The Exchanges

Q That really nicely brings me to the next question about the characteristics of effective mentors. And for potential listeners thinking about taking on mentors, what do you think is important for founders to look for in mentors?

A I mean, the best mentors are the ones that are intellectually curious, so you can get a sense pretty quickly by talking to somebody whether or not they love to work on puzzles. So are these the people who can sit down with you and just very quickly, and they, they, they, they, you can see that as you bring your strategic problems with them, to them, their eyes light up. They love this idea of sitting in front of a whiteboard and beginning to draw out Um, this puzzle, and most entrepreneurial challenges are puzzles. Typically, they're strategic problems, and these are people, these are mentors who just love that challenge, and they derive a lot of intrinsic value from working with, working with entrepreneurs on those challenges. And then, and then second, I would say, and perhaps even more, more important, or just as important, is people who are intellectually honest. So, um, Um, mentors who are not going to just smile at you and tell you what you want to hear, but they're people who will be honest with you on what the challenges are and will show you all of the ugly parts of, of your business in order to help you, um, make them more beautiful.

AI assessment note: “the best mentors are the ones that are intellectually curious”

Q Do you think mentors are necessary for startups in their early growth?

A Yeah, I mean, I think mentors are, are most necessary in the early growth of companies. You know, you think about the two things that entrepreneurs have the least of, which is time and money. Um, if talking to a mentor can get you onto the right strategic path faster, if it can help you avoid some of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make, and the thing is that entrepreneurs make a lot of the same thematic mistakes over and over again, By simply being a good, by being a good mentor, you can help that entrepreneur move faster and save time. And, you know, the younger the company is, the more susceptible it is to getting derailed. And so I would say it's, the mentorship is absolutely critical in those early formation time.

AI assessment note: “mentorship is absolutely critical in those early formation time”

Q Did you get that same sinking feeling when you sold Pictella that you did when you were told about Takoda?

A Well, no, it's a little bit different because Pictella was, um, you know, by the time we sold, we were still very early, right? It took us a year to build the platform, um, and then we were just starting to get into the market and begin selling it when they all came and approached us. And so we, the, not all the stars were in alignment yet, right? Um, we, you know, we, we didn't have tens of million dollars in revenue yet. Um, we didn't have a big company. It wasn't quite at the same stage of where Dakota was when it sold. And so it was a little bit easier to say, you know, you look at the cap table when somebody comes to you and you say, okay, well, we're going to have to do another raise. And if we do another raise, we're going to dilute by this much roughly, right? And if we do dilute by this much roughly, how much do we then have to sell the company later on to make the same amount of money?

AI assessment note: “Well, no, it's a little bit different because Pictella was, um, you know”

Q And do they get equity or do they get, is it a charitable donation of time?

A It's a charitable donation of time. I know this sounds, it's one of the things that boggled my mind the most when I, when I first joined Techstars is Which I just couldn't understand why people would do this. Why would they, why would they give so freely of their time? And, but, but, but think of it this way, it's a self-selecting thing. Meaning, the, the best mentors are the ones that, um, typically they're, they're very successful, right? They have had very successful careers, and they're used, this is a way for them to give back, and it's a way for them to help the next generation. So, It's not surprising that most of the really great mentors are, are people with families, right? And so they just have this, this notion of giving back to the next generation.

AI assessment note: “It's a charitable donation of time.”

Q That really nicely brings me to the next question about the characteristics of effective mentors. And for potential listeners thinking about taking on mentors, what do you think is important for founders to look for in mentors?

A I mean, the best mentors are the ones that are intellectually curious, so you can get a sense pretty quickly by talking to somebody whether or not they love to work on puzzles. So are these the people who can sit down with you and just very quickly, and they, they, they, they, you can see that as you bring your strategic problems with them, to them, their eyes light up. They love this idea of sitting in front of a whiteboard and beginning to draw out Um, this puzzle, and most entrepreneurial challenges are puzzles. Typically, they're strategic problems, and these are people, these are mentors who just love that challenge, and they derive a lot of intrinsic value from working with, working with entrepreneurs on those challenges. And then, and then second, I would say, and perhaps even more, more important, or just as important, is people who are intellectually honest. So, um, Um, mentors who are not going to just smile at you and tell you what you want to hear, but they're people who will be honest with you on what the challenges are and will show you all of the ugly parts of, of your business in order to help you, um, make them more beautiful.

AI assessment note: “I mean, the best mentors are the ones that are intellectually curious”

Q Do you think mentors are necessary for startups in their early growth?

A Yeah, I mean, I think mentors are, are most necessary in the early growth of companies. You know, you think about the two things that entrepreneurs have the least of, which is time and money. Um, if talking to a mentor can get you onto the right strategic path faster, if it can help you avoid some of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make, and the thing is that entrepreneurs make a lot of the same thematic mistakes over and over again, By simply being a good, by being a good mentor, you can help that entrepreneur move faster and save time. And, you know, the younger the company is, the more susceptible it is to getting derailed. And so I would say it's, the mentorship is absolutely critical in those early formation time.

AI assessment note: “I think mentors are, are most necessary in the early growth of companies.”

Q Did you get that same sinking feeling when you sold Pictella that you did when you were told about Takoda?

A Well, no, it's a little bit different because Pictella was, um, you know, by the time we sold, we were still very early, right? It took us a year to build the platform, um, and then we were just starting to get into the market and begin selling it when they all came and approached us. And so we, the, not all the stars were in alignment yet, right? Um, we, you know, we, we didn't have tens of million dollars in revenue yet. Um, we didn't have a big company. It wasn't quite at the same stage of where Dakota was when it sold. And so it was a little bit easier to say, you know, you look at the cap table when somebody comes to you and you say, okay, well, we're going to have to do another raise. And if we do another raise, we're going to dilute by this much roughly, right? And if we do dilute by this much roughly, how much do we then have to sell the company later on to make the same amount of money?

AI assessment note: “Well, no, it's a little bit different because Pictella was”

Q And are there any areas of the fintech space, though, that you personally find most interesting, and why?

A Sure. Um, well, let me just take one step back, because one of the things, I think what's, what's interesting, um, about, you know, why did I, why did I decide to do this, right? So, You know, the opportunity, the opportunity for fintech today is the same opportunity I saw in ad tech 15 years ago. It's just a blue ocean. And, you know, which segues into, you know, what gets me excited? Um, you know, why do I get out of bed in the morning and, and do this every day? And, you know, one of the categories that is just, I think, phenomenal is the, the notion of financial inclusion. Right? This is the aspect of financial services. Um, in which there's a segment of people, whether here in the UK, or in fact, most of the world, in which, um, there's a group of people that don't have bank accounts. They, they are excluded from what we would consider to be traditional financial services. Sure. And for companies that are trying to break that, right, they're trying to reinvent financial services to be able to work for segments of the population that That banks have ignored for a long time. Um, that is extraordinarily exciting because it's one of those rare moments in at least my career where as an investor, you can both, you can do two things. You can, you can both change the world and make the world a better place, but also make a lot of money in the process. Because if you think that, yo…

AI assessment note: “one of the categories that is just, I think, phenomenal is the, the notion of financial inclusion”

Q And do they get equity or do they get, is it a charitable donation of time?

A It's a charitable donation of time. I know this sounds, it's one of the things that boggled my mind the most when I, when I first joined Techstars is Which I just couldn't understand why people would do this. Why would they, why would they give so freely of their time? And, but, but, but think of it this way, it's a self-selecting thing. Meaning, the, the best mentors are the ones that, um, typically they're, they're very successful, right? They have had very successful careers, and they're used, this is a way for them to give back, and it's a way for them to help the next generation. So, It's not surprising that most of the really great mentors are, are people with families, right? And so they just have this, this notion of giving back to the next generation.

AI assessment note: “It's a charitable donation of time.”

Q And are there any areas of the fintech space, though, that you personally find most interesting, and why?

A Sure. Um, well, let me just take one step back, because one of the things, I think what's, what's interesting, um, about, you know, why did I, why did I decide to do this, right? So, You know, the opportunity, the opportunity for fintech today is the same opportunity I saw in ad tech 15 years ago. It's just a blue ocean. And, you know, which segues into, you know, what gets me excited? Um, you know, why do I get out of bed in the morning and, and do this every day? And, you know, one of the categories that is just, I think, phenomenal is the, the notion of financial inclusion. Right? This is the aspect of financial services. Um, in which there's a segment of people, whether here in the UK, or in fact, most of the world, in which, um, there's a group of people that don't have bank accounts. They, they are excluded from what we would consider to be traditional financial services. Sure. And for companies that are trying to break that, right, they're trying to reinvent financial services to be able to work for segments of the population that That banks have ignored for a long time. Um, that is extraordinarily exciting because it's one of those rare moments in at least my career where as an investor, you can both, you can do two things. You can, you can both change the world and make the world a better place, but also make a lot of money in the process. Because if you think that, yo…

AI assessment note: “one of the categories that is just, I think, phenomenal is the, the notion of financial inclusion.”

Q And then finally, can you name three companies from either, well, from the Barclays Accelerator or Techstars that you're most excited about, and why?

A Um, well, I never play favorites, right? Um, and so it's very hard for me, very hard for me to answer this question. Um, but I will certainly, what I'll do is I'll frame it as, I'll give you three companies that are here in, based here in London. Okay. Um, and that are oftentimes in the news. Perfect. So there is, uh, there's a company, um, that came out of my last cohort called AIRE, A-I-R-E, and they're creating, uh, An alternative scoring methodology for people, um, who don't typically have credit scores, and so the catch-twenty-two of getting a credit score is you oftentimes need to have a credit history, and if you don't have a credit history, you can't get a credit score, so what do you do? And so AIR is trying to tackle that problem, again, around this notion of financial inclusion, um, so that new people can enter into the credit system.

AI assessment note: “I never play favorites, right? Um, and so it's very hard for me”

Q And then finally, can you name three companies from either, well, from the Barclays Accelerator or Techstars that you're most excited about, and why?

A Um, well, I never play favorites, right? Um, and so it's very hard for me, very hard for me to answer this question. Um, but I will certainly, what I'll do is I'll frame it as, I'll give you three companies that are here in, based here in London. Okay. Um, and that are oftentimes in the news. Perfect. So there is, uh, there's a company, um, that came out of my last cohort called AIRE, A-I-R-E, and they're creating, uh, An alternative scoring methodology for people, um, who don't typically have credit scores, and so the catch-twenty-two of getting a credit score is you oftentimes need to have a credit history, and if you don't have a credit history, you can't get a credit score, so what do you do? And so AIR is trying to tackle that problem, again, around this notion of financial inclusion, um, so that new people can enter into the credit system.

AI assessment note: “what I'll do is I'll frame it as, I'll give you three companies”