Big Leaps: from Investor to Partner
I tend to go through life underestimating the challenges ahead of me. While not exactly faultless, I think that’s quite a good approach. It sees me in new, unfamiliar, scary and exciting situations frequently. As many other blogs you’ll have read will have pointed out: that’s a great platform to learn fast. Back in Q3 last year, Nic asked me to become a Partner at Forward Partners and to head up the investment team. I’m lucky to be at a fund which offers career progression in the way that we do. I was excited to make the step up and I got after the opportunity with my standard approach. This is what I’ve learned.
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The practical
At the point that I became Partner I was already contributing dealflow, had the majority of the team reporting to me and generally assumed that not much would change…or indeed that I’d make any transition fairly easily. Incorrect. Time management has become a focus and necessity like never before.
If you’re not busy as a VC, I suspect that you’re doing it wrong. Demands on your time are as frequent as they are wide-ranging. As a result, and similar to the entrepreneurs that we work with, we’re careful over our diaries and constantly looking for productivity hacks. Either way, when a new big ask for your time muscles its way into your schedule there’s rarely any elasticity or slack to make that happen without much upheaval. Large impacts in the past have included taking on another board seat or the line management of a new investor. Partnership was and is something else.
It should probably be said that Forward Partners is a larger, more complex fund than most. We have a venture development team who work across the portfolio; we offer cash, strategy advice (ordinary VC) and tech, talent, growth and product execution (out of the ordinary). Doing that effectively takes planning and attention: time. We’ve also got huge ambitions for the fund and want to be around for the long haul. Putting those foundations in place necessitates similar attentiveness.
My contribution to these fund-level discussions has easily been the greatest ‘shock’ to my diary since I became a VC. It has necessitated a large rethink of how I operate. If I can point to one thing that has allowed me to effect that, it’s being able to rely on my team. A lot of the work that I used to own has now been passed to them and that’s been a very smooth process. I can’t thank them enough.
The psychological
Before stepping up I had already felt like part of the fabric of Forward Partners. I’ve been there/here since close-to-the beginning and would like to think that I’ve had a strong positive impact on the fund in one way or another. I figured that not much would change from that point.
However the change in accountability is something that I’ve certainly noticed. Before I was playing something much more akin to a single-player game: trying to get deals done, trying to be a good board member and line manager, searching for new methods and avenues to optimise my work and my value to the fund.
All that remains in place but the incremental change in accountability — for the performance of the team as a whole — has inspired a leap in the way in which I think about my own and my team’s place, both within the fund and within our ecosystem. I find myself naturally drawn to seeking opportunities where we can all improve and contribute to that ecosystem. To date that’s involved levelling up the way in which we assess entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial talent, establishing shared ownership of team objectives plus rethinking our content strategy as a team. As we move through the year I’ve got some plans afoot for some boring-sounding though essential competency frameworks for investors. This might all sound rather unremarkable though if I compare the way in which I approach my role today versus 6–7 months ago, it’s a massive shift.
The second large psychological shift is that of caring for my colleagues. That isn’t to say that I didn’t care before (!), though the way in which my colleagues happiness, wellbeing and effectiveness affects me is a step change from before.
I’ve always approached relationships with colleagues as an opportunity to establish broad based relationships. We work in relatively small businesses and I think that it’s important to find the time to really get to know the people that you work with (both colleagues, entrepreneurs and peers). Added to that, we work in a ‘lifestyle profession’ i/e/ we keep the hours that entrepreneurs do and so our work is always with us. You have to enjoy it and personal relationships are a key part of that.
While I felt that I cared for and took care over my colleagues before, now it’s a different ball game. It might be in relation to an increased understanding of how we all fit into the whole but I find myself extremely interested and invested in ensuring that I do what I can to ensure that my colleagues have everything that they need, not only to do great work, but also to be happy.
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It’s been a wild ride so far. There have been both practical and psychological impacts. The psychological ones of caring and accountability unsurprisingly feel more profound. I hope that I’ve been able to provide some insight into the changes that partnership brings for a venture capitalist. Indeed if I’d thought more about some of these aspects, perhaps I’d have gotten there sooner: best wishes for all of your journeys.
