A common question facing founders when pitching for VC investment, is what makes your idea, product or business model 10x better than incumbents? This caveat to raising venture money often borders on cliché, to the extent that it’s become meaningless. While some perceive the ‘10x’ factor as something intangible and…

In 2018, we received 4,000+ pitch decks via a combination of warm introductions, serendipitous interactions and cold inbound — the latter being the largest source in terms of volume (>70%). We met with 400 founding teams and invested in 10 companies. That’s a probability of 0.25% … and means we…

Sales is hard… and there are plenty of exciting software startups out there who consistently fail to cut through the noise. Inexperienced sales teams lose out to larger, more mature vendors with vast resources and well-honed processes (despite offering a superior product.) …

You may be familiar with the paradox of the “busy manager”… Well, perhaps unsurprisingly the same productivity challenge often plagues early-stage founders as they struggle to take themselves out of the critical path of their business, or prioritise whilst in the constant state of being “uncomfortably busy”. To help busy…

As a startup in venture capital, Forward Partners’ success is determined by delivering on a powerful and compelling promise that attracts the UK’s top founders. Our promise is to help them build startups better, faster and cheaper than alternative funding routes. This year, we celebrate 5 years of game-changing VC…

According to Startup Genome, 92% of startups fail within three years. Forbes puts the figure at 90% within five years whilst Mattermark shows the graduation rate from seed to Series A is less than 10% amongst “high profile” US startups. While statistical variations arise due to the different vintages, geographies…

So far, we’ve lifted the lid on what makes our model of Applied VC a better, faster and cheaper alternative for founders to achieve venture scale outcomes. For those only tuning into the series now, here’s a recap on what makes us stand out… Compared to UK angel and venture…

Negotiations can be daunting. Whether you’re convincing a senior hire to join the team, deciding terms with suppliers or drafting customer agreements, they should always be characterised by cooperation, not conflict. When raising investment, entrepreneurs face an additional trade-off known as the ‘Founder’s Dilemma’. By understanding this better, it’s possible to navigate the deal process more openly, and effectively.

A ‘micro’ trend is more than a ‘fad’ but less influential than a ‘macro’ trend. Mark Penn, who coined the term, referred to microtrends as “the small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes” — Artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain are all macro trends that will persist beyond 10 or 20 years. Microtrends typically last 3 to 5 years before being replaced, or becoming implicit as a result of widespread adoption. …