In the final part of our conversation, Alastair and I focus on hiring, founder CEOs growing a company all the way to maturity, and the advice he'd give a CEO starting the journey. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 25,000 earned at the end of 2 years from the starting of the business? What should we expect from you. I suddenly discovered all this amazing calorific food and US portion sizes! What kinds of challenges in transitioning to the US were you grappling with at this stage? Octopus Ventures has closed a $12.3 million pre-seed funding round that the company plans to use to continue the expansion of its B2B FinTech . A man said to his son, I was two-third of your present age when you were born. . There is a common sentiment in the early stage industry that founder CEOs are often not built to grow from the two-person team all the way to the CEO of a mature company, or in some cases just do not wish to do so. After successful trials that were pretty tough, we were working every hour and learning exceptionally quickly on this 3-month program. Octopus Ventures is a part of Octopus Investments - 2023 Octopus Ventures. Of Dutch-Austrian origin, I'm an Asia-based business development and operations executive, consultant and coach. Ive always believed that ethics, integrity, diversity and values can have a big impact on why people join you and our VP Sales for the Americas, Maria, was kind enough to write about that here. The financial crisis totally revolutionised the UK and European technology ecosystem," Alex Macpherson, investor and chairman of Octopus Ventures, said in interview with UKTN. Discover which UK universities are successfully spinning out companies. . Developing a personal relationship in the hiring process can be an essential complement to the business reasons a person might join your company. I received an update in the invitation to Google Meet link. I just thought back then that there would be huge privacy and security implications in this world where information was being shared online, stored, and protected in ways that were not well understood. I'm in wonderful company alongside Katy | 12 comments on LinkedIn Given the ubiquity of mobile and cloud computing, these types of companies are also able to reach global audiences in a capital efficient way. No matter how important the company might feel to you, its still not as important as family and we all have lives outside work. I think that, of all things, these points have been the most helpful to me along the way. We back businesses from an idea on a page all the way through a business's journey to exit. I was slightly naive at the start. I got on a plane and moved out to San Francisco in February 2015 and started to build out the team here. In London our team spend more of their time seeking talented entrepreneurs to back and then helping them day to day with the challenges that come with building a fast growing young company. Why VC? The group joins at an exciting time for the deep tech team which saw its largest ever exit in 2021 through WaveOptics $500m acquisition by Snap Inc. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. As your company goes on a journey, so does your team. If you're a journalist, you'll head to our Newsroom section. How then did Digital Shadows navigate the cultural challenge when you moved to the US? So, we tried really hard to do a good job with the hiring. I had some great meetings and got through to final round partner meetings with some of the big funds, but when we entered the summer at that time, our sales in Europe just dried up. How would you feel about working for a younger manager? A few years ago, South African documentary filmmaker Craig Foster felt burnt out from years of working on arduous nature films. Youve gone from having a small team on the table, where communication is easy, culture is pretty homogenous, and you know a lot of your teams faults because they came to you that way when you hired them. Creating a team with this as our core focus and culture is critical. How did the idea of Digital Shadows first come to be? I'm in wonderful company alongside Katy | 12 LinkedIn We recently hired in Japan and Australia. We build long-lasting relationships with founders, investing as early as an idea on a page and supporting at every stage of growth with funding, but also with humility and hands-on support for founders and their teams. Alastair, you keep returning to hiring as one of the most important ways youve addressed your company. ; FP Octopus UK Future Generations Fund We're targeting long-term capital growth by focusing on investing in companies, aligned with our sustainable investment themes. Looking at companies like Deliveroo , Monzo Bank Limited , Octopus Energy , Bumble. People were posting their home addresses, dates of birth, personal phone numbers loads of information without any thought about how it would be protected by cavalier startups at the time. I interviewed at Octopus (London, England), Initial screening call with internal recruiter, 1st stage interview with financial controller, 2nd stage interview Case Study, 3rd stage interview with the Finance and operations director after the case study, I applied online. Octopus Ventures is part of Octopus Investments Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. For instance, a product constraint is often not a good reason to expand abroad, as a new international market is unlikely to solve a lack of product market fit. Then, the answer to most questions quickly becomes giving your team the support they need to be successful without you doing it yourself. As the company then grows, you have to transform yourself from being that reactive doer, moving it all by yourself, to hiring well and realizing the results through others. I have actually accepted a job offer up here as an L&D Manager before this second stage interview in an insurance company to set up an L&D department due to my skills. Thankfully, having a co-founder helps, because you can then talk frankly. I had someone independent facilitate, and we got a great set of feedback that we then turned into the core values of the company. That helps considerably Im familiar with many of the structures and processes that need to be in place as a company grows. you. Its taken a while for that to happen and for me to gain confidence in my instincts, sometimes delaying our progress as a result. Octopus Ventures has previously backed some of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs, making . Meet the manager: Watch a video interview . Short cannot discuss as this will be a breach of contract.thiry words this is asking. Written by Nick Sando Read more. Octopus Ventures backs pioneering unusually talented entrepreneurs daring to reimagine the future of health, money and deep tech, and supports them as they grow from early-revenue to exit. For some companies we may work in a very hands-on manner and for others, it could be less frequent projects. I asked if there was any questions relating to the session I delivered, and the questions that were asked to me related more to why I had used Joharis window etc, not as if they were asked like students on the course. Youve got to be a lifelong learner and be prepared to be a sponge for new ideas and best practices every day. One of the best ways to reduce interview stress is to conduct homework on the company Joining the team are: Richard Anson, Academic Lead at Conception X and former CEO of Reevoo. B2B Software. VCs: - LocalGlobe - Entrepreneur First - GMG Ventures How is A related to C, if B is the mother of Cs daughter ? Executive Summary. By detecting data loss, securing their online brand, and reducing their attack surface, organizations can reduce the loss of revenue, intellectual property, and reputational damage. All Rights Reserved. Our renewable energy business is disrupting a 2 trillion industry by using technology to make the green revolution faster and cheaper for tens of . Octopus Ventures manages a total of over 2.0 billion across its funds, including Octopus's VCTs and EIS funds, as well as several follow-on funds used to support investee companies once they outgrow the VCTs. Were always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors. How did you articulate the problem you wished to solve to, say, the potential customers? From speaking to our portfolio and other European start-ups, weve found that a strategy that can work very effectively is building up an in-house marketing function whilst also using external agencies tactically to achieve specific goals, such as managing staffing shortfalls, coping with rapid periods of growth, exploring new channels, optimising existing channels and entering new markets. How would you justify that a Graze or an Eve is actually a technology company versus a distribution business? Hannah Joyce VC Interview Series Hannah's expertise involves partnering with high growth consumer internet and technology companies helping them to attract and develop world class leaders. Compared to our US counterparts, European investors tend to have a more limited range of platform services to offer the entrepreneurs they back. Is this a problem or just a fact of life? Once your team is hired, I think you need to develop personal relationship equity with each of them by trying to understand whats going on in their lives and the issues they have that may be affecting their work. Followed by a case study and a review of your findings. We've built Octopus into one of the most disruptive and progressive companies across the financial services and energy sectors. It was a whos who of the security industry in the US and theyve been very helpful in terms of hiring and retention. Ill take any feedback onboard. You need the right idea AND timing. How do a CEOs personal characteristics influence success in this role? In part this is because many of the funds in Europe are smaller in size and so have a smaller management fee to invest in this type of infrastructure and in part this is because there is less overall competition between the funds, so there has been less pressure to innovate. From a frenzy of activity in 2020-2021 it has slowed. That's why the companies we back matter, because they're part of the solution, pushing forward with positive and actionable change. There was a phone call, a interview with the main manager and then hr to go through personality fit. Whenever youre encountering each new issue along your journey, its important to find someone who has done it before and succeeded. The companys earliest investments include its 2007 backing of natural language AI developer, True Knowledge, acquired by Amazon in 2012 to become a key component of Alexa, and its 2010 investment in embedded systems specialist, UltraSoc, which became part of Siemens in 2020. We do not offer investment or tax advice. That isnt me I do come up with ideas, but Im not the extreme example that is constantly chasing one new idea after another. The innovative HURR rental platform allows fashion, Sova is an end-to-end recruitment assessment platform with fairness at its core. Equity financing is the next logical choice because at this stage, as a business without any strong cash flows, accessing debt can be challenging, she said. A phone call, a interview with the main manager and then to. Hired in Japan and Australia company versus a distribution business i & # x27 ; s most entrepreneurs... Issue along your journey, its important to find someone who has done before!, Monzo Bank Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Conduct! Disruptive and progressive companies across the Financial Conduct Authority did Digital Shadows navigate the cultural challenge when moved... 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