TableCrowd Dinner – learning from DN Capital Investor

For this particular investor, the sweet spot for making investments was in series A for UK-based companies that were looking for amounts between 1 and 5 million pounds.

If you’re a start-up looking for an investment, he recommended asking yourself two fundamental questions:

1. Do you even need to raise money? (Is there potential to scale? Can you realistically return a profit to your investors? Are you diluting your shares without a necessary purpose?)  
2. What is the best source to raise money from?

There are many different groups to go after when raising money:

1. Family and Friends
2. Angel Investors
3. Family offices that diversify from their main industry.
4. Accelerators and incubators – who are used to helping start-ups
5. Crowdfunding – good idea if you need user acquisition and have brand advocates
6. Strategic Pots of Money – VCs within multinational corporations (like Unilever)
7. Grants – R&D credits, government funds, etc.

Ways to think about each group:

1. Amount they can give you varies (frame who you go after otherwise you’re wasting 95% of your time)
2. Due diligence process is different for each group
3. Terms – shareholding, join the board, have veto rights, etc.
4. Value added. Crowdfunding adds marketing scale, VCs add more strategic vision and various business connections
5. Time – how much can your investor commit to you? What if an angel investor has 200 companies?
6. Speed – corporate and crowdfunding takes longer than a couple of months
7. Return/Exit – What does success look like for your investor? Put it into context? How high is their bar?

 Our speaker also brought up two very good points:

• Be very aware of the fact that raising and accepting external money sparks behaviour change. Companies typically shift its criteria, vision, scale, and business models when raising capital, which has an impact on the work culture.
• 90% of the decision for Venture Capitalists is the TEAM – how passionate are the founders? Who have they decided to hire? Are they capable of executing their vision? Have they experienced and learned from past failures? Do they understand their product’s marketplace?

Another interesting dinner from Tablecrowd… if you’re in London, you should check us out! Who knows – I might be your host :)

My favourite love stories – short and sweet.

 

This was part of a Search Stories Series  by Google. In just 52 seconds, they manage to tell the whole romance cycle of finding love during a Parisian study abroad. This video is closely followed by Pixar’s 4-minutes life story of Ellie and Carl in Up, beautifully accompanied by Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack:

In written form, my favorite love story is in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.

‘Mentor A Female Entrepreneur’

The program continues with our second event tonight – focused on decision making in business environments. But as an art project, we also took all pictures of all the women and asked them ‘what’s the best decision you’ve made so far?” Generally, the answers fell into three buckets:

1. I’m happy I moved to London/the UK.
2. I’m happy I pursued a career  that I’m passionate about even though it was different from my university  degree/previous job.
3. Deciding to get married/have a family

For me, I wrote: Investing time in learning other languages

Why? Because I now realise the power and cultural awareness that comes with being able to speak to people in their native language rather than always relying on English. The Bulgarian language is fundamental to my identity and my ability to connect with friends and family back home. Meanwhile, French was a great push into a language that I chose to learn for my own curiosity and passion.

Couple interesting articles discussed at the event:

• Don’t always trust your gut
•  Case Study on Trader Joes 
• What you don’t know about making decisions 

The IRON Lady doesn’t feel…she thinks.

My fellow film studies classmate – Gianluca Baroni – sent me this film clip as inspiration today. Thank you GL.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine. 

– Margaret Thacher (Character) Movie Quote

Consumerism

If I had my own company/product/brand… I would enable my consumers to create as much as they consume. That would be my promise to them and to the world.

Marketing was traditionally a ‘push’ medium – by putting ads in front of mass audiences. We now have ‘pull marketing’ – which engages consumers through alluring content and opportunities to engage.  However, likes, shares, and comments are not true interaction, but measly clicks. They are part of the consumerist culture rather than the maker culture. Brands have the budgets, authority, and power to help their consumers CREATE things… which in my opinion will build long-term brand loyalty and help the planet. We can not continue down this path of using up natural resources and continually buying products. I believe people aren’t intentionally swallowing the planet product-by-product, but we have been primed to purchase and consume through the marketing we see 24/7.

The small things: Bulgarian Edition

Almost every summer, I go back to see my friends and family in Bulgaria. I always end up doing the same trip around the country – starting with Sofia, going to Plovdiv and then Krichim (a little farming village where my grandparents live). This time, I managed to also take a day trip to Пазарджик.

And there are a few moments that made me appreciate the life and people here as I’ve experienced it over the years:

1. Sitting on the curb in front of my grandpa’s house and eating sunflower seeds. Some of the best pointless, but meaningful discussions have happened over sunflower seeds. Did you know we have a very specific verb in Bulgarian for the act of opening a seed with your teeth? ‘Aс чопла семки!’
2. Watching a Turkish adaptation of the OC show with Bulgarian voices dubbed over and having to explain that my life in Orange County is nothing like it’s represented on the screen!
3. Nature – when driving around Bulgaria, I’m always overwhelmed by the beauty of the countryside. In fields of roses, wheat, and tomatoes, I find the most interesting shapes that are cast by the puffy clouds above. Somehow my thoughts also seem to wander, between the rows of cherry trees and mountain ranges, as the car calmly passes by a small tractor on the road.
4. Fighting to pay the check – it’s an honour to pay the bill. At the end of the night, There’s always a critical act of theatre in which each protagonist defends their family honour. (I managed to win last night, but only because I snuck in ‘to go to the bathroom’ and paid before my cousins could slip the waiter cash for the whole table!)
5. Hospitality – within seconds of walking into someone’s home, the table will be filled with biscuits, chocolates, roasted peanuts, and fresh fruit.  Just as it’s a rule to never go over to someone’s house empty-handed, you must also be ready to accept guests  into your home at all times.
6. Eating so much fresh watermelon that your stomach hurts, but your taste buds are satisfied with the taste of summer.

Чао! До скоро!

Под прикритие.

In the summer of 2013, I had the pleasure of working on the production of the Bulgarian TV show – Под прикритие. So good to see it’s still going on Channel 1 : Bulgarian National Television Station! Hopefully, I’ll have some time when I’m in Sofia this trip to catch-up on all the action I’ve missed since being on set!

The Innovator Theorist: Clayton M. Christensen

In case you haven’t read The Innovator’s Dilemma, here’s a four-minute video version with the key themes:

I am hugely inspired by Clayton M. Christensen’s work – especially around disruptive innovation. His thinking has influenced some of the biggest managers and leaders in modern business by making his idea frameworks applicable for all sectors. He teaches you how to think, not what to think. I also love the fact that Clayton focuses on innovation rather than entrepreneurship. The start-up culture currently dominates the media press and the market growth theories; however, large organisations that pursue ‘disruptive innovation’ alongside ‘sustaining innovations’ should also be praised and examined.

Plus, here’s one of his TED talks based on his book, How Will You Measure Your Life? 

Plus, I encourage you to check out his website. 

Watch-Love.

I’ve fallen head over heals for three new watch models:

1. Nomos – Metro Datum Gangreserve. This watch offers a dial with a date, power reserve indicator, stopwatch function and clear minute indexes. In my opinion, the design is timeless, elegant and yet quirky. It is slightly big (skewing towards a men’s watch), so if I had an extra £2,500 in my bank account, I would definitely get the Nomos Ahoi Watch with Automatic Winding. 

2. TSOVET – This brand is much more affordable with models under £200. I am a fan of their SVT-SC38 series – especially with the sea foam blue (pictured below). The colour scheme is currently available in this Silver Design. 

3. Junghans – Max Bill Automatic. I love the sleekness, use of minute indications, and luminous features of the watch.

I discovered watches 2 and 3 by shamelessly asking strangers sitting next to me about their watch. Maybe I’m getting older or maybe I’m going to more sophisticated cafes… but I do think the people around me are getting classier with their wristwear. And a good watch can turn even a plain t-shirt into a well-designed ensemble.

FEMALES: Let’s unite in our search for Moderate Drinkers

I love this new ad from Heineken:

It’s so much more than just a CSR campaign (Corporate Social Responsibility). It’s based on a real insight that women ACTUALLY want to interact with men who know their limits. I think it’s funny, well shot and extremely engaging. A moderate drinking campaign in the alcohol category that is executed correctly. And it makes me proud to be working with them on their communication and marketing strategy.