Quora Answer: How Much Life Insurance Does Someone Need?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How much life insurance does someone need?” 

You need as much life insurance as you deem your life, your family, and your assets worthy of coverage.  The question that needs to be asked for life insurance is in the event of death, disability, or critical illness, how much does your family deserve of your income to be replaced?  How much do you feel you deserve to maintain a modicum of similar standards of living?  In the case of death, you are not buying because you will die; you are buying insurance because the people that matter to you will live on after your demise, the causes you support, the things you believe in.  That is what the money is for.  It is about legacy. 

In the same vein, when it comes to general insurance, you are considering if anything were to happen to your assets, how much do you need to cover.  When you consider how much you are prepared to lose, to loss, to theft, to damage, to tragedy and disaster, you are most likely going to take the most coverage you can afford.  When people look at premiums first, they are either the most optimistic people in the world, or they have not considered what they stand to lose.

Quora Answer: How Long Does It Take to Find an Angel Investor?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How long does it take to find an angel investor?” 

It really depends on your network.  Finding an investor is not difficult if you are part of the community, or in an accelerator or incubator.  Even if you are not, there is LinkedIn, you could google and email them, or ask someone who is in the ecosystem.  It also depends on where you are.  If you are in places like San Francisco, Singapore or, indeed, any major city of a major economy, it is extremely easy. 

The challenge is not finding an investor.  The challenge is fining an investor who believes you are worth investing in, and would put money into your idea.  This is where you skills of pitching, management and leadership come into the equation.

Quora Answer: How Does Bad Leadership Destroy Organisations?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How does bad leadership destroy organisations?” 

There are several ways that bad leadership can destroy organisations.  The first is that bad leadership is like a virus.  Bad leaders surround themselves with bad leaders.  An inadequate leader will view any competent subordinate as a threat to their position, and will promote sycophants.  This will lead to a hollowing out of middle management, which will precipitate an eventual collapse down the chain.  Bad leaders are an anathema to institutional knowledge of the organisation.  An example would be Blockbuster, where this was one of many other management failures. 

The second is the misuse of resources.  Bad leaders are bad at strategic thinking.  This means the organisation is either ossified, unable to react to challenges, or they will institute a quick fix to paper over the cracks while pointing it in the wrong direction.  Because the underlying issues are either misdiagnosed or not addressed, they organisation will eventually lose direction, and fall to obsolescence.  This is likely a slow death.  An example would be Lehman Brothers. 

Finally, bad leaders tend to promote bad values, contrary to the long-term health and rejuvenation of the organisation.  With sycophants come the patronage system, division and backbiting, and finally self-sabotage.  In the most extreme cases, this leads to widespread lapses in ethical behaviour, leading to legal action.  An example would be Enron.

Quora Answer: How Does a SPAC Merger Work?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How does a SPAC merger work?” 

A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), also know colloquially as a “blank cheque” company, is an entity created for the sole purpose of acquiring or merging with private companies within their specific mandate, such as sector, industry, region, economic classification, and capitalisation.  The intent is to bypass the initial public offering process, and its limitations.  The challenge is that the identity of the target company is unknown to the SPAC investors in a SPAC, hence the “blank cheque”. 

The process starts when entities or individuals form the SPAC, through a modified IPO process.  The mandate is outlined and marketed to investors.  In many cases, the is already a group of private investors within the network who put money in these vehicles.  The SPAC is marketed on the strength of the board and backers, since there is no information on the target entity or entities.  As such, the people involved carry inordinate influence on the process through name recognition in the industry. 

Funds are raised through relatively low pricing of shares and other incentives.  Fund raising has a target to be reached within a short period of time.  The SPAC then has to pass compliance requirements by the requisite regulatory authority the SPAC is registered at.  The SPAC then has a period to identify and initiate a SPAC merger.  That period is normally around two years.  It may be extended upon certain conditions being met, although that is not usual. 

A successful merger means that the acquired entity can be listed and traded on the exchange under the SPAC ticker, bypassing the normal requirements of IPO for private companies such as a certain market performance over three or more years, and other capitalisation requirements.  The process of the SPAC merger is the same as a normal merger.  An offer is made, and negotiations on the finer points of control are conducted with the management and shareholders of the target entity.  Failure to complete a SPAC merger within the period of time will result in the liquidation of the SPAC, and the return of funds, less expenses, to the investor.

Quora Answer: How Do I Lead an Inexperienced Team When I am Inexperienced Myself?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How do I lead an inexperienced team when I am inexperienced myself?” 

Leadership cannot function without some experience in that mix.  If you are inexperienced, and your team is inexperienced, you can supplement that by getting mentors and advisors.  They are there to bridge that gap in experience, and lend some credibility to your leadership.  That is the easy fix.  However, you must be a strong, assertive person.  Your role as leader must not be abrogated by these mentors or advisors, because that would be a failure of leadership on your part.  The key is to qualify your mentors and advisors, and get the right ones involved.

Quora Answer: How Do I become a Better Public Speaker & Speak with Greater Passion?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How do I become a better public speaker, and speak with greater passion?” 

Being a better speaker requires practise, and some form of mastery of the art of rhetoric.  It is not enough to speak often.  Air time is only part of the consideration.  This means understanding the rules of rhetoric, the use of rhetorical devices, and knowledge of the concepts of logos, pathos, ethos and kairos.  This is where a programme such a Toastmasters comes in.  Going into some detail on these elements would be a series of essays. 

As for putting passion into your speeches, it starts with the subject matter.  You must be passionate about it enough for it to matter to you whether people subscribe to your view or are moved by it.  Then, you need to consider the argument and the contentions, and put forth a cogent, coherent speech expounding on the subject matter in a concise manner, which the audience can subscribe to.  For it to have further impact, you need to inject a personal story to demonstrate to the audience that you have a stake in the outcome.  All this takes tremendous practise and mentorship.

Quora Answer: How Can I Find Investors for My Projects?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How can I find investors for my projects?” 

First, you must have a project that is worth investing in.  Venture capitalists are looking for the next unicorn.  What is the total addressable market you intend to serve?  This is the market you can reach, and gain market share.  If that market is significant, you have potential.  Is this a grey market, one that is unrealised by competitors?  Or, is it, at least, a blue ocean, which affords you a lower barrier to market leadership?  What is your potential exit?  No one puts in money without considering this.  How many rounds of funding do you think you will require to reach self-sufficiency or, at least, significant revenue?  At the most, it should be four with a 50% dilution for first mover investors. 

Secondly, who is your team?  Investors do not invest in the product or the company.  They invest in the team.  If you have a great product idea, but you have an inadequate team, you constitute a risk.  We want to know what sort of risk keyman risk we are undertaking as well.  Your team dynamics, your relationship, your values, they all matter before we consider investing in you. 

Finally, once you have all that largely sorted out, there are incubators, accelerators, even pitch events that you can consider taking part in.  You can also consider qualifying possible investors by searching online and through your network and reaching out to them.  That means you need a pitch deck, and an executive summary to be sent.  Should any be interested, they will give you a meeting.