Dynamic technology platforms are the embodiment of the moto ‘move fast and break things’. Uber is an exemplar of this philosophy; it acquired a dominant market share in London at an incredible pace, however, at precisely the same time, it has faced a prolonged legal challenge which goes to the heart of its business model.
It’s no secret that even before the pandemic millennials faced a very different financial landscape from their predecessors – with rising living costs, lower financial security and unprecedented levels of personal debt. The average student debt for a graduate in 2020 was £40,000, compared to less than £15,000 ten years before. Only 25% of graduates are expected to fully repay their loans in their lifetime. With increasing numbers in part-time or zero-hours contracts, the foundations of the millennial-driven gig economy were not ready to be tested as strenuously as they have. Putting it clearly, they were simply not ready for Covid-19.
As a father to two children I know only too well how difficult it can be to teach kids money skills, let alone in a way that they find interesting and engaging. Schools are not equipped to focus on this life skill; a 2018 Money Advice Service study revealed that teachers in the UK already lack the time and specific qualifications to regularly teach their pupils about money. And, like the life skill of swimming, it’s a skill you can’t just teach the theory of – you need to practice in a real life environment, which is where financial education apps like gohenry come in.
What inspired you to become a VC and was there a ‘lightbulb’ moment?
It took me 15 years to realise that being a VC was my dream job. It seemed to combine all the bits I loved from what I’d done previously. The path to get there was meandering and included founding my own telecoms business at university, a long stint in the City as a lawyer, becoming an angel investor and being part of the early team at plan.com. Not a single lightbulb moment, but perhaps a few along the way. Once I stopped trying to live the life I thought I was supposed to and started being myself, that was a key turning point.
The most ambitious tech startups have a vision to disrupt, and rightly so. But disruption is noisy and can create losers as well as winners. As startups disrupt more fundamental parts of our lives, from our money to our healthcare to our sleep, it is natural that policymakers want to express their view.
What inspired you to become a VC and was there a particular ‘lightbulb’ moment?
Interestingly I didn’t even know what a VC was when I finished college. I always just wanted to start my own company. I originally joined investment banking at Lehman Brothers, I figured working there I could learn a lot, meet some great contacts and hopefully build enough saving to start my own company. That lasted only a few months before they went bankrupt. My boss at the time started his own company and asked me to join him as one of the first employees. We went from 4 people in a Starbucks to over 70 people in London, New York and Paris in 18 months. It was an amazing learning experience being in a company that grew so fast. It was here that I first learnt about VCs as the company met with several of them. I left after 2 years to start my own e-commerce company called Osmoda and also help run an entrepreneur network called Sandbox. My experience with VCs in Europe and what I kept hearing from the Sandbox members led me to be very critical of Venture Capital scene in Europe. I felt they didn’t actually take proper risks, they didn’t support their entrepreneurs properly, they didn’t have good enough networks into the US and most of the time focused on minimising downside vs optimising for the upside. Shay and Will (the other two Founders of Frontline) came to the same conclusions as I but from inside separate funds. Those reasons led us to start Frontline, a fund that would be much more focused on investing early, supporting entrepreneurs, and guiding the companies on international expansion. So while no one single lightbulb moment, it was a series of failings we saw in the European Ecosystem that led us to start Frontline back in 2012.
Back in 2009 I became so frustrated by the distractions commonly found at live events like people on their phones, talking over performances, jam-packed venues and subpar stereo systems that I set out to create an alternative. Out of that sprung Sofar Sounds, intimate gigs in unusual spaces to engaged audiences. Not much has changed about our mission since then, but I can’t say the same for the world around us.
1. What inspired you to become a VC and was there a particular ‘lightbulb’ moment?
I didn’t go to Harvard, I’m not technical and I have a short attention span. Oh, and I’m from Texas. When I finished school, I wanted to figure out who I was and have life experiences. So I moved to London and had the opportunity to work at a big co for a year.. Thereafter, I was a nanny (I suppose one would say manny), worked in an antique shop, worked in A&R and haphazardly became a researcher and learned how to use MATLAB (I thought I had always hated math until I had a good teacher). This led me to a commercial role at a startup and the rest is history.
Our goal at Beacon is simple: we want to become the global leader in logistics and supply chain finance by making trade simpler, more transparent and more reliable for businesses. 
What inspired you to become a VC and was there a particular ‘lightbulb’ moment?
