Tag Archives: fundraising

Communication Breakdown?

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We have found that communication in this age of instant communication remains poor.  Companies are often failing to communicate their vision effectively; frequently they then fall short in aligning the workforce behind a common well-articulated vision for the business.  Expectations are often blurred and unclear, or they have a low priority or indeed are ignored completely. This leads to them being open to misinterpretation. Taciturnity should be the scourge of today’s business as it gives birth to ambiguity, there should be no mistake about vision and mission in today’s business and no excuse for failing to have them crystal clear both internally and to the outside world.  Whilst we hear many bosses and business leaders requesting frankness from their staff and to ‘tell it like it is’, how many really mean this and would know how to manage it?  Leaders who invite confidence should be mindful never to violate that confidence.

The first rule I learnt as a CEO was to communicate all expectations with unmistakable clarity; I was keen to ensure that each member of staff took responsibility and remained their own person, in accordance to their own true feelings and objectives. That said I never insisted on loyalty; that would be their personal choice.

Conduit Partners begin any business engagement with a bespoke workshop; in most of the company workshops we facilitate, we insist on all of the senior team being present for the day.  This offers a unique insight into the dynamic of the team, how they relate and interact with each other, the dialogue and vocabulary. We see where the silos are, the loners, the team players and of course the terrorists and saboteurs.

Only a team of strong and independent managers aligned behind a common vision with a true focus can enable a business to succeed.  Irrespective of who is at the helm, a well balanced team, with the appropriate skills and qualities, are essential in supporting an early stage business with ambitions for rapid growth and expansion.

In order to create the bonds of common purpose and enjoy the value of cultivating a trusted and valued team, reviews in communication and purpose should feature regularly and should not be underestimated.  Leadership requires choices, every day.  Many of these choices require value judgments; an effective leader communicates these in a way that inspires.

Conduit Partners workshops are designed to get to the heart of these issues, to evaluate where the communication is strong and where it is failing.  This in turn allows a company to focus on the areas that are productive and generate revenue, to become an effective communication stronghold.

For more information about how to improve the communication in businesses and to unlock the true potential please contact Conduit Partners Ltd on 01235 831777 or email hollymunns@conduitpartners.co.uk

Can you think outside of the box?

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There is so much conflict in the news at the moment that feeds and breeds fear, uncertainty and doubt.  We tend thrive as our best self in an atmosphere of buoyancy, familiarity, harmony and unity.  In this climate we tend to retreat to survive rather than looking out and seeing how we can embrace new approaches and ideas to counter the despondency.  I have always believed that in order to realise the future you want, one has to create it ourselves.  That means stepping out of personal comfort zones and traditional ways of doing things. Thinking differently and challenging convention, looking at other ways of doing things.

Back in 2000 I was being interviewed on the business news channel in Singapore that reached most of Asia.  I had just established a business there and set up a KK in Yokahama, Japan.  I was asked by the presenter of the show for my views on the recession at that time. I said that rather than fear it I welcomed it as an opportunity for new thinking, innovative products and entrepreneurs who were unafraid of pioneering new concepts and approaches.  The look of shock on her face was plain for all to see, she was almost speechless and said I doubt you will get many agreeing with you in that view.

I didn’t. However I did get some, individuals who could see that they had to explore and choose different ways of doing business.  Together we formed a bond of likeminded people who embraced and forged new ways of thinking and new approaches that would influence future products and the way the world shaped.  We rode out the recession, we attracted likeminded organisations who joined us and traded out of the gloom with new offers, approaches and products.

In this risk averse economy there are still opportunities, they don’t go away, they may be harder to find, more challenging to establish and even more arduous to develop.  However rigour defines quality, it seeks it out, prioritises it and with the appropriate interventions mitigates risk.  During the last few years we have introduced these principles of working in a very tough economy with outstanding results.  We are now seeking likeminded organisations and inviting them to take the first steps in forging new approaches that may well be unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first.  I was asked recently if the 11X return to the Carbon Trust’s investment in Conduit services was in real cash; it was, it was in investment and sales revenue generated.  Moreover it was not as a result of a big ‘one off’ deal that bumped the figure up. It was in fact across over 30 companies that we focussed on, believed in and worked with the management to gain insights and breakthroughs.

So, I would point to the words of one of the greatest innovators, the late and quite brilliant, Steve Jobs.  I hope his inspiration inspires you to think outside of the box.

 “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, and, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary”. 

For more information on Conduit’s services, that are designed to gain commercial breakthroughs contact us on 01235 831777 or email hollymunns@conduitpartners.co.uk

Time for a change?

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Ah, I get it now; there were more people who did not want to see my friend’s band than did! The ‘out of comfort zone ‘ was too much, then risk too great. I understand, nothing ventured and all that. Risk profile too high; however exposure to risk varies greatly depending on which hilltop you reside.

It surprises me the way we humans fail to learn from past models that have been unsuccessful; it is as if we are paralysed or fearful of trying something new, getting it wrong or getting fired. Given that shareholder value remains the key objective with great exits playing a huge part in this, indeed the primary objective; why aren’t more investor funds exploring alternatives, why are they not seeking out ways to reverse current trends, why are they not actively seeking ways to change their approach?

It turns out that some are. Since my last announcement it looks like we will be nearer 14X ROI if we close the current fundraising. We are now being contacted by funds and fund managers asking to how we achieved such returns particularly in such a poor economic climate and inquiring as to how we might work together. We welcome this; we want relationships with investors like the Carbon Trust, where we can add value in this level either as partners in JV’s or partnerships.

Therefore if you are seeking to attract and raise additional funds or have portfolio investments that need to get to revenue; we offer a proven approach and successful track record that offers a significant differentiator; indeed if you have companies that really need accelerating to unlock the value, or indeed if you wish to know if they won’t, then again we would be happy to talk to you about how we can assist.

We work in various ways: a strategy to scale programme; time and expertise for equity models; new innovative approaches to qualify commercial viability; generation of quality deal flow; IP FTO diligence; outsourced sales channel capability; understanding and control of the commercial process; or even to be your commercial expert on the board. We have proven our value through our approach in hundreds of early stage companies over the last ten years. We pride ourselves on a great value proposition that offers an inside track into deal flow and a clear route to maximise exit strategies.

It is a combination of these approaches and in working with fund and portfolio managers that have enabled us to deliver such a significant ROI.

Please call 01235 831777 or email info@conduitpartners.co.uk to discuss how your fund or your portfolio companies can benefit from our experience and approach.

Why entrepreneurs need support, not sarcasm

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Investors with a wealth of experience often intimidate would-be entrepreneurs. They’ve been there and done it, have several multi-million pound companies under their belt, and ultimately have power over the fate of a fledgling business.

Successful investors know that the stress and pressure of building a business is enormous. They need to be sure that the entrepreneur has the resilience to go the distance, and won’t fade or fall over. They also have to check that the entrepreneurs their eyes open to the fact that there are no get-rich-quick schemes, and no “this time tomorrow, Rodney, we’ll be millionaires” moments.

If a business idea sounds too good to be true, it usually is. By way of example, we evaluate numerous new low-carbon technologies on behalf of the Carbon Trust, many of which are truly amazing. However, few make it through. Often the reason is down to underestimating how long it will take to realise revenue and take these ideas to market.

Except when we give feedback to these new businesses, we do it with support, not sarcasm. We’re not like the investors on Dragons’ Den, who are capable of bringing some entrepreneurs to tears. We offer constructive, valuable input that is the culmination of hundreds of investments we’ve been involved with.

Our role is provided and paid for by the Carbon Trust for successful applicants. We work intensively with successful applicants to ensure they are investment or market ready in the shortest time with the minimum risk.

We are keen to hear from companies that could benefit from our extensive commercial experience via the Carbon Trust Entrepreneurs Fast Track programme.

If you believe you could benefit from our expert services and would like to apply for the Carbon Trust programme, email susandunstall@conduitpartners.co.uk with an outline of your idea and we will call you back.