The person in question turned out to be a big Arsenal fan. The Octopus Group incorporates Octopus Energy, Octopus Real Estate, Octopus Moneycoach, Octopus Investments, Octopus Ventures and Octopus Labs. 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. Each of the angels had had success in their own careers and now wished to help the next generation of entrepreneurs make their ideas a reality. 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. So that was very challenging. Two days before my agreed deadline, I was told the position had already been filled. In a way, we were fortunate that it took us a little while, and I think it was a good thing that we didnt get funding at the time. Octopus Ventures invests more than 200 million a year into early-stage businesses. Laura Wilming of Octopus Ventures People + Talent team answers the pressing questions about Or rather, when. From this humble beginning over a decade ago, Octopus Ventures has grown rapidly into a team of 30, investing over $120m a year. The highly active London-headquartered VC has built a dedicated pre-seed team led by former senior staff at Seedcamp and Uber. Read about Octopus Ventures investment in Cobee, a platform that employers use to centralise and manage benefits schemes, and facilitates the distribution of benefits to employees through a Cobee digital wallet and card. . If so, why do you think youve had this success? Our aim is to have an impact in everything we do, and to make a vital contribution to the UK economy by helping people, companies and institutions generate wealth. Are you a CEO considering U.S. market entry? Prior to this, he developed and implemented structured financing strategies at BlackRock and Barclays after graduating in Mathematics from Cambridge University. Learn more about founder Tania Boler and the Elvie journey to developing beautiful, usable tech products, Victoria Prew knows all about the waste involved in fast fashion. Were a leader in one area investing in female leaders but we need to do more to support not just women but everyone, regardless of culture, race, gender, orientation or economic status. I do think that some CEOs are just not motivated by that aspect and would be on to the next idea at that point. Written by Nick Sando. Owen holds a Ph.D in Chemistry and spent time as a research assistant before joining Oxford University Innovation to manage the licensing and spinout of technologies developed at the university, spinning out Refeyn and working on IP licensing with Oxford Nanopore. A and B started business in partnership investing Rs. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Why octopus VC? At that point, my role changed radically, and it continues to change. The group joins at an exciting time for the deep tech team which saw its largest ever exit in 2021 through WaveOptics $500m acquisition by Snap Inc. Raylo raised an undisclosed amount / Series . 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. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Leverate Media is a fast growing company with offices in New York, Singapore, Jakarta, London, San Francisco and Cologne. Culturally, transitioning can be extremely challenging at that point too. Having invested the time . Id had a seven-year journey at my previous employer. From 2011 it was just the two of us, and we got to four by the end of 2012. We aim to be helpful and straightforward and we value boldness - qualities we seek in our entrepreneurs and partners. Getty. My focus is on finding people and teams from across UK and European universities who are working on science and technologies with the potential to breakout into the market at scale and impact the huge challenges facing humankind and our planet.. Ultimately, your network is incredibly important in getting the right talent in this industry, alongside maintaining your reputation and integrity to attract the best people. 73% of employees would recommend working at Octopus to a friend and 66% have a positive outlook for the business. This feeds into your hiring. Benjamin Davis, a 12-year veteran within the Octopus Group and current CEO of Octopus Real Estate, will succeed Ruth Handcock as of today. Deep .Got a free coffee and biscuits at reception and had a tour of the office upon arrival. No matter your experience, interviewing can be a stress-inducing event. Working together to unlock deep techs revolutionary potential. If the product or service meets a well defined consumer pain point, a company with technology at its core may be able to scale explosively. Watch Our Last Interview Video:. I applied online. Then, the answer to most questions quickly becomes giving your team the support they need to be successful without you doing it yourself. 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! Anonymous Interview Candidate in London, England, I applied online. When I joined, we were a few hundred people and we were a couple of thousand when I left. This is changing now. Some also burn out from sprinting through the early stages with no rest, so thats another reason why many may not be built to lead their companies in subsequent stages. When we were going out in 20112012, the problem for companies felt too far in the distance; they were just putting firewalls in place, getting their antivirus in order, and building very nascent security teams. Investor Type Venture Capital. No matter how important the company might feel to you, its still not as important as family and we all have lives outside work. This was the evidence we needed to convince the UK VC community to put money in, and our original seed round happened with Passion Capital around this time. Im the opposite of zen right now. So far this year, the Octopus Ventures deep tech team has invested more than 45 million into businesses including Orca Computing, which is providing the UK Ministry of Defences first quantum computer; AI dubbing software developer, Papercup, and adaptive music technology platform, Lifescore. Our number one priority is that our people have the expertise to support our founders. After successful trials that were pretty tough, we were working every hour and learning exceptionally quickly on this 3-month program. I interviewed at Octopus (London, England) in Jan 2022. Octopus Ventures, a dedicated business unit in Octopus Group, is the VCT manager. a Inky? That also isnt me: I want to build my own rocket ship, not ride on one someone else created. Candidates applying for Senior Legal Counsel had the quickest hiring process (on average 1 day), whereas IT roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 61 days). Weve backed the likes of ManyPets, Depop, Elvie and Quit Genius, and some of our portfolio startups have gone on to join forces with the worlds largest companies. We strongly believe that there is no trade-off between doing good and making money, and our business can pursue purpose as well as profit. Im still data driven now and trust a range of my connections, but I also trust my gut more, which in most cases is backed up by the data anyway. All rights reserved. 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. The hiring process at Octopus takes an average of 23.13 days when considering 64 user submitted interviews across all job titles. When youre running low on energy and motivation, where do you go to seek inspiration, encouragement, support, or just general fuel in your tank? The first interview was set up by the interviewer Victoria, who specified that it would be a phone conversation. . I applied online. Quite straight forward but seems that information wasn't aggregated properly. Ask to learn how they handled it and what they learned in the process. Hannah Joyce from Odgers Berndtson talks Venture Capital Trends with a fantastic Venture Capital Partner at Octopus Ventures. Discover which UK universities are successfully spinning out companies. My co-founder James did a little contracting work on the side. Our investors have first-hand knowledge and experience in their focus sectors, from NHS doctors and deep tech PHDs to beauty entrepreneurs and web3 founders. Given the ubiquity of mobile and cloud computing, these types of companies are also able to reach global audiences in a capital efficient way. Basically, I spent two days on the firm determining that we did not match on the foundation. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. (My name) set the tone for the session well and set out clear objectives and a nice structure. Job Interview Best Practices Growing Your Career Starting a New Job All Articles Learning Hub Food & Beverage Online Courses Retail Online Courses Not being able to scale your marketing function can place significant constraints on a companys ability to grow, which can be a challenge, especially for consumer facing businesses, where you are competing with agencies and established start-ups for the best marketing talent. Contact Email info@octopusvnetures.com. 18 Nov 2022. We focus on building a more sustainable planet, empowering people and revitalising healthcare. Data, Artifical Octopus had two very successful AI exits in 2016. I applied online. If you wait a few months, youre going to be feeling very different about whatevers going on. And, like clockwork, I have felt different every time as the company has started performing well again. Octopus Ventures has previously backed some of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs, making . I applied online. The London-based startup has raised over $30.5 million in funding to date, with backers including the media titan Sky (now owned by Comcast) and to VCs including Octopus Ventures, LocalGlobe, Sands Capital, and Guardian Media Group Ventures. Tech.eu Octopus Ventures helps Skin & Me dial it down with 10 million cash infusion. Responsible hiring doesnt just make business sense its the right thing to do. Octopus Ventures; Interview with Digital Shadows' Alastair Paterson: The Company's Growth Story (1/3) I chatted at length with the CEO of Digital Shadows to learn more about how a CEO can . What companies in the portfolio are you personally excited about? 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. Fintech Portfolio. . How is A related to C, if B is the mother of Cs daughter ? In part this is because many of the funds in Europe are smaller in size and so have a smaller management fee to invest in this type of infrastructure and in part this is because there is less overall competition between the funds, so there has been less pressure to innovate. Joining the team are: Richard Anson, Academic Lead at Conception X and former CEO of Reevoo. Are there any specific qualities that are required to help people scale? Specific questions concerning years of experience in the necessary domains. Octopus Ventures was started by four angel investors in a small country pub just outside Cambridge in the UK. & amp ; me dial it down with 10 million cash infusion deep.Got a free coffee and biscuits reception..., Academic Lead at Conception X and former CEO of Reevoo business unit Octopus. Doing it yourself idea at that point started by four angel investors in a small country just! 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