By Damien Lane We recently invested in Huboo Technologies. It was the fastest investment decision I have ever made. After 15 minutes with the founders, Martin and Paul, I was in. The proposition — multi channel fulfilment made easy — was so compelling, the team — entrepreneurial flair and deep…

Huboo Technologies, a new investment for Episode 1 We recently invested in Huboo Technologies. It was the fastest investment decision I have ever made. After 15 minutes with the founders, Martin and Paul, I was in. The proposition — multi channel fulfilment made easy — was so compelling, the team — entrepreneurial flair and deep industry expertise —…

A lot of founders that pitch to us miss a fundamental point of venture funding — VCs are all about trying to find really big outcomes. They want to discover the startups that will grow into 200million, 300million, 500million, billion dollar companies. …

As early stage investors, in predominantly B2B startups, the team here at Episode 1 sees our portfolio companies wrestling with the many attempts to achieve Product Market Fit. …

It is a truth universally acknowledged (as Jane Austen once wrote), that VCs prefer to work with Founders as CEOs, and not hired hands. To the uninitiated, that might seem strange. Many of the founders involved in early stage startups are first timers, learning as they go, like new parents…

“Welcome to Durban, you’re about to run the toughest marathon in the world, then you’ll run the second toughest marathon in the world” I’m just back from South Africa, where I ran, jogged, walked, hobbled, and dragged myself over one of the iconic distance footraces on earth; The Comrades Marathon…

Just back from an event about Visas. Good speakers, and entertaining panel discussion and thanks to Tech City UK for organizing it. A common observation from attendees was that the qualification criteria were not always clear, so in an attempt to shed light on the rules, I thought I’d précis…

Industries of the Future — Alec Ross So I’m finally reading “The Industries of the Future” by Alec Ross. One of the (many) good things about an Easter break on the beach in sunny Florida is that I get to read non fiction. I pretty much always have a novel…

Brexit — Why and What Next? On Thursday, the people of the United Kingdom spoke. Well, the less well educated, the economically vulnerable and the old spoke. In a world not short of contradictions, it is those who are most likely to suffer most from any economic downturn that comes…