Musings from the cliff edge
This was a talk by an angel investor, Rajat Malhotra. He runs Wren Capital, an angel company who invest in seed through to series A funding rounds, investing 50k-300k. He has had two insolvencies and one floatation.
- Don't dabble, if you're going to do it, do it seriously
- Use syndication
- spreads risk
- reduces competition
- gives everyone a better chance
- but *do due-diligence* on co-investors
- often these will be people you've dealt with before, so thats already done
- Two ends of the spectrum
- Simple story is an easy sell
- Complex is a harder sell but bigger reward, watch the funding roadmap, often hiccups along the way
- Valuations are important, more so for those that wind up as walking dead
- Build relationships with the CEOs, they should feel comfortable phoning if they need help
Innovations in ICT
I attended a talk about how to grow innovation in Oxfordshire, there was a panel of six or seven business people who discussed various problems and ways to encourage more companies to the area. A few of the points they raised:
- improved connectivity
- better publicity for available small/short term office space
7 massive mistakes negotiating overseas
This was a talk by a negotiation trainer, and seemed to be as much about general negotiation as overseas. He broke his talk down into 7 parts:
- Preparation
- positioning - think about what you are negotiating and why
- planning
- culture - get to know about the culture of the people you are negotiating with
- national
- corporate
- their background
- local issues, things going on in the city or country
- Connecting
- building rapport
- appropriate gifts
- handshakes tell you a lot
- overhand (or turn-to-overhand) - 'I'm in control' - price goes up so theres more room to give a bigger discount to make them feel like they won
- Ask and Listen
- keep questions short and simple, but open ended, don't back them into a corner
- Positions
- Best position
- Target position
- Walkaway position
- Alternative position - if you have to walk away, what fills the gap?
- Reading people and situations
- body language
- voice
- words
- sensory acuity
- Psychological moves
- good guy/bad guy
- higher authority
- Columbo - dumb is smart
- time
- time-out
- flinching
- Confidence