- What would you look for in an HR-tech startup,
if you were to invest in it?
- So firstly, I think the HR tech partnership
is slightly different, compared to most VCs in the market.
And so there are a few things that we would look for,
which would be very similar to other VCs, and there would be
other things that would probably be slightly different.
- All right, let's start with the similar ones.
- Yeah, so let me first explain, I've mentioned
that they're different, and they're different because
all the investors have domain expertise.
So they all have corporate or human capital experience.
And so to that extent, I think it's a wealth of knowledge
about what's actually needed, but what would work
that makes us slightly different to a VC, who would
probably go purely by financials.
And then maybe rely on a little bit from advisors
here and there about an HR tech product solution.
And of course, as I said, I think the advantage
we also then have for any startup is we're not just there
to give the funding, but we give instant credibility.
But we're also there to provide a network and any mentoring.
And so there's a lot more that the startup gets in return.
But I think to go back your question of what
would I look for in a startup, and as I said,
I think clearly apart from the traditional thing
about the financial model, the business case, I think
all that is a given, but there are three things
I think that would look a little bit different
as compared to other VCs.
So the first is, I think our focus is very much on:
Is it solving a real pain point?
So it's not about,
"Oh, candidate attraction is important,
and which is why this product..."
But what issue is it solving?
Then is that a real issue?
Is it important enough for companies
to want to spend money on it?
Now that's really a judgment call, and that judgment call
comes from the experience of me and my investors.
And based on that, I think also the assumption of growth
then is a little more realistic rather than it kind of being
probably just going by reports or industry hype, then.
The second thing I think is the team.
Obviously everyone says the team is important,
it's important to us, but because we focus on
big enterprise solutions, first and foremost I think
I would look for in the team is:
Do they have some experience of big enterprise?
Now it could be as an employee, it could be
as a supplier, it could be as a contractor,
but to be very honest, if I have a pair of
young graduates coming out of university who have no idea
what the corporate world is like or how it operates,
I would be very, very careful
about investing in their startup.
The second thing, and probably because I'm HR
and my investors are HR, is really the dynamics between
the founders of the team, I think that becomes important.
Firstly we do prefer a team with at least two co-founders,
but also I think it's:
What's the complimentary skillset they bring in?
And also, how well do they work together?
Which I think only HR people they try and look at.
I don't see a VC really looking at that so carefully.
But yeah, so I think the team, but also, as I said,
I think, so if I give you an example of the kind of
investment we are making,
the two co-founders have--I would also
look for a track record of achievement.
And that achievement, it can be either educational,
or it could be extracurricular, but I strongly believe in
if you are an achiever you will have shown enough
evidence of that all along, and if I don't see that,
I would question and dig deeper a little more.
And so, I think all that becomes far more important
than just the numbers and the figures, then.
And then the third thing, I think, is from a very
practical perspective, is to see whether they have had
any partnerships with either technology organizations,
or consultancies, because the reality is that from
a scaling perspective, if you're a big enterprise
product or solution, it's very difficult
if you don't have some of these partnerships.
And so, I think those would be the three things
that would become far more important for us,
and I don't think other VCs probably would
pay enough attention to that.