Double Jeffardy: the story of Seedrs and its vetoed Crowdcube merger, with Co-Founder Jeff Lynn and CEO Jeff Kelisky
How did two Americans called Jeff come to lead Seedrs, one of the UK’s leading crowdfunding platforms? And why did their planned merger with bitter rivals Crowdcube collapse? In today’s ‘Double Jeffardy’ episode, Seedrs Co-Founder Jeff Lynn and CEO Jeff Kelisky share their experiences and learnings - from the biggest missed opportunities with scaling, to what the CMA got wrong with the merger.Key takeaways The biggest mistakes Seedrs made in the early daysSeedrs vs Crowdcube, the rivalry When Jeff realised he needed to hire a CEOHow to integrate a new CEO into a founder-led companyThe failed mergerHow to get motivated again when a merger like that collapses
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Show Notes
How did two Americans called Jeff come to lead Seedrs, one of the UK’s leading crowdfunding platforms? And why did their planned merger with bitter rivals Crowdcube get blocked?
In today’s ‘Double Jeffardy’ episode, Seedrs Co-Founder Jeff Lynn and CEO Jeff Kelisky share their experiences and learnings - from the biggest missed opportunities when scaling, to what the CMA got wrong with the merger.
“The CMA has chosen to take an exceedingly aggressive stance on anything that looks like a tech merger. I think they feel very burned by having approved Facebook and Instagram, where they didn't understand or see the platform power that would emerge.”
In this episode you’ll learn about:
- The biggest mistakes Seedrs made in the early days
- Seedrs vs Crowdcube
- When Jeff realised he needed to hire a CEO
- How to integrate a new CEO into a founder-led company
- The failed merger
- How to get motivated to compete again after a merger like that collapses
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