As a result, we are seeing investors build large portfolios of unique and innovative technology companies so how do you get them all to play nicely and start providing a return on investment?
(1) Pick a sector to focus on
Succeeding in technology is unfortunately not simply about throwing money at mind-blowing innovations. Picking an area to focus on, whether that’s the Internet of Things, cloud communications, automotive or any one of a hundred different sectors, is very important.
It’s much easier to make money on a product or service that solves a problem, so investing in companies that share customers or objectives will help you to create intercompany solutions and collaborations.
(2) Find the next Zuckerberg
Investment is not skin deep, successful investors often look over the product or service if an individual or team impresses them. This is certainly the case with technology, with some undeniable talented professionals looking to be the next Zuckerberg. It’s important to recognise these superstars early and use them to benefit your entire portfolio of companies.
By integrating and encouraging collaboration between your companies, your future Jobs’ and Gates’ will begin solving problems and creating solutions across all of your investments.
(3) Incubate to speed up integration
Many technology startups follow a lean business model to make sure they stay in business and retain agility. As a result, you don’t often need to buy out an expensive 10 year lease on office space when you invest in them, giving you the freedom to relocate premises fairly easily. By housing multiple investments in one space you can encourage collaboration between the companies and help you to merge your acquisitions to reduce overheads.
For example, if you’ve got a great head of marketing at one company but nobody at another, you can create one role for both. By converging business operations, either organically when people leave or aggressively through redundancies, you can help to save money and create more full service solutions.
Investing in technology can be a minefield but by picking an area to focus on, spotting your superstars and incubating your portfolio, you can give yourself the best chance to take advantage of the growing interest in the sector.
Jenny Gonzalez is chief revenue officer at Agile Wings.
Image: Shutterstock
Meanwhile, luxury restaurant booking and payments app Velocity has already had significant global growth since its London launch in 2014, but will now push into 29 cities worldwide with a $22.5m Series B round from investors including the founder of Starwood Hotels.
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