A Whip and a Lightsabre - a True Story (Sort of)

A W H I P A N D A

L I G H T S A B R E

A T R U E S T O R Y ( S O R T O F )

What are

Indiana Jones

and Yoda

doing here?

They represent

two archetypes

that we relate to at

Forward Partners

What’s an

archetype

Yoda?

Seek advice you must?

Universal unconscious

patterns that drive

behaviour they are.

EXPLORER SAGE

Follows paths that are self-

discovered and inspires others to

explore unchartered territory

CHARACTERISTICS

- Independence

- Testing limits

- Bravery

- Non-conformity

EXPLORER

“We do not follow maps to buried

treasures and X never ever marks

the spot”

– Indiana Jones

EXPLORER

“If you want to be a good

archeologist, you gotta get out of

the library!”

– Indiana Jones

EXPLORER

Always seeks out the truth

CHARACTERISTICS

- Wisdom

- Intelligence

- Clarity of thought

- Rational decision making

SAGE

“Always pass on what you have

learned.”

– Yoda

SAGE

“Do or do not.

There is no try.”

– Yoda

SAGE

Our team aspire to be like

Indy and Yoda

There are 7 ways we do that

Seek, share and retain know-how

Collaborate to be our best

Make good decisions

Act with courage

Be creative, adventurous and open-minded

Get it done, well

Enjoy the journey

7 T H I N G S W E L O O K F O R

I N O U R S E L V E S

L I V I N G O U R V A L U E S

A lightsabre and whip are always

at hand in case of emergency

Indy and Yoda don’t have a dress

code, so neither do we

Monthly socials connect everyone

in the room, both Forward Partners’ team and our partners

Private family healthcare is

standard

We measure our happiness every

day

Our steampunk hat is used for time

travel and predicting the future

Our company handbook is light. “Use

good judgement” is our main policy

Personal reading and blogging is

encouraged, as is public speaking

We capture our methods and tips in

our “Startup Playbook”

Our quarterly team objectives are

decided as a team

We love our open office where we

collaborate with our partners

We’ll try new methods, tools,

processes

Team members can expense any

non-fiction book

We’re data-inspired and use

dashboards to guide us

We eat lunch together on Mondays.

Always

We run retrospectives to look at

how we are succeeding and where

we can improve

Our process for reviewing and

closing investments is fast

Feedback to entrepreneurs is

honest

We have simple standard terms

and documents

7 T H I N G S W E L O O K F O R I N O U R S E L V E S

T H E D E T A I L

S E E K , S H A R E A N D

R E T A I N K N O W - H O W

We have deep experience, knowledge and skills in our own

specialist areas.

We share our expertise, helping entrepreneurs to build great

businesses.

We’re always learning, absorbing new knowledge through

practice.

S E E K , S H A R E A N D

R E T A I N K N O W - H O W

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t

understand it well enough”

Albert Einstein

C O L L A B O R A T E T O

B E O U R B E S T

It’s by combining and playing to our different strengths that we

can achieve great things.

We solve problems together and encourage each other to be the

best we can. We give and ask for constructive feedback and

assistance.

We want to be the most helpful team that an entrepreneur could

possibly partner with.

C O L L A B O R A T E T O B E

O U R B E S T

“In the long history of humankind (and

animal kind, too) those who learned

to collaborate and improvise most

effectively have prevailed.”

Charles Darwin, (maybe)

M A K E G O O D D E C I S I O N S

Good decisions are based on good information

and smart thinking.

We are decisive and confidently move forward, being able to

explain why. Good judgement includes the small stuff.

We always strive to be fair and balanced.

M A K E G O O D D E C I S I O N S

“An expert is someone who has

succeeded in making decisions and

judgements simpler through

knowing what to pay attention to

and what to ignore.”

Edward De Bono

A C T W I T H C O U R A G E

To be honest, decisive and effective means first being

courageous.

We have the courage to take brave decisions and do the right

thing. We say what we really think.

When the path is unclear we assess the options, face uncertainty

and commit.

A C T W I T H C O U R A G E

“Success is not final, failure is

not fatal: it is the courage to

continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

B E C R E A T I V E , A D V E N T U R O U S

A N D O P E N - M I N D E D

We believe that great creativity comes through using good

processes, leading edge frameworks and testing the

boundaries of what’s possible.

We actively seek out new ideas, methods, and people.

We recognise and challenge constraints as we aspire to bold

solutions.

B E C R E A T I V E , A D V E N T U R O U S &

O P E N - M I N D E D

“As an engineer I'm constantly spotting

problems and plotting how to solve

them.”

“Life is a mountain of solvable problems,

and I enjoy that..”

James Dyson

G E T I T D O N E ,

W E L L

A bias to action and speed is critical for startup success.

We’re resourceful, pragmatic with a sense of urgency. We work

hard. If we say we will do something, we do it.

We strive to find the optimum balance between speed and

quality.

G E T I T D O N E , W E L L

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.”

Amelia Earhart

E N J O Y T H E J O U R N E Y

We’ll be doing this for a long time together and it’s important to

have fun along the way.

We enjoy each others company, celebrate when things go well

and stay cheerful in the face of challenges.

We take time to get to know each other and our portfolio

companies.

E N J O Y T H E J O U R N E Y

“Today was good. Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one’”

Dr Suess

Seek, share and retain know-how

Collaborate to be our best

Make good decisions

Act with courage

Be creative, adventurous and open-minded

Get it done, well

Enjoy the journey

www.forwardpartners.com

@ForwardPrt