The momentum behind the growth of ‘Silicon Roundabout’ shows no sign of abating. Barely has the ink dried on the photographs of David Cameron leaving White Bear Yard, having met amongst others Stylistpick, that Jimmy Wales and Martin Warner are bringing Tech Entrepreneurs Week to London! Taking place over 4 days (5 days for participating finalists in the Investment competition) it is a conference/ networking event that invites companies from all fields of technology and investors together (particularly those at seed or venture stage of growth). Jimmy Wales (Co founder of Wikipedia) will be Head of Jury for those businesses that take up the offer of pitching for £50,000 of venture capital funding. For those not wishing to pitch it will be an opportunity to participate in workshops and network. We caught up with angel investor Martin Warner ahead of the event;
Michael Acton Smith, Chief Executive of Mind Candy, in the Sunday Times (13th October) in an article ‘Young masters look beyond a windfall’ said “Entrepreneurs love to own everything, but I think it’s better to own a smaller part of a bigger pie. My investors added credibility and opened doors. The article had earlier said ‘Many entrepreneurs …optimistic and independent by nature, are happy to turn down large sums of money from potential buyers…”
What is your view?
I don’t always agree, I think it depends on the entrepreneur, the industry and their journey in the market. In a hyped tech market, with a solid product and customer grab, and the leadership team look sane, then they will undoubtedly get a number of interesting conversations and maybe a few venture offers, in this situation, the entrepreneur may likely demand more, but any savvy entrepreneur, particularly in the tech market knows to let go of equity for the right sized investment and board placement. It’s human nature to hold onto to what we think is our security, and owning stock in your own company is no different.
One final point, generally, entrepreneurs do not turn down lots of money in a venture stage, the only time they would is if they have already converted customers and have steady revenue and strong projections, so organic funding might provide the next two years scaling, but it is hard, and so, generally entrepreneurs and VC’s meet
in the middle.
To find out more about the event try www.techentrepreneursweek.com
Alternatively, to find out more about available office property in the Silicon Roundabout area contact Kushner at www.kushnerproperty.com
