Cambridge Angels' top tips for remote working

It’s no secret that Coronavirus has caused a seismic shift in the way that we work. Remote working has been part of our lives for a number of months now and it seems it will be a feature that will continue to influence the way we do business, even after a return to an office environment.

Cambridge Angels has since the start of lockdown, hosted regular online sessions with both its members and our portfolio. One of the key topics for us, as for most people, has been the non-trivial matter of making remote working work. We’ve collated a list of the top tips for remote working that we’ve heard from our portfolio and our members.

As we head into the summer season, and as remote working fatigue may be starting to set in, we hope that you’ll find these reminder tips handy.

Look after your and your team’s mental health

Exercise regularly, take regular breaks, create a routine, manage your information intake, set a daily ‘no meetings’ period in your team’s diaries

Set the tone

Create an informal chat or social sessions to keep spirits high. Allow for feedback for employees to submit improvement suggestions for how we communicate and work together at this time. Make remote working work for you. Change where you sit, put on music, whatever helps you work. And enjoy the perks – no commute or uncomfortable shoes, and all your home comforts!

Keep in touch

Have a ‘war room’ call with your team at the start of each day and keep all communication explicit and transparent. Keep up one-to-one contact. Be prepared for each meeting to communicate effectively

Conference call tips

Always switch on the camera. Seeing each other’s faces really helps. Use facilitation technologies to help (e.g. Mentimeter and Kaptivo)

Remote customer contact

Behave as if every dollar of revenue is the last you’re going to see from that customer and focus on upselling. Engage with your customers on a human level – their businesses are going through the same crisis. Consider the risk associated with every revenue assumption and put contingency plans in place for each.

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Cambridge on Cloud 9 as angels gather

Cambridge deals and the angel funders behind them look set to be in seventh heaven when the honours are handed out at an upcoming awards jamboree.

The leading science & technology cluster has a strong contingent of finalists at the UK Business Angels Association Investment Awards in London on July 2.So many Cambridge deals have taken wing in the last 12 months, underlining how important angel funding is to help emerging businesses scale.

Cambridge serial entrepreneur and funder Sunil Shah is a finalist for the Angel Investor of the Year which recognises the most active and impactful angel investor in backing startup and early stage UK businesses during the past 12 months and who has brought not only vital risk capital, but also significant added value to support the growth and success of their portfolio.

Struan McDougall’s Cambridge Capital Group is up for Best Investment in Disruptive Tech sponsored by Innovate UK. This award recognises investment in an early stage, innovative high growth potential business that is harnessing the power of technology to bring a revolutionary and disruptive solution to a major market, industry or social challenge. CCG is also a finalist for its investment in Light Point Medical.

Cambridge businesses IQ Capital, Martlet, Amadeus Capital Partners and Cambridge Capital Group are finalists for the Best Investment in Deep Tech accolade.

This award recognises investment in an early stage entrepreneur that has embraced the power of deep technologies such as AI, machine learning, IOT or robotics to converge with key sectors and industries to achieve fundamental breakthroughs to key social or global challenges or needs.

24 Haymarket and Ahren Innovation Capital – the latter formed by ‘Cambridge dontrepreneurs’– are strongly fancied in the Co-investment Deal of the Year category for their investment in Mogrify. The Cambridge startup is poised to transform the development of life saving cell therapies via the licence of proprietary cell conversions tailored to any therapeutic application.

IQ Capital is in the running for Exit of the Year while Cambridge Angels, led by Peter Cowley, could take the prize for the most active and impactful angel syndicate or group in the UK.

The UK Business Angels Association, which has a base at The Bradfield Centre on Cambridge Science Park, is the national trade association for angel and early-stage investment, representing over 160 member organisations and around 18,000 investors. 

Business angels in the UK collectively invest an estimated £1.5 billion per annum and are therefore the UK’s largest source of investment for startups and early-stage businesses seeking to grow.

For a full list of finalists visit https://awards.ukbaa.org.uk/the-2019-award-categories/finalists/

Cambridge University spin-out aiming to improve patient outcomes in mental health arena

Cambridge’s credentials as a nervecentre for mental health research have taken a fresh uptick as university spin-out Psyomics closes in on a major seed funding round and starts to scale.

Psyomics has impressive co-founders in Professor Sabine Bahn and former Horizon Discovery ace Dan Cowell, who is CEO. Barnaby Perks, founding CEO of Ieso, is a non-executive director;  Anne Dobree of Cambridge Enterprise is current chair and Martin Glenn of Parkwalk Advisors is a non-executive director. 

Professor Bahn previously founded Psynova Neureotech, along with Cambridge University dontrepreneur Professor Chris Lowe, which was a subsidiary of Rules-Based Medicine – acquired for $80 million by Nasdaq-quoted Myriad Genetics Inc in 2011.

With companies such as Ieso Digital and Congenica already powering the UK’s bid for world leadership in mental health digital technologies, the emergence of Psyomics could hardly be better timed.

Approximately one in four people in the UK experience mental health concerns each year. While advances in mental health research are being made, there remain significant barriers to effective detection, treatment and prevention.

Psyomics is looking to overcome these barriers by combining digital approaches with developments in biomarker technology to benefit those facing mental health challenges. The tools currently in development are targeted for both clinical and workplace settings, specifically designed to combat the respective mental health-related challenges faced within these environments. 

In the future, the business plans to expand its reach to provide personalised solutions for the wider community, building on what Cowell calls a granular approach to the many and varied problems of mental health.

The company’s work is funded and supported by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercial arm of the university, and a Horizon 2020 grant from the European Commission.

Psyomics also won an innovation contest with IC Tomorrow and AXA PPP to look at mental health awareness and prevention in the workplace, and won the Problem Solution category of the AXA PPP Health Tech & You Awards. It was also awarded a grant from the Technology Strategy Board to further develop its technology for differentiating bipolar disorder from depression.

The new seed round – not quite a Series A, according to Cowell, will give Psyomics ample runway to build on its current 10 headcount and scale engagement with clinicians, including GPs.

Mental Health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK and the wider economic costs in England alone have been estimated at £105.2 billion a year. This includes direct costs of services, lost productivity at work and reduced quality of life.

Working closely with the Cambridge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research, led by Professor Bahn, the mission is to develop digital tools and, for some challenges, biological tests, that can be used to develop a comprehensive understanding of an individual in complete confidence and then combined with an up-to-date record of scientific research, point the user towards sources of help and support as well as treatment options available.

The team is working on a range of tools for prevention and early detection in the workplace, diagnosis of depression and bipolar in a clinical setting and triage tools to be used in primary care. 

Professor Bahn is a practising psychiatrist working with the cash-strapped NHS so can witness and appreciate all sides of the mental health debate. Psyomics is based at the Innovation Centre at Cambridge Science Park, soon to be replaced by a new state-of-the-art hub, and Cowell says the cluster provides the perfect springboard for growth of the business.

“We are still at a relatively early stage – almost in stealth – but have already built an impressive technology suite to ensure earlier and rapid diagnosis of mental health problems and optimum ways of treating them.

“There remains a stigma attached to mental health issues but the fact it is on the public agenda is a major advancement. One of the key challenges is to differentiate between people who are simply feeling low on occasions and those who may have more serious mental health issues but either don’t recognise them as such or feel restrained from seeking treatment.

“Our focus is on working with GPs and other clinicians on earlier diagnosis and to get product to market much more quickly; to more accurately identify problems much earlier so clinicians can deliver timely solutions. 

“Dealing with mental health issues is not as clear cut as identifying and dealing with, say, a tumour or a broken leg – conditions that are more visible.

“Our model allows us to differentiate between people who occasionally feel down from those with deep-seated mental health problems; to identify those conditions earlier and to therefore ensure swift diagnosis and treatment. GPs and psychiatrists with whom we are engaged see the benefits of what out technology can bring.”

Cowell says that despite increasing awareness of the problems mental health issues cause to sufferers, their families, businesses and society, this area is still chronically underfunded.

Accuracy and speed of diagnosis of mental health problems is absolutely crucial for clinicians and patients: Psyomics has all the tools end expertise to improve patient outcomes and that, says Cowell, has to be the overarching mission.

A day in the life of a VC senior operating partner

n this regular series, we're speaking to various players in the private equity and venture capital spaces—including startup founders, investors and noteworthy dealmakers—to see what daily life looks like for them.

This week, we talked to Shirin Dehghan (pictured), senior operating partner at Frog Capital.

What does a typical day look like for you?

The day starts with a two hour journey to London. It usually involves lots of meetings and phone calls, either with companies who are looking for investments, advisors, LPs or businesses that are currently part of the portfolio. We see quite varied business plans and markets so that involves spending time investigating those markets and assessing if they fit the fund criteria for investment. I also tend to give two or three talks a month, which does take up quite a bit of time preparing for. I also like to blog about topics that interest me.

What led you to your current role?

Before I joined Frog Capital, I started my career as an engineer, so I did radio and software engineering in the mobile industry for 10 years. I saw an opportunity in the market to start my own business in the early 2000s, and grew that business from an idea to a multinational business. I sold the business back in 2013 for which I won the Investor AllStars Awards Female Entrepreneur of the Year. I became SVP at JDSU—a NASDAQ-listed company—running my company as a new division, but ultimately corporate life was not for me.

I left in 2015, and morphed into an angel investor and that was quite interesting, investing in other entrepreneurs rather than just my own ideas. I also started mentoring and took some board [seats], one of which I still hold—chairwoman of Opensignal. I really enjoyed giving back and working with up-and-coming entrepreneurs who were aspiring to hopefully do better than I did.

When the opportunity came along to see what it was like on the other side, i.e. become a VC, I thought, "this is a really interesting opportunity, as it completes the entire journey." By that time I had done angel investment and being part of a later stage VC focused on the scale-up phase was of particular interest to me. Obviously a different career path, which I didn't necessarily envisage, but one that I thought, "if I don't try it I'll never know".

What is the most challenging part of your role?

The VC environment is very different to running a tech company. Although you are investing in tech, you're really just facilitating and helping. I think this is more pronounced if you have been a CEO/founder of your own company, as you go from a doer and the top decision-maker to basically an influencer.

What is the most rewarding part of your role?

By far, it is helping entrepreneurs and getting involved at their request, which is rewarding because I don't have to force myself—they readily ask for it. I try to always make myself scalable, so, since joining Frog Capital, I've pushed initiatives around scale-up tool kits in terms of producing helpful tools and processes that CEOs can pick up on day one. Also, helping them with advice. I have had many instances where someone has emailed me just to come and pick my brain or ask something. Those are the moments I enjoy; it's like getting back to my roots in a way.

What is the most important part of your role?

I would say that, first and foremost, picking the right company to invest in. For any VC, that's the number one key performance indicator. The second is, once you've invested in them, helping them flourish, hopefully stop them from making mistakes and be there to support them.

What advice would you give to others in the industry?

As VCs, when we look at companies we are very critical, and we should be. But we have to realize actually our fate is in the hands of the team we back. We can have influence, but frankly it's not that much and therefore the focus on picking the right team is critical.

Also, when the team actually succeeds, yes, we can pat ourselves for picking the right company/team but the full credit has to go to the executive team and the founders that made it happen. It's important that as VCs we don't take credit for things we haven't been responsible for.

So, really focus on the team because that's what's going to make or break the company ultimately. And secondly, the team deserves the credit.

Outside of work, what are your interests?

I love reading, especially around business and entrepreneurship. I go to the gym a lot. I run and play other sports. I have two children; they're a bit older so they don't take up too much of my time, but they can keep me busy, especially in times of crisis.

How do you balance your professional and personal lives?

I'm definitely much better at it as a VC than as a CEO or founder. As a VC, when the week finishes, you go home and that's it until Monday. When you're a CEO, you're 24/7 thinking about your business and from that perspective, it's a lot less stressful being a VC.

When I was CEO, one of the things that I did was set aside one day a week where I turned off my phone and laptop and didn't touch them, just focused on my family. I wish I had done it earlier. For a number of years, I was literally working seven days a week and that was not healthy.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you take with you?

A picture of my family as a personal item. I should really take a novel, but I would choose "The hard thing about hard things" as a book. For a film, it would be "Sound of Music." And definitely a Queen album.
 

How can you leverage funding options to scale up?

BLM was the media partner for the 2019 Business Funding Show. Held at East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf, it brought together some of the UK’s most prominent investors, professionals and business leaders to pour over the latest trends shaping the funding market.

Here are some key takeaways from the show.

WHAT ROLE IS BRITISH BUSINESS BANK PLAYING IN THE FUNDING ECO-SYSTEM?

Alice Hu-Wagner, managing director of British Business Bank: “It is a wholesale bank and we ensure there is enough funding available to keep the whole eco-system moving. You can’t ask us for money, but we help to make sure the people that you do ask for money, have it.

“Awareness around different funding options such as alternative finance is actually pretty low amongst SMEs, so our job is also to inform businesses about these options and how they can leverage them.”

CONSIDERING THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CHALLENGES, ARE INVESTORS LIKELY TO HAVE LESS DESIRE TO INVEST IN BUSINESSES?

Peter Cowley, serial entrepreneur and investor: “Not from my perspective, no. I receive about 300 cold proposals a year which are then screened, and I end up investing in about six or seven of them. This will not change at the end stage, but what does worry me is that capital availability may slow down.

“One interesting trend is that there are many more entrepreneurs now than there were ten years ago, and there isn’t enough capital to go round for everyone. So, what we do as investor is end up backing the good people who have been there and done it. I’d rather invest in an entrepreneur who has failed, than somebody who hasn’t tried it before.”

Jenny Tooth OBE, chief executive of UK Business Angels Association: “I do agree with Peter that investors will not change their approach due to the current climate and they will continue to back good entrepreneurs.

“When angels invest, they’re looking for businesses that can scale, so it’s important that funding options at the later stages in the cycle are also well funded.

“One issue we’re still not tackling is that 68% of investment is still in London and the South East. We need more investors operating in the other regions, to help build their local economies.”

HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE MORE WOMEN AND PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS TO BECOME PART OF THE INVESTOR SCENE?

Jenny Tooth OBE: “Around 15% or 16% of the investment population are women and we’re working hard to encourage more females to become investors. It’s true that the more female investors we have the more female led businesses will receive investment – which is good for the eco-system.”

WHICH SECTORS ARE MOST ACTIVE FOR INVESTORS?

Alex Sleigh, investment director at Newable Private Investing: “Office space and the flexible working market and the data that surrounds it is a growing market for us. We’ve funded around ten companies operating in this space. Alongside this it’s about innovation and that covers all sectors.”

HOW CAN BUSINESSES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GRANTS AND LOANS THAT ARE AVAILABLE?

Nigel Walker, Head of Innovation Lending at Innovate UK: “Innovate UK runs two grant funding programmes. One is focused around the industrial strategy and looking at the big issues around AI, infrastructure and transforming construction.

The time and scope of this funding programme doesn’t work for everybody though, so we have another competition called SMART and this responds to the challenges business people put to us and funds the best innovation led projects across the UK.”

HOW DO WE SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF INVESTMENTS BEING CENTRALISED AROUND LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST?

Alice Hu-Wagner: “I recently attended an event in Bristol and asked entrepreneurs where they typically go to look for funding. They answered London.

“Something is broken outside of the golden triangle of London, Cambridge and Oxford and it’s up to us an investor community with the universities and business leaders in the cities outside of London to fix it.”

HOW CAN YOU TELL BETWEEN A REAL INVESTOR AND ONE WHO IS JUST THERE FOR A FREE LUNCH?

Peter Cowley: “What you need to do is find a deal lead and he or she will act as the conduit that organises the investors and will save you time.

“It’s also important not to get investment from a single investor as he or she can hurt you in the long-run. You’re better served getting investment from smart angels, not so smart and also dumb investors.”

HOW IS BEST TO PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS FOR INVESTMENT?

Karen Holden, founder of A City Law Firm: “Fundamentally, preparing your business for investment is about being open and honest.

“If you do have skeletons in your closet talk to your lawyer or tax advisor. Prepare an executive summary for your investor on why there was an error and how you resolved this.

“Making sure you own any IP and that it’s available in the UK is important too, as it will show an investor that the business has collateral.

“There are also lots of ways you can complicate a business through legal and business structures, but you won’t dazzle an investor unless your business has a simple structure.

“Finally, you will need very concise legal documents and a clear plan of your business journey, and you need to be prepared for tough questions about the financial performance of your business; as well as ensuring all of the founders are aligned and in agreement about the potential investment.”

HOW MAY THE WAY YOUR BUSINESS HANDLES DATA IMPACT ANY INVESTMENT?

Karen Holden: “There is also a requirement around GDPR now and ensuring the way you handle data meets regulations. Investors will be looking at your business’s GDPR policies and they don’t want to acquire a company that isn’t compliant. This means you need to look at contracts and processes.”

WHAT IS EIS INVESTMENT AND HOW CAN IT HELP BUSINESSES?

Stephen Hemmings, Corporate Tax and Tech partner at Menzies LLP: “It was introduced by government to incentivise investors with tax relief and recognise the risk they’re taking. You get income tax relief up front and you can also receive tax relief on exit.

“SEIS is for smaller companies and you can claim up to 50% tax relief up front. You can also claim up to 72% back, should the investment go wrong.

“EIS is for larger deals and you can claim 30% tax relief up front.”