Chapter 29
Optos: A sight worth seeinga
It was July 2002 and Anne Glover sat in her elegant St. James’s office in the heart of London’s investment community. Anne was Chief Executive and co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, one of the U.K.’s leading venture capital firms. Optos had been her project for six years, during which time only a few targets had been achieved on time and now the company required significant financing (Exhibit 29.1 lists the company’s key milestones).
EXHIBIT 29.1 MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF OPTOS 1991-2001
The last 12 months had been extraordinarily testing. In 2001, Alchemy and Apax, two major venture capitalists had refused to invest at the 11th hour, following months of lengthy due diligence. Optos and investors had been convinced that this time another VC would invest—yet again they were disappointed. There were no contingency plans. When the news arrived, the company had only £30,000 in its bank account and was spending £300,000 a month. Furthermore, a new CEO was about to join and the founder Douglas Anderson was going on a 3-month vacation to Greenland. To save the company from insolvency the Chairman, Barry Sealey, at a meeting of investors had passed around a hat and raised £1.2mn. But this money was only a short-term fix. Now was the time for Amadeus to make a significant investment or to pull out.
DOUGLAS ANDERSON AND THE VISION
Scottish-born ...
