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> Russian investor What path does one take to find themselves in a conversation with foreign investors?

• scandox 9y ago
  Sit at the smaller bar in a very high class London hotel (usually there are two - one intimate and one grand). Wear a good quality suit - no tie. Make sure you're impeccably clean (manicure), but not too tidy. Strike up casual conversation with absolutely anybody who seems up for it: so anyone who is alone and any couples whose conversation is flagging. Always be ready to suggest a glass of champagne. There's no need to lie but always imply you're a guest of the hotel. Over time you'll get good at measuring people's potential. Rich people in these contexts are always bored. They're always looking for something to play with. Either shopping or investing - or a mix of both. It's intimately connected to their social relationship with the supplier. It's a lot like being on the game. Disclosure: I have never done this - however I grew up knowing someone who made their very good living in this way.
  • vidarh 9y ago
    My first startup was funded almost that way. One of my co-founders was a navy officer that had a thing for putting on a suit and sitting in fancy bars ordering black russians, and on one of those occasions while we were consiering where to get funding, he got talking to a recently returned long time expat who was wealthy, bored and looking for somewhere to invest. Two weeks later we had the cash in hand. This was someone who knew nothing about our area. We were starting an ISP and he had never had a computer on his desk (this was '95...) - he'd always had secretaries to do "that stuff"; to him it was pretty much a game and a gamble based on getting on well with my co-founder that evening in a bar.