Paul David Mather💡

Fellow founders always say that once the first investor steps in, the rest will follow. While we haven't secured funding just yet, the number of first and second conversations we’re having with potential investors is incredible. This momentum shows that all the groundwork and planning we’ve put into Callo is paying off. We’ve connected with top brands, laid solid foundations, and crafted a clear, ambitious vision to transform the beauty industry. Our belief in the business has never wavered, and now the opportunities are coming thick and fast. It’s a thrilling time for us as founders! There’s still a journey ahead, but with the right financial support and a strong business plan in place, it’s hard not to see success on the horizon. What’s been really encouraging is hearing the confidence coming from investors and our team’s ability to answer even the toughest questions with assurance. This is just the beginning for Callo. If you're interested in joining us at this exciting stage and helping shape the future of the beauty industry, we’d love to connect! #InvestInCallo #Growth #VisionaryLeadership #Opportunity

3

How would £300,000 in funding help you as an early stage founder? I've recently been working with an early stage founder who set up on his own and now has a team of 8 (all done within 4 months). He come to a point where he needed to raise some initial funding. But this is time consuming and juggling raising funds and running your business is a lot. So I offered help. I went out and found some Angels for him and he's just closed £300,000 from an introduction I made. This is how I help early stage founders, not just bums on seats. I've got some time from December to help some early stage founders. If you fancy a virtual coffee for some advice or how I could help my DMs are open. #zygopeople #startupfunding #startups

46

7 Comments

“Yesterday, a company founded by men, led by men, and funded by male investors, became the first ever women’s health app to achieve $1bn valuation” Just saw this ⬆️on IG by the brilliant Female Invest and it really made me think… It’s great that women’s health is receiving more investment and attention but… There is still so much work to do to make entrepreneurship an even playing field. 💪 Women don’t lack ideas. 💪 Women don’t lack ambition. 💪 Women don’t lack determination. 💪 Women don’t lack strategy. 💪 Women don’t lack skills. 👉 Women lack funds. #entrepreneurship #femaleceo #womenimbusiness #medtech #femtech #womenceo

49

7 Comments

Here's my number 1 strategy as a founder to ensure my start-up succeeds: This post is massively overdue. Today I'm feeling especially grateful for the people around me. Firstly, let me introduce the moving parts: Euan Bell not only my best mate & co-founder - you keep my head screwed on. There's no one I'd rather be on this journey with. Stefano Di Rico our Youth Voice & founder's associate - I could hardly tie my shoes at 18. I hope you stay forever - but EMPLOYERS - he is one to watch. Lucy B. our COO and resident mum - you keep the wheels on. I genuinely don't know what I would've done without your support this last 6 months. James Blackwood our CTO and resident Scotsman - you've transformed our approach to building Orli. Sorry about my wi-fi. Polly Haselton and Dr. Joanna Mathews you've already had more impact than you know. I'm excited to bring our vision to reality with you. Tony Young, Julie Doleman & Smith Forte - your guidance is gold and I'm incredibly grateful I was given a piece of advice very early-on in my journey: First-time founders focus on product. Second-time founders focus on distribution. Third-time founders focus on team. This might be my first rodeo but I'm bucking the trend. That's why I made finding the right people my key priority. #OrliDreamTeam Rebecca Dunning you're in too thanks for putting up with me.

98

19 Comments

One for all the American Founders out there....What the hell is VAT? (tag someone who might be going around in circles here). Ah yes - if only I had a penny for each time I spoke to a confused founder about VAT in Europe....I'd probably have £1 by now (that's actually a lot of founders) Let's start with the basics. VAT is essentially sales tax, however... VAT in UK and Europe is IN the retail price. So this means that you have to strip it out before calculating your margin VAT has to be paid on import to any EU country (you can defer it in some countries with the right reg - UK, NL, FR) VAT has to be paid to local governments on all products sold If you have the right IOSS then you can pay this all through one place Amazon will Remit your VAT in UK and EU if you are not registered here If you are selling any products D2C or B2B whilst distance selling, you need to make sure your accountant knows! In order to keep STOCK in any country, you'll need to be VAT registered there. Governments are Clamping down with sellers and with marketplaces on VAT...be warned, its not something to mess around with. To be on Amazon Pan EU, you'll need to be VAT registered in : DE, FR, IT, ES, SE, CZ, PL ... thats a lot of VAT registrations! You need to pay to become VAT registered in all these countries, you also need to then submit data monthly/quarterly and pay VAT where necessary Let me know if I left anything important out AVASK hellotax Nick Penev #amazon #VAT #Taxes #EU

23

3 Comments

My business advises over 25 founders. Here's one of the biggest game changers that applies to all 25 founders. Introducing the 'ONE CONSTRAINT MODEL'. Most business owners run around like headless chickens because they try to fix multiple constraints at once. Here's a news flash buddy... It's not worth focusing on multiple constraints. ____ Let me break this down for you mathematically... Your business probably has over 100 constraints (DM me if you want a list) Each of these constraints has an impact on your revenue. Let's say you find out that one constraint is lead flow and you decrease your lack of leads is costing you £10,000/month. Even if your next biggest constraint was customer churn, it was also costing you £10,000/month. Why would you try and fix both of them at once? If you focus on one at a time, you'll have - more time - more energy - more resources and most importantly, as a result, you're more likely to PERMANENTLY fix the problem at hand. The only time it's really worth fixing multiple constraints at once is if your constraints have super low input to fix them or you have a team to handle it. Other than that, I've found when working with individual founders, splitting your headspace is one of the biggest vacuums on growth.

10

3 Comments

Momentum is compounding… Really busy couple of days, working on Incentifi. Had several video meetings and some great face to face meetings with some really smart people that have built and sold companies, and giving me some solid advice. It can get very overwhelming the amount of work that goes in to a start up and just getting an idea off the ground, but I feel like there’s some great momentum being built and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. In fact, I need your help!! Do you know anyone who works in HR for any enterprise companies or companies with over 250 people? We are bringing to market a game changing employee rewards app and would love to speak to people in HR or senior leadership roles/business owners, that care for the wellbeing of their staff and looking for exciting new ways to engage and incentivise their teams, which in turn leads to a happier workforce and greater retention! tag them below and I’ll reach out to them!

29

10 Comments

I’m sure anyone who has started their own business will agree, it can be tough! The highs are crazy high and the lows are a lot lower than they have ever been before. In my opinion one of the most crucial elements to starting up with a Co-Founder is to have a shared vision and values. Hell, there will be enough ups, downs, twist and turns, the last thing you need is to spend time arguing what you stand for as a business! When Jamie and I decided to set up Attis, we knew that we had a lot in common, but were ‘different’ enough to really compliment and challenge each other. Having been friends and worked together for 8 years, we knew we had a deep understanding and trust that would form a solid foundation to build from. Our mission at Attis is quite clear, firstly 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧, but with an unshakable commitment to “𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭.” As parents, Jamie and I are deeply motivated to look after our planet for future generations. We believe in giving back and helping those who need it, which is why from day one we became a B1G1 Business For Good to enable us to do this effectively. In alignment with this, we choose to work in a field which firstly is super interesting, but also has immense potential to do good. By integrating AI into geospatial technologies, including earth observation, remote sensing, GIS & GPS and climate analytics, we aim to play our part in driving meaningful change and innovation. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. Having a Co-Founder like Jamie who shares this vision and these values means that every decision we make is aligned with our mission. It ensures that we are both motivated by the same goals and are working towards a common purpose. Together, we are committed to building a company that not only succeeds in business but also contributes positively to the world 🌍 #purpose #values #geospatial _________________________________________________________________________________ 👋 we are Attis, a Geospatial AI & Data recruitment and executive search company. We help businesses hire the talent that combine deep subject matter expertise, with novel algorithms and computational paradigms to push the boundaries of what is possible in the Geospatial domain. If you are looking to hire, or looking for a job within this world, we should talk!

66

4 Comments

Next valuation £10M and what I think about “Burnout” People always ask me, “how” have you built this brand Shoorah so quick, how do you get so much done so efficiently… Sometimes my attitude is “if you are not quick, you are late” it’s a hyper competitive world, snooze you lose! Bla Bla… The truth is, I work 10-15 hour days. Because I can, because we are not all the same people, I’ve been an entrepreneur for 15 or so years, and I’ve made soooo many mistakes, I have lost and also equally made £Millions. My stress levels can tolerate perhaps a lot more then many, not only because I’ve learned many lessons and hold a magnitude of resilience, but also because I know how the mind works and I understand self work, I know “me” I know when I can and when I can not work 15 hour days, (some/many days don’t feel like work to me, because i love what I do) it’s nice to also know within/every 3-6 months of hard work, i know I’m building a legacy and making a difference in this world and I also get a reward, something like this retreat I’m at now in Thailand 🇹🇭 I know where I’m heading, I know very clearly what I want in this life and what I’m going to get, I set my intentions and I have my non negotiable’s, I know when I can do a certain thing, and importantly I know when I cannot do something that is not in scope, but please don’t mistake this message for arrogance! I want you to understand this message… Set clear goals and non-negotiable’s, learn how to self work to be able to understand you, learn when and for how long you can work them ridiculous amounts of hours, and make sure you don’t push to far, life’s short so respect your body and stay in the lane you set when setting your life intentions. The rest you will learn on the way!

93

49 Comments

Here's the truth... The strongest businesses in 2025 will focus on: I. Absolute Market Relevancy If you're not positioning your business as flavour of the year you're leaving a lot of money on the table and feeding your competitors. Your main role as CEO is to ensure that you are the most relevant option to your market, clients and Team. 2. Incredible Packaging Everything from your marketing, internal deliverables, sales process, team names must be dialled in and perfectly aligned with what your market needs to see + hear in order to feel safe buying from you. 3. Accessibility If you take longer than 12 hours to respond to a lead you aren't ready for growth. The growth of your business is in direct correlation to how fast you can qualify and close a lead. 4. Role Model Founders People buy from people. Give the market something to love about you and your team. Sharing aspects of your social and personal life is a powerful way to connect on a deeper level before a conversation about ‘business’ even begins. If you aren’t sharing this you are leaving sales, and opportunity on the table. Unfortunately, most corporate folk don’t have a clue how to market themselves outside of work. 5. Retention Losing customers sucks. Imagine how better life would be if you never lost a customer again? (i mean the good ones) Retention is the secret to profit and "Fuck You" money. Amateurs prioritise marketing and chase new leads at the expense of their current customers. Pros know their current customer and product is the best form of marketing. Do everything you can to build a product/service that gets results faster than your competitors and you'll outpace everyone. Hope this was useful, let me know what stands out for you in comments? Got the opportunity to hang out with Daniel Priestley at my home yesterday ahead of his keynote at Simple Scaling event in Belfast. We had a no nonsense conversation on how to use the internet to grow your business, importance of personal brand (even if you don’t think you need one - you do) and dumb mistakes 99% of high performing entrepreneurs make that cost them in the long run. I recorded the full conversation for my new YouTube channel. We'll post the episode next week. Please subscribe to get notified 👇 https://lnkd.in/eKDpsg8U Happy Wednesday ✊🏻

85

12 Comments

This might be the most inspiring business story I've ever heard... New podcast with Avin Rabheru MBE, Founder of Housekeep 🚀 Learn how to build a successful tech start-up 🧠 Why you should 'do things which don't scale' 💸 Debating Warren Buffett's investment strategy Podcast links in comments 👇 (Follow Alfie Whattam for more like this)

237

44 Comments

The Power of 'No': Every Founder Should Be Selective About Clients We're often taught that growth is everything. But here's a counterintuitive truth I've learned at Acumont: not all business is good business. It's tempting to say 'yes' to every opportunity that comes your way, especially in the early stages. However, accepting the wrong deals can do more harm than good. Why being selective matters: - Long-term vision: Short-term gains might derail long-term goals. - Brand alignment: The wrong partnerships can dilute your brand. - Profitability: Revenue doesn't always equal profit. - Capability match: If you can't deliver, you'll lose that client forever. - Resource allocation: Every 'yes' is a 'no' to something else. Choose wisely. - Team morale: Misaligned projects can drain your team's energy and focus. How to evaluate opportunities: - Do you have the resources to deliver excellence? - Does it align with your core values and mission? - Is the potential return worth the investment? Remember: It's not about how many deals you close, but about closing the right deals that you can execute flawlessly. One of the most powerful skills you can develop is the ability to say 'no' to good opportunities so you can say 'yes' to great ones that you're fully equipped to handle. #SalesStrategy #Entrepreneurship #Startup

24

2 Comments

the cognitive load of what should be simple things feels unnecessarily heavy. - needing a 10 digit code to validate my email to Bluesky. why so many digits? - having to enter the serial code to access a product manual for these new headphones…found under fabric in one ear. why not say which ear? why not add a tab to easily lift the fabric? (love the headphones by the way) a thousand paper cuts slowing us down and sucking away the joy in a new experience. can’t we design to be more cognitively kind? invite using our intuition. lighten the cognitive load. #inclusionisadesignopportunity #speedbumps thanks for listening to my TED talk not so much a joke actually. it part of the message in my upcoming TEDx talk.

23

16 Comments

Angel investors are the most critical part of the startup and tech ecosystem. Whilst VCs get the attention and publicity, Angels actually support a much larger share of the market and in my opinion choosing the right Angel for your business will have one of the most significant impacts on your chances of success. I’m lucky that I have a network of Angels involved in Brawn Power, they all add unique and tangible value. Some have backed me for the third time, know my strengths and weaknesses and I treat them as co-founders. Are you looking to raise through angel investors? If so, it’s not just a case of choosing an Angel with a big name on their CV, you need someone that knows how to weather the storm and is prepared to back you as a person. (Look at how they earnt their capital and their stripes.) #markets, #products and #strategy will change but the #people stay. They need to understand that and truly believe in you. My advice to founders looking at angel investors- Make sure you have a personal connection with them. They are passionate about the sector, space or problem. That are you aligned on the long term vision. Paul Richardson

38

4 Comments

Have you considered scaling up your business? Over the past few years we have seen some companies folding, but as the UK economy is officially out of recession and is returning to growth in the first quarter of 2024, it may be time to scale up your business. A common question I receive is: "How do you build a scalable business?" It's evident that most businesses never achieve large-scale operations. Why do you think that is? Some business owners might not know how to grow their enterprises, so I've created this video to explore how to make a business scalable. I'm David Betts, a Business Coach working in Essex and Suffolk. I hope this video helps you. It's part of an ongoing series of business help topics. Subscribe to my channel so you don't miss topics of interest to you by visiting: https://lnkd.in/e9dk6z56 Please leave comments below, so I can see which topics are most popular. #scaleupyourbusiness #business #businessstrategist

29

42 Comments

Multiply yourself? Factually it could be fantastic to have a few “Mini You” when running your business however here it is more to have a few mini you through interactive avatars. The other day HeyGen indeed released this new functionality allowing you to, theorically, attend various “boring” e-meetings whilst the real you remains focused on more “important” tasks. Needless to say the use of such, at first sight, isn’t useful or a major breakthrough. Ok this could be used in many ways, I give you that but… Now and that is more subtile Imagine someone stealing the « mini you » and the consequences it could have? Cybersecurity is a sector that will explode due to the emergence of these AI functions. Right now these avatars aren’t fully convincing however it’s clearly a matter of time before we see an increase of related criminality. Deep fakes being another major issue in the information we are given (or sought) it becomes more and more urgent and niche to build efficient Voice recognition solutions (there are there being built already!) to fight the growing number of frauds in all sectors. Such technology is a good way to project yourself in the next 3-5 years, vison the then market (before the FOMO addicts), understand what tech will dominate it and what tech is then interesting to consider today either on the creation or investment or both. It’s a different approach than what most VC firms do. Higher risks in a way but higher returns when your flair is right.

2

CONFESSION: I wish someone had told me the biggest risk of being a solo founder wasn't the competition, but myself... With no one to talk to, how do you know what is "normal" and what isn't? I slept walked into a stupid funding deal which shattered my world and left me broken. No one to talk to, I had to rebuild from scratch. Nowadays I love giving back. I aim to help 1 million "me's" in my lifetime. My posts are already reaching more than that on here so we are well on the way! I decided to start a Whatsapp chat for founders focussing on mental health. In reality, the biggest challenges faced are raising funding and selling products. With that in mind, I'm opening the group to my LinkedIn network. Currently, there are a load of people in the chat who would love to support you. -> 24/7 Q&A -> Get investor ready -> Improve your sales funnels -> Mental health and wellness tips -> Post sh*tty memes to make you laugh -> Watch out for timewasters and scammers -> Share good vibes when you need some support Join us today: https://lnkd.in/eeZvAcBS #founder #funding #business #VC #pitchdeck #investing #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup

82

37 Comments