Simon Ardiss

27 Counter-intuitive aspects of start-up investing Simon Ardiss

This book is written for Investors in early stage ventures (Business Angels) to help them improve the success ratio of their investments. The background of the issue we want to solve is that on average 7 out of 10 funded ventures fail despite the fact that most of the investors are successful managers or entrepreneurs. This means that a being a good manager or good ex-entrepreneur does not increase the chances of being a good investor in early stage ventures. Having been part of many syndicates (groups of investors joining in a venture), it has struck me that so many good and experienced managers had totally opposing views as investors on what the founders of their investment should do. I myself, as a board member representing different investors, have had difficulty in selecting which investors were giving me the most reliable opinions to transmit to the founders of our investment. However, none of these investors could have been judged as novice managers or entrepreneurs. They are all successful and experienced. What I then learnt over the years, was that not all we learn in our own traditional companies applies to current start-ups and more importantly too many aspects are actually counter intuitive, meaning that we are induced to do the contrary of what we should do. As a profound believer in the start-up ecosystem, I have made it my mission to help professionalise the sector and help investors approach angel investing with more knowledge. Ultimately, I hope this directs more investments to the better start-ups rather than to those the least likely to succeed.100% of the proceeds of this book will be destined to medical research on PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) a rare neurological disease.