🐶 Do you eat your own dog food? 🔍Being a search engine for investors means this question comes up a lot! 💻 Both from startup users and investors. 🫡My answer is a resounding yes! 🏦 Back when we focused on subscriptions, we found our first VC customer (Balderton) via our search engine by seeing which VCs were at the forefront of the use of Data Science in VC. 💲We also have found VCs who also write small angel tickets via the search engine too, we're hoping to convert the first one this week (he's a personal hero of mine!). 🤝Using your own product isn't just a great way to build trust with others... It's also a great way to find out the most important parts to improve next. Daniel Sawko 0:00 Do we eat our own dog food? That is a question we always get asked both by users and also investors. So have we used our search engine to help our business? The answer that is Yes, both with regards to identifying back when we did subscriptions, we actually identified our first VC customer by using our own search engine. And we also are speaking with an investor this week that we hopefully will convert as an angel investor into investing into the business. And again, we found out that they were interested in what we're doing by using our search engine to see which which investors are interested in, essentially, search engines and using data science to improve outcomes in venture capital. So the answer that question is yes, we know it's a really good system received actually loads of time. In fact, one of the things that we haven't done it in any other time in our business, we have not used things like CrunchBase, we've not used investor list, we've always used our own product. And that's been really helpful. There are some areas in which we want to be expanding. So at the moment, the search engine doesn't really do much in the way of angels. And we definitely will expand that coverage, but we're not going to do so for the next few months. But yeah, that's an area in which at the moment have relied on personal networks. But that's something that we want to make more intelligent in future for more founders, so that the future can happen faster. Just Transcribed by https://otter.ai

📚 Why should you research investors before you reach out? ⛔So you don't end up in the 'ignore' pile! ✅ Showing you've done your research gives you a 7x chance of response. 💁‍♂️ Even if the person isn't quite right, they are much more likely to help you out. ⌚ Save yourself time in the long run by front-loading research now. 🧮 This optimises the top of your funnel. Daniel Sawko 0:00 So why should you do your research before reaching out to investors? Well, let's consider the flip side once a day. And you send out a generic mail message to just about anyone that you've got an email address or a contact for, well, you automatically go into the category of least likely to respond to, if you do if you do your research, on the other hand, even if it's not necessarily quite the right person, but you've had a very good guest why they might be relevant, you actually can massively increase your chance of that person wanting to help you. Why? Because you've bothered to take the time to show to them why you think that they're relevant. That's part of the reason why we built shipshape is because you can see which investors are talking about topics that are close to you and your business. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

🏋️ What's another big challenge of fundraising? 🔬 Focusing less on other aspects of the business. Why? 🚫 I'm fighting with myself to say 'no' to product meetings and important commercial opportunities to focus on priority #1. What is priority #1? 💸 Get the raise done, and quickly, so you can put focus back on where it needs to be. ⏱️ I'm making these meetings shorter where I can (thanks to everyone who's been so understanding on this!). 📺 I'm shifting in-person to video if it can be done. Are people understanding? 😄 Yes, actually, people in the ecosystem are absolutely brilliant, and very understanding when you need to prioritise something else. 🧠 I wish I had known that sooner, it's meant I can stay on a more even keel and in a better place mentally. 📥 If your in-tray is piling up... make that pile smaller. Daniel Sawko 0:00 So one of the really, I suppose challenging things of being a founder and going through fundraising is how much you have to reprioritize. And how much you have to leave to one side that you wouldn't normally want to do. So I have to be in fewer product meetings, I have to take fewer sales calls, or sales meetings, and also the meetings that I have with with others, sometimes I have to cancel them at short, short notice. That's because I need to prioritize putting the documentation for example together that investors want to see, or like negotiating on particular points. Yeah, it just gets in the way it can become all consuming. And it's definitely really helpful, actually, to have a very clear sense of that prioritization, because otherwise it becomes overwhelming. So I know that I've actually cancelled a few in person meetings, or I've had to change them to video. But actually, it's been really quite, it's been really beneficial for mental health, to actually just give yourself that breathing space. And actually, people are really understanding. And I wish I'd known how understanding people were before starting this journey out because I think in early early rounds, like it was always just something I felt like I could never drop anything. And actually, the moment you start saying no to things or making sure that they fit fit with your priorities, it works a lot better Transcribed by https://otter.ai

⚡New feature release... spotlights 🔦 Why? We had some feedback: 🗺️navigating took too many clicks 💁‍♂️there was room to bring out more data in a simpler form 👥 seeing relationships between people and entities should be easier Daniel Sawko 0:00 Hello, good morning, I want to show you a very quick feature update that we just released. So what's the feature update? Well, we have feedback that actually some of the interface isn't necessarily that is navigate, you've got to click through certain items in order to navigate to people that you want to go and find or companies that you think are interesting. So the way that this works is, if you type in a search phrase, I'm just gonna use something that from my history, you can see again, like like for you to see the individuals who that publication. So looking at automotive cybersecurity rescue. But we've released a new feature, of course, spotlights, and spotlight sits sits here, it's essentially showing you very, very quickly, the related entities the search engine has picked up. So we can see here with cycle Angel temper cap are the related investment entity that have invested in them. And if I click through on tempo cap, I can actually see that they've invested in silo Angel. And actually, the person that's most relevant to that search phrase from the team at tempo cap is Yeah. So I can also do that here. So I can look through it as a Cylon. And I can see that they've got two entities that are related to that search phrase, or most related. And I can also see that they've got two of the team there who are speaking about relevant topics that are close to what I've searched for. So yeah, the spotlight section should help navigation within the search engine, and just make it really easy to see who's relevant, essentially, very, very quickly. And you can also then click through and say, Okay, well, if I know that Cylon are relevant, I want to shortlist them. Because I can see here, these these people and these companies that they've invested in are definitely close to what it is that we're looking for. So yeah, that's that's the new update. Hope you like it. Feedback. Very welcome. Cheers. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Our search engine has helped 365 startups with over half a billion (£0.55bn) in total planned raises. Just since the end of November: Demand for capital of £445m has been registered with us. 96 of these startups are non-UK #startups #fundraising #founders #venturecapital #investors Daniel Sawko 0:00 Hey, good morning. So, yesterday we surpass the 550 million pound mark in terms of demand for capital of founders telling us that they want to raise. Why is that really interesting? Well, about 30% of it is not in the UK, which is very interesting. But actually, most of it is from startups doing completely different things. Like very few startups are looking to do the same type of business. And they're looking to do very long tail technology breakthrough. So everything from cell scaffolding for meat proteins, right the way through to photonics for medical uses and purposes. This is really interesting. It means that ultimately, this current system of tagging, using things like FinTech or med tech or biotech is broken. It doesn't actually help startup founders or investors with narrowing the top of their funnel. And that's really important, especially when that time is so valuable. When we're talking about like today's founders and investors, we're probably talking about some of the brightest and best computing power of our generation. And at the moment, it's being wasted because they've got really noisy tops of the funnel, which means that ultimately they're wasting their time with opportunities that are just never going to convert. That's why we built shipshape. Really looking forward to hearing more from our users. The feedback's been excellent. We've got some very exciting things coming down the pipes. Thank you

Some of the most important relationships to build are with prospective investors. TLDR: One relationship can make the difference to you and your business. Warm introductions are best. Being well-researched is essential to finding, establishing and maintaining valuable relationships. So how do you do this most effectively? Listen to the full Q&A below or read and listen to a specific question. You can listen to the full Q&A below: You can also view this article on Ship Shapes Medium page here Contents of Questions asked Why is building a relationship with individual investors at VCs important? How to build a relationship with an investor? Why does a warm introduction increase my chances of connecting with an Investor? What do you need to do when you’re offered a warm introduction? Why is networking important in the Venture Capital industry? Why would a VC investor be more likely to engage with me if I am well-researched? How can I maintain a relationship with an investor once I’ve formed one? Does a good relationship give me a competitive edge over other founders or startups? 1. Why is building a relationship with individual investors at VCs important? You can’t interact with a ‘firm’. It’s individuals that make the difference. Getting funding from a VC is a sale you are making. It takes one person to make the decision to champion you. Not every one who champions you can see you over the finish line (no matter how hard you may both try). But by building a relationship with an investor, you’re ultimately creating a champion for your business within a VC firm. 2. How can I build a relationship with a VC investor? There are a number of ways of doing this. But how do you maximise your odds? Building a relationship with a prospective investor is going to be derived off the back of the research and time you put into understanding what drives that individual prior to engaging with them or finding a route to an introduction to them. Some people are well connected and can utilise their own network, this gives a higher probability of a warm introduction, but doesn’t guarantee it’s a good route. Research de-risks the approach for both the founder and investor (and introducer). If we think about it from the perspective of the entrepreneur, you want to be able to show why it is that that individual will take an interest in your business and come to a positive outcome on that decision. 3. Why does a warm introduction increase my chances of connecting with a VC Investor? So connecting with individuals via warm introductions is a kind of social proof. If one of your best friends gives you an introduction, you are more likely to engage positively with the person who’s being introduced to you. Because, there’s a certain level of social credit that ultimately, we as individuals have. We essentially assign certain values to the individuals within our network, and how reliable they are. All of these factors influence how we receive introductions and therefore, if you can get a warm introduction to a VC, you are again, changing the odds in your favour because you go in there with the social proof or social credit of the person who’s making that introduction. 4. What do you need to do when you’re offered a warm introduction? There is a general convention around this, it may vary from individual to individual, but it’s worth repeating. But in essence, think about the best way to be introduced. You probably want to distil into a few sentences: What it is you do (often referred to as a ‘two-liner’) What you’d like from the conversation (the ‘ask’) Ultimately, that’s really what should guide the way that you formulate that introductory piece. You can also include visual materials that help you convey the power of your business. Including a positive reference as well is always helpful, if that’s possible for the person who’s doing the introduction. 5. Why is networking important in the Venture Capital industry? Networking can help generate social capital. Business today is still mostly conducted via human relationships. Even with the digital tools at our disposal, networking and targeted approaches are going to remain important. That remains the case in VC and in Investor networks, in many ways more so! 6. Why would a VC investor be more likely to engage with me if I was well-researched? Having done your research means that the person on the other side of that conversation will see that you're credible. Having that level of credibility means that the individual is much more likely to engage with you because they can see you know what you're talking about. I think this actually goes for both sides of a conversation with VC. So not just a VC can see that you've done your research but also if you're an entrepreneur, you want to see that the VC sat across from you is going to be bringing you more than just capital; are they genuinely a Smart Money VC? If not, they're either perhaps better suited to filling out a round than they are to take a board seat. 7. How can I maintain a relationship with an investor once I’ve formed one? All relationships require maintenance with a case of engaging usually on common ground. Finding proof points or news to share helps to build further common understanding. It also helps prove/disprove aligned interests, saving you both time and energy! There are lots of individual relationships that fall by the wayside, despite the best efforts of both parties, because ultimately interests might no longer align. 8. Does a good relationship give me a competitive edge over other founders or startups? It may be unclear how many founders are fishing in this in the same pool for funding. So it is extremely unlikely that a direct competitor at the same point in time is looking to raise the same level of funding from the same VC. But other startups are still competing for the same finite resource. So, yes, building a better relationship with your individual champion at a VC does help. It affects whether or not your proposal for investment will be taken further. Crucially it affects the steps that your champion is willing to take in terms of pushing forward your proposition internally.

October 2022 has been a month to celebrate at Ship Shape. We launched our free search engine at the start of September. Since then we’ve had over two thousand users and nearly 900 different search phrases - mainly by founders who are finding investors interested in their business area! The shipshape.vc team also won two notable awards in October: Fintech Awards Wales - Fintech Start-up of the Year 2022. Technology Connected - Wales Technology Awards, Sir Michael Moritz Tech Start-Up Award. A few words from our CEO and Co-founder, Daniel Sawko “We’re delighted to be recognised for the search engine we have built. We’re excited to be empowering founders and the ecosystem to better search and find relevant investors.” Both awards represent the hard work that Ship Shape’s team has put in over the years, especially the previous months building up to our free release. For the company, it’s great to see the growth in other tech businesses and the entire Welsh ecosystem. Fintech Awards Wales - Fintech Start-up of the Year 2022. shipshape.vc would like to thank Fintech Award Wales, and award sponsor Confused.com, for the tough judging panel process and awarding Ship Shape the Fintech Start-up of the Year 2022. In addition, the team at shipshape.vc would like to recognise Cufflink.io, Identitech and Quote on Site as fellow shortlisters for the award and thank them for th You can read more about the awards and other category winners here: https://www.fintechawardswales.com/2022-awards/ Technology Connected - Wales Technology Awards, Sir Michael Moritz Tech Start-Up Award. shipshape.vc would like to thank Technolgy Connected for the Wales Technology Awards, and category partner Mobilise, for awarding Ship Shape Sir Michael Moritzech Start-Up Award 2022. The award’s name is derived from a Welsh VC Partner at Seqouia Partners, Sir Michael Moritz. It was great to share the category with; Dewin Tech, edge21 studio, Haia Communications and Identitech. You can read more about the awards and other category winners here: https://technologyconnected.net/2022/10/21/welsh-technology-industry-recognised-for-its-positive-impact-on-society/ Both awards are a recognition of the progress made to date, but also provide the team with fuel and impetus to keep up the mission of enabling the private markets ecosystem to search and sell. Watch a short video by our CEO Daniel Sawko about the recent launch and awards: Click here to watch Editors Note: Ship Shape was founded by Daniel Sawko and Alistair Baillie and is currently based in Cardiff, Wales. To discover Ship Shape please visit our website: https://www.shipshape.vc/ Alistair Baillie: alistair@shipshape.vc Daniel Sawko: daniel@shipshape.vc For more information about this press release please contact: info@shipshape.vc Fintech Award Wales Website: https://www.fintechawardswales.com/ Confused.com: https://www.confused.com/ Technology Connected: https://technologyconnected.net/ Wales Technology Awards: https://technologyconnected.glueup.com/event/wales-technology-awards-44750/

Photo credits: Adam Davies. Innovation in Swansea: Building a brighter future Building brighter futures is high on the agenda at University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), where a speaker-led event co-hosted with Ship Shape has celebrated the innovation happening in Swansea - by sharing entrepreneurial skills and expertise from keynote speakers from business start-ups and academia. The event, organised by Ship Shape and the University’s Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Kathryn Penaluna, was developed in collaboration with Fintech Wales, with the aim of bringing together technology businesses and the ecosystem that fuels innovation. A collaborative partnership between the UWTSD and Ship Shape, to help Universities and industry to identify potential Venture Capital investors, was announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2021, and the event is the first in a series of initiatives that aim to support the region. Daniel Sawko of Ship Shape said, "Swansea has innovation in its DNA. Bringing key players like this together means more opportunities to find ways of making the pie bigger and continuing to punch above our weight. We are excited about more events like this and there seems to be a high demand for it!" Photo credits: Adam Davies. Based in the city’s HQ Urban Kitchen, and opened by Barry Liles, OBE, UWTSD’s Pro Vice-Chancellor of Skills and Lifelong Learning, the focus was showcasing the success of technology businesses with roots in Swansea, and to help to guide future innovation in the city. Expertise was shared by Matt Warren, CEO of Veeqo, Paul Dennis of Awen Collective, Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO of Fintech Wales, TJ Amas, CEO of Quoteonsite and Daniel Sawko, CEO and Co-founder of Ship Shape. Insights were also offered by Steve Phillips of Community Bank, Monmouthshire Building Society, Richard Scott founder of ConTech business, Richard Harris - Head of Trade, Welsh Government, and Anthony Miles, CEO of DST Innovations. Kathryn Penaluna shared, “To further develop our ability to be a dynamic force within the Welsh (and beyond) eco-system, UWTSD has invested in Ship Shape, whose search tool finds funders for business founders. It is a clear need, and the expertise will extend our offer significantly to our students and graduates, it is a win-win partnership”. Guests included Swansea Lord Mayor, Councillor Mike Day, Professor Andrew Campbell, Chair of Welsh Government’s Economic Advisor Board, Simon Ripton, Innovation Specialist, Welsh Government, and Swansea Council Deputy Leader David Hopkins. The University also shared its plans for The Innovation Matrix - a new platform for UWTSD’s research and knowledge exchange to connect with, and support, cross-sector MNEs, SMEs, micro-enterprises, entrepreneurs, and investors. The Innovation Matrix’s aim is to stimulate commercial growth for Wales’s expanding digitally empowered economy. Photo credits: Adam Davies. UWTSD had an international reputation when it comes to developing the entrepreneurial and creative skills of its students and graduates, as such skills are deeply embedded in our programmes. Last month, the University was named European Entrepreneurial University of the Year at the 2022 European Triple E Awards Ceremony in Florence, Italy. Government figures confirm the success this brings, as The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) ranked UWTSD in 2020-2021 as: #1 in UK for start-ups that are still active after 3-years. #1 in the UK for total number of active firms. As Universities are key to a thriving economy post Covid, UWTSD encourages the development of new inventions and knowledge, to add commercial, social, and cultural value to society. You can read UWTSD Press Release here: https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/news/press-releases/press-2022/innovation-in-swansea-building-a-brighter-future.html This event was organised with Ship Shape, UWSTD and Fintech Wales and hosted at HQ Urban Kitchen. Ship Shape www.shipshape.vc University of Wales Trinity Saint David https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/ Fintech Wales https://fintechwales.org/ HQ Urban Kitchen https://hqurbankitchen.co.uk/

Ship Shape is the Fintech Startup of the Year 2022! Ship Shape has been announced as the Fintech Startup of the Year at this year's Startup Awards National Series! The Startup Awards National Series is an opportunity to recognise startups across the country in multiple categories for the growth and impact they are beginning to or already have on their industry. "We are delighted to have been recognised for the search engine that the team has built - we've helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and the professionals that assist them on their fundraising journey. We're excited for the impact we will have for tens of thousands more, enabling human capital to be better connected with smart financial capital." - Daniel Sawko, CEO and Co-founder of Ship Shape. The award recognises the growth and hard work of the Ship Shape team. "This award is all about recognition from across the entrepreneurial world for the work done by our team. Finding relevant investors and investments a job to be done for us all, and our team have made it the work of seconds. I'm so delighted for everyone that's contributed." - Alistair Bailie, COO and Co-founder of Ship Shape. The Startup Awards National Series is spear-headed by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE. It is great to see that alongside the geographical growth, more categories are being opened, allowing more companies to be recognised for their hard work and impact in their industry. "Congratulations to the whole team at ShipShape for winning the best FinTech Startup in Wales! This is a great achievement and validation of all the hard work and the huge potential they have to revolutionise how ideas connect to venture capital. One to watch and use if you’re a founder, VC, family office, investor or PhD looking to commercialise IP." - Eamon Tuhami, Founder, Hwyl Ventures and Ship Shape lead investor. Again thank you to the team at the Startup Awards National Series for recognising Ship Shape. It is an honour! The awards are hosted and presented by The Startup Awards National Series Website: https://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/national-startup-awards Contact: entries@nationalstartupawards.com.

Cardiff-based Ship Shape has been named one of the most exciting new businesses in the region after being shortlisted as part of a brand new awards programme. The StartUp Awards National Series has been launched to recognise the booming startup scene across the UK which has accelerated since the pandemic began. In 2020, when most of the world was shutting down, more than 400,000 startups were set up in Britain, with similar increases seen in other European countries. There was stiff competition with over 2,500 applications received in response to the Startup Awards National Series’ first-ever call for entries. Daniel Sawko, CEO and Co-Founder of Ship Shape said: “It’s great to be recognised for the traction we have built around our Venture Capital Search Engine, with VCs, Accelerators, Universities and Investment Banks already using it to deliver significant value-add to the many entrepreneurs they support, in addition to their own in-house research needs. We’re delighted to be supporting entrepreneurs across the UK - even if that means making this competition even more challenging in future!” Supported nationally by BT, EY, Dell & Intel, the programme will celebrate the achievements of the amazing individuals across the UK who have turned an idea into an opportunity and taken the risk to launch a new product or service. Co-founded by the team behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, the new series follows the success of the Wales StartUp Awards, after organisers recognised the exceptional potential in the startup scene across the other British regions. Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, the creator of the StartUp Awards National Series, said: “​​New firms are important for generating economic prosperity, employment opportunities and innovation. Since 2016, the Wales StartUp Awards have celebrated this amazing annual contribution to our economy by entrepreneurs and the impact they have on communities across the nation. “Given the sheer volume of phenomenal startups we’ve heard from since then, as well as the huge post-pandemic shift in people’s desires to take their career in a new direction and set up a business against the odds, we felt it was the right time to take the programme nationwide. We’ve been blown away by the standard of entries in this first year and truly look forward to crowning the winners in June.” ENDS For more information or to request an interview, please contact Sam at sam@paperclip-pr.co.uk or 07429 487 554 or Simon at simon@paperclip-pr.co.uk or 07894 151 206. EDITOR NOTES Ship Shape Ship Shape is the Venture Capital Search Engine. Ship Shape is a Search Engine that lets you search individual investors at VC firms, portfolio companies and investment entities. Our results compress the research time required to draw up a well-informed investor shortlist from 183 days to a matter of seconds, dramatically improving the chances of a warm response to outreach. Because we index unstructured data, you can find the investors interested in a specific field. Ship Shape provides you with evidence, in addition to the firm's portfolio of other investments. This gives you confidence, clarity and certainty that you are speaking with the right person. StartUp Awards National Series The StartUp Awards National Series is a collaboration between the founders of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards - an established programme nationally receiving over 5,000 applications annually - and the Wales Start-Up Awards, the only regional awards currently celebrating new businesses in the UK. The StartUp Awards National Series will recognise the achievements of those amazing individuals who have had a great idea, spotted the opportunity and taken the risks to launch a new product or service. Already established and thriving in Wales, the StartUp Awards National Series is now taking the passion and drive to celebrate new business and extending across the whole of the United Kingdom.

If you’re a Venture Capitalist, what’s the point in writing content and sharing your opinion? To provide some insight and guidance around effective content publishing, our CEO and Co-founder, Daniel Sawko has answered some common content-related questions we've been asked. TLDR: Write content to give yourself the best chance of increasing relevant deal flow. Content that is relevant to technologies of interest amplifies your market signal by informing entrepreneurs of your investment thesis. So how do you do this most effectively? Listen to the full Q&A below or read and listen to a specific question about Why Content Matters. (The questions and answers have been slightly edited to make them easier to read.) Contents of Questions asked 1. When you refer to Venture Capital content, what does this actually mean? 2. What type of content is best to publish? 3. When I publish content, is it a lasting reflection of myself or it's just a point of view that I currently have? 4. I've seen that [X] is a hot topic in VC at the moment. Should I write content about this just so I can rank higher in the Search Engine even though it's not my speciality area? 5. I recently just changed the technological area I’d like to attract deal-flow in. How long will it take to index in Ship Shape and when can I expect to see some increased deal flow in that new area? 6. How does the VC individual expressing a view potentially conflict with a firm that they work for/with? How do those two things balance? 7. I understand the value of content, but I don't necessarily want to be publishing so other VCs can see what space that I'm going into. What would be the competitive advantage of me publishing content? 8. I'm quite busy in my professional and personal life so I don't have a lot of time to write content, where's the best place that I can get started that can increase my value add and deal flow? 9. I write a column every Sunday for a newspaper/magazine, will I be disadvantaged compared to other VCs? 10. What’s the quality of content like in the industry at the moment? 11. Is there is an exception where only the top VCs understand the value of publishing content? 1. When you refer to Venture Capital content, what does this actually mean? A: Content is a means of attracting deal flow in VC. It shows what you’re thinking with regards to new technology, new business models, and new ideas. This is usually in a written format (although podcasts are increasingly popular) which makes it easier for those who are researching your thesis on how to approach you for a conversation. If you have a target audience you want to have in your deal flow, publishing content makes it easier for entrepreneurs to understand you and whether they should approach you or not. 2. What type of content is best to publish? It really depends on the platform that you intend to publish on. Twitter has a 280 character limit compared to Medium or Substack with longer-form content. A VC has to consider a few things. First, the platform and what is the most suitable tone and length. Second, the format in which you write - that could be an interview format ‘Q&A’, which is not only great to submit for indexing, but can be a clear and easily digestible signal and indicator to the market of your area of speciality. 3. When I publish content, is it a lasting reflection of myself or it's just a point of view that I currently have? We all say things, or write things down, that maybe a few years later we don't necessarily think is as relevant anymore. I think most people who wrote about blockchain, bitcoin or crypto in the early days might have revisited that position because time usually results in us changing our minds. Although some individuals, especially in deeper technological areas, can be remarkably consistent in their thinking. So ultimately, it doesn't need to be ‘forever’. But if you think about it from the perspective of trying to signal as clearly as possible to the market what your intentions of investment are, then yes. If you can make it as true to your position you make it easier for entrepreneurs, startups, or others in the industry reading that content to be able to better understand your position. Ultimately that is market signalling, which obviously is very helpful for enabling smoother interactions. To contrast that, much of the market today and the way that everyone navigates via tags like ‘Fintech’ or ‘Medtech’, is really bad at conveying what the signals are for which individuals to approach with regards to a particular startup idea or topic. The market isn't actually that good at signalling what your true beliefs are because there has not been an information management system that can do that. 4. I've seen that [X] is a hot topic in VC at the moment. Should I write content about this just so I can rank higher in the Search Engine even though it's not my speciality area? If you want to start attracting deal flow for a particular search area, then you should write content for it. If you're keen to jump in a trend, then you might have to play catch up in regards to the quantity of content being produced. In the short term, responding to trends is not always a reliable indicator of your interest or expertise. It's always going to be a balancing act between which areas you would like to respond to that would be hot topics, and also demonstrating a consistency that entrepreneurs and those using the Search Engine can identify. Ultimately, from a personal brand building perspective, if you're a Venture Capitalist, you might have ambitions to set up your own fund or get a promotion either internally or by moving sideways. In the long run that may be driven by demonstrating a certain consistency, or at least not changing tune too regularly. 5. I recently just changed the technological area I’d like to attract deal-flow in. How long will it take to index in Ship Shape and when can I expect to see some increased deal flow in that new area? If you want to see the benefits from changing thesis or your area of specialism then the sooner you publish content, the better. You will still rank for historic content, but ultimately the lighter your historic content is the lower the traffic and the noise will be from that. But if you're starting to write new content our Search Engine will pick that up if you’re being indexed by us (if you aren’t sure - you can ask us to check!). Ultimately, a lot of VCs are still trend-driven and will always stick with new emerging trending technologies which means there is always going to be something new to write about. Therefore, potentially there's going to be a lot of competition for ranking high for searches in that new area. But like with Google, there are definitely competitive niches and there's also competitiveness with regards to the pace and depth of content publishing - the depth of the content itself is something that we score. So take a search phrase, like ‘cultured meat’ for example. If you mention this phrase multiple times throughout a long-form article, you will score far higher than a single tweet where it says “I love cultured meat”. Yes, that single sentence will rank, but ultimately, if you have a longer-form content, which includes multiple references to ‘cultured meat’, then you will rank higher. Therefore the long-form content explaining your changed thesis will actually drive more traffic to you sooner and further explain to the market why you adopted a new area specialism. 6. How does the VC individual expressing a view potentially conflict with a firm that they work for/with? How do those two things balance? They exist together. There's definitely always a role and room for firm led content. Expressing a company-wide view is something we obviously see across multiple industries, and VC is no different. I think where VC is slightly different is that you need to think about VC firms as living organisms. Essentially there are certain parts of that organism where it's better to take different ideas. VC firms have individuals that work there, every one of those individuals will have a series of interests and particular business models that they favour. You want to know which individual to go to and approach, which is where the building of an individual personal brand really matters at a VC firm. This is because it's the clearest possible indicator that you can give to the market that you're the right person to go and speak with within that VC firm. For example, with regards to tinnitus treatments, there's a brilliant startup that recently raised and they are part of Y Combinator 2022. They have done their research, and they managed to find probably the best person in the industry to go and speak with to invest into their business. Now, where can you do that today? 7. I understand the value of content, but I don't necessarily want to be publishing so other VCs can see what space that I'm going into. What would be the competitive advantage of me publishing content? So ultimately, it's to do with the way that our scoring algorithm works. It's the same as asking a startup, or any business, do they want to rank on the first page of Google? The answer invariably is yes. The question is how do you do it? Well, the frequency and freshness of content that has been published is ultimately one of the factors that drives where individuals and VC funds rank in our Search Engine. Ultimately, that hugely benefits entrepreneurs and startups that are using our Search Engine, who can identify who to go and speak with about a particular topic. We want to reward that. 8. I'm quite busy in my professional and personal life so I don't have a lot of time to write content, where's the best place that I can get started that can increase my value add and deal flow? That is a really good question that comes up quite a lot. VCs love Twitter. The problem with Twitter is that it's very difficult to get long-form content that really drives understanding of what you're talking about. Trying to collate a series of tweets into meaningful longer-form content is so difficult that individuals have to take to writing multiple tweets or develop a thread in order to get a point across (obviously they do do this). With nothing longer than the 280 characters, it's very difficult to get any sort of detailed thesis about a particular topic across. LinkedIn is also popular. We see an increase in terms of the frequency of posts and content sharing, We do see very good levels of engagement on blog posts like Medium and Substack. One of our new initiatives that we've started is from an Innovation Grant to transcribe audiovisual content. For example with podcasts - there's really good long-form content of individuals who are answering questions in a very detailed manner. A VC friend is terrible at writing content regularly, but she loves making podcast appearances. With our Search Engine, she makes sure that the ‘half-life’ of that data lives for far longer than the window in which that podcast episode does the rounds on social media. That makes it really easy for those who want to go through and search to identify who to approach and reach out to. 9. I write a column every Sunday for a newspaper/magazine, will I be disadvantaged compared to other VCs? If you're writing a weekly blog, weekly newsletter, etc, as long as we know where to go and index that content from, we will be able to index that within our Search Engine. This enables that content to be found by those who are using the Search Engine and you will start seeing the benefits in terms of your scoring and ranking on the results page. So if an individual is telling us that we should go in index that content, we will. 10. What’s the quality of content like in the industry at the moment? I think there's really high-quality content out there. If you look at the Venture Capital industry and you look at the quality of the blogs that are written, the articles are written by some of the brightest minds of our generation. I could quite happily spend an entire weekend reading blog posts, articles and thought leadership pieces that a number of VCs are writing. The big problem is you can't easily search for all VC investors and the content they have produced. A big part of the problem is that entrepreneurs and investors navigate via 90s ‘Yellow Pages’ style structured databases - you just can't do it. You can't really do it via Google, and you can't do it on LinkedIn or Twitter, or any similar social platform like that. You're really stuck. If you want to find a curated view of who to go and speak with in Venture Capital about particular topics or technologies or subject area, there's hasn’t been a single place that you can go to the industry. We don't have a Reuters or Bloomberg for pulling together that type of content. That is what Ship Shape is offering. 11. Is there is an exception where only the top VCs understand the value of publishing content? The true value of publishing content is not yet a phenomenon that has really taken off in the VC industry. There are some VCs, these tend to be the larger ones, that have teams of copywriters and ghostwriters that support the VC team in terms of producing content. Often those teams, however, have one or two objectives. One of which is to satisfy the investor relations piece demonstrating that the firm is going the right way; and the other is ultimately to target deal-flow. The problem in today's market is actually the reward loop between publishing content and attracting the right deal flow hasn’t been truly established. It isn't strongly reinforced by a system, as there has been no direct link which means the adoption of writing high-quality content is confined to smaller groups within Venture Capital. Perhaps this would not be the case if there is a better method of identifying or attracting deal flow via high-quality specific content.

Transcript available at the end of this page “The biggest takeaway of all, is that the U.A.E Government believes it is only 5% complete on its vision for the U.A.E. It takes the same approach to business, which for entrepreneurs means that the government has a philosophy that is fundamentally aligned with visionaries and those willing to take risk.” Last week our CEO, Daniel Sawko, joined the Welsh Government as part of the Welsh Trade Mission in the U.A.E. Daniel welcomed the invitation to be part of the Trade Mission alongside a number of brilliant Welsh tech companies and organisations. The Trade Mission provided a great opportunity to meet and collaborate with prospective partners in the U.A.E. The warmth of the welcome from our hosts in the U.A.E was clear from the outset, with those we met with being exceptionally helpful in making introductions and actively following up to help us make the most of our visit. A welcome as warm as the weather! Daniel had this to say about the Trade Mission: “The Trade Mission to the U.A.E. opened our eyes to the multitude of opportunities for our business in the U.A.E. There is a market of significant potential that has a proven need for Ship Shape’s Venture Capital Search Engine" Here’s a brief breakdown of Daniel’s time in the U.A.E. Monday: The first day in the U.A.E led to Daniel visiting Hub 71 in Abu Dhabi. Hub 71 is Abu Dhabi’s Technology Ecosystem that supports new startups to grow and develop while also accommodating investors to identify new opportunities. You can read more about Daniel’s visit here. Daniel felt encouraged by how open and welcoming businessmen and businesswomen in the U.A.E are to new ideas and their continuo us strive for improvement. Tuesday: Time for Expo 2020! We were in Dubai as part of the Welsh Government Trade Mission that had a presence at the U.K Pavilion. This provided a great opportunity to see new innovations and ideas from around the world while also gathering together to watch the Welsh Government - Technology Summit that discussed various topics including Monetising Insurtech. Present that day were a large num ber of U.A.E guests, members of the Welsh business community in the U.A.E, and the Welsh Government. Daniel had a great chat with Vaughan Gething - the Welsh Economy Minister and Welsh Trade Envoys, Paul Gyles and Aled Miles. Daniel had a chance to meet with some new and familiar faces, from Fintech Wales; Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO of Fintech Wales and Eamon Tuhami, Mentor and Tutor for Fintech Wales Foundry and to meet Mark Prendergast, Hub Host for Global Welsh in the GCC. The spirits were high with the excitement of exploring Expo 2020 coupled with the celebration of St. Davids Day which fell on Tuesday 1st March. You can read more about Daniels day here. Wednesday: On Wednesday, Daniel was invited to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Daniel was welcomed by Rana who showed Daniel why DIFC is the Middle East, Africa and South Asia financial hub. Daniel was taken aback to see how collaborative business and people are in the U.A.E and the wider MENA, sharing a vision to succeed, That night, Daniel attended a celebration of International Women’s Day to celebrate women in business, including a fascinating panel by prominent Welsh entrepreneurs! Following, Daniel was invited to the after-party of the newest Dragon (from BBC’s Dragons Den) St even Bartlett, where the Welsh of the West End performed a great set, including traditional Welsh choir songs and spoke with young entrepreneurs launching their own podcast. Thursday Thursday was another busy day for Daniel as he met with the inspirational Ankit Sarwahi, Managing Director of Middle Eastern Venture Partners. Following this, Daniel spo ke with Riham Osman who is the Head of Amazon Fintech Hub in Dubai discussing their role in the U.A.E’s financial sector and how it evolved over the past decade. Lastly, Daniel met with Marwan Alserkal at the Artificial Intelligence Office of the Prime Minister of the U.A.E. (with thanks to Riham Osman for the introduction). Round up: The Welsh Trade Mission has already seen success with vast opportunities explored and new relationships formed. The Welsh Government organised a great trip to the U.A.E and put on a brilliant panel and St. David’s day event at Expo 2020. From the few day s Daniel spent navigating the U.A.E alongside the Welsh Government and Welsh business, it is clear that U.A.E welcomes international businesses with open arms and proactively changes the environment to make it more business friendly. The Trade Mission is a sign of confidence in the Technology economy of Wales, the first part of the U.K to return to pre-pandemic size. Daniel and Ship Shape would like to thank the Welsh Government for the invitation to the U.A.E as part of the Trade Mission and thank you to U.A.E for welcoming us and the Welsh community. The biggest takeaway of all, is that the Government believes it is only 5% complete on its vision for the U.A.E, it takes the same approach to business, which for entrepreneurs means that the government has a philosophy that is fundamentally aligned with visionaries and those willing to take risk. Here is a quick video of Daniel talking about his trip to Dubai. Transport is available below. Transcript: So we went to the U.A.E. last week as part of a Welsh Government Trade Mission with the technology sector. Honestly, was hugely surprised and impressed with the ecosystem that the U.A.E. are developing. There are thousands of startups and dozens of VCs that are really helping to make the U.A.E. the real tech hub of the Middle East Actually, there's just a different attitude to engaging and actually aligning the country with potential business interests. So, recently they changed the working week, weekend use to start on Friday, it's now shifted over Saturday - Sunday. They also have initiated a golden visa programme for 100,000 coders from around the world have a 10-year golden visa to the U.A.E.. Again, as a startup founder, hugely impressive that Government has shifted gears to make things easier for entrepreneurs. Likewise, the level of engagement in the community was excellent. We met with hub 71 in Abu Dhabi, and as part of Abu Dhabi Global Markets. Really good levels of engagement and likewise, they're really keen to promote a deep-rooted infrastructure that ideally links capital with entrepreneurs and smart money in a very sort of coordinated fashion. It is the same story over in Dubai International Financial Centre, with over 1000 startups in the FinTech Hub over there. Had some great meetings; a special shout out to the Amazon FinTech Hub, who were really helpful in terms of understanding the payment gateway infrastructure. We are a startup that wants to enable subscriptions from various Middle Eastern banks in future so to get the lay of the land from them was fantastic and they made some great introductions for us to the community. Likewise, really good meetings with Middle East Venture Partners, Shorooq partners, and also Rainmaking in the region. So they were just very impressive individuals who knew a lot about the growing infrastructure and ecosystem that's going on up there. Brilliant to be part of the Welsh Government Trade Mission out there, great to get go to Dubai Expo in the U.K. pavilion. It was a pretty great trip and we're looking forward to getting back perhaps later this month for a number of follow up meetings that were particularly promising.