“Opportunity in Chaos” — Seeking New Opportunities
It’s rare we feel we are apart of history as it happens. Since COVID19, It has felt like the past, present and future have come together as one and the links between each clearly exposed. Exposed is the opportunity for our present actions to have an exponential effect on the future. This frequently happens on a personal level but rarely happens simultaneously for the entire human race.
Across every industry and every walk of life, every individual is taking note of how their job and their life will operate in the post COVID19 World. So if there's ever a time to leave your mark its when Chaos has given these present opportunities to exponentially shape the future.
With this in mind, I am excited to be seeking new opportunities in the venture ecosystem as unfortunately due to COVID19 I have been let go from leAD.
I joined leAD 16 months ago sold on the opportunity to realise the vision leAD’s founding team ambitiously set out to do. leAD itself is only in its 4th year operating so I wore many different hats outside my core role; from setting up our internal communications and deal flow management to organising events and demo days. I loved this as the work never felt like work. I think it’s also indicative of the changes in the wider venture ecosystem as startups are not just sold by a check but rather everything else investors can support with.
The core role was always to support our accelerator/portfolio companies as they progress as well as identifying new investments and I am thankful to have gained so much experience in both these areas. I learned quickly supporting a startup can be hours in the lab reworking financial models but it’s also simply being available Friday night when things are tough for a call.
If you made it this far I truly appreciate you taking the time to catch up on my story and would love to speak further, particularly if you have any opportunities in early-stage venture within the common theme that excites me, the future of living; spanning Gaming, Sports, Communities, Education, Health and Wellness.
Additionally, I’d love to chat to any startups in this space about Business Development roles that may be available.
When I look back at my life I see a few times that Chaos hit but Opportunity shined through. I look forward to making this my biggest opportunity yet!
-My tennis career was sidetracked by nerve damage in my arm but out of that I began playing poker; a hobby that turned later turned into a career and gave me so many incredible experiences and relationships.
-I landed my first internship when I was rear-ended and Tom Blakeley; a classmate from my business law class at Babson stopped and helped me sort things out and gave me a lift home. We discussed summer plans and that’s when he mentioned Performance Architects was looking for an intern for the summer which I later took up and worked for the rest of my time at Babson.
-My largest poker tournament victory came in a 2-day tournament in Berlin where I broke every rule in my playbook of sleeping well, eating healthy and exercising before Day 2 as I ran into some friends at the end of Day 1 and decided to stay for 1 drink which led to staying up till 8 am yet managing to play 10 hours of poker that day and win the tournament on day 2
I can’t help but see this as yet another opportunity mixed in with the chaos; an opportunity to be apart of something new. Thanks for your help in making that happen.
Chris
