Lessons from Volution's Investor Day panel
Our panellists discuss the outlook for tech venture in 2022
At our recent investor event, Volution Partner Jonny Laughton hosted a panel on the challenges and opportunities for scaling a tech business in 2022.
Our panellists included James Isilay CEO of Cognism, Phil Zeidler CEO of DeadHappy and Clancy Childs, CPO of Signal AI, as well as our own Entrepreneur in Residence and former Currency Cloud founder Steve Lemon.
The lively and insightful discussion focused on essential growth strategies for achieving global scale. The panel covered Fundraising, M&A, Hiring and Partnerships, with parting thoughts on finding the right time and approach to make an exit.
You can read the full article on our Medium blog.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
1) On the landscape: FinTech and SaaS have grown up. They are now being taken seriously by incumbents, who are increasingly looking to compete with, partner with or acquire these high-growth tech businesses.
2) On investors: Finding the right investors from the outset is essential. Investors who will support a founder’s growth journey, rather than holding them back.
3) On strategic partnerships: The right business partnerships can help drive growth and revenue, and even lead to exit, but they need to be chosen strategically and at the right time.
4) On M&A: Mergers and Acquisitions can be a great avenue for delivering growth, however the path is not an easy one. Founders need both sufficient funding and the right advice to get it right.
5) On talent: In a candidates’ market, founders should take advantage of new hybrid ways of working and source talent from around the globe.
6) On culture and values: Developing an attractive culture based on a clear vision and strong values is essential to both attract and retain talent.
7) On exits: Founders can develop their growth strategy with exit in mind, but it is important to build a sound business first - and to have fun along the way.
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