Malcolm Evans, 57, is a Manchester-based investor and businessman. He backs early-stage companies in sectors such as software, manufacturing and the internet of things. Evans’s portfolio includes the software developer Reconfigure.io and Rotite, an engineering consultancy.
Too many start-ups
The start-up fetish has gone too far. There isn’t a business in everyone and a glossy presentation on its own does not deserve funding. In particular, just because something can be somehow disrupted does not guarantee that there is a business in it.
Don’t give up, though . . .
That said, there are many brilliant people working wonders in the areas I like. They include data, advanced materials, enterprise software, next-generation digital, food and telecoms.
Advertisement
What I look for
There are two key areas. I ask, can this develop into a business or is it just blue-skies R&D? Also, are these people as brilliant as I am likely to meet in their chosen area and will they give their heart and soul to it?
America is way ahead
Over there, you have many angels who have cashed out in a big way, perhaps several times. They willingly invest in new entrants to sectors they understand inside-out. It is a “chocolate fountain” effect with exponential commercial innovation.
How to catch up
Advertisement
I’m having a good run with “team venturing”. It’s expert groups of friends and acquaintances identifying and developing ideas, which is the opposite way round to the increasingly inane pitch-fest obsession.