"Which is more important, the journey or the destination?" - "The company."

Big Panda: "Which is more important, the journey or the destination?"?

Tiny dragon: "The company."?- Big Panda and Tiny Dragon - by James Norbury?

The destination

A lot of fund managers will agree with me when I say that fundraising is one of the toughest parts of our work. We long for the "destination" - that beautiful day when the fund is fully raised and we can focus on investing in our overflowing pipelines of opportunity; creating value with our portfolio companies; and mapping out win-win exits... But alas! The funds must be raised first (and/or alongside) ... And so, the "journey" continues.?

The journey

My partner Lisa and I just came off a 3 week fundraising trip in Europe where we travelled to 8 countries, had in excess of 20 meetings with potential investors and partners, culminating in attending the SuperReturn Emerging Markets event in Amsterdam. Sounds like a lot? Yes it was... But when you're an emerging fund manager from an emerging market with limited opex budget - you learn to leverage every trip you invest in for key investor events - by planning in additional activity that furthers the cause. {Plus, Cape Town is a long way to travel to anywhere so maximising the use of time, money and effort is key}.?

The ebb and flow

As you can expect, the engagements on such a trip varied from super promising, to pleasantly surprising, to 'maybes' to outright 'no'... and everything in between. It included scrambling to last minute additional meetings, dealing with last minute cancellations and also some no-shows. There were days when we had 'five meetings in one day' (a lot for an ambivert like me) and other days of 'zero meetings' (a lot for an extrovert like Lisa).?Whichever way, the ebb and flow of the fundraising journey can test ones limits and take a toll on even the toughest. For example - at one point we had to manage a hay fever attack and at another, a wardrobe malfunction... But that's a story for another day.

The company

Which is why, as Tiny Dragon rightly stated, it is ultimately the "company" that is most important on the journey. This includes your team, your network and most critically, your partner. And when it comes to 'surviving fundraising roadshows', having a good partner goes beyond having complimentary skills, it also requires:

• Trusting one another to do what each is great at and cheering each other on
• Actually delivering on what each one is great at (hay fever and wardrobe malfunctions notwithstanding)?and giving each other honest feedback?
• Communicating what you need to be at your best (e.g., morning coffee and eggs for me; walks for Lisa) and doing what you can to bring out the best in each other
• Having each others backs and picking each other up where needed
• Taking moments to pause, decompress and also the celebrate wins - big or small.

These are just some of the ingredients that have enabled us to navigate the ebb and flow of the journey with mutual respect and appreciation. Special thanks to Lisa G. Thomas for being an amazing partner. As we say in South Africa, "You're a real trooper."?