Blog - Corniche Growth Advisors

07 Feb 2022

Do private equity or non-executive directors impact company growth?

The Covid19 pandemic has certainly helped records tumble in many ways, but one that I took note of last week was that on 2/2/22 the world passed 1,000 unicorns (companies that are worth $1billion or more) – 100 more than in July 2021. What a milestone! A Crunchbase search shows that the total ...

07 Jan 2022

Capital raising with an ESOP

An Employee Stock/Share Option Plan (ESOP) can provide technopreneurs with an important tool for attracting and retaining key talent to help build and scale their early stage startup. But how are these share options managed within the context of a capital raise? As a technopreneur you will be famili...

06 Jan 2022

Healthtech in the fast lane

Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in the delivery of healthcare, mostly arising out of need and necessity. While the pandemic laid bare the inadequacies in our healthcare systems, digital technology enabled the sector to leapfrog some of the gaps. The Healthtech vertical, in ...

04 Nov 2021

Can Medtech companies achieve global scale?

Can medical technologies (those that aren’t device or medicine related) scale globally with the challenge of different domestic regulations and industry structures? The Insurtech industry poses a similar question. In the early 2000’s we advised a management team on its Management Buy Out of a So...

02 Nov 2021

Should a technopreneur be an industry insider?

Is a technopreneur doing a startup in an industry sector that they know intimately, in a better position to succeed than one coming from outside the sector? This is a question that I have pondered over the years, and we experience both cases at Corniche, all the time. An investor draws much comfor...

03 Oct 2021

Keep it real!

Theranos, WeWork and the appropriately-named HeadSpin have all been in the headlines for misleading investors. Technopreneurs are naturally optimistic, but where are the red lines when representing your startup to investors? The fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Founder of blood-testing company, Ther...

06 Jul 2021

When will Open Insurance arrive?

As in the banking world, Open Insurance, facilitated by regulation and platform technology, could have strong benefits for both incumbents, new entrants and especially customers. But is the industry ready to move into the 21st century? We were chatting to a friend of the firm last night, who recentl...

04 Jul 2021

Mind the (valuation) gap

Even with today’s buoyant markets, you might well find that you, as a technopreneur, have a difference in opinion on the valuation of your company with a prospective investor or buyer, even though there is strong interest. This valuation gap can be managed to a successful closing with just a littl...

30 Apr 2021

Why investors like (or dislike) advisors

We recently had a very interesting question from a client, which showed one perspective in the community. They asked “why do investors dislike advisors?”! I was shocked at the question but did think that in my three decades of corporate finance advisory, there were a few occasions when tense mom...

28 Apr 2021

How soon should you get a CFO into your startup?

Recent research shows that the CFO role is significantly undervalued in all stages of the startup cycle, with only 1 in 3 venture-stage companies in the UK having a CFO. Our experience is that a strong, properly incentivized and aligned CFO can make a big difference to the performance of a company a...