Off Balance #29

👋🏾 Hi friends!

It’s good to get a win now and then in life and, after much lobbying from various groups, some of which I have been part of and inputted into, it looks like the government is going to reverse the pretty myopic decision to increase the thresholds to angel investing in the UK.

I certainly got on my platform, such that it is, and hopefully made my voice heard, if you missed the article I wrote for the Standard, you can find it here.

But obviously the news isn’t about any one person, it’s a win for the tech ecosystem and especially for female and minority investors as well as the companies they back. It’s great to see that reason won the day here.

You can read about the reversal here:

I’m well underway writing about all the things I’ve learned from the last couple of decades as founder, CFO and CEO, so sign up for early access to Off Balance - The Book and feel free to share with anyone else you think might enjoy it 😄.

Now let’s get down to business…

In this weeks Off Balance, I’ll be chatting about:

🎙️ Massimiliano Magrini - Founding Partner of United Ventures on Nothing Ventured.
⏰ Vesting and Reverse Vesting Explained

From launching Google Italy to launching his own fund...

I sat down with Massimiliano Magrini, Founder and Managing Partner of United Ventures, a multi stage fund based in Milan and Rome, investing in founders and startups from base camp to summit. He is the author of Fuori dal Gregge (Away from the Herd) where he explores the nature of startups and their relationship with large companies, the digital revolution and its consequences alongside the role of Venture Capital and inclusive and meritocratic organisations and systems. Prior to founding United, Massimiliano was Country Manager for Italy for first AltaVista and then Google.

In this wide ranging conversation, we talked about:

➡️ Launching Google in Italy just 4 years after the company was founded.

➡️ How search engines proved the value of putting tech into the hands of consumers but were never intended for the end user.

➡️ Why all markets outside of the US are exporters of technology.

➡️ How the changing attitudes to globalisation are impacting the venture ecosystems.

➡️ Why you cannot be an island, all ecosystems need to be connected.

➡️ How serendipity leads to innnovation.

➡️ Founder DNA and how Massimiliano captures this in his book, Fuori dal Gregge (Away from the Herd).

Check out the episode on YouTube, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts and don't forget to rate, subscribe and like 💪🏾

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Also, if you have any feedback, or if there’s something you’re desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail or ping me online - I’m very open to conversations.

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Now let’s get into it.