Mark Lyttleton

Early-stage investing represents an asset class, with investors who adopt this strategy investing in young companies that are still developing their products, services or ideas in new, exciting and innovative ways. The capital these investors inject into early-stage businesses helps the enterprise grow, develop and expand. 

The Benefits and Risks of Early-Stage Investment 

For early-stage investors, there are some key potential benefits: for example, the investment could result in healthy financial gains should the business grow and thrive. A small start-up that goes on to become a major player in its industry could earn its early-stage investors a substantial return. 

There are risks, however. There is a chance that an investment could be entirely lost if the start-up can’t get traction or fails; therefore, it’s vital to consider the potential and track record of the start-up before committing to an early investment. 

Getting Started With Early-Stage Investing 

It’s important to carefully think about several factors before making a decision regarding an early-stage investment. The first consideration is the proportion of the existing investment portfolio that the investor is willing to assign to risk. Next, the prospective investor should ask themselves why they are drawn to early-stage investing and whether this route is actually right for them; evaluating investment drivers is a crucial element of this stage. Finally, it may be a good idea to take a course in early-stage or angel investment to have the best chance of success. 

Put Investment Strategies in Place 

As experienced early-stage and angel investors like Mark Lyttleton know, having an investment strategy in place is highly advisable. This process should include a careful assessment of the dedication, skills and experience of the early-stage business’s founders and an analysis of the relevant market potential.  

Conducting due diligence is vital, which means gathering as much information as possible about the start-up’s business model, finances and growth potential. As well as helping the prospective investor to make better-informed decisions, this will help to identify red flags that could impact the start-up’s viability.  

Finally, the investor should, as far as possible, leverage their own professional network to access advice from experts. 

Portfolio Diversification 

A 2023 report from UN Climate Change stated that current national climate action plans are insufficient to keep the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees, thereby meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. The report reveals that significantly more action is required to adequately tackle climate change and avoid the worst repercussions of this worldwide temperature shift. Businesses and charities could look to work together to help meet climate goals and make a tangible difference, and corporate giving schemes may be key. 

Payroll Giving 

Payroll Giving schemes allow employees to donate to charity directly from their salaries, with millennials and Gen Zers typically particularly interested in this form of giving, which is popular for its effortless nature.  

According to a report by the Charities Aid Foundation, the average monthly donation via Payroll Giving schemes was £24.25 in 2022, with £2 billion raised since the launch of Payroll Giving in 1987.  

Percent for Good, founded by Mark Lyttleton, is an organisation that enables professionals to donate 1% of their salary to support charitable causes and contribute to overall societal improvement. 

Corporate Sustainability 

To help in the fight against climate change, bold, brave action from business leaders in terms of sustainability is likely to be a vital part of the endeavour. This means leaders need to adapt their strategies in a quickly changing world and create strategies that turn the desire for positive change into reality. 

Innovative New Collaborations 

Radical collaborations are required to meet the UN’s climate goals and deal with complex, urgent social issues. This means building bridges and partnerships between communities, employees, communities and end users, with leaders seeking creative approaches to nurture and grow even the most unlikely of partnerships to make headway. Everyone will need to play a role, with all voices heard – even those who are traditionally excluded. 

Corporate Foundations 

A corporate foundation could also be a way for businesses to support the work of charities or organisations committed to tackling climate change. Via funding (or other means of support), such foundations can be highly impactful.  

However, to be effective it is vital that a corporate foundation has a clear purpose, is aligned with the business’s overarching vision and values, is distinctive, engages with shareholders, and represents a long-term, concrete financial commitment.  

Angel investor and business mentor Mark Lyttleton is a certified Associate Pranic Healer with a particular focus on supporting businesses created with the mission of achieving a positive planetary impact. This article will look at mindfulness and how mindfulness practices can help professionals to improve productivity as well as enhancing decision-making capabilities.

From Westminster to Wall Street, mindfulness is all the rage these days, inspiring multinational organisations like Barclays, Google and Virgin Atlantic to invest in mindfulness training for their employees. Although some view mindfulness as a passing fad, others predict that the practice is here to stay, enabling workers to improve their attention, awareness and decision-making capabilities – ultimately making them more productive and driving up the bottom line of the business.

Meditation and breathing exercises train the mind to stay present, focusing on a particular task. Mindfulness exercises help people to direct their attention intentionally, aiding concentration by enabling them to tune out distractions, leading to increased productivity and efficiency.

In the hustle and bustle of the modern business world, practicing mindfulness can go a long way towards improving both personal wellbeing and productivity. In essence, mindfulness is the practice of cultivating a heightened awareness of the present moment. In some situations, its application in the workplace has been nothing short of transformative.

Research indicates that the mind wanders around 50% of the time for the average person, according to a report by the London School of Economics. Mindfulness helps to counter this, lowering activity in the region of the brain associated with concentration lapses, cutting these by as much as 50%.

The London School of Economics report highlighted that being present can have a huge impact on decision-making, performance and career longevity. Research indicates that just six hours of mindfulness training could result in big improvements in standardised graduate school entrance exam scores, helping applicants to maintain focus and avoid mistakes caused by inattention.

Research also indicates that mindfulness can help guard against unconscious reactions that result in irrational decisions, for example reacting emotionally to unfair situations or spending money on losing projects.

As an experienced business mentor and angel investor, Mark Lyttleton provides small businesses and early-stage companies with invaluable support, helping founders to avoid common pitfalls while negotiating the many challenges involved in growing a business. From the ability to make timely choices to asking questions and maintaining an inquisitive mind, this article will explore some of the most in-demand traits for successful investors.

Patience

Good investors know that success never happens overnight. Rather than responding to short-term volatility with knee-jerk reactions, they hold onto their investments through market fluctuations, recognising that patience is key to unlock their true value over time.

Decisiveness

Rather than dithering, shrewd investors make timely decisions. While research, analysis and evaluation are important, good investors understand the importance of taking action at the appropriate time, recognising that sitting on the fence indefinitely only leads to missed investment opportunities.

Discipline

Creating and following a clearly defined investment strategy is critical to investment success. Rather than blindly following the crowd and chasing after the latest fad, smart investors are guided by a disciplined approach in their investment decisions, preventing their judgement from being clouded by emotional biases.

Knowing Their Risk Tolerance

Savvy investors are self-aware when it comes to their own risk tolerance, avoiding investment options that exceed their risk-taking capacity. They understand that this may result in decisions driven by fear rather than logic, potentially culminating in poor investment outcomes.

Analytical Skills

Strong analytical skills help investors to conduct thorough research, evaluating financial statements, economic indicators and market trends to make informed investment decisions.

Active Passiveness

Despite being an oxymoron, active passiveness is a defining characteristic that sets great investors apart from the rest of the pack. Successful investors actively scout promising investment opportunities, investing time evaluating options and building out their portfolios.

Diversification

Experienced investors understand all too well the risks involved in placing all of their eggs in one basket. Rather, they spread their investments across multiple investment vehicles that align with their risk tolerance, desired investment window and investment goals.

Ask Questions

Good investors recognise the need to ask questions to avoid getting locked into a bad deal. Successful investors are inquisitive, taking the time to read all of the fine print and learning everything they need to know about risks, fees, lock-in periods, exit charges, commissions, alternatives, premature termination options and anything else that may be relevant to their investment decision.

Continuous Learning

Mark Lyttleton is an experienced business mentor and angel investor who helps founders to deal with the challenges involved in launching and scaling a successful business. This article will look at funding options for start-ups in the UK, with a particular focus on start-up loans and grants.

For an entrepreneur attempting to translate their promising idea into a profitable business venture, access to financing is crucial. For inexperienced entrepreneurs lacking credentials and contacts, securing a bank loan can be an uphill struggle given the significant risks associated with investing in early-stage businesses. Nevertheless, for those with an exciting product and solid business concept, there are several avenues to explore.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the UK economy, not only providing tax revenue but also supporting employment, enterprise and economic growth. To help UK citizens build and grow their businesses, the UK Government offers an assortment of different grants and loans.

The UK Government launched numerous business support schemes during the pandemic, including the Future Fund, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, the Kickstart Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Local Restrictions Support Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant. However, most of these schemes are now closed to new applications.

For UK businesses in need of an injection of collateral, there are numerous other business funding schemes to apply for in the UK. One of the most attractive benefits of securing a business grant rather than a loan lies in the fact that, unlike a loan, a grant does not need to be repaid.

Small business grants available in the UK include:

Grow It, a scheme that supports businesses that work on special projects that support the local community, providing not only expert guidance but also up to £15,000 in funding

CRACK-IT Challenges, a business grant scheme that encourages collaboration between academics and businesses, inviting SMEs to solve technological and scientific problems or develop new products

Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants, providing much-needed financial support to organisations with a focus on creative initiatives, including art galleries and theatres, providing grants ranging from £1,000 to £100,000

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, a grant fund that encourages investors to back SMEs by providing tax incentives to those who purchase shares; through the scheme, companies can receive a maximum investment of £150,000

Mark Lyttleton is a business mentor, angel investor and speaker who takes a keen interest in supporting early-stage ventures launched to achieve a positive planetary impact. This article will look at Pilot Lite Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in and acquires corporate stranded or uncommercialised intellectual property, products and brands.

Operating with a special focus on sustainability and ethical attributes, Pilot Lite helps to transform developing ventures into free-standing, revenue-generating organisations. The company provides AI-driven scouting of new business and intellectual property opportunities for future commercialisation, focusing on building sustainable and strategic platforms. Pilot Lite’s commercialisation team works with an extensive network of subject matter experts, validating innovation opportunities from a commercial viewpoint to assess their viability and sustainability.

Pilot Lite Ventures recently invested in w’air, a revolutionary sustainable fabric care system capable of deeply cleaning, spot cleaning, and refreshing clothes and fabrics using just a fraction of the energy, water and detergent used in conventional laundry methods. w’air can be used on anything from clothing and carpets to sneakers and sofas, harnessing the power of micronized detergent and water particles to effectively clean and protect clothing, upholstery and other fabrics, keeping them fresher and newer for longer.

Joining forces with Diageo, Pilot Lite Ventures helped to establish Pulpex, a sustainable technology company that has developed its own first-of-its-kind patented single-mould paper bottle that has been adopted for use by global CPG partners.

With more than 1.3 trillion plastic and glass bottles produced around the world every year, there is mounting concern regarding pollution and plastic waste. Governments are increasingly implementing restrictions around plastics and packaging that will ultimately impact consumer choice as single-use plastics are phased out in more than 120 countries worldwide.

Through its partnership with Diageo, Pilot Life Ventures has helped to develop a groundbreaking pulp-based bottle, overcoming the significant technological challenges involved in creating single-mould PET-free fibre bottles.

Pilot Life Ventures’ award-winning AI-driven, human-supported incubation process paves the way for end-to-end validation and deployment, helping ventures with scouting and origination, validation, business readiness, testing and learning, pre-scale launch, sale and handover, and funding collaboration. In addition to helping to develop the world’s first truly recyclable paper bottle and a groundbreaking eco-friendly handheld fabric care device, Pilot Life Ventures launched the world’s first HFSS-compliant roasted potato crisp, offering all of the taste of a traditional crisp but with significantly less salt and only half the fat.

Mark Lyttleton is an experienced angel investor and business mentor with a particular interest in working with early-stage companies launched with the mission of achieving a positive planetary impact. This article will look at stock markets, exploring how they work and their history.

As a financial instrument representing ownership in a corporation or company, a stock confers a proportionate claim on both earnings and assets. Also known as equity or shares, stocks entitle shareholders to a piece of the company that correlates with their shareholding as a proportion of the total outstanding shares of the company. For example, an individual who purchases 10,000 shares in a company with a total of 100,000 shares outstanding will acquire a 10% stake in the company. There are two main types of shares: preferred shares and common shares.

A stock market is a venue where companies can raise funding by selling equity, i.e. shares of stock, to investors. Stock provides shareholders with voting rights and a residual claim on the company’s profits in the form of dividends and capital gains.

Institution and individual investors alike use stock exchanges to buy and sell shares in public companies. When someone purchases shares of stock via the stock market, they are not buying it from the company they are investing in but rather purchasing that stock from an existing shareholder. Similarly, when a shareholder sells their stock, they are not usually selling those shares back to the company but are instead selling them on to another investor on the stock exchange.

A stock exchange is essentially a secondary market where shareholders can transact with potential buyers. Companies listed on stock exchanges typically do not buy and sell their own shares, although they may issue new shares in the company or engage in stock buybacks through transactions that occur outside the daily stock exchange operating structure.

‘Volatility’ is a term used to measure how much and how quickly stock prices rise or fall. A stock or index may be described as volatile if its price moves up or down significantly over a short space of time.

Business mentor, angel investor and speaker Mark Lyttleton is a certified Associate Pranic Healer. This article will look at pranic facials, explaining the process and providing an overview of their benefits.

In the world of beauty and wellness, facials are a staple commonly given as a gift. In many circles, they are viewed as a rite of passage and a popular bonding activity.

From traditional facials incorporating natural ingredients that have been revered for their beautifying properties for centuries to radical treatments such as microdermabrasion and chemical peels, all facials essentially serve the same basic purpose: to cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate the face, improving the complexion while minimising the signs of aging or sun damage.

While a traditional facial at a salon will typically involve the use of several products, pranic facials are a chemical-free, touch-free alternative. With increasing numbers of consumers seeking out more sustainable wellness solutions today, pranic facials present the perfect solution. Rather than relying on products to rejuvenate the skin, a crystal pen is used, transmitting energy, with a bowl of salt water used to cleanse the aura and a crystal ball used to hold energy.

Pranic facials are a practice that involves pranic healing, a concept that was invented by Grand Master Choa Kok Sui of the Philippines. Pranic healing centres around the ‘prana’, or ‘life force’, which keeps a person alive and in good health.

Raaj Nair is a Kochi-based Pranic Healer and psychotherapist who performs this ancient wellness ritual for guests staying at the Four Seasons Resort in the Maldives. He suggests that the physical body has an energy counterpart. Indeed, the two are so closely related that they affect each other. A similar concept to ‘qi’, prana is the life force energy that keeps the body alive, with pranic facials working on the same principle. Pranic facials focus on clearing negative energies accumulated in the 11 chakras, cleansing, healing and energising. Raaj Nair suggests that, when the patient is receptive, the effects are profound.

Mark Lyttleton is an angel investor, business mentor and speaker. He is also a registered Associate Pranic Healer and is currently in the process of establishing a UK-based charity. This article will look at the concept of ‘glimmers’, providing strategies to help people encourage and embrace them and feel happier throughout their everyday lives.

For many people, particularly those familiar with the principles of wellness and mental health awareness, the concept of a ‘trigger’ is well understood. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, Psych Central defines a trigger as a sensory reminder that causes painful symptoms or memories to resurface.

This may involve a person remembering an individual who hurt them, a traumatic event or the feelings that they experienced during a difficult period in their life. Such episodes are unpleasant at best and traumatising at worst, particularly for those with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A ‘glimmer’, on the other hand, has a positive connotation, instilling feelings of safety and joy. Essentially the opposite of a trigger, a glimmer is an internal or external cue that restores happiness and a sense of security. This could be anything from looking at a picture of a beloved pet, listening to a piece of music or seeing the skyline of a favourite city.

The concept of glimmers forms part of Polyvagal theory. The term was coined by Stephen Porges, a behavioural neuroscientist who introduced the concept in 1995. Polyvagal theory describes how the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary actions like breathing, is constantly searching for and reading cues to detect danger in a process called ‘neuroception’. Neuroception is regulated by the vagus nerve, which is also responsible for organ function.

The term ‘glimmer’ was popularised by Deb Dana’s book The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation, which was released in 2018. The term gained further exposure after a TikTok video produced by psychologist Dr Justine Grosso went viral in 2022.

Glimmers are precious moments that spark feelings of peace or joy, soothing the nervous system and instilling a sense of calmness and safety. They may be experienced by all senses and from a variety of different sources, from the warmth of a loved one’s embrace to the smell of freshly baked bread.

Mark Lyttleton is an experienced business mentor, angel investor and speaker who supports early-stage ventures and small businesses, providing financial and strategic support. This article will look at small businesses and the options available to businesses owners to help keep their venture in the best possible financial health.

Many small businesses are successful due to the owner’s expertise in providing a particular service or making and marketing a product. However, as talented as the entrepreneur may be, everyone has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. For an inexperienced business owner, managing finances can be challenging, but it is nonetheless crucial to the survival of the business. It is vital for business owners to establish responsible financial habits to protect the future of their business and set it on the road to success.

A common mistake of inexperienced small business owners is failing to pay themselves a wage, particularly at the outset when they are trying to establish their business. Often, the pressure of getting the business off the ground takes priority over everything else. Nevertheless, business owners must compensate themselves, just as they have a responsibility to pay other people. After all, should the business fail, they are likely to be left in a precarious financial position. Those financial difficulties will be even worse if they have also neglected to draw a salary over a sustained period of time.

Businesses need to keep stock of both positive and negative cashflow. Positive cashflow occurs in profitable businesses where income exceeds expenditure, while negative cashflow means that the business has incurred more liabilities than the revenue it has generated. When a business is experiencing negative cashflow, it may rely on short term credit – such as a short-term loan or overdraft – until it reverts to a positive cashflow business position. However, it is crucial to keep careful track of cashflow over standard reporting periods – such as monthly, quarterly and annually – to ensure that the business remains on an upward trajectory.

Savvy steps for small business owners to keep track of their venture’s financials are opening a separate business account and utilising cloud accounting software or enlisting the help of an accountant or financial advisor.

Proper financial management means the business owner is monitoring their books, planning ahead, keeping good credit and paying themselves. For small businesses, debt funding means paying interest alongside repayments. Equity funding, on the other hand, does not attract interest but may mean the business owner has to sacrifice a degree of control over their business in return for investment, something many business owners are reluctant to do.

Mark Lyttleton is a business mentor and angel investor who is proud to support several ventures created to achieve a positive planetary impact, including SKOOT. This article will look at SKOOT’s impact, as well as its recent partnership with Oracle MICROS Simphony, creating a platform of businesses operating in the hospitality industry to sequester carbon emissions.

SKOOT’s award-winning climate change platform helps businesses, people and communities to drive down their carbon footprint and achieve net-zero. The platform offsets emissions by planting trees in some of the most deforested regions on earth, as well as supporting and funding other carbon reduction projects.

To date, SKOOT’s 30,000 plus community of individuals and businesses has offset approximately 4,236.2 tonnes of CO2 by planting 953,299 trees, in the process restoring some of the planet’s most damaged locations and helping to restore precious habitats and ecosystems.

Co-founded by Greg Gormley and Mark Stringer, SKOOT’s team has collaborated remotely from day one, enabling it to engage the world’s best talent and helping employees to achieve an excellent work-life balance, all while keeping carbon emissions to a minimum.

In June 2023, SKOOT Eco announced that it had joined forces with the Oracle Cloud Marketplace for MICROS Simphony systems. This exciting collaboration has paved the way for an innovative and exciting new approach in the hospitality industry, which today accounts for approximately 20% of all carbon emissions.

The partnership will enable food, beverage and hospitality venues to sequester emissions by planting trees for each customer or bill, helping hospitality venues and the customers they serve to play their part in the fight against climate change.

The SKOOT Eco-Contribution platform is touted as a straightforward yet powerful initiative that will result in a tree being planted for each cover or bill to counterbalance the ecological toll associated with dining out. SKOOT estimates that for each tree planted, 12 kilos of CO2 will be sequestered from the earth’s atmosphere.

Mark Lyttleton is a business mentor and angel investor with a special interest in business ventures created with the goal of achieving a positive planetary impact. This article will focus on aquaculture and its potential to not only improve global food security while protecting the world’s oceans and dwindling fish stocks but simultaneously provide a huge growth opportunity for fish farms all over the world.

Data from FAO and the OECD suggests that fish consumption will continue to rise steadily through 2025. Fish is an increasingly important animal protein source, today accounting for circa 16% of total animal protein consumption globally.

Wild fish catches are capped by government quotas in order to protect global fish stocks. As a result, industry experts suggest that the only feasible way of meeting rising global demand for fish is through sustainable aquaculture.

Research shows that aquaculture is more environmentally friendly than the terrestrial meat industry, with farmed finfish converting feed into body mass seven times more efficiently than sheep or cattle and producing less than a tenth of the CO2 per kilogram incurred in farming cattle or sheep.

More than half of the seafood eaten globally today is farmed. Aquaculture farming is a global growth industry with huge impact and potential that must be handled with great care and responsibility, paving the way for an effective means of feeding an ever-increasing global population.

A registered charity in England and Wales, the ASC is a non-profit-making company that sets robust and relevant standards for the global farmed seafood industry. The organisation runs a world-leading responsible seafood certification program, driving additional impact beyond certification.

From the consumer’s perspective, the ASC green label provides the reassurance of knowing that seafood has been farmed with care, not only protecting the farm’s environment but also its workers and the wider community.

Seafood farming is playing a critical role today in terms of providing a source of healthy, affordable protein to a rapidly growing global population. However, like all aspects of food production, it has environmental and social impacts, so it must be implemented responsibly.

Mark Lyttleton is an angel investor, speaker and business mentor with a keen interest in supporting early-stage businesses created to achieve a positive planetary impact. This article will look at venture capital and why it is such an attractive funding option for many early-stage companies.

An early-stage company is one that has tested its prototypes, refined its service model and prepared its business plan. Some early-stage businesses may already be generating revenue, but the majority are not yet profitable.

An early-stage business is essentially a newly developed venture that addresses at least one market inefficiency. The company has not yet matured and is still at stage one: the start-up phase.

In phase one of a company’s evolution, it focuses on finalising its products or services based on market data it has gathered. Before it can move on to the second phase of growing the company, it will usually need an injection of capital. This process is known as seed funding, with the start-up gaining vital early-stage venture funding to further develop the business.

From the investor’s perspective, early-stage start-ups are typically a high risk investment option. Founders will need to work hard to convince potential investors that their business will generate a healthy ROI. In preparing their pitch, business owners will need to provide an outline of the specific market problem they are solving, identifying their primary target market and what differentiates their company from the competition. They will also need to identify the type of investment they need and why, as well as illustrating how they have tested the success of their business idea.

Venture capital is a form of private equity. It is a mode of financing that investors provide to small businesses and start-up businesses that demonstrate potential for long-term growth. Venture capital generally comes from investment banks, other financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Venture capital doesn’t always have to be cash, with support sometimes taking the form of managerial or technical expertise. Venture capital is generally allocated to early-stage companies that show exceptional growth potential or ventures that have grown fast and appear poised to continue their rapid expansion.