Superb, full-house event last night at our event at the RAF Club discussing Scaling and Preparing SMEs for Sale in Defence and National Security. A huge thank you to guests, some of whom had travelled quite far, and also to the brilliant, knowledgeable and engaging panel Adrian Powell MLitt, Oliver Jones, Alexander Leigh, Aimie Stone, Andre Turville, Edward Ebbern for making the event such a success. Some key takeaways in no particular order:
Be game ready to sell from day 1
Be sensible with your shares, don't over gift early on
Have shareholder agreements appropriate to your business (not borrowed from another start up as issues will most likely arise during sale)
GDPR having greatest impact on AI and moving data
Security clearance limits pool of investors (foreign investment might not get security clearance)
It's tough out there for businesses looking for investment, some defence SMEs struggling to get bank accounts from traditional banks, look at smaller niche banks (NDAs with MOD can spook some banks)
Angel Investors are active - EIS critical as some funds are drying up elsewhere
Keep your investors close and informed all the way
Get a good team in place
Be honest about runaway
Get valuation right
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