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ETHICS & TRANSPARENCY WITH INVESTORS

This is really aligned with win-win and is a cultural thing. Investors are partners, they are critical to your business, but rather than being schmoozed and flattered, they need to be dealt with as business people. With respect and with transparency.

I have always believed in a consultative approach to sales. I am not a salesman, but I am good at sales. I just tell it like it is, relate it to the client and demonstrate to them how it is a solution for their requirement. In order to do this correctly you need to be absolutely straight. I have not always been as straight. When I started off I tried too hard to make things seem better than they are – and it never ever worked! Sure the deals worked, but not as they expected, which is what they remember.

At T5 we are lucky – we have made that luck and sweated for it, but we are in a fortunate position. We are oversubscribed almost all of the time. How have we got there? By treating our investors as equals, this means being nice but not too nice but especially it means being respectful. Almost all our business comes through referral and recommendation. This is the ultimate vote of confidence.

We will soon be looking for more funding and it’s different to what we have done before. How will we do it? By engaging with people, educating them and treating them with respect. It takes longer at first but it will pay dividends! (TOP PUN ALERT).

– Andy Babbayan