Martin Leuw of Growth4Good: No Excuse to Delay Being an Impact Business

Episode 1,   Oct 03, 2018, 12:34 PM

Our first Impact Leader is Martin Leuw of Growth4Good.

Martin leads Growth4Good’s investment strategy and is a serial entrepreneur specialising in digital media with a 25 year track record of driving growth. From 2001-2011, as CEO and significant management investor he grew IRIS Software both organically and via M&A from small beginnings to become the UK’s largest private software house, successfully exiting the business twice to Private Equity, ultimately with a $1bn MBO, having grown EBITDA from £2m pa to £50m pa.

Highlights in this episode:

  • Martin’s investment principles

  • Why focus on the opportunity for high growth

  • What made IRIS Software the UK’s largest software house

  • What is impact, impact investment and business with a purpose

  • Investment criteria for the Growth4Good portfolio

  • Top 3 things to look for when investing in businesses

  • 3 key things that business need help with more than fundraising

  • 3 sectors where Growth4Good is focused on

  • Importance of having an A-team

  • Evolution of impact measurement

  • Lessons for the impact community

Useful links:

Martin Leuw’s Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-leuw-988214/

Martin Leuw’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/MartinLeuw

Growth4Good - http://growth4good.com/

School Space - http://school-space.org/

Digital Mums - https://digitalmums.com/

The Conduit - https://theconduit.com/

Chapters:

[02:20] Always driven by growth

[06:30] Importance of customer experience

[10:10] Building businesses is my canvas

[13:00] Helping businesses to be a force for good that provides exceptional return to investors

[15:00] What is impact and impact investment?

[17:00] Business with a purpose, charities, for-profits and not-for-profits

[19:00] How to look at investment opportunities in businesses

[20:45] Importance of a team with complementary skills

[22:00] Why subscription revenue is key for business growth

[23:00] The Conduit - a community of impact investors

[25:20] Growth4Good focuses on education, employment and healthcare

[26:45] Fundraising vs strategy, door opening and talent

[29:30] Judging the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award

[30:10] Importance of having an A-team

[31:20] Evolution of impact measurement

[32:15] School-Space.org - Airbnb for schools

[37:00] Capitalism Is getting a bad name and businesses can do far better for society

[38:40] Lessons for the impact community

[40:00] Why education, employment and healthcare

[40:15] Call to Action

Connect with JP Dallmann on Linkedin, Twitter, or Instagram.

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