Podcast appearances and mentions of chris mairs

In addition to having an enviable angel portfolio, super angel Chris Mairs CBE has held various executive roles at Metaswitch Networks, including a long stint as CTO. He's been the Chairman of Magic Pony Technology, Curon Medical, Phoelex, Board Member at Raspberry Pi, Venture Partner at Entrepreneur First and is a Fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering. We had the chance to sit down with Chris and discuss his incredible experience in both his professional life and angel investing. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1) The angel investing trends we should look for in 2021 2) Is there appetite for UK startup from external investors? 3) The difference between working with UK/US tech companies 4) The biggest lessons learnt from having a large portfolio As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here: www.syndicateroom.com

Telecom software maker Metaswitch Networks was bootstrapped for the first 25 years of its profitable existence before the team decided to take outside investors including Sandhill Road standout Sequoia Capital. A few years after Sequoia invested in the London-based company, Chris Mairs, who was Metaswitch’s chief scientist, asked a Sequoia partner what the key requirements were for investing in a company. As Mairs recalls the conversation, the Sequoia partner highlighted three things. 1. The people. 2. The business needed to be quite young so there was plenty of opportunity for growth. 3. The Sequoia team needed to be able to bicycle from Sandhill Road to the company’s head offices. Metaswitch had only one of those right. The only one that mattered.

Chris Mairs is an entrepreneur, Angel Investor and Venture Partner at EF. He is the co-founder of MetaSwitch, a communications technology business, where he was CTO for many years including a 2-year stint in Palo Alto working with his investors from Sequoia and their portfolio companies. More recently Chris has become a prominent angel investor, investing in over 70 companies, including many from EF – where he’s been involved from the very first cohort back in 2012. In this episode Chris and I discuss:  - The lessons he learned from building MetaSwitch, including a visit from Microsoft Founder Bill Gates to do due diligence on the company - The red flags that turn him off a co-founding team as an angel investor and the qualities he looks for in portfolio companies - How Chris met EF co founders Matt and Alice and how EF’s Companies have evolved since he got involved on the first cohort We also get into the tech trends that Chris is most excited about, his perspective on AI and blockchain and how he’s overcome the challenges he’s faced along the way. The conversation is filled with great stories and words of wisdom from Chris’ wealth of experience as an entrepreneur and investor.

Chris Mairs: Tandem Bicycling Across America For Blindness   Chris Mairs is crossing the United States on a Tandem Bike traveling over 3600 miles in his 60 miles for 60 days fund raising adventure. A Line of Sight, that’s ALineOfSight.org.uk Initiative is to raise $40 per mile to assist 3600 people transform their lives with a surgery for cataracts. I posted a message from his blog page below so you can read all about his A Line of Sight fund raiser. Chris talks about his mother’s commitment to “No MollyCuddle” and how she prepared him and his siblings for the future. Chris talks about the ride and being blind and gives Transition age students some advice. Chris himself being a college graduate has also succeeded in business and his words are something to listen to. I did not know Chris before; however, I have been reading his blogs on the ALineOfSight.org.uk and have enjoyed his writings and humor. Chris and his team passed through Minnesota and I just had to reach out and believe me, I am glad that I got a chance to share a few moments with Chris Mairs. I hope you take a look at Chris’s A Line of Sight web page and help make a difference. Here is a note taken from Chris’s web site:   I have been registered blind since the age of 18 and turned 60 in early 2017. Although my condition, degenerative RP, is not treatable, I have been incredibly fortunate to live in the developed world. My education, my career and my personal life have all provided me with immense opportunities in a life that has been filled with pleasure and purpose. However, most of the 39 million blind people in the developing world are not so lucky. Blindness is an isolating and frightening disability with crippling economic impact. The family of someone without sight loses two incomes, one from the blind person themselves and one from the family member who becomes their full time carer. But the most common cause of sight loss in the world, cataracts, can be cured at a cost of only £30 or $40 per surgical intervention. I cannot boil the ocean, nor can I save the world, but with your help we will transform 3,600 lives.  On June 18th 2017 I am riding a tandem across America from Oregon to New Hampshire. By raising £30/$40 for every mile we ride, we will restore sight to 3,600 people through low cost, highly effective cataract surgery undertaken by our partner See International. Why 3,600 interventions? Two simple reasons: •I am pledging to cure 60 people of blindness for each year or my life so far. •This just happens to be the approximate distance from Astoria, Oregon to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Averaging somewhat over 60 miles a day, we will complete the ride in a little under 60 days, providing a perfect backbone for my 60×60@60 pledge. I am incredibly lucky to have 2 co-riders, James and Alastair, who will be sharing the front seat of the tandem. Alastair is in charge from Astoria to Sioux Falls, where he will step aside for fresh horses, a.k.a. James.   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.  

Chris Mairs Rides Towards The Light July 10, 2017 – Does the idea of biking across America sound like a challenge to you? How about trying it without using your eyes? That’s what SEE supporter ... The post Episode 5: Chris Mairs Bikes Across America appeared first on SEE International.

Chris Mairs (https://twitter.com/Chris_mairs) is the chief scientist at Metaswitch where he has seen the company exponential growth over the last few decades including the raise of their first vc money in 2008 with the likes of Sequoia and Francisco partners investing, he is also a prolific angel investor and has an immense portfolio with the likes of MagicPony, SmartUp and Adbrain all being investments of Chris’. Chris is also the chair of Code Club and the UK Forum for Computer Education. Finally to cap it all off he is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1. How Chris made his way into the world of tech and then later angel investing? 2. What were the lessons that Chris took from his communications with Sequoia and Jim Goetz, that he has applied to his angel investing thesis? 3. Which element of the Metaswitch journey was Chris favourite time of the experience to work in? 4. How was the scaling process for Chris and Metaswitch in terms of hiring and maintaining the Metaswitch company culture? 5. Does Chris apply the same educational focussed hiring strategy to his founder assessment approach when he is angel investing? What does Chris look for in the founders he backs? Items Mentioned Today: Chris' Investments: MagicPony, Adbrain, Tractable As always, you can learn more about SyndicateRoom here: www.syndicateroom.com and see Chris' latest tweets here: www.twitter.com/Chris_mairs