Opinion
News, viewpoints and guidance from our team of investors and our network of experienced industry professionals
Capitalex appoints Patrick Newton to Board of Directors
Seasoned executive brings more than twenty-years of international public and private market capital raising experience for United Kingdom originated companies to the Board of the UK's leading equity investment network. LONDON, United…
Capitalex
Before or After Fundraising? When to Hire a Finance Director
We’ve found that there are four key areas to take into account: 1. What do I want/need from my Finance Director and am I aware of the broader value they can bring beyond the ‘typical’ finance responsibilities? This will tie directly into…
Charlie Ruck
Three negotiation tactics that every entrepreneur should master
Tactic No. 1 - embracing silence Research conducted by The University of Groningen in the Netherlands showed that 4 seconds is enough to make someone feel unsettled. This creates a powerful strategy for negotiation that puts you in a…
Capitalex
LegalBeagles founder, Kate Briscoe, shares her experience of raising seed funding
Tell us a bit about your business The company was established to harness the valuable community using the LegalBeagles forum, which we founded over ten years ago. We decided to approach this in a highly ethical manner and built new free…
Kate Briscoe
How to be a shareholder and a CEO
In the very early stages of getting a business off the ground, there is very little discernible difference between these roles - in the vast majority of cases, the CEO is the individual that founded the company and that individual spends…
Capitalex
VC Perspective - How to avoid the most common fundraising mistakes
Personally, I think there is no value in upholding any smoke and mirrors to the rules of the game of venture capital and therefore I thought I would share my insights with the aim of contributing to the demystification of the art of…
Tiffany Young
How equity investment helped Apex Airspace reach new heights Q&A with CEO, Arshad Bhatti
Noticing that the building sat one storey lower than its neighbours, Arshad decided to build an apartment on the roof. The apartment was manufactured offsite and installed on-site in just 24 hours, subsequently selling for £1.3m and…
Capitalex
Demystifying the investment process could help thousands more businesses raise capital
Not only must you navigate an industry that is full of smoke and mirrors, confusing jargon and conflicts of interest, you must do so while attempting to keep your business running smoothly. As an investor, I’ve seen the imbalance of…
Jessica Zoutsos
Raising Growth Capital. Q&A with Saranyah Douse from the Development Capital team of Octopus Group
Saranyah Douse is a member of the Development Capital team which invests growth capital into promising UK SMEs with a focus on B2B software. She shared her advice for companies considering raising growth capital. In your opinion, what are…
Saranyah Douse
How to shape your people strategy before you raise venture funding
I’ve spent most of my career working with technology companies, helping them grow by finding great people. Often that growth is driven by VC investment, and every founder I’ve spoken to would nod their head at the line “our people are our…
Alan Furley
Venture capital has a network problem
But why should we be worried about this? Imperfect allocation of capital into our smaller companies effects the shape of our economic pipeline – our future cohort of businesses and business leaders. Underinvestment in any one category is…
Jessica Zoutsos
Investing in Innovation - how R&D tax credits release extra funding for SMEs
From a returns point of view, McKinsey & Co have quantified the benefit of innovation throughout the cycle, and their research has shown that innovators consistently outperform the S&P500 – in both bear and bull markets. But corporate…
Alistair Aird
Beyond Finance. The value of a Finance Director
Alongside this, identifying the skills ‘gaps’ in your leadership team that your FD can fill is key to ensuring that the hire is both a successful, and lasting one. These ‘gaps’ are not always those that you might expect, such as…
Charlie Ruck