target market. We'll do an interview and none of it will be about pitching their idea. All of it is about understanding Um, how they're solving this problem at the moment, how they feel about that problem, what solutions they currently have, you know, where do they go? Um, and then we'll go further. We'll, we'll, um, if we can do, we'll go and, um, watch people trying to solve that problem themselves. Um, and then the next piece is actually trying to, you know, immerse yourself in that problem. So for a whole month, and you know, and that's probably short to be honest, but that's, you know, we have a 12 month program that we try to get the…

AI assessment note: “All of it is about understanding Um, how they're solving this problem at the moment, how they feel”

Q And then we've established now the team and the founder. So let's move on to those very, very early days of the startup. So what should the team focus on in the first hundred days of the startup? Is there kind of 20% that produces 80% of the results?

A Um, for me, I guess the big thing is, you know, uh, most good startups are able to explain their idea very succinctly, um, you know, with a very short phrase that, that, that captures the core value that they offer. Probably 80% of their time is kind of optimizing the 20%, right? And that 20% is like, well, what is the core value that I'm offering to the world? And What I've seen is, you know, if they don't spend enough time really understanding what is that core value to a really deep level, then they can optimize it, and maybe they'll get to a two X better solution, but they'll never really make. An amazing company. So, in the first hundred days, I think the big focus is really getting down to the, the root of what is the value that I'm offering. And, you know, I guess as an example, um, there are, you know, there's an app at the moment that I'm using, it's called Freeletics, and it's like a, um, an online personal coach, a mobile app that's a personal coach. And it's...

AI assessment note: “in the first hundred days, I think the big focus is really getting down”

Q And moving to the startups themselves now, you did say, um, about some of them being pre, pre-product, and just purely at the idea stage, and look forward, you have the open office hours, where people can come and share their ideas. So what is it about the ideas That you like, that make you like them, and what it is about the bad ones that make you dislike them?

A Yeah, so we do this monthly office hours where, um, you know, people with ideas can come and just spend 15 minutes with us, whether that's pitching or whether that's, um, you know, uh, actually just getting some advice. The good ideas, we see a lot, and I've kind of seen, you know, you see certain memes that, that, that kind of float through, so whether that's a marketplace for this or a marketplace for that, or the sharing economy of this, and people are slightly picking away at a new niche. Um, so I think the ones that seem to be most exciting, when you start to see so many, the ones that seem exciting, they pop out clearer, because they are slightly different, or the problems that they're trying to solve, you can clearly have a sense that, yes, there's, there's something here that no one's solving at the moment. Um, coupled with the founder, um, So we've seen lots of like the similar ideas, but the founders don't have the kind of, um, deep understanding of the problem. They found a problem and they're going to go, right, we're going to build a startup, but they don't have that kind of deep understanding of either they felt it themselves or they've spent time really researching that problem. And therefore we won't do the investment. You know, the best ones are, um, a strong idea that feels very different to the ones that you see normally. Um, either that's because, um, Um, it…

AI assessment note: “the best ones are, um, a strong idea that feels very different”

Q And you mentioned there about single founders, and we had a little chat about Ross Bailey appear here. Yeah. And building a strong company, uh, the only way to do this is with a great founder, really. So what do you think makes a great founder? Have you seen any kind of commonalities in the great founders you admire or have worked with?

A Yeah, so I start, you know, we've seen a few founders, and I've worked with quite a few now at Forward Partners. Um, obviously that, you know, on my side, the ones that I've seen that do well, um, they have, uh, a very good understanding of, of their users. Um, they've got, you know, it's internalized, it's, it's there, they really got really strong. So when they're making these calls about, you know, to do X or Y, um, they're making good calls, um, Or, and they're going out and they're speaking to people a lot. Um, so I've started to, you know, look at, assess people in terms of, like, their product muscle, because ultimately they're building products, coupled with a whole manner of other things, right, like, um, their ability to, um, inspire people, their ability to have a big vision, but, you know, for me, I'm now looking at, like, you know, what's their kind of product strength, or do they just think that, you know, someone else will build it for me, and I'll just build the business, because I think that, that, that's hard.

AI assessment note: “the ones that I've seen that do well, um, they have, uh, a very good understanding”