Welcome to the second edition of the new look, Nothing Ventured newsletter!

I’ve been blown away by the feedback on last week’s edition, so I’m doubling down, I’ve got some new things coming up and am always up for testing and iterating, so if there’s something you’re desperate to see me include, just reply to this mail.

I’m also very open to conversations, so give me a follow on LinkedIn, Twitter (at least until it implodes) or Instagram and drop me a note :)

If you know someone who would get value out of this edition, please do forward to them, or they can subscribe using this link.

Don’t forget to like, rate and subscribe to Nothing Ventured on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, it really helps more people see what we’re doing!

With that said, let’s get into it.

7 years to scratch an itch.

My good friend Rahim Hirji - scaleup whisperer, edtech maven and author of the must read Box of Amazing newsletter - once told me to focus on one thing.

I was, at the time, writing poetry every day, taking photos every day and posting on LinkedIn - yes, you guessed it - every day.

He looked at me like I was deranged and told me to stop the poetry and photos and just do one thing.

I, in turn, looked at him like he was crazy - why would I stop doing things I loved?

I am, if you hadn’t guessed it, a massive generalist and doing multiple things keeps up my energy.

But, of course, he was right.

Because over the next several years, I:

• Built a consultancy that is doing close to $1m in top line.

• Stopped writing poetry.

• Stopped taking photos.

• Launched a tech startup.

• Raised a bunch of money.

• Ran out of money.

• Tried to learn to code.

• Launched a podcast.

• Then launched another.

• Launched this newsletter to top it all off.

But it wasn’t really until now that I fully appreciated what Rahim had been trying to tell me.

Doing all those things was actually holding me back rather than pushing me forward. So whilst I am still doing mutliple things, they all have the same aim:

And as it turns out, doing these things in a way that is aligned to my broader objectives, is not only satisfying, but it’s interesting too.

Because now I get to see how the interplay of all these things, and hopefully create value across each platform.

Here’s what he had to say about last week’s post:

His other suggestion was to include a section on how I’d helped someone in the ecosystem this last week so here we go 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

How can did I add value?

As I said in last week’s post, it’s maddening that people don’t really understand how equity works.

But I’ll make allowances when it becomes complex. Most people aren’t dealing with this on the daily and there are some nuances that need to be thought through.

This person I know approached me out of the blue, was really excited about a potential role at an established startup, but it was not UK based and not a run of the mill offer.

He told me they had offered him straight equity alongside the rest of the comp and asked me if there was anything he should bear in mind.

The problem with equity is that unless it’s at the very earliest stages of a business, it likely has value. And in the UK, HMRC would treat that value exchange as taxable, because it sees it as no different from, say, a bonus payment.

So what can you do in these circumstances?

The simple answer is to get issued options instead under the UK EMI sheme. This allows for favourable tax treatment on options granted to UK tax paying employees for options granted with a value of no more than £250,000.

But let’s say the company or the individual doesn’t qualify. What then?

Well then you might want to consider Growth Shares which allow employees or advisors to participate in the equity of the business on a tax efficient basis as and when specific hurdles are met.

As always, you should take specific advice from a professional who understands your detailed circumstances either as an individual or as a company but the point here is that there are lots of ways to participate in the equity upside of a company you are working for - you just need to know which one is right for you 💪🏾

In conversation with Andrea Sommer - Co-Founder and CEO of Hive Founders

On this week’s pod, I interviewed Andrea Sommer who launched Hive Founders back in 2018 to support women entrepreneurs in launching, funding and scaling their businesses.

I had been introduced to Andrea by someone we had both worked with and it was clear that she had a tonne of incredible experience across corporate roles as well as startups - having founded 4 herself - and I couldn’t wait to share with listeners.

With roots in the Americas as well as Europe, you can immediately feel Andrea’s presence and cross cultural understanding. She brings a lot of knowledge to the table.

I was really looking forward to breaking it down with her.