What on earth is that?!
Hi Michael,
'Who on earth is that?!'
It's Bilal, Voice.
'What does he want?'
I don't know.
Today, Swiss venture -
Hang on! Today? The 23rd April, son.
Today, Swiss venture capital firm 14Peaks Capital is announcing the final close of their first fund. It is focussed on US and European fintech and future of work startups.
Have it your way, Bilal.
The funds LPs are US and European and the firm has plans are underway for team expansion in the United States throughout 2024, with strategic hires focused on enhancing market coverage. Founder has interesting backstory and approach with LPs in the fund - he didn't take money from everyone and anyone but was super selective.
LPs?! I ain't been into vinyl for over thirty years, Bilal.
'This guy's crazy, boss.'
I've got the full press release below and -
Yeah, yeah.
Uh ...
Let me have a look at this thing ...
Oh, there's loads of it!
No, no.
I just want to hear the founder's voice ...
"When I started 14Peaks Capital, I wanted to shake things up in how GPs and LPs work together. I've been on the LP side before, spoke to many GPs, and knew there was room for a different approach," says Edoardo Ermotti, founder of 14Peaks Capital. "Each of the investors supporting 14Peaks is globally successful in their own right, giving our portfolio founders access, through us, to this curated hub of extensive experience and networks."
He's been on the LP side. So? I had the first Stone Roses album on vinyl, back in 1989. I had an American import of John and Yoko's Two Virgins album.
"We’re looking forward to diving back in and supporting our founders as they chase their visions. In the past year, we've already seen positive changes in our portfolio companies, and we're confident we can do even more as we expand our platform. Our hands-on approach and the power of our extensive network, fuelled by our tight GP-LP interactions, make us believe we'll keep making a real impact for our founders in the years to come," adds Edoardo Ermotti.
Hey! How about helping me to chase my vision, Edoardo?!
'Your vision changes with the weather, boss.'
Shut up, idiot.
Oh, who's this now?!
Alex Bradford, the founder of Rain, a HR platform 14Peaks invested last year, says: "14Peaks has been a fantastic partner and instrumental to our growth, plugging us into highly-valuable investor networks and boosting our go-to-market by sitting down and helping us craft business development strategies."
All right, all right, that's enough.
No endorsement from me, obviously, kooks, and squares, because I don't know these people and I understand NOTHING ...
However, I wish everyone involved all the best.
'Nice one, boss.'
Yeah.
ENDS
ENDS
ENDS
...
Anything else? Poetry?
Yeah, yeah. I couldn't do the rough draft at the weekend. I'll try again this coming weekend. Uh. Whatever, you know?
Anyway ... The Voice and another free verse poem I wrote a few weeks ago are very good, I reckon. I spent five days on The Voice, 43 lines ... and ten days on the other one, 52 lines. Very concentrated and polished writing. Great concepts, and some great lines. There's no reason why I can't write one of these things a week ... once my blog has stopped, of course. Oh, soon! / Those six lines of blankness might take a month to finish ... if I ever start again. Why? Because traditional poems are unpopular these days, and so they have got to be really really really ... great, you dig? And let me clarify: traditional poems are only unpopular with poets. If you ask the general public to vote for their favourite poems, they're always going to give you Yeats, Thomas, Larkin, Tennyson, Keats, etc, etc. And so yeah ... I want a few. And one day, ooo ... I rather fancy writing a whole volume of grim and grand and apocalyptic blank verse, no tosses given. Ha!
Anyway ... I need the VERY BIG POEM. Hopefully, it will be a poem that poets will like, but also a poem BIG(!!!) enough to attract the attention of the world beyond the poetry scene.
It's a difficult situation, you dig?
Laters.
