The StartUp to ScaleUp Game Plan

Illuminate Financial: leveraging karma to build a successful VC portfolio!

In the latest episode of The Startup to Scale-Up Game Plan, host Gary Reeman invites Mark Beeston, Founding Partner at Illuminate Financial, to share his career journey, investment strategies, and insights into the fluid dynamics of the financial market. Illuminate Financial is a venture capital firm known for its expertise in investing in enterprise software companies catering to financial services businesses.
We go over how Mark leveraged significant changes he had observed in the financial markets to build Illuminate Financial. A noteworthy suggestion from Mark is the centrality of charisma, energy, and being coachable for startup teams. He accentuates that being coachable does not merely imply following directives, but it signifies being receptive to constructive dialogues about shared experiences and potential risks.
We delve into Illuminate Financial's collaborative engagements with JP Morgan, Barclays, and other major banks supporting the portfolio. These collaborations primarily focus on solving problems, catering to clients' needs, investing in resolutions, acquiring potential enterprises, and remaining updated with innovation opportunities. Mark underscores the importance of these symbiotic relationships, which revolve around a culture of persistent and progressive change.
Mark reveals his reflections on the past decade by drawing upon profound insights into the venture capitalist environment. These reflections provide start-ups and other investors with valuable perspectives. Learn from Mark's experiences as he discloses the essential lessons from his journey for example the significance of fostering long-lasting business relationships.
In the latter part of the conversation, we probe into the abundant potential of financial markets and portfolio companies in the coming decade. Mark lays out some exciting opportunities posed by the institutional adoption of advanced technology and blockchain rails. The episode winds down with a personal anecdote about Mark's love for cars and his approach to striking a work-life balance.
In this insightful episode, uncover the complexities of business partnerships, financial entrepreneurship, and venture capitalism from Mark Beeston’s expert viewpoint.
For additional insights into Illuminate Financial check out https://www.illuminatefinancial.com/ and for advice on hiring senior executives into enterprise software ventures head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 

Leaving DeepMind to found an AI startup

Adam Liska is the co-founder & CEO at Glyphic – funded by Point72 Ventures – who’ve developed an AI co-pilot to make sales teams more productive, improving conversion rates & increasing revenue.
Adam discussed:
* Why he felt the market was ready for a fast-moving LLM product company even before OpenAI released ChatGPT
* Overcoming the challenges of transitioning from working at a large corporate to becoming a startup founder
* Key AI trends including multimodality – training LLMs not just on text but also on all the podcasts & videos on the internet
* Why he feels people are over-indexing on AGI versus developing, releasing & enhancing great AI products
For more Glyphic insights check out https://www.glyphic.ai/ & for advice on hiring exceptional leaders for AI startups & scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/about-us/
 

Do you have a viable business model? Or just a glossy deck?!

Jason Foster is the CEO of groundbreaking biotech firm Ori who've raised $130m in funding from the likes of Novalis, Octopus & Amadeus. Jason also runs his own angel investment portfolio & supports over a dozen healthtech & Saas ventures as a Board member/advisor.We explored: 
Ensuring a smooth handover from a technical founder to an incoming professional CEO 
Why startups need to prove they've a viable business model - not just a glossy deck!
How to be nimble & adaptable to overcome global upheavals like supply chain shocks & plunges in VC funding 
Why carrot & stick incentives drive inferior employee performance
Learning to trust your team to hire the best talent
For more insights into Ori check out https://oribiotech.com/ and for advice on hiring C Suite talent for VC-backed startups and scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 
 
 

How to launch your 1st VC fund

Hannah Meiton is a Founding Partner at the Nordic VC fund, Ampli Ventures who invest in the Nordics’ leading SaaS ventures.
We explored:
How Hannah transitioned from a career as a senior operator to building a VC firm
Why the tough decisions that keep her awake at night are always about people
Her passion for investing in individuals who demonstrate grit, a clear vision, & creative ways to solve problems 
How Ampli Ventures is shaping their portfolio companies’ approach to ESG including D&I – for example helping 1 company increase their percentage of female employees from 10% to 40% within 12 months 
For more insights into Ampli Ventures, check out https://www.ampli.vc/ & for advice on recruiting exceptional leaders into SaaS startups & scaleups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 
 

You need a whole village to support you as CEO!

Amrit Sami is a VC at Mercia Ventures who's taken an unconventional route into the world of venture capital.
We explored:
how to break into the VC community as an outsider
the support system startup CEOs need to build to ensure their businesses survive & prosper
the importance of talent diversity when companies are building their leadership teams 
how to leverage micro-testing to make key product & market decisions
For more Mercia Ventures insights check out https://www.mercia.co.uk/ventures/ & for advice on hiring leaders for your Saas venture, head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 

You’re going to fire your 1st sales leader!

Seth de Hart is a Venture Partner at Point Nine – he also advises other B2B SaaS startups on building & optimizing go2market
We discussed
Why product-market fit trumps effective sales processes & sales expertise
How to ascertain if you have true product market fit
The mistakes CEOs make in hiring sales leaders
How to expand a successful European business into the US
How AI can help improve your sales process
Why sales, as a career, is treated differently in The States versus Europe & other geos
For guidance on B2B saas sales & go2market check out https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethdehart/ and for advice on hiring B2B SaaS leadership talent head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 
 

”This is individuals’ lives we’re talking about”

Jonathan Organ is a Founding Partner at Axiom Equity – a new breed of B2B Saas investor who aim to challenge convention & think outside the box.
We discussed:
Jonathan's varied operational & investment career path & network 
the gap in the market for growth equity providers between VC & leveraged PE style investors
the traditional VC approach to making bets on many companies – the majority of which will be ignored & ultimately fail
Axiom's aim to partner closely with, & to add significant value to, every single company they invest in: "This is individuals' lives we're talking about"
For more Axiom Equity insights check out https://www.axiomequity.com/ & for guidance on recruiting exceptional B2B SaaS leadership talent head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 

The exponential impact of ChatGPT

Barrie Hadfield is the founding CEO at mindset.ai – a B2B saas venture who make every piece of content easily accessible via a unique combination of generative AI & advanced knowledge graphs.
Barrie’s a serial entrepreneur who’s founded 5 companies, employed thousands of people globally & launched several products that went on to be market leaders.
We explored the extraordinary impact generative AI has had on his business over the past 12-18 months - and the exponential progress Barrie envisages for software engineering productivity in the next 3-5 years.
We also discussed:
the importance of building & maintaining a company's culture as your business scales
the value of having a professional coach to steer you through entrepreneurial challenges
why Saas businesses & investors need to focus on LTV instead of ARR
For more insights into mindset.ai check out https://www.mindset.ai/ & for guidance on hiring leadership talent for B2B Saas startups & scaleups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/
 

Listen Carefully To Your Customers & Stay Humble!

Kashish Gupta is the co-founder of HighTouch, a Saas scale-up helping companies sync customer data across different back-end databases and systems. HighTouch has raised $90m from investors like Databricks, Bain Capital and Iconiq.
We delved into HighTouch's journey, discussed their strategic relationships with Databricks, Snowflake & Hubspot, and explored their unique approach to data management.
Some key takeaways include:
why software startups should prioritize & invest in marketing from their inception 
the benefits of launching multiple products early in your venture's evolution - contrary to the advice of most investors!
how to hire senior execs you genuinely trust & delegate key responsibilities to them
why "the human connection is the most important thing" - with colleagues, partners & customers
the importance of listening carefully to your customers & staying humble
For more insights into HighTouch check out https://hightouch.com/ and for advice on recruiting leadership talent for B2B software startups & scaleups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Will Europe create more successful AI ventures than the US?

Maria Palma is a General Partner at Kindred Capital - a London HQ VC who describe themselves as  an ‘equitable venture’ fund where every founder they back becomes a co-owner of the fund.
Kindred have raised £266m across 3 funds & have backed startups like FiveAI, which was sold to Bosch in 2022, and Atlas ML, which was sold to Meta within a year of raising a seed round from Kindred.
Maria explained why:
Kindred's equitable venture model nurtures mutual support & learning across their portfolio
there's so much imposter syndrome amongst European founders
Europe is taking the lead in creating businesses that combine AI with leading-edge science
the VC funding model is directly responsible for creating Gartner Hype Cycles
For more insights into Kindred Capital check out https://kindredcapital.vc/ and head over to https://alpinasearch.com/  for advice on hiring leadership talent for software startups & scaleups