3 years on the corporate development team of one of the worlds fastest moving media companies!
For the past 10 years I’ve worked in and with various Media, Internet and Tech companies. I’ve been an employee, a founder and an investor. I’ve developed, launched, scaled, monetized, grown, raised, sold, exited, invested, divested, merged and acquired. I’ve succeeded and I’ve failed but most importantly, I’ve learned tremendously.
In September 2012, I spent my first day as an Investment Manager at Schibsted Growth, the corporate development arm of Schibsted Media Group. I couldn’t have imagined what a learning experience this role would be and how happy I still am about accepting the challenge.
3 years in and numerous questions from friends, family and former colleagues about what exactly it is that I do and why I love it so much. I thought I’d answer some of the most common questions and share a few of my learnings so far. Here we go (please consider yourself warned of clichés and cheesy quotes):
“What is it that you do exactly?”
The short description of my job is that I help Schibsted identify investment opportunities, lead the actual investment processes and help the companies we’ve invested in succeed.
The above question is usually followed up with a “what does an average day look like?” -Well, I usually start my mornings by walking over to the Schibsted building in central Stockholm, my base for spending time with entrepreneurs, portfolio companies, partners and investors. There’s a lot of meetings, but I also work hands-on with specific opportunities our portfolio companies have, for example; international expansions, hiring, marketing campaigns etc. Some days I walk to Arlanda Express instead (the airport train) and fly off to another European city and repeat the above.
What’s your office like?” (This question is most frequently asked by my former Facebook colleagues.) -I sit in a semi-open landscape together with my team, the office space itself isn’t too corporate but there’s no concrete floors or vent-systems showing either. And yes, we do have motivational posters on the walls.
“Do you work a lot?” (Most frequently asked by family members)
This is a job that doesn’t really feel like a job, because it gives me so much more than a paycheck every month. The job itself is never over, done or complete. You’re always looking, hunting or closing and you’re always listening, learning and sharing information. Most of my friends work in internet/media/tech and the line between what’s work and what’s personal is beyond blurry sometimes and you tend to live, eat and breath startups. For me, this is a good thing and I wouldn’t wanna have it any other way.
“Corporate Development, M&A, Corporate Venture Capital & Venture Capital -What’s the difference?”
When it comes to what we’re all looking for it’s pretty much the same; great companies, great teams, disruptive technology, amazing products & services that users love. But the reason for doing so varies. Corporates & strategic investor often have a more long-term perspective on their ownership and look for a balance between internal synergies and financial gains.
“How do I know which investor to choose, why should I choose Schibsted?” From one entrepreneur to another, make sure you do your due-diligence. And by that I mean make sure you know whom you’re partnering with, regardless of type of investor. Raising money for the wrong reasons or from the wrong people will cost you more than the alternative. Don’t be afraid to ask your investor the tough questions. Take references. There are always two sides of every story, make sure you hear both and form you own opinion. We want to be as right for you as you are for us. But on a serious note; if you have the opportunity, always take money from Schibsted.
“How does Schibsted work with companies & entrepreneurs once you’ve invested?”
Our goal is to build long-term successful companies and to partner with great entrepreneurs in doing so. The majority of our portfolio companies stays independent and are run by a CEO and a board of directors as any other startup. The value add of having Schibsted as an investor comes with the companies opportunity to leverage parts of, or the entire Schibsted Ecosystem in order to grow and scale as effectively as possible. Depending on stage of the company, the challenge at hand and the market opportunity the ecosystem advantages might be local or global, based on marketing, tech or data. When setting up or scaling there are also help to get in forms of IT, HR (staffing/recruiting), Facilities, Accounting and much more.
“How do you know what to invest in?”
Our investment strategy is much like any other investors derived from a variety of internal and external factors. Examples of internal factors are; industry and market opportunities, strategic fit and contribution to the Schibsted Ecosystem. External factors range from; Macro trends to technology and business trends. Based on this information we form investment themes that we use to source and evaluate investment opportunities. It’s not rocket science but it gives us a framework and it helps us focus.
“What does a typical deal look like?”
The boring answer is that we’re pretty stage agnostic and that there is no typical deal. We have done everything from seed pre-product to late stages of financing in profitable companies. If there was a typical deal I wouldn’t be needed and robots could be venture capitalists. All deals unique. What they do have in common is tough negotiations where investors and entrepreneurs usually end up meeting half way. In the end, hopefully, it’s a win-win case and at worst, we both fail.
“You’ve been an entrepreneur, don’t you miss running your own company? What’s it like being an investor?”
For me, none of the jobs I’ve had, whether it’s been as a CEO, a sales rep or as an investor, has been about a title or money, it’s been about impact. As an entrepreneur I enjoyed being in the driver seat, as an investor I feel lucky to be a part of several exciting journeys and being able to contribute in any way I can. As an investor I get the best of both worlds.
At Schibsted I have an impact by contributing to our strategic direction and shaping the future of our group. Helping our companies solve real problems for their users through products and services that reaches 200 million people world wide.
I love building companies.
And when doing so, through good times and bad, there are a few cheesy quotes I use to remind myself to stay on track. Here’s my top 5:
1. The more I know; the more I realize how much I don’t know.
Any entrepreneur I meet most likely knows more about her or his company, industry or market than I will ever. And that’s a good thing. But through my experiences and my interactions with thousands of companies, startups and other investors I have accumulated valuable insight on what works and what doesn’t, mistakes to avoid and shortcuts to take. To sum it up, I’ve gone from specialist to generalist, and I keep learning new stuff all the time.
2. Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups! Never make assumptions.
Things are not always what you think they are or what they seem to be. Assuming is basically believing things ARE a certain way, with little or no evidence that shows you are correct.
On a personal level, I’ve learned the hard way to always try to communicate as clearly as I can and find the courage to ask the hard questions. And if someone else isn’t being clear, to always ask.
In business, we all have to work from assumptions in the absence of detailed information. For example; information about who the user of our product or service is, what the user needs and what user wants. But if we follow our assumptions we tend to end up designing for ourselves, not others.
I think I’ve learned how to avoid it. By always asking questions and testing my assumptions, and then, trusting the data. Not being afraid to challenge myself, or others, and not being afraid to lose prestige. Honesty and directness is a bigger virtue than never being wrong. If I’m never wrong and if I never make mistakes, I’m probably not pushing the limits hard enough.
3. Good things do not come to those who wait. Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up!
4. Believe in yourself!
I stopped trying to impress other people a long time ago and I think I lost my fear of being wrong or making mistakes somewhere between my first and my second start-up.
Caring about what other people think of you or how other people will judge you is probably your worst enemy in any kind of new venture. As an entrepreneur you have to be optimistic, on the boarder of naive and so convinced about that you’re right about your idea, that you can convince investors, employees and customers to buy in on your vision. You have to believe in yourself, or no one else will.
Not caring about what people think of you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about other people. I’ve learned the importance of building, managing and maintaining relationships. I’ve learned to never hire someone I couldn’t see myself working for. I have learned the true meaning of integrity and how to not be an asshole even though my job consists of saying no 99% of the time.
5. Never ever stand still
I might have some sort of attention span disorder but I have to keep moving, keep learning and keep developing at all times. The day you stop growing, is the day you start dying.
I try to balance my thrill-seeking personality and absence of risk-aversion with a strong passion for facts, numbers & data. To my managers dismay I sometimes work under the presumption thats it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
That is why I haven’t had this text pre-approved by someone at Schibsted. Sorry.
:)
/Miriam
