Building relationships
Through my 5 years investing in technology businesses, I’ve noticed there are two common threads behind the best founders I’ve met. They have: i) a deep understanding of the pain they are solving for their customers either through domain experience or perhaps by stumbling across the problem through a pivot or another business and ii) a track record of pushing their limits and achieving excellence – whether that’s being top of their peer group, completing a physical challenge or coming back from failure.
Background
Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, I’ve always challenged the status quo of doing things and tried to work out how I can do them better and faster. I was lucky to be born at a time when the internet was taking off and transforming the global economy and so I’ve always viewed technology as the ultimate enabler for entrepreneurship to flourish. Having started my career as an investor in financial markets, various books on Silicon Valley’s tech titans and Guy Raz’s ‘How I Built This’ podcast spurred my enthusiasm for taking the plunge and going all in on technology.
I got a place on an alternative MBA-programme called Founders Academy in London which kick-started phase two of my career in technology and venture. While during the programme in 2020, I joined Bulb (now part of Octopus Energy) on a 6-month placement in their CEO team, which was fascinating. I then joined Sustainable Ventures, an early-stage climate investor where I led and worked on over 20 transactions. In 2023, I joined Mercia, where I predominantly focus on software opportunities. I sit on the board of Log My Care, a leading care management software in the UK and am a board observer for Synthesized.
