Standing Out from the Crowd

Emmet McGonagle

Jun 17, 2022

Randy Stewart Thompson – chairman of Valhalla Private Capital, managing director of Old Kent Road Financial and co-owner of Peterborough United Football Club – has outlined how best for entrepreneurs to gain the attention of investors when hoping to pitch their startup.


With an estimated 400 applications to pitch through Valhalla every month, Randy admits “there's a good chance you're not going to get our attention” without going the extra mile to stand out from the crowd.


“You don't just put a resume in for a job and hope somebody calls you because you said you’re a nice person and you work really well with people - the other 399 said exactly what you did, so what's your reach out strategy?”


In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Randy claims gaining the attention of investors is “hard” for entrepreneurs as there is “no relationship building” outside of the virtual norms of Zoom meetings and drab emails.


He continued: “There's no hanging out and having a beer, so you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd in order to be one of the people in that pile that we want to reach out to.


“Really creative entrepreneurs figure out a way to actually work through that,” Randy concluded.


TechRound encourages startups to stay informed, focus on innovative strength and customer service, and find strategic partners in a bid to stand out from competitors in 2022.


Randy also maintains that the relationship between “artificial intelligence and HR” will be an important one moving forward - in spite of being an admittedly “weird space” -  and will be a startup category which he will be keeping an eye out for in 2022.


Do you have a question about angel investing? Get in touch with Valhalla Private Capital via our contact page.

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