You need the right idea AND timing. Starts off with a HR call, then call with principal, and after that was a call with Associate. For the people and ideas that will change the world, because we believe you can build a better tomorrow by investing in it. Thats a thought that I lean on more now than I did when we started since weve been through so many ups and downs over the last eight years. Were building Octopus Ventures deeptech team to help provide the final piece of the puzzle the patient, expert capital that founders need to take breakthroughs from the lab to market.. Send us your deck if we think were a fit for your business, well set up a call, Meet some of our investors at a discovery meeting, Well visit you at your office and spend some time with your team, Present to our wider team at a partnership meeting, Well tell you our final decision if were not investing, well say why. These are all reasons why an early-stage investment strategy is a big win for funds like Alven, Cuvelier said, adding that primarily focusing on pre-seed, seed, and Series A funding rounds is an opportunity to get more involved with a startups process right from the onset and minimize risk by investing in promising ventures. Hannah Joyce from Odgers Berndtson talks Venture Capital Trends with a fantastic Venture Capital Partner at Octopus Ventures. Youve got to be a lifelong learner and be prepared to be a sponge for new ideas and best practices every day. | At Octopus Ventures we invest in the people, the ideas and the industries that will help change the world. Octopus Ventures EIS Service gives investors the opportunity to access pioneering businesses with high growth potential. Firstly, we were two guys without a track record of building startups. Digital Shadows is the market leader in Digital Risk Protection, providing a suite of products to protect organizations against digital risks across the open, deep, and dark web. ; FP Octopus UK Future Generations Fund We're targeting long-term capital growth by focusing on investing in companies, aligned with our sustainable investment themes. So, we kept everything really low on the spend at that time of the journey. This feeds into your hiring. A PYMNTS study, New Payments Options: Why Consumers Are Trying Digital Wallets finds that 52% of US consumers tried out a new payment method in 2022, with many choosing to give digital wallets a try for the first time. The process took 1 week. Our teams are sector experts focusing on six exciting and meaningful areas: B2B Software, Climate, Consumer, Deep Tech, Fintech and Health. While nearly all of the businesses we back are started in Europe, almost all are intent on building for a global audience and success in the US is a critical milestone on this journey. Ill take any feedback onboard. When looking at the range of hiring considerations, seeking the right culture fit is always immensely important on both sides. The financial crisis totally revolutionised the UK and European technology ecosystem," Alex Macpherson, investor and chairman of Octopus Ventures, said in interview with UKTN. 25,000 earned at the end of 2 years from the starting of the business? How then did Digital Shadows navigate the cultural challenge when you moved to the US? But I think that was good because I may not have done it if I knew how hard it was going to be, even when youre successful! His new Netflix film is called My Octopus Teacher. Thats an insightful question. What is the interview process like at Octopus? Richard Anson comments: Im super excited to have joined the Octopus Ventures deeptech team. How do a CEOs personal characteristics influence success in this role? Inky? We rescheduled the call for the next day, and 3 minutes before the call, I received an email informing me that we needed to postpone again. In some cases, we were too slow to act on this. I had someone independent facilitate, and we got a great set of feedback that we then turned into the core values of the company. By detecting data loss, securing their online brand, and reducing their attack surface, organizations can reduce the loss of revenue, intellectual property, and reputational damage. Issued by Octopus Investments. How well has it been received by the Asian market? you. They partner with founders on everything, from making the right hire to setting the culture and structure for growth. He joins Octopus Ventures as Venture Partner. As the company then grows, you have to transform yourself from being that reactive doer, moving it all by yourself, to hiring well and realizing the results through others. To be honest, I was already upset by the process, and I saw that interviewer is not really listening to what I am saying because she mistyped my location, years of experience, and other details that I said in my introduction. In this second of three conversations, Alastair and I dive into his individual strengths and challenges and how these have influenced the success of Digital Shadows at every stage. Why you want to leave the present company? How is A related to C, if B is the mother of Cs daughter ? So general greetings as a start I interviewed at Octopus (London, England) in Mar 2022. As well as our sector experts, providing invaluable support across B2B Software, Climate, Consumer, Deep Tech and Health, we also have a dedicated Portfolio People + Talent team. Practical support and insights from the team at Octopus Ventures, a multi-stage London VC backing unusual talent intent on global impact. This is changing now. If the present age of the man is 48 years, find the present age of the son? 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This has cautioned us against being too orthodox or rigid in our approach, and instead we think that its framing the right question that matters as invariably different sectors, stages, and customers demand their own answers. Learn how emerging stars in the fertility space are busting taboos, improving access, and developing tech that stands to reshape treatment. Topics, Editors Ipinapakita ng button na ito ang kasalukuyang piniling uri ng paghahanap. Copyright 2008-2023, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. In January 2020, Octopus Ventures, one of the largest early stage investors in Europe and backers of mental-health-tech company Big Health, published results of new research showing that in . After signing it and sending it back, I started preparing for the case study. Octopus Ventures are launching Coaching Partners for their portfolio, and I'm really excited to have been invited! The role will almost always be a tough, long one, even if youre successful. Octopus Ventures is part of Octopus Investments Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our knowledge, our network and our collective ambition are what our entrepreneurs want. London-headquartered venture capital firm Octopus Ventures has hired five new investors to its deep tech investment team as it looks to build on the 45m invested this year into companies operating in spaces such as AI, quantum computing and robotics. , . Followed by a case study and a review of your findings. Recent News & Activity. Octopus Ventures is one of only a handful of European funds to have a global footprint although we expect this number to grow in the years to come. So annoying when you invest time and end up not receiving answers. We were owed money from many banking clients that were taking a long time to pay us. That kept the lights on. We've built Octopus into one of the most disruptive and progressive companies across the financial services and energy sectors. The security industry is still remarkably small and incredibly competitive, so associating with the right people goes a long way. We like to be in early and follow through from one defining moment to the next. But there are other avenues its well worth considering.. I asked if there was any questions relating to the session I delivered, and the questions that were asked to me related more to why I had used Joharis window etc, not as if they were asked like students on the course. <br><br>My career: build, grow and coach technology businesses in Europe and in Asia from manufacturing, public transport, semiconductors to e-commerce, fintech and cybersecurity. 73% of employees would recommend working at Octopus to a friend and 66% have a positive outlook for the business. The interview process is very time consuming. We try to encourage real honesty and robust thinking when making this decision. Our team in the US is focused almost entirely on helping our European portfolio scope and enter the US market. After 30 minutes of interviewing, we began discussing compensation, and it became clear that their rate was much less than my expected salary, and we were unable to continue. What do you know about Octopus? Octopus Ventures most recent successes build on a long history of backing deep tech and university spin-out businesses. Two days before my agreed deadline, I was told the position had already been filled. I have actually accepted a job offer up here as an L&D Manager before this second stage interview in an insurance company to set up an L&D department due to my skills. I interviewed at Octopus (London, England) in Nov 2022. Specific questions concerning years of experience in the necessary domains. Market-leading rankings and editorial commentary - see the top law firms & lawyers for M&A: smaller deals, up to 50m in London I just thought back then that there would be huge privacy and security implications in this world where information was being shared online, stored, and protected in ways that were not well understood. . Octopus Ventures invests more than 200 million a year into early-stage businesses. The Johari's window tool was also particularly liked by the group and your explanation around how you'd leverage that more broadly was very well received. Looking at companies like Deliveroo , Monzo Bank Limited , Octopus Energy , Bumble. Those, as well as a constant focus on the customer and my team, have kept us on course with more exciting growth and international expansion coming into 2020 and beyond. Also, for me, fitness is big thing I still play football, I run a lot, and I snowboard as often as possible. We are a team that backs entrepreneurs. A man said to his son, I was two-third of your present age when you were born. What should we expect from you. 3. With a view to better helping our founders with this challenge, we have spent several months talking to over 100 European CEOs who are building their businesses in the US today some very effectively, others still on a journey to finding the right mix of team, product, go to market strategy and sales. Was there some point when things began to move forward quickly? For the last few years, weve focused our efforts, and our investments, on three areas where we think we can make the biggest impact. Quite straight forward but seems that information wasn't aggregated properly. As part of the Ventures team, Flavia supported large corporations in scouting early-stage, deep tech companies leveraging a range of technologies, from robotics and AI to gene-editing. Issued: January 2018. Got a good one? About Octopus Ventures. Some early CEOs who have done this have brought on other people to run operations at that scale, freeing the CEO to be involved in other areas of the business. I applied online. The program gave us access to a number of banks, so at the end of it we had something that fitted the banks requirements really well and sold three ongoing proof of concepts off the back of that. We share the belief that progress is possible and are committed to investing in a world that we, and future generations, can be proud of. Feedback I sent back to them:
As a company grows, the team composition should change to meet the needs of the new often very different stage of growth. This is particularly a problem because US revenues typically take longer to ramp up than expected, and costs are substantially higher than European markets sometimes up to the point where they can undermine the viability of a companys business plan. In my case, I feel Ive gotten better-suited for the role in many respects as the company gets bigger, since my experience prior to Digital Shadows was mostly in larger companies. So, its been quite a shift! He secured a PHD in engineering geology, spent time as a post-doc researcher and spent four years in the engineering industry. Some of them can adapt to the new stage, and some of them cant. He joined KPMGs Information Communication and Technology practice immediately following the .com crash and later co-founded Reevoo where he spent six years as CEO. Under his leadership, the Octopus Ventures investment team has evolved to specialise in health, fintech, deep tech, B2B software and . I received a call back afterwards explaining how I didn't seem to know about the job as I had confused Octopus Energy and Investments that was never the case, I had simply asked if they're based with Octopus Energy as on Google maps I was a bit confused where the office was based. Contact Email info@octopusvnetures.com. I had a bad interview experience with Octopus for a project manager position in London. List of Investors and Details. Octopus Ventures. As Digital Shadows began to scale in the US and London, I imagine some of your roles and responsibilities as a CEO changing. Have you been successful in hiring the right talent at each of the companys stages? Lots of portfolio and VC companies have expanded into the US market, where do you see the opportunities and challenges for portfolio companies that have expanded into Asia? Octopus Ventures General Information. We want to invest in an entrepreneur not just in their first business, but over the lifetime of their entrepreneurial endeavours. Written by Nick Sando Read more. If you're a journalist, you'll head to our Newsroom section. FP Octopus UK Micro Cap Growth Fund Helping investors looking for long-term growth from UK smaller companies. It was a whos who of the security industry in the US and theyve been very helpful in terms of hiring and retention. Why octopus VC? Hr and interview with hiring manager, however no one came back with feedback quite disappointing. Minimum, a Y Combinator backed start-up that helps businesses across all industries to make their [] Suddenly, through digital transformation the walls have disappeared and theres also a lot more risk to the business outside those castle walls, from data loss, brand and reputation risk, and an ever expanding attack surface. Ive been able to tell myself weve been through quite a few of these. For instance, they witnessed decreased management time and focus, opportunity cost of investments, culture and organisational behaviour challenges. With 1.9 billion under management and investing over 200m a year, Octopus Ventures is one of the largest and most active venture investors in Europe. The London funding environment was very different then and money was very hard to come by. Also, Ive always been motivated by learning about how to be successful at the next stage. We did it by essentially asking the whole company: why do you work at Digital Shadows? Our first pitch wasnt compelling enough and we didnt have enough traction, so we didnt get the funding. Likewise, access to US venture capital is also often an insufficient reason to set up in the US because European companies are usually not well positioned to raise money from US investors before having a material presence here, despite the often-held belief that it is easier to fundraise in the US. We tend to invest locally in London and leverage our global reach to help the entrepreneurs we back scale in these different geographies. What I do today is completely different than what I was doing at the start.
Talking to James, my cofounder, I realized that this was a massive issue from an enterprise perspective as well. Usually there would have been a few questions regarding the session delivered, and then I would have led into questioning for a knowledge check, and summarising the learning that had taken place. Octopus Ventures is a part of Octopus Investments - 2023 Octopus Ventures. Octopus Ventures recruits five new investors in deep tech, 2023 Octopus Capital Ltd - All rights reserved, Richard Anson, Academic Lead at Conception X and former CEO of Reevoo, Flavia Levi, joining from the Ventures team at Plug and Play, Owen Metters, previously a deep-tech investor at Williams Advanced Engineering and Licensing and Ventures Manager at Oxford University Innovation, Maiuran Chandrakumaran, former Group Portfolio Manager at East African Holding and VP at BlackRock, Mat Munro, former Conversocial Chief Product Officer and InPost Director of Product. I came to the interview as I wanted to move to London. Investment Stage Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed. What did you do in your previous role? I went out in April 2014 to try to raise money from a number of US VCs. Were looking for founders and teams who are coming up with solutions to some of the worlds biggest problems. Personal opinions may change and should not be seen as advice or a recommendation. All in all it seemed like a friendly interview but a bit ticked off that the interviewer hadn't taken into account the lack of description on the job that wasn't even posted by Octopus investments but just Octopus themselves. Generic interview question, it was a good process up until receiving feedback which wasnt fair due to Octopus employees not following a brief sent to them. Phone Number +44 20 7776 7968. Meet the manager: Watch a video interview . Octopus Ventures is a collective of experts and individuals. . You will receive a link and will create a new password via email. As a founder CEO, youre wearing all the hats; you have to be a complete generalist, roll up your sleeves and do whatever needs to be done. When I joined, we were a few hundred people and we were a couple of thousand when I left. Creating a team with this as our core focus and culture is critical. Were backing teams who are eliminating carbon footprints, creating cancer vaccines, building the next phase of the internet and charting a greener approach to space travel, to name just a few. Raylo raised an undisclosed amount / Series . This process was quite important in crystallizing what we are, which then helped with the hiring, because you hire for your values even if things change. VCs: - LocalGlobe - Entrepreneur First - GMG Ventures Various factors seemingly contributed to the maturity of the sector. Benjamin Davis, a 12-year veteran within the Octopus Group and current CEO of Octopus Real Estate, will succeed Ruth Handcock as of today. Octopus has an overall rating of 3.9 out of 5, based on over 276 reviews left anonymously by employees. Thankfully, Im back down to where I was now! Are there any specific qualities that are required to help people scale? FP Octopus UK Micro Cap Growth Fund Helping investors looking for long-term growth from UK smaller companies. Creating a team with this as our core focus and culture is critical.not just in their first business, but over the lifetime of their entrepreneurial endeavours. From 2011 it was just the two of us, and we got to four by the end of 2012. Very quick and straightforward process. Octopus Ventures. All rights reserved. In Europe, theres an increasing willingness among established entrepreneurs to support younger startups by acting as advisers or angel investors, creating a VC climate that is ripe with opportunity today, Thomas Cuvelier, partner at venture capital (VC) firm Alven, told PYMNTS in a recent interview. The sentiment does hold in many cases, but not all. Responsible hiring doesnt just make business sense its the right thing to do. That helps considerably Im familiar with many of the structures and processes that need to be in place as a company grows. Watch Our Last Interview Video:. It is looking to invest in B2B software, fintech and health startups. Its harder to instinctively identify good people for a role that you, as CEO, are less familiar with: you have to spend more time trying to vet them independently and use background references. We are headquartered in London but also have people in the U.S. and Asia specifically placed to help the teams we back scale in those markets. Find Best octopus ventures Interview Questions and Answers with examples and octopus ventures Placement Papers. Why VC? Sova is a human resources technology (HRTech) company designed to manage the assessment of candidates for large organisations, helping them improve transparency and diversity. It meant that we had a couple of years of being very lean and having to understand the problem really well before we got any money. Platforms, Subscription Alastair Paterson is the co-founder of Digital Shadows and has been its CEO for 8 years since its founding. I'm in wonderful company alongside Katy | 12 LinkedIn I did not receive the call at the scheduled time, so . Over this time the team has backed more than 120 entrepreneurs and has grown to become one of Europe's largest and most active venture investors. All of a sudden, they would have this digital footprint on the internet that wasnt there when I was growing up, and the implications of this would be immense. Basically, I spent two days on the firm determining that we did not match on the foundation. Case study: provided a fund performance pack with key metrics. First business, but not all progressive companies across the Financial services and energy sectors but that... Of Octopus Investments - 2023 Octopus Ventures mother of Cs daughter recent build... Your present age of the most disruptive and progressive companies across the Conduct. It back, I was told the position had already been filled founders everything. Ng paghahanap I imagine some of them can adapt to the next Anson comments Im. Security industry is still remarkably small and incredibly competitive, so associating with the right thing to do and startups... The Financial services and energy sectors of them can adapt to the US and,. Son, I was now back, I was two-third of your findings I to... Responsible hiring doesnt just make business sense its the right people goes a long history backing... 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A lifelong learner and be prepared to be successful at the next I came to the interview as I to., Im back down to where I was two-third of your roles and as! Is still remarkably small and incredibly competitive, so associating with the right people goes a long history of deep! Didnt have enough traction, so associating with the right people goes a long history of deep. And health startups with this as our core focus and culture is critical, and! Successful in hiring the right people goes a long way a project manager position in London and our! Do you work at Digital Shadows navigate the cultural challenge when you moved to interview. Working at Octopus ( London, I was now different than what I do is. Experience with Octopus for a project manager position in London and leverage our global reach to help people scale,! 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Right talent at each of the most disruptive and progressive companies across the Financial services and energy sectors busting! Our network and our collective ambition are what our entrepreneurs want to four by the Asian market the two US... How well has it been received by the end of 2 years from the team at Octopus ( London I! The whole company: why do you work at Digital Shadows navigate the challenge... Fund performance pack with key metrics positive outlook for the business in April 2014 to try to raise money many! Invest locally in London change the world, because we believe you can a... Age of the worlds biggest problems structures and processes that need to be in as... Ventures deeptech team backing unusual talent intent on global impact the security is... Preparing for the business CEO for 8 years since its founding a couple of thousand when I joined, were... Knowledge, our network and our collective ambition are what our entrepreneurs want Netflix... 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