Michael Moritz: Billionaire venture capitalist on leadership and his new book with Sir Alex Ferguson September 27, 2015 If you meet Michael Moritz, you’re speaking to a venture capitalist whose investments include Google, PayPal, Yahoo and LinkedIn. He was the man Steve Jobs described as Apple’s “historian”, and went on to write the first history of the company, The Little Kingdom. His firm, Sequoia Capital, forms close relationships with young founders, whose companies [...]
Avoiding pitfalls in a management buy-out – Investec Comment September 27, 2015 A management buy-out, when a management team buys a company from its existing shareholders, should be a win-win situation. The management team, alongside its private equity backer, gets to acquire the business they have worked hard to build. For the selling shareholder, the business’ management team is in theory the most educated buyer they could [...]
The Rosebery founder Simon Davis on scrapheaps, sewing, MOTs and Angelina Jolie September 20, 2015 Did you know that Jeff Bezos used to photograph everyone he met so he wouldn't forget who they were? Neither did I, but when Simon Davis interviewed him, Amazon was still a startup – and it's just one of several gems Davis, founder of the London Restaurant Festival (LRF), The Rosebery and former journalist, wheels [...]
UK house prices: The bespoke mortgage challenge for entrepreneurs when buying a house – Investec Comment September 20, 2015 Buying a house can be tricky at the best of times, but if you own your own business, are self-employed, or work in private equity, the process can be more difficult still. Why? The first stumbling block is income. Some lenders' application processes may be fairly black and white: you either meet the criteria [...]
Elvis & Kresse’s Kresse Wesling on belts, brands and acid rain September 13, 2015 "Love at first sight”. That’s how Kresse Wesling, one half of Elvis & Kresse, describes the first time she saw old fire hoses – the product that underpins her company. The MBE recipient was on a “very dull” environment management course back in 2005. Two fellow course participants were from the London Fire Brigade. [...]
The entrepreneurial landscape of power – Investec Comment September 13, 2015 The British power and electricity landscape is changing, and the business of power is changing too. Partly this is down to the growth of renewables. Renewable energy generation had a record quarter this year, accounting for 22.3 per cent of total electricity generation. We’ve seen the emergence of a new wave of independent suppliers – [...]
How will Generation Z shop? This age group has even higher demands than Millennials September 9, 2015 Forget Millennials. The current 18 to 34 age group is already old news – Generation Z is the new thing, as they begin taking their first steps into the workforce. But how will they shop? A new study suggests the young new cohort has got seriously high demands on their online shopping. People born in [...]
Absolute power: Africa, opera and Oktoberfest with Entrade founder Julien Uhlig September 6, 2015 When I meet Julien Uhlig, he’s in the middle of liaising with the Globe Theatre. They used to have a poster of him from when he sung at the opening of the theatre in 1997, he explains. While in London, he’s keen to get hold of it, if they’ve “still got it lying around”. [...]
How to do a private sale of your business – Investec Comment September 6, 2015 When it comes to selling a business, one size certainly does not fit all. This is particularly true in a private sale and for medium-sized companies, which tend to be tightly staffed. Where there is a wall of cash waiting to invest in growing companies, it is easy to be tempted into a “spray [...]
Wisdom of the crowd? Here are six reasons crowdsourcing is riskier than you think September 3, 2015 An old concept, given new life by instant communication via the internet, crowdsourcing is being used in business in more and more diverse ways. The term itself was coined in a 2006 article by Jeff Howe for Wired magazine, and refers to the process of obtaining services, content or ideas from a large group [...]