How did you decide to go into working as an entrepreneur? 

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL. BOTH OF MY PARENTS RAN THEIR OWN BUSINESSES THOUGH IN THE PROFESSIONS (LAW AND OPTICS). I SET UP THE FIRST EVER PROFIT MAKING MAGAZINE WHEN AT THE CAMBRIDGE UNION IN THE 1980S, WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN OF THATCHER! I SET UP AND RAN A GLOBAL PERFORMING ARTS AGENCY FROM LONDON IN THE 1990S (THE TIMES NEWSPAPER CALLED ME ‘AN ESTABLISHED PRODUCER AT 27). I WORKED IN BANKING FOR A PERIOD, HAD THE IDEA FOR QODEO, AND JUMPED!

What did you waste the most time on, in the beginning?

ADMIN. JUST TRY DEALING WITH BANKS AS AN ENTREPRENEUR! AND, I’M A FORMER BANKER!

What is your company Qodeo all about? 

QODEO IS A PLATFORM THAT MATCHES INVESTORS (PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE FIRMS) WITH ENTREPRENEURS OF ALL STAGES AND SECTORS WORLDWIDE. IN SPITE OF A FEW BUMPS GLOBALLY LIKE UBER’S LISTING, ETC $100BN WAS INVESTED WORLDWIDE JUST ON EARLY STAGE BUSINESSES LAST YEAR. BACKING ENTREPRENEURS CREATES SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CAPITAL.

How different is your company/product today, than when you first started?

WE HAVE EVOLVED FROM A DATABASE INTO A MATCHING PLATFORM. A BIT LIKE DATING, BUT FOR FUNDING. OUR SUBSCRIBERS TOLD US THAT THEY WANTED SOLUTIONS (IE FUNDING MATCHES), NOT DATA. ONLY 10% OF PEOPLE ARE DATA WONKS. IT’S LIKE 90% OF FOLKS WHO BUY A BMW, DON’T LOOK UNDER THE HOOD, BUT JUST WANT THE GOOD DRIVING EXPERIENCE!

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

IRONICALLY PROBABLY RAISING FUNDS – WHY WE SET UP OUR BUSINESS – AND HR.

How did you get funded?

A LONG STORY! BUT, OUR ORIGINAL FUNDING CAME FROM PEOPLE I HAD DONE BUSINESS WITH, WITH WHOM THERE WERE ALREADY TRUST AND RESULTS PROVEN. IRONICALLY, SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT ENTREPRENEURS THAT MY OLD BANK TURNED DOWN BACKED US! I FIRST MET SIR HARVEY IN HONG KONG AT A ST CATHARINE’S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE ALUMNI EVENT, BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE OLD PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE (A MENTOR, DR LITTLE), WHO SUGGESTED THAT AS A FELLOW GEOGRAPHER IN ‘ALTERNATIVE ASSETS’ WE MIGHT SEE THE WORLD – AND FUNDING ECOSYSTEMS – THE SAME WAY! I‘VE ALWAYS LOVED GEOGRAPHY AND IT AFFECTS HOW I THINK DAILY.

What is the best resource for people who want to dive in deeper in investing?

OF COURSE, VIA QODEO. BUT INDIVIDUALS SHOULD WET THEIR APPETITES AS ANGEL INVESTORS, MAYBE VIA CROWDFUNDING AND GETTING TO KNOW THE SCENE. LONDON HAS SO MANY GREAT ENTREPRENEURIAL EVENTS, LIKE STARTUP GRIND!

When did you know that you had an idea worth ‘betting everything’ on?

YOU HAVE TO HAVE SELF BELIEF, BUT PROBABLY WHEN WE KEPT HEARING THE MARKET NEED TO BRING MORE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY TO VC, SAW THE MARKET NEED. AND, WHEN THIS CONVINCED INVESTORS ON BOARD, INCLUDING FORMER PRUDENTIAL AND MAN GROUP CHAIRMAN, SIR HARVEY MCGRATH.

You recently came back from her USA tour. Can you tell us more about that please?

I MET WITH OUR OWN COMPANY’S BACKER AND PARTNERS THERE. PART OF QODEO’S DIFFERENTIATION IS HOW WE SOURCES DATA THAT DRIVES OUR PLATFORM. WE WORK WITH 30 PLUS LEADING BUSINESS SCHOOLS WORLDWIDE TO DO THIS. I MET WITH A NUMBER UP THE EAST COAST, AND HARVARD’S VENTURE GURU – PROFESSOR JOSH LERNER. PLUS, WE HAD AN EVENT WITH GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CO HOSTED BY US LAW FIRM ORRICK, ISRAELI VC OURCROWD AND SUPPORTED BY OUR OWN DIT/BRITISH EMBASSY. WE RELEASED A MARKET REPORT ON DC – ‘THE AMAZON EFFECT’.  

What’s the best piece of advice you got?

GOOD QUESTION! ACTUALLY, THE SAME FOR DATING AS FOR BUSINESS. DON’T BE DESPERATE AND SOMETIMES WALK AWAY!

Who is your role model, and why?

I’M NOT SURE I HAVE ONE, BUT POSSIBLY OUR OWN BACKER SIR HARVEY MCGRATH. HE IS TOTALLY LOYAL AND GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY IN A RAFT OF SOCIAL INITIATIVES.

What is the weirdest/funniest thing that ever happened to you in your carrier?

WHEN I WAS A BANKER, MY PROSPECTIVE CLIENT WAS DRIVING AND GOT STOPPED BY THE POLICE FOR SPEEDING…. WHEN YOU SEEK INVESTORS, YOU WANT SMART MONEY. IE INVESTORS WHO ADD TO THE STORY. WHEN A COLLEAGUE ASKED A ONE WHAT HE ADDED, HE SAID ‘MY PERSONALITY’. NEEDLESS TO SAY WE PASSED ON THAT ONE! I HAD NEVER MET ONE OF OUR EARLY INVESTORS WHO WAS REFERRED BY AN EXISTING ONE AND RECEIVED AN EMAIL OUT OF THE BLUE WHERE TO SEND THE FUNDS AS I SAT IN BATHTUB IN PARIS ABOUT TO SPEAK AT A STARTUP EVENT AND THOUGHT IT WAS A SCAM….LOTS OF OTHERS WE CAN DISCUSS OFFLINE!

What are you currently working on?

LAUNCH OF OUR UPGRADED SERVICE IN THE AUTUMN. THE FIRST TIME WE WLL CHARGE OUR USERS – FREEMIUM. IE FREE AND/OR FROM JUST £10 PER MONTH. PLUS, CLOSING OUR OWN FUNDING ROUND (NEARLY THERE), BUILDING OUR TEAM, TECH AND RESEARCH.

What’s your connection with Primrose Hill?

I WENT TO SCHOOL NEARBY AT UCS. THEN, WHEN I HAD JUST BROKEN UP WITH A GIRLFRIEND, I WENT WITH AN OLD UCS CHUM TO THE PRINCESS OF WALES PUB. IT SEEMED BEST NOT TO TRY TO VENTURE TO MY THEN HOME. I WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING AND WENT TO THE HIGH STREET (REGENT’S PARK RD) TO OLD POLISH CAFÉ (NOW RIPE KITCHEN). IT WAS A COLD, CRISP AUTUMN DAY. AND, I SAID ‘THIS IS WHERE I WANT TO LIVE’. THAT WAS IN 1992, I BOUGHT MY FLAT AND STILL LOVE IT!

Where can people find you online?

QODEO IS AT www.qodeo.com, @qodeo on Twitter and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/qodeo, Simon Glass on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-glass-a829a4/