David Ford has been an active investor in the public markets. However, in the past 12 months David has been gaining experience angel investing in a variety of startups from the £2m-£10m valuation range. Prior to becoming a full time angel investor, David worked for a leading global leveraged finance investor, backing a variety of LBOs and investing across a range of asset classes, including Senior Debt, High Yield bonds, and PIK securities. He was latterly Head of Credit Research for Europe, as well as sitting on the European, AsiaPacific, and US Investment Committees. David also got an early taste for the tech ecosystem, in the early 2000s David was on secondment to the San Francisco office and experienced first hand the boom and bust of Silicon Valley! In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How David made your entry into the investing world? What was it that attracted you to the world of investments? 2.) What was David’s primary method of deal sourcing as a hobbyist angel and how has that transitioned now he is a full time angel? 3.) How has David found the transition coming from a professional investing background? What is the biggest surprise for David on entering the industry full time? 4.) What does David believe makes a great lead investor? What is required to carry out the round successfully? 5.) When looking back at the experience starting out what were the biggest pitfalls David faced? How did he overcome them? 6.) What have been the biggest takeaways from David’s 1st year full time angel investing? How has David’s strategy and investing thesis changed over the year? Items Mentioned In The Show Today: David’s Fave Blog: Biotech and Money (http://biotechandmoney.com) David’s Most Recent Investment: Smart Surgical (http://smart-surgical.com) As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here: www.syndicateroom.com

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