Welcome to Crown Castê, your financial literacy podcast for small businesses. We publish inspiring, insightful conversations with investors and stewards of capital, about why they decided to make placements into a specific portfolio company of theirs. In today's episode, we are joined by Joe Kinvi.
Joe is the co-founder of HoaQ, an investment club that funds and supports founders who are building for the African continent and its diaspora. The club aims to invest in founders and teams with domain expertise, technical know-how, and have attained some traction within a largely defined opportunity. HoaQ has deployed over $3 million towards over 100 early-stage startups and boats over 500 investors. Joe is a chartered accountant (IE) with over 12 years of experience ranging in consultancy, audit, finance, growth, and sales. He was previously the head of finance of Touchtech Payments (acquired by Stripe) and worked as part of the growth team post-acquisition at Stripe and spent 4 years at the fintech, including a short stint at Paystack. In his spare time, Joe enjoys cooking, reading, traveling and playing football.
iscuss:
1. Building an Angel Investor Network during the Pandemic:
How did the Joe start their investment journey during the uncertain times of 2020?
What was their original focus when starting their investment plans in Dublin?
How did they stay committed to their plan when faced with the global pandemic?
2. Investment Strategies and Focus:
How did HoaQ manage to invest in 100 companies in less than 3 years?
What is their investment thesis and what kind of founders are they looking to back?
How do they manage their investments in pre-seed and seed stage companies?
3. Building a Network and Adding Value:
What role did their co-founder play in building the network and connecting with potential investments?
How does HoaQ support their portfolio companies with connections, hiring and other needs?
What challenges do they face in being proactive with their portfolio companies?
4. Criteria for Successful Founders:
What are the common traits among successful founders in their portfolio?
What kind of conviction are they looking for in the founders they back?
How does this conviction make it easier for them and their community to back these founders?
Please follow Jo's socials:
Twitter: @joekinvi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekinvi
