Season 9 - Switching it up

To close out this miniseries we (Danielle & Francesca) wanted to make sure to include the perspective of one of the most important parties, the startup founder. These are the people we invest into, we learn from and follow the journey of over time. It was our pleasure to be joined by Sharon Chen of Persimmon Systems and Laura Bogaert of (former) Tracer/OpenSRE.The Associated Syndicate participated in the friends and family (i.e. earliest possible financing round) of both companies. We learned so much from this episode including:The “Soft ROI” of Angels vs. The “VC Timer”: How early-stage angel capital provides high-impact “soft value” — acting as WhatsApp sounding boards and providing niche industry unlocks—without immediately starting the ticking clock and pressure of institutional VC milestones.The 3-Tiered Angel Pyramid: How founders evaluate their cap table, categorising investors from “Check Writers” (who invest on vibes and gut belief) to “Network Connectors” and “Strategic Brainstormers.”Navigating Legal & Admin Realities: Tactical lessons on successfully securing UK SEIS/EIS tax benefits under a Delaware Topco structure, and why setting up your administrative paperwork early saves you from having your bank hold up an investment wire until you upload LinkedIn screenshots to prove you’re real-life friends!War Stories from the Trenches: From Laura literally sprinting for 20 minutes across town to jump on our syndicate pitch call breathless, to Sharon’s full-circle journey from syndicate investor to raising over $2M for Persimmon Systems.Lastly, we want to share our heartfelt gratitude that you stuck with us this short season. Now, we would like to hear from you! How were the episodes? What were the least and most favourite?Until next time,DB & FB*Associated, The Syndicate Miniseries is written, hosted, edited and produced by Danielle Bennett and Francesca Baillieu. Statements and questions made only represent their perspectives not that of their affiliates.*

This is episode three of our four part miniseries, covering the limited partner (LP)'s perspective. In episode 2 we talk about the angel playbook - a list of questions and resources that would be helpful to consider if you were to start angel investing (after getting the thumbs up from your legal team of course). We also talked about the importance of collaborators: The Associated Syndicate runs with the help of institutional co-investors, angels and LPs. In episode 3, we turn to the last group, answering questions like:What is the ideal relationship between an LP and an angel investor?What is the best way of getting an LP to take notice of your work, whether you have an angel track record or not?Why are LPs increasingly doing more direct deals into startups?What are some of the macro shifts in venture from the early 2000s to today?Savs, Francesca, Jaysiri and Danielle go through all of the above and more in our discussion about the relationship between LPs and angel investors. Listen to episode 3 to understand the LP perspective on institutional and angel investing today.Substack linkThe information provided in this content ("Associated Syndicate Podcast") is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice. It is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security, cryptocurrency, or other financial instrument.The author/publisher is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, or financial planner, and no advisor-client, fiduciary, or other special relationship is created by your use of this Content. Nothing here is personalized to your specific financial situation, objectives, or risk tolerance.

You don’t need a fortune to start angel investing. You just need the right playbook.The traditional rules of startup investing are changing. From angel syndicates to VC fund carve-outs, creative new access points mean getting skin in the game is more accessible than ever before.In this episode, David Ola, Danielle Bennett, and Francesca Baillieu break down how they navigated the jump from spectator to active angel investor, sharing the exact strategies they use to build their portfolios.In this episode, we cover:The Angel Mindset: Overcoming the myth that you need millions to get started, plus the all important "why" do it in the first place. What investment structures are out there for angels: The legal technicalities of investing in private companies.Winning Allocations: How to convince top-tier founders to accept your $$$.Ready to start your investing journey? Listen in and start designing your angel playbook.

We’re back! We know we have been gone for a while, so want to share a bit about what we have been working on. For the past two years Francesca and I (Danielle) have been stealthily running an angel syndicate. It has people that span a range of geographies, group chats, VC funds and thesis areas.At the beginning we were not sure it was going to work. It started as just an idea. Could we create something so that we could always be in relation to entrepreneurship? Here is episode one - setting the stage.

For part two of our Fundraising 101 series, we focus on how to present traction effectively on investor calls. We cover the three main traction stories: We're growing really fast. Our customers love us. We're great at acquiring new customers. And provide tips on how to make them resonate with investors. For more fundraising resources visit pitchdoctor.app/masterclass. Subscribe here or via the Associated Collective Substack.

We're bringing you a series on how to ace first meetings. In collaboration with our friends at Pitchdoctor. We cover the four key narratives that investors want to hear as well as how to frame what your product does effectively. Sign up to our Substack - theassociatedcollective.substack.com Check out Pitchdoctor's masterclasses - www.pitchdoctor.app/masterclass

This is a partner episode to a blog post written on our newly launched Associated, The Collective Substack! Join Associated co-host Danielle as she unpacks a searing question the group has discussed internally for years... are companies from all industries compatible with venture capital financing? The blog post lists out our perceived challenges of being a deeptech company working with alternative capital options and this episode is an interview with a deeptech founder, Barry Bennett. He also happens to be Danielle's father. He is the CEO of Metals & Materials Engineers (MME) and started his company officially in 2001 after spending time running the metallurgy division of an engineering firm, working for government in an engineering capacity and studying at at top engineering schools in London, Jamaica, New York and Georgia. We are excited for you to hear this episode. Let us know what you think on X/Twitter or LinkedIn at Associated_Pod. Links: https://mmelab.com/ https://theassociatedcollective.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/associated_pod?lang=en https://uk.linkedin.com/company/associatedpodcast

We're back! Associated is now Associated, The Collective. A minor detail change, we know, but it means a lot to us. Over the last six months our team has thought deeply about the sustainability of this group and we wanted to ensure that whatever we did next could encapsulate every mode of expression we'd like to showcase. We will now come to you via substack with not just podcasts, but blog posts and much more. All the while, having the same north star: making Venture Capital more accessible.  So without further ado welcome to The Collective !

Notice: If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ as well as on ⁠Twitter⁠ (@associated_pod). We are trying to understand our listeners better, so we can make better content. Please consider filling out our listener survey which can be found ⁠here⁠ (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP). Description: For the last episode of our series on ‘How to Raise a Venture Fund’, Danielle, Francesca and Tunde reunite again to discuss their key takeaways from the previous three episodes, where we interview the founding partners of funds with novel strategies and structures. Our interviews with Adrian (Übermorgen), Ian (Syndicate) and Alice (Entrepreneur First) yielded fantastic insights which we got to unpack. Some of the key themes we discussed were: The motivations behind their atypical structures (2 of 3 are structured as companies rather than funds) Raising capital outside mainstream LP circles Earning the right to innovate on structure and strategy simultaneously  We took so many learnings away from each episode and we cannot thank our guests enough for coming on the show!

If you want to get in contact with us you can reach us via email at ⁠[email protected]⁠ as well as on Twitter (@associated_pod). We are trying to understand our listeners better so we can make better content. You can really help us out by filling out our listener survey which you can find here (https://airtable.com/shraJVvUNv6D7PkDP). Description: In the penultimate episode of Season 8, Danielle and Tunde interview Alice Bentinck, one of the co-founders of Entrepreneur First. Fresh out of a grad program at McKinsey and Co, Alice and her co-founder Matt felt that there was an opportunity to shake up the early stage VC scene and founded Entrepreneur First (EF). Fast forward 12 years, EF has built more than 600 startups across 6 countries that are collectively worth more than US$10B. In this episode, Alice dives deeper into the genesis of EF and the complexities of their business model, unraveling some fascinating twists and turns along the way. She also outlines some of the unique challenges the EF team face such as identifying 'talent investors' as well as exceptional potential founder profiles at pre-ideation stage. A favourite discussion topic of ours is when Alice talks about the importance of social capital during fundraising, so keep your ears pricked for that golden nugget of wisdom!