David Mott

Founder Partner of Oxford Capital, passionate about VC and backing founders. Modern pentathlete & arctic adventurer.

[David Mott @DavidMott]

So true…

https://t.co/5PuDCWlGWQ

[Nathan Baugh @nathanbaugh27]

In 4 minutes, Kurt Vonnegut explained stories better than anyone I’ve ever heard.

“The shape of the curve is what matters. Not their origins.”

He plots stories on 2 axes:

X: Time
Y: Good fortune / ill fortune

He goes on to say,

“Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it.”

Point 1:

Stories have defined patterns.

In Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces, he makes the case for the Hero’s Journey.

Since then, it’s become the most famous storytelling structure in the world.

Vonnegut argued stories could be divided into 8 shapes.

Each story, he said, fit one of the 8.

Point 2:

Vonnegut says,

“Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — so the reader may see what they're made of.”

To see who your characters really are, you have to make them suffer.

Only then does your audience have someone worth cheering for.

Point 3:

End on a high note.

Vonnegut says, “It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began. This is encouraging to readers.”

The way a story makes people feel when they finish is how they remember it.

It’s called recency bias.

Lift people up and they will love you.

***

“There are people. There are stories. The people think they shape the stories, but the reverse is often closer to the truth.”

I wrote this with @RobbieCrab. Follow him for lessons on storytelling + fundraising.

And I talk about creative storytelling. Follow @nathanbaugh27 for more like that.

[David Mott @DavidMott]

I just updated my website.https://t.co/m1inKAf7hE

[David Mott @DavidMott]

Brain performance optimisation: Could it lead to better VC returns? https://t.co/c7n8FI31sq via @LinkedIn

[Oxford Capital @Oxford_Capital]

The latest data from HMRC reveals the #EIS and #SEIS schemes have had a record year and it remains vital to our economy and ecosystem. At Oxford Capital, we pioneered the EIS fund structure and have been #backingfounders since 1999 @IFAMagazine https://t.co/NmGJDAgdwt

[David Mott @DavidMott]

It has been amazing to see the tech ecosystem working together to work through the challenge of the SVB collapse. Founders, investors, bankers, policy makers, central bankers, regulators have been flat out these past few days. We all hope this will land smoothly.

[Oxford Capital @Oxford_Capital]

We recently welcomed @GrowthBusiness to our offices to discuss our experience investing in early-stage companies, our approach to #backingfounders and the support we give them in building their businesses. Plus our outlook for the year ahead.
https://t.co/MZiHvtIeKQ @DavidMott

[David Mott @DavidMott]

@British_Airways you were happy to take my money and sell me a flight to Helsinki but when @Finnair lost my bag - you say you are not responsible!! Work together to sort out customer issues please! #poorcustomerservice #findmybag

[David Mott @DavidMott]

@Finnair you have lost my bag with all my #modernpentathlon equipment. It is still missing after three weeks and none of you staff can locate it, you compensation team is impossible to talk to. Terrible service… is anyone going to help?

[David Mott @DavidMott]

@Finnair @HeathrowAirport @MenziesAviation - no wonder it is such chaos at LHR - every bag is passed through so many handlers and systems. No one talks to each other, everyone else is to blame, after 5 days it’s someone else’s problem… #poorcustomerservice! #findmybag

[David Mott @DavidMott]

#CommonwealthGames athletes travelling through @HeathrowAirport be careful. Baggage chaos and no-one willing to help. I lost all my equipment with @Finnair three weeks ago and will miss the #Commonwealthfencingchampionships. #findmybag

[David Mott @DavidMott]

@Finnair @HeathrowAirport @MenziesAviation - I went to LHR to see 👀 it for myself. For several hours I was passed from one person to another, bounced around but no one could help. Is this how you treat customers???? #findmybag

[David Mott @DavidMott]

Excited to share our latest investment - in @BZInsurance 🚀

[Oxford Capital @Oxford_Capital]

We are delighted to announce our latest portfolio company @BZInsurance, the insurtech offers specialist life cover for those living with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and has raised £1.5 million in its seed stage round https://t.co/p139SF9y13 #backingfounders

[Oxford Capital @Oxford_Capital]

Next up in our series of #backingfounders interviews is @redsift co-founders - @rahulpowar and @randalpinto. Following their recent Series B fundraise we discussed the benefits of having a co-founder, and what's next for the business as it grows https://t.co/f7KxbPNAst

[Oxford Capital @Oxford_Capital]

Our Business Development Manager, @MBE_OXCP wrote this piece for @IFAMagazine on how EIS and VCTs differ and the factors advisers should consider when supporting their clients #EISinvesting

[David Mott @DavidMott]

We're excited to be backing Red Sift again in their next phase of growth.

As cyber attacks are on the rise, London startup Red Sift bags $54M for global expansion  https://t.co/Zq8fDqls6s via @TFNBreakingNews

[David Mott @DavidMott]

@mrlozmoore @Oxford_Capital Get together with other seed stage founders. Maybe arrange a regular coffee and share experiences. You will find that you are likely to be facing the same issues around hiring, fund raising, managing rapid growth, stress levels and so much more. Maybe turn to a mentor or friend.

[David Mott @DavidMott]

BACKING FOUNDERS – SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE https://t.co/8dicgL0UyN via @weebly