I have lived and worked all over the world. I was a bi-lingual child in Germany before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, a student in Manchester, Edinburgh and Vienna and an Investment Banker in New York and London. I was the first employee of a start-up in Sydney, founded tech and retail businesses in London and I now spend my time travelling around Europe finding incredible entrepreneurs to invest in and then flying East and West to meet people and companies who can support our entrepreneurs in their goal of becoming global category leaders.As well as being a global citizen I grew up in a big, supportive and very close Irish family known for being hyper competitive and for not following convention. We were encouraged to go against the norm, to forge our own paths and to use our talents to succeed no matter how hard the challenge, but also to never forget the paramount importance of family.
This diversity of experiences and cultures has influenced my openness to new ideas and ways of doing things against commonly accepted norms. A consistent theme in my life has been that I love working with entrepreneurs that are ambitious, competitive, hard-working and get sh*t done. It also means I like to build strong, trusting and personal relationships with the founders I invest in, to support them through the ups and the downs. I know what it is like to start a business from scratch, it is hard, and I strive to be the sort of investor I wish I had had when I started my businesses.Notion and our entrepreneurs are like a family to me and I bend over backwards to do whatever I can to support family.
Companies include: Demyst, Dealflo, Kisanhub, Hokodo, Mojn (acquired), Trustev (acquired), Upvest, Workable and Vortexa.