The Fund, bringing founders together to support next generation of entrepreneurs, Eamonn Carey

Interesting interview with Eamonn Carey MD of @Techstars

What is your own background briefly?

I started out as a journalist in Ireland – working for everyone from In Dublin magazine to Newstalk, and then on to RTE. I always loved computers and the internet, and so was always tinkering around with coding, websites and more in the background. In 2004, I took a trip to Korea where I saw people watching TV on their phones and came home thinking I’d seen the future. I quit my job and started a company doing everything and anything on mobile for big clients, and I’ve never looked back.

Does it seem like a logical background to what you do now?

It’s funny – there are some pretty famous investors who started out as journalists. I think you develop an ability to ask questions and read people when you’re interviewing them for press or radio, so that definitely helped.

Mostly, I think my background as someone who was a founder is probably the thing that’s best equipped me to do what I do now. There’s so much empathy needed at early stage, and I think I wouldn’t be able to feel it as much if I hadn’t lived the ups and downs of running a company.

How was the last 12 months? What were your big wins?

It’s been great overall, but not without some bumps along the way. We’re lucky to have an incredible portfolio at Techstars, so we’ve had some great exits, funding rounds and successes. It’s been amazing to see the quality of applications for this year’s program. It’s also been brilliant to help bring The Fund to Europe – our first dinner with our members and friends was particularly amazing.

What would you have done differently?

I’m not a huge believer in regrets. As is frequently the case, there are a bunch of things I’ve screwed up in the last 12 months, but if I hadn’t made those mistakes, I wouldn’t have learned from them. Maybe I would have skipped the karaoke at Web Summit. I think that might not have been a bad idea.

1 min pitch for what you are doing now / how are you managing during these corona times?

I’m running Techstars London, and also a partner at The Fund. We’re continuing to invest in and support companies around the UK, Europe and the world. I’m flying a lot less than I was in previous years, but I’m a far better cook, and I sleep a lot better! Mostly, we’re figuring out how best to support portfolio companies across a range of sectors with everything that’s going on.

Where are you getting ideas from these days?

I’ve subscribed to a lot of email newsletters. Dan Frommer’s New Consumer is brilliant. Stratechery continues to be excellent. A lot of what I see on Substack is impressive. I try to find time to read New Scientist and other magazines every week. I read a lot – the book review page of the FT usually costs me at least 20 or 30 quid every week. Listening – I like what Brett Bivens is doing with Venture Desktop. I’m a huge fan of Harry Stebbings and the 20 minute VC. Anything with Kara Swisher is usually well worth a listen as well.

Why did you get involved with Scott & this investment fund?

I have long been a believer in collaboration and community. When I came back from New York, I set up a deal flow sharing newsletter, and later a Slack group. There are now over 800 folks involved in the newsletter – so the idea of bringing smart people together to support founders is something I’ve loved since my first days mentoring at Techstars to today.

What the Fund does is bring an incredible community of founders and operators together to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. As someone who benefitted from the knowledge of folks who had far more experience than I did 15 years ago, I love the idea of being in the privileged position to help out a little with the folks building the amazing companies of tomorrow.

Who do you invest in / how do you assess what / who to work with?

I’m pretty polyamourous when it comes to startups, but I do have some soft spots. I love anything in the food space (including beverages). I’ve invested in a bunch of consumer brands and direct to consumer products. I love computer vision and ML in multiple sectors, but I’ve also invested in hard B2B and enterprise stuff before.

I look for incredible founder market fit. I want founders with a huge passion for what they’re building and the desire to walk through walls to make that a reality. I want people who are coachable and who want to learn – that’s hugely important. I also try to not work with assholes – which might not be the best strategy ever, but life’s too short to put up with people you really can’t stand.

What tips would you give to those looking to pitch you successfully?

Do your research. It’s pretty easy to find a bunch of info on me, or any investor. You should always personalise your cold emails or approaches – not to a huge extent, but enough to make me notice. That goes a very, very long way. Also, learn how to tell your story in a paragraph rather than in a PhD thesis. Like a U2 guitar line, less is more.

Who are good examples of companies that have pivoted during the current crisis?

I’ve got a few – Pesky Fish pivoted from selling fish directly from boats to chefs to selling direct to consumer. It doesn’t sound like a big change, but when you think about the quantities that restaurants order in versus the quantity people do – you’ll see it’s a huge shift – from B2B to B2C. It’s been hugely successful so far.

The other one is Paranoid Fan. They’re a social mapping business in the US – helping people navigate live events. They have major partnerships with most sports teams/leagues etc in the states, but obviously that business is not currently running – so they took their tech and applied it to another sector – building Nepjun to help food banks get produce to the people who need it the most.

What are you advising companies to do?

Depending on the company, it’s something from ‘close the doors and focus on iterating and improving your product’ for companies where sales cycles have just gotten impossibly long to ‘think about how your buyer persona has changed – you’re now selling to a CFO or FD’ for others. With some of the food companies – it’s saying ‘hire like crazy, get out and raise money – you’ve got an incredible opportunity to grow here’. Everyone’s company and reaction the coronavirus is different!

How can people find out more about you personally & your work?

I’m on Twitter – @eamonncarey – that’s probably best. One of the advantages of my name is it’s great for SEO! So you can also find a bunch of great podcasts I was lucky enough to guest on recently – so you can hear more about what I’m interested in, companies I’ve backed and more.

Who and where do you get inspiration from?

I’m inspired by lots of people – family, friends, colleagues and peers. I must admit, I miss the ability to have a long lunch with someone and just meander around a series of topics over several hours – for me, that’s one majorly inspirational thing that has been taken away by the current crisis.

I’m also endlessly inspired by the amazing people I meet every day – who are following their dreams, scratching itches they’ve had for a long time and starting companies. It’s the best, worst, stupidest and best thing I’ve ever done – the most and least fun I’ve ever had and I wouldn’t change that experience for the world.

Anything else you’d like to add / we should have asked?

I think that’s everything! I could go on about books and podcasts forever, but I think I’d need a book rather than a page!

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