Although consumer markets are a big part of quoted markets, they are something of a niche in EIS & VCTs. Pembroke specialise in consumer companies, with a portfolio including hospitality, food, fashion and wellness businesses.We talk about the philosophy for investing, how they can make venture scale businesses and the challenges of operating consumer-facing locations and online facilities simultaneously. COVID has loomed extra large for consumer businesses, and we discuss how the portfolio has responded and the importance of management teams in this process.Pembroke VCT - https://www.pembrokevct.com/Pembroke's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pembrokevct/Suggested books:The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren HardyMindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World by Christopher WylieHumble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors by Matt Parker

Product market fit is a much discussed, and much misunderstood topic, in venture capital. Matthew Cushen from Worth Capital recently wrote a great blog article on the topic, so we though we'd get him on to speak about it.We chat about what product market fit actually is and how you get it in practice. We also discuss how the company knows they have it and how an investor knows that too. Matthew brings lots of great examples from his portfolio, both good and bad. We also talk a little about coronavirus and distinguishing between short-term and long-term effects.Blog article on product-market fit - https://worthcapital.uk/obsessing-about-market-need/Worth Capital - https://www.worthcapital.uk/Suggested books:Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. SunsteinFactfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans RoslingAirhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News by Emily Maitlis

We love a good entrepreneurial story and Jasper Smith has a great one. We discuss how he started as an 18-year old building demonstrators for Sky, and how that developed into a series of television related jobs and businesses.As importantly, these experiences have strongly influenced his philosophy as an investor, giving him a holistic view of what founders need from their investors. We also touch on mental health for founders and investors, something that is often swept under the carpet but is particularly pertinent in current times.Vala Capital - https://www.valacap.com/Suggested books:Touching the Void by Joe SimpsonCourage at Sea: Tales of Heroic Voyages by Naomi JamesThe Marine Quarterly - https://www.themarinequarterly.com/

Although investing in drug development would seem to be ideal for EIS investment, it has been a somewhat niche area. Sunil Shah is hoping to change that, with o2h Ventures have recently launched the UK's first Knowledge Intensive Fund focused on this area.Sunil gives a great perspective on how investing in the industry has evolved over the last couple of decades, and how these changes work in the favour of early-stage investors. We also talk about the challenges of investing in this area, where specialist knowledge is needed and how the growth in private capital has affected the industry.Any discussion in this area can't ignore COVID and we also talk about how the industry has been rising to the challenge. o2h Ventures - https://o2hventures.com/o2h Chai Time webinars - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YqoMJ566H7uau0E2WC3QwUK BioIndustry Association guide to investing in the UK biotech sector - https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html

Venture capital has long been dominated by idiosyncratic decision making, so SyndicateRoom's systematic data-driven approach is genuinely unique.This hasn't developed overnight, and we discuss SyndicateRoom's progression from a platform offering individual investments to the radical diversification approach that they use now. This is built on studying the whole of the UK market, which gives insights that will be useful to almost any investor.We discuss how many investments the data suggest, how SyndicateRoom selects angels to invest alongside, the challenges of following on and what they can't take account of.SyndicateRoom - https://www.syndicateroom.com/"A data driven approach to venture fund portfolio building" (white paper) - https://www.syndicateroom.com/data-driven-portfolioTom Britton - tom@syndicateroom.comSuggested books:Atomic Habits by James ClearThe Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. ChristensenHow Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen & James Allworth

While most VCT and EIS investors probably have some knowledge of quoted equity markets, listed investments using these schemes have very different characteristics from the mainstream. The Baronsmead VCTs invest in both unquoted and quoted companies and Bevan Duncan and Ken Wotton manage the respective portfolios there.We go through the whole process, discussing the differences in how investments are sourced and focussing on how managers can work with companies once invested. We dig into what the real differences are and how these can affect outcomes. We also get their views on how the steady reduction in listed companies and increase in capital in unquoted markets affects their world. Suggested book:Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking by Matthew SyedThe Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed the World by Michael LewisBaronsmead VCTs - https://greshamhouse.com/strategic-equity/private-equity/baronsmead-vcts/Gresham House - https://greshamhouse.com/

Marketing is a make-or-break area for almost all startups. Having started his career in advertising, Velocity Capital's Rajeev Saxena is an expert on the topic, particularly digital, and we probe his knowledge to get insight for both investors and startups.We discuss wide range of areas: the growth of subscription models and how startups looks at them, the mistakes startups make and the support that they need. We also touch on the dominance of Google and Facebook and the pros & cons of this. Rajeev also brings plenty examples of the steps that startups have taken to put them on a better marketing path.Finally, Velocity has one of the most diverse teams in the EIS industry and we discuss how well the latter is doing.Velocity Capital Advisors - https://www.velocity.co.com/Juice Ventures - https://juice.ventures/

2020 has been a challenging year for many and the EIS industry is no exception. The EIS Navigator team have got together an all-star panel to discuss what happened. Mark Brownridge, Director General of EIS Association, Ewoud Karelse, Head of Tax Advantaged Investments, Tilney Smith & Williamson, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the debris and the prospects for 2021.We discuss fundraising and investing, whether the government support schemes have worked for EIS companies and what area needs to change. We also discuss the new Knowledge Intensive Approved Funds as well as EISA's fees initiative before a poke around Brexit and what may or may not happen in 2021. On the latter point, we recorded this in early December when a deal looked unlikely so our comments may be less prescient than we had hoped!Links;EIS AssocationSymvan CapitalTilney Smith & Williamson

Measuring sustainability is not a trivial challenge and there seems to be a plethora of options now. Vala Capital's Max Middleton and Jake Wombwell-Povey have done a huge amount of work in figuring out how to apply sustainability frameworks to startups and small companies.We take advantage of this to discuss some of the different frameworks, the differences between them and what they really mean to startups. We also discuss what the current surge of interest in ESG means for investors and the outcomes that companies may have.Vala CapitalFrameworks Impact Management Project - https://impactmanagementproject.com/Sustainable Accounting Standards Board - https://www.sasb.org/Certified B Corporation - https://bcorporation.uk/Suggested books:Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate RaworthLet My People Go Surfing by Yvon ChouinardThe Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy by Mariana Mazzucato

Ian Warwick worked in various executive roles in the US before founding Deepbridge. We focus on one of these, Aftersoft, a software company that Ian was brought in to turn round. Over five years, he turned things round and put the company on course for a successful exit later on.We discuss the challenges of entering a difficult situation and finding the right path, including what to cut and when. The challenges for companies selling into the US are well known, and we tap Ian's very practical experiences. We also talk about how he applies the lessons he learnt to investing and supporting startup companies and how EIS is actually secondary in this.Deepbridge CapitalSuggested books:How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegieThe Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo CoelhoThe Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono