We recently heard from Frederic Court, founder of VC Felix Capital and expert in MadTech investment. Here’s his top tips on investing in this space:
1. People, not business
With business comes people, and they’re the ones that make stuff happen. The idea matters, but don’t forget their passion too.
According to Frederic, successful investment opportunities comes down to three things: reputation, network and luck.
2. Be friendly
It’s okay – we can be grumpy too. But whilst it seems like an obvious point to make, taking the time to get to know the people behind the business.
3. Be patient
Investing in a start up will never see immediate results, with a normal exit cycle around 8 years. Anything less lands in the ‘pretty quick’ category, although can be done.
4. Be prepared
There’s often two choices for an early stage individual investor: front the cash to maintain your equity stake or be content with getting diluted out.
5. Be reasonable
A normal fund return is around 1.4x – 3x is a really good return and anything above this is rare. And yes, unicorns are rare creatures to find in every sense of the word.