Advising companies
This brief guide should help founders understand the process and timescale investors follow when considering investment in a company. Timescales and details change with each investment and so this should be consider a rough guide only. First, as a founder, make initial contact with your 1 – 2 paragraph elevator pitch. This has […]
I’ve written many articles on the woes of overvalued startups and why yours isn’t worth £1M. So where is the value in your company? Below are the main areas of value that a startup can influence within their own company. IP, ideally in the form of patents, ideally granted. Patent values increase dramatically when contested […]
Just like prospective employers, investors are interviewing you and assessing everything you say and do. When writing to the investor, check your spelling, punctuation and grammar. Consider using a thesaurus and perhaps seek out a friendly proof reader. When you request a LinkedIn make sure you compose a relevant message that explains why you are […]
I’ve given a lot of advice to founders seeking mentoring or investment. These are generally big ticket items such as valuation or product development and have been covered in my open blog for a couple of years now. So I thought it time to give some insight into the small “tells” that allow me to […]
I’ve dedicated a lot of articles to valuation and explained in great detail why your startup isn’t worth £1M. A few months ago I met a startup who crashed the ceiling with a self valuation of £3M. Yesterday, however, we hit the stars with a startup self valuing at £5M. Now this company does have […]
I am in serious talks with the founders of a startup. I’m not very interested in their business model, although I think it’s decent, but we do have aligned interests. They require premises to run their business out of and I need to invest some money into property having recently sold a couple of buildings. […]
I have mentioned NDA’s in a lot of separate articles, so I thought I would outline the purpose and features of a good NDA and in so doing, point out the many mistakes everybody (including large corporations) make in constructing them. A non disclosure agreement (or NDA) is a simple legal contract that permits two […]
So, for many technology based startups with intellectual property, patents are an obvious route to go down. However it is not always the correct route and what you might think of as a good form of protection may actually achieve the opposite. Let me explain why: Patents are filed public documents that describe your intellectual […]
So, I’ve been in quite serious investment negotiation with a startup that I had previously mentored. They are doing well and are looking for an additional investment round to fund growth. While competent with their own business and market, the primary founder is a little lacking in general business experience, so I have to date […]
A theme repeated now several times during my mentoring sessions, is the misunderstanding of what legal advice is or should be. The first time this happened, was about a year ago, when a promising startup asked for my advice on how to offer share options to new employees. Now any startup with some traction has […]