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Luke Lang

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29
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2015-03-16
most recent
2015-03-16
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1
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  1. “Well, the final company could only be CrowdCube itself. We've raised money on our own platform. on three occasions yeah the first time was £300,000 then it was £1.5 million and then most recently where we did a raise with Boulderton Capital we raised 1.2 billion which topped up a 3.8 from Boulderton and we did that in just 16 minutes so that was a tremendously thrilling experience and yeah we were really the whole team was tremendously excited and it's given us the injection of capital that we needed to help to build what I believe is a world class team to invest in our brands and some of the marketing that you may have seen in around London and go out there and fund more businesses”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've got a really close relationship with Jen Lisa, who's the founder of Righteous, and it's a tremendous story, and she's achieved a lot of that on her own as well. She doesn't have a big team of people working for us. And I think it's a really good British success story and a success story of export, as well as retailing. And it inspires me and it makes me proud every time I see their products in the local Tesco store.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “Be a company that's completely different. It's a salad dressing company called Righteous. They've raised money twice through CrowdQ initially it was $75,000 and they came back a year later and raised another £150,000. They've gone from a small producer of salad dressings to a global retailer. They sell their products in thousands of UK supermarkets from Tesco's Marks and Spencer's Waitrose. And they also have expanded into North America as well, still in America and Canada.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “I guess the first one is a company that we've already spoken about today, which would be Just Park. It's an innovative app that allows and website, that allows people to rent out their driving spaces to people that are looking for places to park. They've got 700,000 registered users here in the UK. They're already backed by index ventures and BMW and BMW have integrated their app into the mini car. I think that that's a really exciting business and I think it demonstrates the type of businesses that you're increasingly going to see on CrowdCube in the future. The second company would”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “Thankfully, there were lots and lots of journalists that were keen to write about businesses that were successfully raising finance through this new medium, exciting young businesses that were raising money, which I think gave a really nice counterbalance to the negativity of kind of banks not lending and the economic turmoil during the 2011-2012.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Well, I guess awareness was always our biggest challenge. We always felt that we had a great idea, a disruptive idea, a transformational idea that could really make a difference to British businesses in the UK and also for investors as well. But getting the message out there, and when Darren and I launched back in 2011, we did so on a shoestring budget. So we were bootstrapping right from day one, and it wasn't until 12 months later that we actually raised some finance to invest in marketing. Awareness actually continues to be a challenge today as well. But the way we overcame it, certainly in the early days, was through good quality PR. We had a great story and we made sure that we told it.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Well, my vision for CrowdCube is always for it to be kind of the Google of Finance, so the go-to place for SME finance in the UK. I guess I should caveat that as growth finance. I don't think we're interested in moving into working capital or anything like that. the investment opportunities to be interesting and inspiring for investors. So I think there's a real opportunity for us to become part of the fabric of corporate finance in the UK and a real destination for ambitious British businesses that want to grow and investors that want to back British businesses.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Absolutely, yeah. I mean, particularly the government funding, I think that's a real endorsement. And I think it sends a signal of confidence and trust to not just investors, but also to entrepreneurs as well.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “Yeah, I mean, for me, it's incredible from just four years ago when it was just Darren and I working on this in a pokey office in the Ecosystem. We've gone from the FCA introducing bespoke regulation for us. We've got the UK government and the Mayor of London investing money into businesses on CrowdCube and we're funding 10 to 15 businesses per month, which is just.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Which can easily happen if you start getting pension funds who are very keen to start flooding money into the marketplace that might force some of the crowd apps. We're very conscious of those sorts of tensions that might exist. But yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're constantly looking at other sources of capital. I mean, we recently won some investments from the government, where the UK government will be investing £5 million into businesses through CrowdQ for tech startups in London. That's really exciting.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're always looking at those opportunities. Wherever there's a way that we can source other routes of other capital, we'll look into it. It's important that it complements the crowd. I think we want to remain true to those values. We want to be about enabling and empowering and making investment accessible and affordable for ordinary people. So we would be wary of trying to crowd out the crowd.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Teams that gives you an indication of how quickly we're growing this year alone, bearing in mind we've only just started March, we funded over 20 businesses. So it's growing rapidly and we're very conscious that the market is moving and we're determined to go out there and grab it with both hands. We're creating a world-class team, I believe. If you talk about the impact and the assistance that Bolgerton Capital have had, well, one of those has been in”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Well, we take it very, very seriously. I mean, in the early days when we were the only crowdfunding platform, equity crowdfunding platform out there, we really welcomed competition because it helps to obviously validate the market and build the market. And there was other people talking and creating a buzz and hopefully other people advertising as well. Certainly in the early days, it really did benefit us in terms of building that market. But yeah, we're firmly of the view that we've done more than anyone else to create the opportunity that's presented in front of us at the moment, which is growing so rapidly. And as you say, we've helped fund over 200 businesses now and 205 of those were in 2014.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. I mean, I think it helps if you've got traction and momentum. So if you've got a minimum viable product out there or you've got a product that's been out in the market and being generating sales and revenue, I think without a doubt that helps investors in their investment decision, that helps them decide whether or not they want to invest and how much. But equally, we've funded businesses that have been purely business plans. A company raised £400,000 last year and it was purely a business plan. It was a bloody good business plan, but a business plan nonetheless. So any progress and traction that you can display will certainly help. And I guess the other thing is real preparation, tenacity and determination of the entrepreneur.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Yeah, there are, and I don't think this is going to be a surprise to anyone, but I think you need to have a great idea to begin with with a clearly identified market opportunity. And they're really...”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Yeah, I mean, just park as an example. I mean, they've had a tremendous amount of press coverage off the back of what they've done. They've been in the FT, they've been in the Telegraph The Times, in mail online, City AM. So the idea is capturing people's imagination. They've been exposed to our community of investors, which is nearly 150,000 strong now. So I'm sure many of those people will go on to become just park customers. And we often see businesses that raise money on the platform through that heightened exposure and see a real bounce in sales after a crowdfunding raise.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “They have millions of people that visit either project every year and they have finance options available to them just like Jess Clark had finance options available but they recognize the value in engaging with their community and bringing their community along with them on their journey and the extra kind of value that having a group of brand advocates can have for a business particularly for a smaller business as well. You should always remember that having a real core group of people that are enthusiastic and passionate about your company in the early days can be a real, really powerful asset.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Well, obviously, flexibility is good. You can drive the terms a little bit tougher than you can maybe with a VC, speed of finance is also key. You can get the money a lot quicker than you can through going through a VC's kind of often heavyweight due diligence process. As well as it's about, for Just Park, which is in the sharing economy as an example and for CrowdCube who are kind of in the sharing economy as well, it's about that engagement with our community, with our customers, with our clients and building a very much stronger relationship and bond. We've had companies, Eden Project, for example, which is a world-renowned tourist attraction down in the southwest.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Everyday investors wouldn't have been able, wouldn't have been exposed to investment opportunity. And it's great to see companies like Just Park that are really seeing the value of crowdfunding and what it can bring to the company and how it can help the company move forward and progress.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “To raise the money that they were after, you know, that was back in 2012. So that was a long time ago. So there's always going to be an element of competition to the two. But I think that there's really I've seen in the last 12 months a real blurring of the lines between what is friends and family funding, what's seed capital, what angel investing, crowdfunding, VC investment. And you're starting to see that deals on crowd queue often encompass all of those different sources of capital. We've got a company on the site at the moment Just Park, they've had investment from index ventures and BMW in the past and index are actually participating in this round. So previously ordinary”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “I think they're different, but we do compete on deals from the very first 18 months of our trading, we were winning deals. We won a company called Escape the City. They had two term sheets from VCs, one of them index ventures on the table, and they turned...”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Front bulletin, yeah. I guess the obvious things are the strategic direction that they've helped us with. I mean, we've always had a very clear view of where we want to take CrowdCube, but Boulderton has certainly helped us to refine that and provided a lot of insight and expertise and experience. Tim Bunting, who's the partner at Balderton that's working with us alongside James Wise, he's got a lot of experience. He's very senior or held a very senior position for a number of years at Golden Stacks. He really understands the market and that combined with Boulderton's experience in marketplaces, they've invested in Betfair and obviously the experience in financial services presented at A really mouthwatering kind of relationship between the two CrowdCube and Boulderton.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Previously, we'd been regulated under old world regulations, which was like operating in a straitjacket really. So it was good to get that recognition from the financial conduct authority and good to have some clarity over the rules and regulations.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Yeah, it was tremendously difficult in the early days. The FCA didn't really understand what we were doing and what we were trying to achieve and we were crowbaring ourselves into existing regulations that didn't quite fit with our ethos and our philosophy and where we wanted to be. So it was a long struggle through that process. But happily it's crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding and even peer-to-peer lending has its own bespoke regulation. So the FCA do their root and branch review of the industry and came up with their own or devised with a consultation with the industry, devised the rules and regulations and policies and processes that needed to be put into place. That was a huge step forward for the industry, I guess.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Market had evolved and that industry had evolved, and certainly in 2010 to the early 2011 Kickstarter was really starting to gain some traction, which gave us a lot of confidence that we could take the crowdfunding model to the next level and offer people shares and a real stake in the company rather than just a t-shirt or a download.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Didn't exist. I mean, Equity Crowdfunding, when Crouch launched in February 2011, CrowQ was the first equity crowdfunding platform, not just here in the UK or Europe, but anywhere in the world. We were truly pioneering in what we did and still are today. Back in 2007, 2009, 2010, you were starting to see the emergence of Kickstarter with the reward crowdfunding side of things. And I guess before that you had bans and artists were using crowdfunding and crowdfunding from their fan base to cut their next record. And we looked at that and how that”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “Where I actually met Darren, who's the co founder of CrowdCube. And it was really apparent to me right from the very beginning that Darren kind of wasn't the right, he didn't fit in with that kind of corporate culture. He was very much an entrepreneur. He was kind of seemed like a restless soul, an individual that wanted to be doing something else rather than working for someone else. It wasn't a surprise to me when he came in one day. We used to sit next to each other with this idea for CrowdCube and kind of propositioned me to work on it with him in his spare time, which we did. And we went on to both leave our corporate jobs in 2010 and start CrowdCube up.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Really? Okay. So that's where I first worked for my brother Mark, who started an ISP internet service provider 20 years ago. And Mark and myself kind of went on that journey and I worked for him when I was in and out of university and then following travelling and university worked for him full-time for six or seven years and went on that tremendously exciting journey of that transition from dial up to broadband and all of the additional internet services that were exploding at the time. And that was a tremendously exciting time and satisfying time to be involved in such an innovative fast growth company. And it did leave a strong impression on me. My brother sold his company in 2007 to a corporate company. And that's incidentally.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “Yeah, I mean, sure. Hello everyone to begin with and hello to you, Harry. Thanks for having me. I guess your kind of quote of the day, the Apple Think Different Commercial, here's the crazy ones, there was actually a really nice kind of link to my background in technology actually because my brother at the moment who has that link to the YouTube adverts from Steve Jobs on his email today.”

    2015-03-16 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20 VC 020: Revolutionising Investing with Luke Lang, Co-Founder of Crowdcube · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source