Tzakhi (00:00.381)
David.
David (00:01.866)
Hey Zachy, how are you?
Tzakhi (00:03.621)
I'm great, because I'm very happy to have you with me here. We're at the Meet Capital Startup Podcast. And David, we've had several conversations. I think you have a lot of interesting things to tell startups. I'll just say a few words about you, and then I'll let you maybe say a little more about yourself and your background. I know that you're an exited founder.
You had an AI startup, if I remember, and now you have two types of ways that you help founders. One is you're part of a group of angels in the UK, and you also have Glen Luna Ventures, which is an advisory that actually helps startups connect with investors. But maybe I should let you say a few words about yourself and your background.
David (00:57.214)
Yeah, that's perfect. Thanks, Achi. Yeah, so that's right. So I had an AI business in the kitchens and bathroom design space. So we'd help consumers design their brand new kitchen and bathroom using rudimentary, very early stage AI. I left that business now a number of years ago. And I very much, having raised significant amounts of money from family and friends and from angels and from venture capital, private equity, I realized that, you know,
probably one of the hardest things to do in the startup journey is actually raising money, right? And sometimes investors expect that founder to be an expert, something they've never done before and something that, you know, takes them away from building product, from validating a hypothesis that what they're trying to do will actually move the needle and deliver real benefit for their target consumers, target customers, and those target
you know, particularly the early stage, a startup is a search for sustainable and scalable business model that hits product market fit that you can roll out and scale quickly and raising money, particularly environment is, is really, really hard. So I set up a angel investment network here in Manchester called Manchester angels, not the most inspiring name, but you know, it tells you a lot about what we do. It does what it says on the tin, right? It's a Manchester based.
Tzakhi (02:21.821)
Practical.
David (02:26.234)
angel investment network. So we're not a fund and we're not a syndicate, but we are a network and they are different, right? So a fund has a part of money in the bank or at least commitment to put amounts of money in the bank based on certain preconditions. You have formal investment committees, formal memos, certain milestones in the ground really that allow you to kind of deploy capital at certain points.
Syndicate is different. It's when you don't have the money in your bank, but you have kind of agreements from everybody in the syndicate that based on certain pre-agreed rules, if it's majority, if it's 70%, whatever, that of the members of the syndicate want to invest in a certain opportunity, that kind of drags along the rest of that syndicate. So we're a network, right, which is a bunch of people who are closely aligned, certainly in our case, are desired to have an impact in our local community in and around Manchester.
Tzakhi (02:59.837)
Thank you.
David (03:24.574)
and particularly in B2B tech. So we've done in 2023, we did seven deals, which is great, right? For quite a new network like us. Yeah, quite a new network like us. We've got 42X with Angels. It's a new network. It's a hard funding environment, right? If you're an Angel, why would you put money into a high-risk business and rather than leave it in the bank, get five points.
Tzakhi (03:32.965)
Yeah, that's quite a bit. Yeah.
David (03:48.222)
on what you leave in the risk-free in the bank, right? So I think that shows the quality of the deals that we've been able to source, as well as the quality and desire of the angels to deploy capital and help out those businesses. So that's Manchester Angels. At the same time, I will do early stage advisory. So I will help early stage founders that kind of precede to series A to effectively go and raise money for those businesses. So that is what I do.
And I'll have done six deals in 2023 in my advisory business separate to seven deals at Manchester Angels, which I run. So that's a little bit about.
Tzakhi (04:28.457)
Okay, good. So it kind of begs the question for us to talk about the different types of investors that you mentioned. And specifically, I really would like to hear a little more about what startup founders should do when approaching angel groups. Because even as a kind of broad rule of thumb, pre-seed, seed, you reach out to angels.
although later reach out to VCs. And I think most founders kind of know the difference between a VC and an angel. Angel groups are kind of a strange creature in the middle. And maybe we need to talk a little bit about how to approach those groups, at what stage, or the decision makers. So first of all, what is the first thing to do when you reach out to an angel group? Who should you?
Who should you reach out to and how should you do it?
David (05:29.27)
Well, maybe before we answer that question, I think it's worth, I think addressing what I would call an urban myth of angels versus VCs. Maybe then talk a little bit about the difference between all those types, then come back into that quick. It's a really, really important question, made more important set against the context of what these different entities actually are. So there is very much an urban myth that angels are easier to raise from than VCs. And they can be.
to be fair, they can move quicker, they can make decisions more tonically, they can move quicker, but not always. I think what founders have got to realise is angels know just how hard it is, right? Angels have built businesses, angels have typically raised money, angels know what it's like at the coal face. And because they are ex-founders or at least ex-operators,
they know just how hard it is. And it's a great stack, I'm not an exact stat, but you know, VCs in the US, there was a fairly high percentage of those VCs who have been founders and even higher percentage in US-based VCs who have been operators in the business. But in Europe, for example, there's a very, very low number.
of people at VCs, decision makers at VCs who have been either operators or founders, right? So when you're reaching out to an angel, almost counter intuitively, there is a skepticism because they know how hard it is. I think founders will reach out to them because they think they'll make decisions quicker and they'll be more founder friendly and they know what it's like because they've been in your shoes, so they'll want to help you out. But actually, yeah, because they've been in your shoes, they know how hard it is, right? So sometimes they will...
they'll be harder to convince VCs. The other reason why sometimes it's harder to raise money from angels is because VCs typically have, you know, flags in the ground when they make decisions. They have ICs every second Monday of the month, or ICs once a quarter, one particular one, you can't know. Or, you know, regularly they have accountability of an investment committee that they will sit down, present a paper and say,
David (07:50.466)
here is an investment we are proposing, and here's all the pros and the cons and what the market looks like and everything else. So there is a degree of rigor bound and constrained by a regular calendar that they make decisions on. So you can be somewhat reliant on that calendar, whereas angels have worked really, really hard, right? Without generalizing, sometimes they're enjoying themselves.
They've got other commitments. They've built their businesses. They've spent huge amounts of time of their career and their lives, their family lives in building those businesses. Now they want to enjoy the time with the family. So they're not always, you know, the rhythm is not always the same as a VC. So I think it's important to realize that whilst angels can, can be easier to raise money from quicker, make decisions quicker, more founder friendly.
They can also be enjoying life a little bit, relaxing, spending time with their family, all the right things. And they can also be more skeptical of what you're trying to do because they have been there and seen how hard it is. So that's important to kind of contextualize. I think if you look at your brilliant question, which is how do you do it? So if you look under angel group on the dictionary, you will see two words, cat herding. It really is.
you know, you're herding a bunch of cats to a certain destination and making the best right so my job
Tzakhi (09:13.637)
But that's from the perspective of the person that's leading the group. How does it look from the perspective of the founder that's reaching out to that group?
David (09:17.952)
Yeah, yeah.
David (09:21.666)
So I think from a founder's perspective, it can look a little bit chaotic, a little bit frustrating, I suspect. I think the key thing a founder can do to reach out is number one, if you're addressing an angel group, there typically is a named person like me, who is the deal sourcer, the deal founder, whatever it might be, something very, very typical that they might reach out to and say, okay, this is what we need to do. Here's how we get the deal in front of the angels. But the key thing, the magic, if you like, right? The thing that I would...
often recommend people do is look at the angel group. Very often they publish, we publish who are the angels within the group. Find one or two or three angels that are aligned to you, right? You're a theme. If you're in FinTech, look at the FinTech angel. If you're in SureTech, look for the SureTech angel. Look for an angel. Reach out to them directly as if you were reaching out just to angel, not to the angel group and try and get them on board because
The most powerful dynamic in an angel group for a founder to be aware of is it is driven by individual angels conviction. So as somebody who is the deal sorcerer, who puts deals in front of the network, the chances of that deal coming in through me, because it's coming through the front door of the website, and me looking for an angel within the network who is aligned to that, who likes it. And I'll call them up and say,
Tzakhi (10:30.877)
Okay.
David (10:50.05)
got really great opportunity for you. I think you should have a look at that and maybe spend some time putting your arms around that business and looking under the hood, getting to know them. You know, hopefully if I do my job right, that is a fairly high likelihood of success. Although I have lots of those to do, right? You can imagine what my deal for that looks like. But if you as a founder can find one or two or three angels and one is all you need really.
you can look up that angel, go into LinkedIn, make a connection, go to events where they are, ask for introductions, get into that angel, get that angel to the point that says, I have spent two weeks, two months, whatever it might be, working with this business, understanding this business, looking their customers in the whites of their eyes, and I'm now prepared to invest in this business. That is the most powerful thing. That conviction.
drives the FOMO in the group and will drive conviction amongst other angels in the group. So the most important thing a founder can do when trying to address an angel group is yes tick the box and go into the official way through the, you know, submitting the form if that's how it's done, reaching out to the Deal Originator, find an angel, get that angel to a point of conviction and get that angel.
to bring it to the network. Let me give you a really great example of how this works, right? So this is a beautiful example of how are we as a network work. So about three months ago, somebody brought me a deal, came in through the front door. I looked at it, it didn't really fit our requirements. It didn't really fit our filter. I had a chat with one of the angels.
in the group who kind of sits and kind of a deal review team with me and he agreed, yeah, it's not really for us. So I went back to the founder politely pass and look, love what you're doing. It doesn't really fit within our requirements for the following reasons. That's quite detailed enough feedback. A couple of months later, this, um, this angel who I'd kind of sat on a deal review call to record, I'm saying, yeah, I've been thinking about this. I know it's not really one for the group. It doesn't fit within our requirements, but I really like it.
David (13:02.666)
And so I picked up the, I've decided to put in 50 grand, whatever it was, and I picked up the phone to two of the other angels in the community who have met, and they're also now putting money in. And we've done the deal, which is, this is brilliant, right? It's, it's just, it's the power of the community. And that's what angel groups really are. It's community.
Tzakhi (13:12.726)
Nice.
Tzakhi (13:18.989)
Yeah, I think I just have to say that it is sometimes like a bit of a double edged sword. And I'll say what I mean. I'll explain what I mean. When you reach out to an angel that is part of a group. So there is the opportunity that if you're a very good match, that angel will take you to the group and kind of create that excitement within the group. But there's also the flip side of it, which that a lot of angel investors that are part
Tzakhi (13:49.717)
The reason they joined the group is that they don't really want to deal so much with startups. And then they will hopefully, politely say, well, this could be a fit for our group. I invest for the group. Here's the contact of, if they're from Manchester, of David, please talk to David. He leads our group. And you take it from there. Is there any advantage in reaching you through that kind of intro? Or would it be the same as someone just...
filling up the form on your website.
David (14:23.246)
I think, I mean, it's a great question. I think there are a number of things to unpick there. The reality are, the reality is, there are a lot of people who don't have access to a network, don't know how to reach out to an individual network. There are some angel networks out there who don't publicize who their angels are. And therefore, they're only route available to them, excuse me, the only route available to them.
is via the front door, filling in the form of the website or reaching out to the Dealer Originator. So that is their route. Also, if they haven't listened to this podcast, they don't know that actually the trick is to find one of the angels. So they will go to the point of contact. Also, and I hate making people do this, right? But when you're fundraising, it's really hard. It's really, really hard. It's time consuming, it's emotionally consuming, right? And the thing you hate most is
having an investor say, can you fill in this form? Right, because it takes you out of your workflow, right? And we do that. And I do that with a huge apology because I know to get, even the form only takes you two or three minutes, it takes you out of a workflow and it's quite a pain. But it's important because it then goes into our workflow on our side and our systems that make sure that it doesn't fall through the cracks, right? So sometimes the only way people
can go or know to go or very often, particularly with underrepresented groups, don't feel that they can do anything but go in the front door, which is the website or the form or whatever it is. That's why it's really important. I often talk about is, and we say this on our website is here's a list of our guys, right? It will help you so much more if you have an angel who will say, I love this and I'm putting my hands in my pocket because you're right.
some angels in the group that quite frankly want to deploy their capital and want to help out the businesses, but they don't really want to do the hard work, the due diligence type stuff in advance. So if there's somebody they trust, somebody they know in that network is turning around and saying, actually, I really like this so much so that I'm putting my hands in my pocket. The much more like to go, well, actually, yeah, I like that. Or they're very often our angels who go, actually, I like this business.
David (16:48.134)
I just don't have the time to know, is this right? This is a good founder. Is, you know, I've got my own stuff going on. I'm an angel in five other businesses. I'm an chairman of two other, NEDs at three. So I just need somebody in the group. Oh yeah, so he or she has taken the lead. That's brilliant, you know, I'll put in my money. So finding, it's not unlike, you know, VC, you need a lead. We call it a champion, but it's the same thing really. You need a lead to do.
whatever level of due diligence is appropriate. Sometimes you have people who want to do, levels of due diligence that are valid and appropriate for a private equity round for a 30k cheque, which is like, no, just don't do that. But anyway, so you get somebody who wants to do an appropriate level of DD for that and champion it and be the person who drives conviction amongst their colleagues in the group.
Tzakhi (17:44.725)
Okay. When, so just to clarify, if they don't have any other route, then filling up the form will work. I mean, at least you'll get them somewhat, like you will seriously look at people that fill the applications. It's not a waste of time to do it if they don't have a better way of reaching you.
David (18:01.566)
I hope so, yeah.
David (18:06.686)
Absolutely. I mean, look, so what happens with us, right, is when you fill in the form, so there's lots of guidelines on our website as to what our requirements are, right? So primarily B2B tech. So, you know, very occasionally we'll have B2C tech coming through and I'll say, well, that's not in our requirements. I'm very sorry. But, you know, first of all, the requirements are, should be, in our website, very clear as to what we're looking for. Then you fill in the form.
And that hits my air table, the system I built an air table that works really well. And, and they are, they are groups or they are opportunities that I do a first pass review for any obvious misfit. So is it based in Azerbaijan? We don't invest in business, not Azerbaijan as a group, right? And we are, you know,
We're a group. So it's about what our angels, the members of the group have decided that they wish to invest in and they don't invest in Azerbaijan, right? Um, more importantly, you know, if it's only for our group, is it got the, the SCIS, the IAS or the UK tax kind of legislation around it. Some angels want it, some don't. So I do a first pass. Does it fit the filter? Uh, if it doesn't, then I, I click a button and hit reject and I enter in. And I'm fairly good, right.
giving them fairly detailed feedback, the reasons why. And so I will spend time telling them the reasons why, and hopefully then signposting them further because we hate just leaving people with a no. So we like to signpost them and tell them where they should be going next, right? So that's really, really important. So once it then hits my, once I've gone through that first pass, we have every two weeks, we have a deal review call. So if you've a sit on that deal review call,
we talk about it and we try and identify, okay, well, if that's an interesting opportunity, do we agree with the market sizing methodology, which is probably the biggest place that everything falls down, where people aren't thinking ambitious enough and they're not sizing the market in a way that makes sense to us. So they'll go, well, Gartner says this market is $600 billion, right? Which is a very rough and top down approach and very often like 99% of the time,
David (20:22.762)
that might be the market broadly where they're playing, but isn't actually the market that they're playing in. So we'll be like, you know, actually give a good example of that because it's really important. So not so long ago, I was dealing with it with a startup in booking student accommodation. So go to college, go to university, you want to book somewhere to live, rent somewhere to live.
And you go on to private landlords, we have what they call these PBSAs, these purpose built student accommodations, these big skyscrapery type, fairly ugly looking blocks where you book your flat, right? And this founder was, this is a $20 billion market. I was like, oh gosh, wow, what are we through that? She says, yeah, well, we have, here's this report and says that the PBSA, the purpose built student accommodation market is worth 20 billion.
Tzakhi (20:53.829)
Yeah.
David (21:15.922)
I was like, no, not really. If you were building them, if you were a builder of these 20 story high PBSAs, yeah, I get that. If you're buying the land, pouring concrete into the ground, that's you. But you're not. You're a software there that books accommodation. That's not your market. So we had to go through quite complex site market sizing things.
Tzakhi (21:25.069)
Yeah.
David (21:43.594)
We will go through, we will look at the market sizing, we'll look at do we think it's right proposition to go to market the founder. We'll look at it as angel investors and say, is this an investment proposition? And if we say yes, we will then tell the founder that we are progressing to the next stage. The next stage is for me or the other angels on a deal call to actually look for angels in our network who are, who have a...
interest, right? If it's a, if it's a Mark tech business, I look for a Mark tech founder. If it's a FinTech, I'll look for a FinTech. If it's an AI business, I'll look for an AI angel, you know, someone who's got an interest in AI and, and who I know doesn't have too much on their plate right now. I'm looking for somebody who will say, actually, I quite like this business. Yeah. I'll take a look and let me go back to you and I'll tell you if I want to spend some time with them. So we do that job of trying to find an angel who really wants
likes this business and in fact in our network if we cannot find an angel who is interested in this we'll reject it.
Tzakhi (22:48.357)
David, I have to say that the process that you have, not surprisingly after knowing you, is very thoughtful and very respectful towards the founders. And the reason I'm bringing this up is that one type of problem that founders have with angel groups, not all angel groups, I hope a minority of angel groups, but it happens, is that
The drive of the angel group is to bring the founder to some type of internal event where they present in front of the group, either online or in a physical event, and then they get grilled. And what do you think about these types of group and this type of setup?
David (23:37.614)
So, yes, great question. Let me tell you how we do it. I'll tell you what objective. So, once we have an angel that says, I really like this business, we do one virtual pitch call a month, and we have one dinner a quarter. And at the virtual pitch calls, we will put two or three businesses in front of our angels. And at our dinner, we will put two or three businesses in front of the angels. It is not like...
Tzakhi (24:03.653)
But these are businesses that already have a champion in your group. Sort of coming in prepared and in a positive, they're coming to a positive place for them.
David (24:07.99)
Yeah, correct. And that, that is a rule. Yeah. They are because they will pitch, but then their champion will also stand up either on the virtual call. They can sit and remain sitting. That's fine. But certainly at the dinner, they have to stand up. Right. But they will say the re and now that you have listened to the founders pitch, this is why I am investing. Right. That's really, really powerful. I.
Tzakhi (24:32.861)
Great, great, yes.
David (24:36.294)
I really dislike, really dislike those sort of generic pitch events. I think they're terrible. I think as a founder, you know, people think that a founder's most important commodity is money. It's not. It's time, right? Time is a function of money and how long left you've got the runway, right? So if you are standing up in front of a bunch of random investors with no sense of conviction,
Almost every single time it is a tragic and big waste of your time, which should be better spent elsewhere. Slight analogy, but recently I had a conversation with a great founder, brilliant founder, who is building a huge business in a really, really big market. Super backable, all things lining up. And he spent half an hour on the call with a guy, with an angel, who will put a 10k ticket.
in. And I hold his ass over the over the calls a little bit. I said, why spending half an hour with a guy who will put 10k in that half an hour you should be spending with a guy or girl or whatever who is going to put in 100k or 200k. Don't do that. You know, you're raising three million quid. Why are you wasting your time on one single 10k ticket? Now in angel network, you might have 10 angels
David (26:04.034)
So that ends up being a big number, a decent number, good use of your time. So I really tell fans that I work with, do not turn up at a generic pitching event hoping that you're gonna chuck something out into the crowd and something will come back. It never ever does, never does. Very often it's a PR event or it's a publicity event or a profile raising event for that angel network group or they're ticking a box, it's a waste of your time.
Make sure you know what you're getting into. By the way, never ever, ever pay to pitch. Don't pay to have someone to review your deck. Don't pay to get yourself ready for investment from one of these groups because they're just using you as their bank. Just make sure you know what you're doing.
Tzakhi (26:52.665)
Okay, so that brings to the next question, which I have my own thoughts on, but I wanna hear yours on how to choose between angel groups or even individual angels. I mean, besides the obvious of making sure that their investment agenda fits what you have to offer, but beyond that, what are the things that founders should look for before, you're saying very correctly.
spending their time and energy on something. How do they decide which path to go?
David (27:27.726)
So there's a kind of positive and a negative side of this. So on the positive side, I think it's really important to look at the value that Angel can bring. Has this Angel been in your particular market? Does he or she have a Rolodex? Is it something that they should be into? Have they made a ton of mistakes?
in your very specific domain? And are they prepared to roll up their sleeves and help you? Do you want them to do that? Is it somebody who maybe not in your very specific market, but in your kind of space can be really valuable and helpful, right? So this is a person you should be able to turn to and ask for help. Can you see them adding value at those times? I think also, you know, can you spend time with this person and want to spend time with this person?
or are they gonna drive you nuts? It is a relationship. You might, if it's somebody who's not necessarily on hand the whole time, you'll still spend time with her or with him. So is it the right person to do so? So I think that's the positive. Can they add value and do you wanna spend time with them? On the negative side, you should really do diligence that angel. There are angels who are brilliant, massively value additive. There are angels also who are bad news. Are they members of a...
well-known group. Can you DD them? Have they done any other investments? Can you pick up a phone to other investors? Although based on the sheer number of investors are likely to do, you probably won't be able to do this as much, but can you speak to an investor, to an investee business this angel has invested in that they have not recommended you speak to? Right. Cause I'll always recommend the people that want to speak to it, but you know, are there people in their portfolio, founders, businesses in their portfolio where things have not gone.
say, not gone to plan, right? How do they feel? Speak to them. And you'll always get, you know, it's a bit like a trip, advisor report, right? You'll, there'll always be blips, right? And things that founders are very emotional to their baby and they'll, they'll look at things from their perspective. So you'll always get the old blip, right? But is, is this blip consistent? And now, of course, that's the same, by the way, for, for VCs, you know, do your DD on them by speaking to portfolio businesses.
Tzakhi (29:34.981)
Yeah.
David (29:52.354)
that they've not told you to speak to, because that's where you'll find that the real gems. Do the same with angels.
Tzakhi (29:58.825)
I'll take my previous question a step further and be a little more harsh. A lot of groups are, I'd say, roughly you can distinguish between two types of angel groups or angel clubs or syndicates, where one is where they're mostly keen on investing, and the second is where their real interest is to socialize, create events, or the organizers of the group
are trying their businesses to make money off events or subscriptions. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just, the point is, uh, how do you, as a founder, obviously you're much better off reaching out to an angel group that's mostly keen on investing and that's their main agenda. And that's what that's, that's their main goal when in dealing with you. So how to identify that.
David (30:53.894)
Okay, so it's a great question. Just to give you a bit of an insight, when we set up Manchester Angels, my remit very specifically was, this is not going to be another drinking club, which in reality a lot of angel groups are, right? So your question's on point. They're social communities. That is not what we set out to be, right? Yes, we socialize together.
but it is about creating a sense of community, which is very, very important because as the example earlier on showed, when people know each other, they can do deals. And our reason is to do deals that are good for the investors and good for the founders. I think as a founder, I would look at the, look at how many deals they've done. So,
People will say, you've done seven deals in the angel group in 2023, it's very, very challenging environments. That's pretty darn good. And I think they're probably right. I have a founder's mentality and a sense of urgency. I would like to be doing an awful lot more. But seven is not bad for a brand new angel group in somewhere like Manchester, in the US. And you might do more, right? And the total amount invested. And all those kinds of metrics that
How do I know the metrics should be available to you? Because you can ask, you can say the deal originally here, if it's not on the website, how many deals have you done? How much have you put into these businesses? What's the typical time? Why do you reject them? How do you reject them? Ask them, right? Because it's a use if you're a tie. And I think if I would say, rule of thumb, if this group are getting together every two weeks or four weeks to face to face and drinking and having a dinner.
and they're not actually getting the deals done or they're charging people to pitch. No, never, right? Never ever pay to pitch. You just have to wonder what their agenda is. And I think if you also look at the makeup of the Danger Group, right? So I am a founder, I'm an ex-founder, I'm a current founder of my own business. We are all ex-Dangerous pretty much in our spaces.
David (33:13.89)
We're very open about who we are and what we've done and what our experiences are. So we're founders. And look, and look at that. I think try and figure out who is behind the network. I think that should give you a good idea. Is this a drinking club or are they really there to make investments?
Tzakhi (33:33.465)
Okay, David, this was super useful. I wanna just, before we wrap up, just to hear a little more about Glenn Luna, because I think you guys do a lot for founders, for startups, you also only work on success. So it's really a win-win when you choose to work with a startup, because you're quite rigorous about who you accept. But maybe if you could just give us a few words about Glenn Luna and who should reach out to you.
David (34:04.014)
So I raise in these two places, so Manchester Angels, if it's a broadly Manchester UK based business, B2B tech with a large defendable moat in a decent size market, all the clients on the website. So we will put that deal to the group and then I do not charge a fee for those, right? Cause it's not Glen Luna, that's Manchester Angels. If there is a business that falls outside of the scope of Manchester Angels or
they want me to raise, let's say they're raising a million and we're gonna put in 200K or whatever else. So I will raise alongside that or if it's totally outside the scope. So for example, I'm raising for businesses in London, yes, in Manchester, but also in Leeds, the UK, Copenhagen, in Denmark, New York, Texas. So I'm raising for business across the world. And I'm looking for businesses where I can make a really big impact because fundraising is hard. It is, gosh.
It's probably the most hardest things that you need. You need to be an expert, right? Cause if you get this wrong as a founder, if your investor puts terms on the table, you don't really know what it is or you've not seen something being bitten about them before. You could find yourself in a very sticky situation. You need someone to hold your hands to advise you, to walk you to the person to find the investors, get the right match investors, not spend time on the phone with the wrong type investors who are not going to invest cause you're the wrong stage, but they'll talk to you.
because it's an associate who needs a two year advance deal flow, site of deal flow two years in advance, all that kind of stuff. So we work really, really hard with a business to ensure that their proposition is right, the go to market is right, the market sizing is right, the deck looks right, the numbers look right. We will identify through a very significant list of investors we've worked extensively with before. We know what they're looking for in terms of sector attraction.
founder makeup, whatever it might be, growth velocity. We know what they're looking for and they'll work with us and they'll pick up the virtual phone because it's us calling. And we also have a full-time research team who will look at new investors based on investment thesis, based on portfolio construction, everything that we think would make a good investor fit. And we will then create an investment campaign at scale, a hyper-personalized.
David (36:27.722)
investment campaign at scale to reach out to those investors. So that's how we work and we only work in a success rate. I don't believe in retainers, right? Retainers are a very good way for an advisor to make a lot of money and not do any work. We're very, very picky in choosing highly selectives to who we work with because we'd be crazy not to. So we only work with a very small number of businesses at a time and we only get paid if we get this deal done, which is very risky for us, right? So we have to be...
very careful about who we choose. So the kind of people I'd love to hear from is first of all, just anybody that can help, right? Forget the fee bit, right? Forget the fee bit. Anybody I can just help and share knowledge and tell them who to avoid or how to avoid or what to avoid or who to go for and how to make self more present and what the market sizing look like. You know, I spend my days having coffee, usually decaf because otherwise it'd be super hyper. And I'd be really happy to help. In terms of the kind of startups, you know, we're looking to help.
you know, startups raising north of 500K, pre-C to series A, so kind of, we kind of peg out, cap out about 10 million thereabouts, primarily B2B tech with a large defensible moat in really good, large markets that we can describe in a very methodical way, very systematic way. And we can communicate both value proposition and the size of that markets to, you know, the people that we reach out to, the investors we reach out to. So always...
happy to speak to those people. And also, investors like really good deal flow. They like high quality, filtered deal flow where we can support and accelerate and nudge the founders along the right way and kind of be the middleman in between the investor and the founders, support those founders. People can reach out to me via LinkedIn. Quite prolific on LinkedIn as a user, which is why we've become really well.
happy to speak to people on LinkedIn, email david at glennluna.com, glennluna.com is the website, people can find me there. So I'm looking for people I can help and work with and people we can have a really big impact and help them get funded.
Tzakhi (38:34.721)
Awesome, awesome. David, this was really useful and really helpful. Thanks so much. And we'll talk soon.
David (38:43.306)
Zachy, you take care, nice to see you.
Tzakhi (38:45.233)
Thank you. Thanks a lot, David.
