Founders and Venture Capital

I’ve worked with a number of privately owned and VC-backed scaleups.

There is something special about working with founders, founder-led companies, and environments where the founders’ presence is felt everywhere you look.

I’ve partnered with a number of founders in my career and very much enjoy the intensity, focus, and deep commitment to doing things right that they typically bring to the table.

Founder leaders

Founder paths

I have joined companies where the founder is very much still there and driving everything.

I’ve also helped founders plan and right-time their exit.

I’ve helped VC firms and funds as they invest in, and then scale, companies.

And I’ve worked with businesses and investors post-acquisition / post-transaction where a founder has exited / is exiting.

Each situation brings its own unique set of requirements and I really like getting stuck right in to help plan what’s next for the company - building on what has already been achieved.

What I’m reading

For the umpteenth time, I’m currently re-reading one of my all-time favourite non-fiction books: ‘Trillion Dollar Coach’ which was written by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle.

Based on interviews with over 80 people who knew and loved Bill Campbell - the celebrated coach who played an instrumental role in the growth of companies such as Google, Apple, and Intuit.

This book explains outlines Bill's principles and illustrates them with stories from the many great people and companies with which he worked.

It makes for a great read with plenty of stories of successes, failures, challenges, and obstacles experienced by some of the most important founders of our lifetime.