Investing and the Football Pitch with Alvin Ho
AngelHub chats with Investment Committee Member Alvin Ho about his investment strategies
Mr. Alvin Ho, CFA, is an experienced investment principal with demonstrated track records in private equity. He is skilled in deal structuring, due diligence, venture capital/private equity, corporate finance, IPO, and business reengineering. He is the managing director of a private investment vehicle which looks to invest and advise on several high growth sectors. Aside from serving as a member of the board for several public companies, he has recently authored a book on the business of sports. He is a volunteer of the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts Limited, currently serving as secretary to the board and director.
Wise Words
“Having gone through many ups and downs of the times over the years, I believe that one of the keys to business success and survival, start-up or not, is the ability to “map out” what your real added value is, vis-à-vis an interrelated web of peers/competitors, customers and suppliers. Using my favourite football jargon, it does not matter whether you are striker, midfielder or defender.”
At all times, you need to apply your polished footwork, pace or decisions with strong awareness of where your teammates are, how your opponents come about tackling you, and where could the breakout possibly come through.
“Lionel Messi only knows it too well where the goalposts are when he is about to apply his killer shot! Businesses across all life spectrums need to examine what they could offer, how different their products/services are, and how their competitors would react. A good sense of anticipation is dearly needed. Start-ups could have an added challenge because the rule of the games is not yet clear, or, the goalposts could still be moving! Hence, your sense of orientation and the ability to rejig would become ever more critical.”
Building Businesses
“In many of the private equity deals I have made, the investee companies have invariably been active in investing in start-ups in order to expand their business/products/services platforms. For example, regarding a company I serve on the board now, it has made over 20 investments in the last three years, mostly in the start-up or greenfield stage. This is naturally to leverage on my toolkits and experience in M&A, business development and commercial negotiations.”
How the business concept/services fit into the customers’ needs:
What do advertisers or fans/users really want; why the requirements have not been served well; and why your way of providing the products/services solve their pain points.
The Team:
I also look for the ability to absorb /co-opt/build the team, how the team has evolved, how founders involve other people, how the difference in opinions or even conflicts have been handled. There is no right answer but I need to know how matters are resolved or have been dealt with historically.
Competition:
I say that most business models/pitches do not consider enough of the dynamic nature of the competitive world. Competitors are there lurking, even your customers can sometime turn predatory. Start-ups tend to arise from some good understandings of the pain points (otherwise they wont be able to get off the mark). Still, by focusing on building a platform (app/prototype/first version/product/service etc.), they may not be able to grasp how fast their equally competitive peers have grown.
Why AngelHub?
“My impression of AngelHub is that people (the two founders and some key personnel there) don’t usually sleep…they work around the clock! It is quite an impression! Additionally, the Fintech Whitepaper last year was impressively done.
Who is Alvin Ho?
Alvin is a veteran private equity and investment pro. He joined CLSA’s private equity investment in the late 1990s, helped to spearhead the growth-capital side of the business and finished his time there as the head of China’s growth capital in late 2000s. He had also been intimately involved in several funds incorporated domestically in mainland China, taking up the role of the legal representative in various funds in Beijing and Chengdu over time. Since the mid-2010s, Alvin has been active in the investments into and advisory for several high growth sectors including media, sports equipment, new energy and consumers healthcare. He has served as director for several public companies listed in the mainboard of the HKEX. He is an author in the business of sports, having published in Chinese a book on one of the world’s most sought-after football clubs. Alvin was the key manager for the private equity funds investing in, among others, Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited (a company currently listed as one of the 50 constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index), and the predecessor company of CIMC-Tianda Holding Limited (currently a HKEX mainboard listed company backed and majority owned by the Shenzhen based, A+H listed company which is competing globally in logistics and energy equipment). In addition, he is a director of, inter alia, the Shanghai headquartered, Fu Shou Yuan International Group Limited (a life service company currently listed in the HKEX) assisting the company on its way to IPO and advising on matters relating to its post listing expansion and acquisitions.
