One day in late 2013, I was deep in conversation with a good friend about the difficulties his daughter was having in getting her first job. She was bright, curious, and full of potential. But she’d been rejected over and over again, without any feedback, after completing the same type of aptitude test each time. The tests were stressful, and she underperformed. What my friend couldn’t understand was this: why were companies so fixated on a test that not only failed to capture her intelligence, but also failed to see the strengths that made up her potential?

What were your biggest learnings from your time at Boston Consulting Group?
Structured thinking! Quickly scoping out a problem space then figuring out what data would be most useful to make a well-calibrated decision in cases where I have incomplete information – which tends to be the case in early-stage investing. I also make a mean powerpoint presentation…

What inspired you to become a VC and was there a particular lightbulb moment?
I first started thinking seriously about VC when I was at INSEAD about 10 years ago. I realised that the key skills of early stage VC were not so much in financial engineering but in understanding startup founders, market & tech trends and great product development. In the ensuing years I started angel investing and getting to know people in the industry. There wasn’t a single lightbulb moment but rather a series of steps along the way.

The traffic on UK roads has fluctuated hugely over the past twelve months. As the country went into its first lockdown, the public’s relationship with everyday transport methods changed almost instantly.

The media dominates our lives more than we realise. Yes, it tells us what’s happening in the world and if it’ll be sunny next Tuesday – but it also has the ability to influence and persuade. Right now, reporting on the pandemic has been essential to communicate how we must act, both legally and also morally.

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.