Richard Lucas is an angel investor who is currently involved with close to 20 different companies across a variety of industries. He has made many investments into world-class startups over the years, including deals with startups backed by the likes of Y Combinator. For example, Richard was an early investor in the company Estimote, which won the 2013 Tech Crunch disrupt in the Hardware category. Part of the reason why Richard is such a fascinating person to talk to, is that he is involved in a variety of projects outside of his main work. He is the founder of Cambentrepreneurs, an alumni network for the graduates of Cambridge University and others focusing on entrepreneurship. He is also the license holder of Tedx Kazimierz, which is an independently organized Ted event in Krakow, Poland.
Richard Lucas
Our interview with Richard is jam-packed with really great and practical insights into the mind of someone who, in his own words, thinks about the world in terms of problems and solutions. We touch on some of the red flags he looks for before deciding to invest in a business and the importance of building a company with an exit plan in mind:
“If you don’t build a company with an exit in mind, then you don’t really prepare for it.” Richard Lucas
We also discuss the reasons why he has deliberately decided not to exited any of his business, despite having received offers to sell them:
“I’ve never done an exit and that is not because I have never been offered money for my businesses, but it never seemed sensible to take money at 3x or 4x earnings, because 3 or 4 years later you have got the same amount of money if the company doesn’t fail, and you still own it.” Richard Lucas
We also talk about his early experience as an entrepreneur and the lessons he learned, which he openly shares with us. You – yes, you – are lucky for living in an era of information abundance. Don’t take our word for it:
“The great advantage for listeners now is: you can be 19 and or even 10 and listen to this and think: oh, I won’t make the same mistake as Richard Lucas. I am really jealous of you guys for being able to compress all that knowledge”. Richard Lucas
And this is just the tip of the iceberg!
And now, the show notes:
Time Stamps:
02:15 –Richard explains what is it that he does for a living
09:20 –On holding onto the companies in the long run and not liquidating angel investments
11:10 – Richard’s first angel investment
14:40 – Acquisitions – deal structuring
15:50 – Opportunities created by Angel investing
17:05 – Difficulties of B2B businesses
20:35 – How Richard tacks the developments in the markets of his portfolio companies
22:35 – Media Richard Follows
24:50 – How Richard Screens investment ideas
27:35 – Typical process of Angel Investing and how to approach an angel investor?
33:20 –Is working for a start-up an easier life than a typical job?
38:30 – Importance of experience of working at Start-ups
41:20 – The way to agree on the pre-money valuation
43:00 – Richard’s favourite portfolio company
45:45 – Company culture and focus in a start up
47:00 – On financial success of a business
50:35 – Richard on giving advice to his younger self
57:07 – Other projects Richard is working on
Links:
Richard’s Blog – www.richardlucas.com
Project Kazimierz Podcast – www.projectkazimierz.com
TEDxKazimierz – www.tedxkazimierz.com
The Alumni Group for Entrepreneurship Support by/for Cambridge University Alumni – https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/get-involved/find-a-group/cambentrepreneurs
Krakow Enterprise Mondays – https://www.facebook.com/Krakowenterprisemondays
Open Coffee Krakow – www.ockrk.co
Krakow Standup Comedy – www.facebook.com/krakowstandupcomedy
Wojtek The Soldier Bear – www.facebook.com/groups/wojtekthesoldierbear/
The Alumni Group for Entrepreneurship Support by/for Winchester College Alumni – https://wintrepreneurs.com/
The Wojtek Narębski TEDxKazimierz TEDx talk – https://youtu.be/WR2kKw3kQEA
Questions from a potential investor – Richard’s Blog Post – http://richardlucas.com/2013/09/questions-from-a-potential-investor/
Richard’s Linked in Profile – https://pl.linkedin.com/in/richardhlucas
Argos Multilingual Blog – http://www.argosmultilingual.com/blog
Some of Richard’s Investments:
SKK – http://zalamo.com/home/en
Estimote – http://estimote.com/
Argos Multilingual – http://www.argosmultilingual.com/
Unicard . http://www.unicard.pl/
ISL – https://isl.pl/
Syndicate Room – https://www.syndicateroom.com/
Notatek.pl – https://notatek.pl/
Vantage Power – http://vantage-power.com/
Untitled Kingdom – https://untitledkingdom.co/
Love Krakow – http://lovekrakow.pl/
Crowdcube – https://www.crowdcube.com/
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The next episode will come out on February 9th, in which we share a great conversation with Dr. Nelson Lacey, the director of exams for the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst) Association.
Stay tuned!
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