On October 22 at The Watershed in Bristol, 9amBusiness and Brandpie will host a morning conference that is called ‘How To Be Seen To Unlock Investment.’
The aim of the event is to equip founders and leaders – who are looking for Series A and Series B investment – with the knowledge they need to secure the funding they need.
As part of the event, there will be an opening keynote, two panel discussion and a roundtable. Eighty leaders from the region are expected to attend on the day.
One of the panel hosts is Rebecca Morley (above) – founder of We Are Third House – and here she tells 9amBusiness about why she is involved in the event and how it will benefit the business community.
Why do you feel the event is important?
I’m really excited about this event because it’s an opportunity to bring business leaders, founders, CEOS and their teams together with investors in a unique environment. One of the things I observe about the investment process is just how difficult it can be to navigate and how all consuming it can be for founders when they are also trying to focus on keeping the business on track.
Anything that brings the right people together in a room to share insight and build understanding is going to be a hugely valuable. The more insight and understanding we can build for the scale up ecosystem, the better. It’s an opportunity for leaders to hear from investors and experienced founders who have been through all of the different stages of the growth journey and the format means we can foster real connection where it’s needed.
What subjects will you be covering in your panel discussion?
For me the watchword at the moment is uncertainty. Things are changing quickly in both the macroeconomic climate, in tech and AI and in the funding landscape. This leads to ambiguity and a perceived reticence to commit.
I work with leaders and their teams at the inflection point between start up and scale up and many of them are navigating either getting investment or dealing with investors or a board for the first time. This combination of growth and scrutiny can create a pressure cooker for leaders. Selfishly, I want to understand more from the investors on the panel what they’re really looking for in leadership teams so we can help those teams to build that capability.
I think it’s also important to understand the funding landscape much more from the people in the room, and get under the skin of what investors are really looking for. What are their priorities and how can leaders align to those, what do they want to see, hear, feel from the companies they invest in?
When it comes to fundraising for businesses, what trends are you seeing at the moment?
In a world of uncertainty with a backdrop of some pretty public high growth failures, I’m seeing a move to investors wanting to see more sustainable growth and a focus on building great leadership teams rather than hero founders. Investors want to know that leaders are building the right systems to create the conditions for success and real evidence of repeatable, profitable business growth models.
A recent report from Alix Partners stated that great leadership is the surest way to get results and I couldn’t agree more but recently the focus has moved away from ‘leadership’ being perceived as just an impressive CEO with a strong story and has become more about the whole leadership system.
In terms of the companies we work with that means a major shift from the traditional hub and spoke model that most startup leadership teams operate to a much more cohesive and connected leadership team model that the CEO can lift up and out of.
We’re obviously also having lots of conversations about AI and it’s clear that the companies that see AI as an opportunity rather than a threat are going to win out.
What are you seeing at the moment when it comes to leadership trends?
The opposite! In times of ambiguity it’s really easy for leaders to try to swoop back in and try to control everything as their way to deal with uncertainty. Unfortunately, this behavior is completely counter productive and definitely not the path to sustainable growth.
When the people that should be at the front are stuck in the weeds the whole organisation ends up swinging from drama to drama as personal relationships come under pressure. Energy ends up in the wrong place and focus drifts.
Times of uncertainty should drive leaders to double down on the vision and the priorities. Leaders should strive to create simple sustainable systems that provide a framework for decision making and agility… this drives focus and flow where it’s most needed, at the top, and trickles down through the whole organisation.
Panel members and speakers include:
Steve Butterworth – CEO at Neighbourly; Dr Melanie Goward – Director at Maven Capital Partners; Scott Trent – CFO at Cakesmiths, Kyle C Grant Talbot – CEO at Oxwash; Rebecca De-Niro – experienced NED; Carmen Peacock – Head of Corporate Banking South West at Lloyds Bank; Olly Cox – Senior Investment Manager at Foresight Group; Harry Tyler – Consultant at Brandpie and more.
If you would like to attend please email oli.ballard@9ambusiness.co.uk