What to Look For When Investing in Companies
I am a serial investor. To date, via the fund I manage, we have invested in 11 different Internet businesses. These investments range from a hundred $100k right through to $2m. We have been lucky, the investment of $6m has grown to be worth north of $20m in just over 2 years.
We invest in Internet businesses that are generally in the classifieds or editorial segments, are in their early stages (but not at pure start up phase) and are in emerging countries.
Some when we invest, what do we look for?
First and foremost the business has to be in our sweet spot. I need to feel comfortable when I invest and to do that I need to know the type of business I am investing in. When people bring business ideas to me for investment in areas that I have no idea about, we tend to say no. The quickest way to lose money is to invest in something you are don’t really understand.
When investing, we like to invest once the business has been around a little while and have demonstrated progress. This usually means revenues (of some sort) backed by a realistic business model.
We also like to invest in realistic business plans. Too often we see the worlds biggest hockey sticks and just laugh (and cry). Management has be realistic about growth and what they can do. Too often they have their head in the clouds but their feet aren’t on the ground.
Another important criteria is the management and how they approach the business. They need to be enthusiastic, realistic, open to working with outsiders, and focused on the task at hand. In fact focus is critical. Too often start ups / early star businesses get distracted.
Finally, in looking for businesses to invest in we like fair valuations. So often I see some small company is a couple of years under its belt valuing themselves the same way as a Rigtmove, Seloger or REA Group. They have to be realistic and realise that there is significant risk in their businesses and that investors want to be rewarded for investing in the risk.
When we do invest like to work closely with management. Often we take a seat in the board, not to monitor our investments, but to help drive the business forward. Working with management extends beyond the Board related functions – capital raising and strategy – to working on hard core operational issues.
It is by taking this approach to selecting companies to invest in and then working with them on an ongoing basis that we have managed to achieve better than average returns for the funds we look after.
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