Solid Bond.

Finance and Commercial Director

My role is to provide finance support to a portfolio of businesses. the level of support and the type of support needed varies significantly from business to business. 

Typical Responsibilities:

- Business Planning/ Budgeting
- BI Implementation/ Management Accounts
- Attended and presented financials at board meetings
- Power BI report writing
- Tax Planning/ Liaising with Tax Professionals
- Lead on Software Implementation 
- Liaising with External Accountants
- Investment Appraisals/ Due Diligence
- Preparing investment paperwork with lawyers
- Staff management of transactional finance team

Finance Manager

Safran

Main purpose of the role is to help control the direct purchases for over a £110m spend and to business partner with the purchasing department. 

- Set the budget for direct purchases for all products, budgeting for a spend of over £110m
- Monitor and work with budget holders to control the expenditure on 4 purchasing cost centres and carriage in costs
- Present the monthly KPI pack to the Purchasing director and to senior management occasionally
- Calculate and monitor the purchasing overhead absorption rate (purchasing fee) and explain any over/under recovery
- Provide detailed and complex variance analysis on gross margins for the wider cost of production team. 
- Complete balance sheet reconciliations. 
- Provide detailed analysis of the GRNI account in working through credit notes owed by suppliers. 
- Calculate and post amendments to stock to value at actual cost at the year end.  
- Led and successfully delivered the annual standard costing by coordinating the work of 3 other accountants.

Management Accountant (Supply Chain Controller)

- Finance lead responsible for reviewing the industrial/ operational performance of one of the business operations. 
- Prepare budgets and quarterly forecasts with budget holders.  
- Set the annual labour budget for 300+ employees. 
- Close out month end in a tight 2.5 day deadline. 
- Prepare journals for accruals, prepayments and ad hoc movements of cost. 
- Identify potential risk and opportunities and flag these to senior management.
- Cost control of site general/ travel expenses, over £15m per year. 
- Developed detailed reports on general/ travel expenses and to coordinate the delivery of a £2m expense reduction challenge set by group. 
- Use of SAP and Hyperion accounting systems (loading budgeted hourly rates, purchasing fees and expenses and forecast data into both). 
- Utilised strong Excel skills to automate many tasks savings over 2 hours at month end and simplify tasks during the month. 
- Involved in headcount reporting and standardising headcount reports between HR and finance to present consistent figures to senior management. 
- Business partner with the sheet metal/ components operation of the business.
- Audit support both internal and external. 
- Standard setting and material validations.
- Deliver the annual costing run to re-set standards for the new year. 
- Conduct frequent cost centre reviews with over 10 budget holders. 
- Work effectively with French counter parts.

Management Accountant (Industrial Controller)

Fujitsu

Worked as the finance lead for over 20 cost centres/ budget holders managing a cost base of over £20m per year.

Responsibilities included:
- Accurate creation of monthly management accounts
- Preparation of monthly journals
- Process and post accruals and prepayments on a monthly basis
- Managing the month end process
- Performing ad hoc analysis to provide information to the Finance Business Partner
- Created detailed business review packs for operational managers in their business reviews
- Provided detailed utilisation reports and variance analysis
- Prepare annual budgets and quarterly forecasts
- Perform a variance analysis between quarterly forecasts with commentary to the Finance Business Partner
    - Examples include:
        - Impact of new day rates on the forecast
        - Impact of changing rules of how group property costs are applied

- Conduct quarterly forecast reviews with operational managers and remove errors from the forecast
- Use of accounting packages such as Oracle and Hyperion Financial Management
- Developed excellent Excel skills

Finance Graduate - Cost Accounting

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Lead Teacher at the Missionary Training Centre. Oversees the training for the English department consisting of 8 members of staff, while still maintaining all the responsibilities of an MTC Teacher. 

- Responsible for setting and managing the departments work schedule
- Participate in an interview panel for new teachers in the English department. 
- Delivers tailored training on the curriculum to staff on a bi-weekly basis
- Analyse effectiveness of teaching and offer training to improve quality of teaching.

Lead Teacher

Teacher at the Missionary Training Centre. Deliver a 2 week training programme to groups of 6-10 students in preparation for a 2 year, or 18 month, voluntary mission. 

- Deliver tailored training on core teaching skills to groups of 6-10 students
- Create specific personal development plans with students.
- Communicate clearly with team members on students progression 
- Employed time management skills in adhering to a fixed schedule 
- Utilised Microsoft Office in creating classroom learning materials

MTC teacher

University of Surrey Careers Service

Temporary campaign to produce university employability statistics by gathering information from recent graduates. This campaign contributed the University being ranked 6th best in the UK. 

- Developed a professional telephone manner through the calling of graduates
- Employed attention to detail while recording vital information
- Maintained an accurate database of potential leads
- Coordinated daily workload with colleagues to maximise results
- Analysed results which identified certain leads to target resulting in increased results.

Data Collector

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Worked in a voluntary role as an assistant to a leader of a local religious organisation.

- Prepared agenda's for weekly meetings and recorded action points
- Employed Microsoft Office skills in preparing visual materials for audiences
- Maintained an accurate database of membership information
- Managed the local leaders schedule
- Coordinated interviews with individuals and management
- Developed strong communication skills in coordinating with members of the organisation

Administrative Assistant

Was a full-time voluntary missionary/ official representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Scotland, Northern and the Republic of Ireland. Responsible for finding and teaching individuals wanting to learn about the organisation.

- Consistently worked 10-11 hour days to achieve targets
- Managed a team of 30 volunteers and set and reviewed their targets on a weekly basis
- Created PDP's with members of the team and periodically followed up with their progress 
- Developed a training programme which resulted in the doubling of new leads within the team
- Produced statistical reports for management using Excel
- Advanced interpersonal skills by training individuals on a 1 on 1 basis

International Volunteer

Vodafone

Placed in the busiest store in the region as a sales assistant in a high street telecommunications company.

- Employed communication skills in responding to customer queries, complaints and then, resolving customer concerns.
- Demonstrated leadership skills managing the shop floor and assigning work to team members 
- Developed an ability to manage time working with customers with limited time
- Converted new leads into customers
- Implemented staff training to increase effectiveness as a sales assistant

Sales Assistant

Looking for and working with high growth starts ups. We invest in and give active support to great founders to help grow and scale their businesses. 

Dan is the Finance and Commercial Director at Solid Bond Capital, where he provides finance leadership to the Solid Bond portfolio, works with founders through investment rounds and processes, leads on the finance support given to the portfolio companies and evaluates businesses pitching for investment taking them through from first pitch, investment, and post investment support. He is a chartered management accountant and graduated with a 1st class honours degree from the university of Salford. Following graduation Dan qualified in industry working with several businesses in accounting/ finance business partnering roles focused on financial and operational reporting/ performance improvement prior to joining Solid Bond Capital in 2019.

Dan Dudley

One of the checks investors are doing when you are pitching to raise #preseed is how do the founders fit into team. 

I've seen massive overlap in founders or a co-founder that clearly has no massive value add but owns a chunk of equity. It just starts to work against you.

And the sad thing is hardly anyone will ever feedback that that is the issue. Definitely worth looking at that heavily before going out to raise. 

#preseed #startups #venturecapital #founders

Pre-seed Investor at Solid Bond | Actively Investing | Finance and Commercial Director |

Raise from 5,000+ tech investors on OpenVC.app

Tired of pitching investors and hearing nothing back?

You’ve pitched investors, sent cold emails, tried warm intros.

And still no funding. I was there too.

Most founders fail at fundraising not because of their idea, but because they have

· no clear process
· no investor pipeline
· no proof they’re fundable

At OpenVC, we helped founders raise from GTMfund, Pario Ventures, DLH Investments, Katha VC, Skydeck, and more. 

As a free forever user, you get access to:

→ Fundability Test: See if you're ready to raise
→ OpenMap: See investors around the globe
→ OpenDeck: Get inspired from Uber, WeWork & Co
→ OpenVC CRM: Centralize your raise process

+ Access 5,000+ investors actively funding startups

Find the right investors, reach out effectively, and get replies.

Ready to raise?

Get started for free at openvc.app

Stéphane Nasser

Google Maps for Venture Capital.
Founders and VCs, this is for you:

We built OpenMap. A visual directory of 10,000+ VCs, angels, and family offices worldwide.

Think of it as Google Maps for Venture Capital.

👉 Comment "VC map" for free access

UPDATE, here's the link: https://lnkd.in/ezEhEb6u

Here's what's inside:

→ Visual map of investors actively looking for deals
→ Search "investors in Paris," "deeptech VCs," "family offices"
→ Find intros through LinkedIn + Gmail connections
→ Submit your deck directly to investors

If you're a VC, you should be on this map.
If you're a founder, you need to know this map.

Try it for free: https://lnkd.in/ezEhEb6u

(Make sure we're connected to receive my DM)

Bonus: Repost this and I'll send you my Fundraising Playbook on top.

Stephane Nasser

Raise from 10,000+ tech investors on OpenVC.app. Functional nerd. I share incredible tools and terrible insights for VCs and founders. 🫡

🔥 I will build you a killer pitch deck – completely free. 🔥

Yep. 100% free.

I’ve partnered with the insanely talented designer Momen Adas to give one lucky founder a world-class investor deck.

You’ll get:

💬 Storyline and content at real VC standards 
🎨 Fully custom design in your brand colors 
📊 Editable file 

(PPTX or Google Slides)

No catch. Just our way to help one founder crush their next raise.

Wanna throw your hat in?

1️⃣ Like this post + Comment with your best emoji 😎🔥💡🚀 
2️⃣ Send a connection request to receive my DM
3️⃣ Check your DMs for the registration link

We’ll pick 1 founder on Nov 30, 2025 and make them a deck that investors can’t ignore.

Venture capital isn’t for the poor.

It isn't designed to help founders without a safety net - and here’s why.

1️⃣ Poor founders don’t make it to the starting line.

Some founders believe that VCs will cover their initial costs:

· IP filing
· Incorporation
· MVP development
· Customer research
· Early sales & marketing

But… no. That's for your own pocket (mostly).

If you can't afford it, you're not on the VC starting line

It's unfair, but it's very real.

2️⃣ Poor founders lack the "intangible assets" VCs crave for.

If you are poor, here's what it means:

· You haven't had a successful career (yet) so no strong track record in the investors’ eyes
· You likely don't have the “codes” i.e how to speak, convince, persuade investors
· You have fewer connections for fundraising, sales, hiring, etc.

Those gaps are negative signals and investors pick up on them instantly.

3️⃣ Poor founders have more to lose.

While researching this topic, I communicated with Saleh Hindi, an “ex-poor founder”.

He explained it best:

"If you are poor but did well enough to start a company, your family most likely relies on you. For me, I am the person who handles it. So there is less buffer.

I pay for my mom's house. If I go to literal zero, I am not only homeless, my mom is homeless. What does this mean? The buffer needs to be a ton higher."

That's the price of raising VC money: you’re going all-in while the others simply hedge.

If you want to play the VC game, build wealth first and raise later.

Because when you start with a safety net, you can take real risks.
Without it, you’re just gambling your future on someone else’s portfolio.

PS: read the full blog articles, link in the comments

Raise from 9,000+ tech investors on OpenVC.app. Functional nerd. I share incredible tools and terrible insights for VCs and founders. 🫡

I got access to the most predatory accelerator contract ever 💀 If you're considering an incubator or accelerator, read this carefully:

These terms will destroy your cap table and kill your ability to raise.

Here's what's in the contract:

1️⃣ Dilutable equity: 3% upfront

The accelerator gets 3% of your company the moment you sign.
Not when they deliver results. Not when you raise capital. Just for signing.

🚩 Why this is bad: You're giving away equity before they've done anything. Legitimate accelerators invest cash. This is an absolute joke. 

→ Never give equity upfront without cash or guaranteed results.

2️⃣ Commission on funds raised: 5% of all capital raised

If you raise $1M through their intros, they take $50k. That's on top of the 3% equity they already own!

🚩 Why this is bad: You're paying them twice. Once in equity, once in cash.

→ Legitimate accelerators don't charge a success fee on the raise. These people are actually acting as an investment bank that ALSO takes 3% equity.

3️⃣ $50,000 penalty if you terminate the agreement

If you want out of this deal, you pay $50,000. Even if they've made zero intros and delivered zero value.

🚩 Why this is bad: This is a trap. Legitimate accelerators don't hold founders hostage.

→ If the relationship isn't working, you should be able to leave without financial penalties.

In exchange for all of this, here's what they promise:

· Cold email 15,000 investors
· Make 0 to 4 investor intros
· Zero obligation of success

No guaranteed intros and no committed capital.

Just your equity, your cash, and a $50k trap if you try to leave.

This is a scam. Don't sign.

Share this to warn other founders.

YC doesn’t pick the best founders.

They pick the most recognizable ones.

Being recognizable means you match a pattern investors trust:

· Ex-FAANG engineer
· Stanford or MIT graduates
· Previous successful startup exit

If you check those boxes, you look fundable even if your idea is mediocre.

If you don't, you need 5x the traction to get the same attention.

Pattern matching works at scale. YC does it well but it has a cost.

When you review 20,000 applications, you filter for signals that correlate with success.

The problem is: correlation isn't proof, and that’s where great founders get filtered out.

Some great founders may not fit the pattern:

Unproven. Self-taught. Building unsexy stuff no one talks about.

They get filtered out not because they're weak, but because they're unrecognizable.

So if you didn't get into YC, it doesn't mean you're not good enough.
It might just mean you don't fit the pattern (yet).

Don't wait for YC to give you authorization.

Build. Ship. Grow. 

The pattern doesn't matter when you have traction that can’t be ignored.

Become inevitable.

VC: "Come back when you're doing $30k a month!"
Founder: “Why would I need you after that?!"

Sorry but the VC is likely right… and here's why.

1️⃣ You're confused about funding stages

A team and a buggy MVP is not enough to raise seed.

You need $250k+ monthly GMV or $30k+ MRR for that. 

2️⃣ You fall for VC marketing

"We invest super early" is just PR so VCs can look cool and fill up their CRM with deals.

3️⃣ Your team doesn't have enough track record

Yes VCs invest at the idea stage… but in proven founders, not first-timers. 

4️⃣ You're being given a polite pass

Some founders get aggressive when rejected.

That's why VCs say "come back at $30k" instead of just "no". 

5️⃣ The others are building more

It's never been easier to build a SaaS with 0 users. 

Therefore, the bar to raise is getting higher.

6️⃣ You're ignorant or delusional about how VC works

If you raise with VCs, you're expected to raise multiple rounds after that. 

Saying "I won't need money after $30k" signals you don't understand that.

BOTTOM LINE: 

VCs don't "bet on the team" and "fund innovation."

They just invest in the strongest deal they see out of 500 or more. 

And that deal will likely be doing $30k a month - or much more! 

So who really needs early-stage funding? I wrote the full breakdown → https://lnkd.in/g6U-3NPM

Only 3 reasons why VCs don't reply to your cold emails:

1️⃣ Low fundability = too early, not enough signal

You don't have the traction, team, or market to justify investment yet.

Without proven revenue growth, a strong team, or a massive market opportunity, you're too early.

→ Build more before you pitch. Prove you can execute before asking for capital.

2️⃣ Poor targeting = wrong stage / vertical / geo

You're pitching Series A investors when you need pre-seed. Or SaaS-focused funds when you're building hardware.

Many rejections are about fit.

→ Research the fund's thesis. Check their portfolio. If they don't invest in your stage, sector, AND geography, don't pitch them. You want to snipe VCs, not spray and pray. 

3️⃣ Poor execution = generic email, ugly deck

Your cold email has no hook.
Your subject line is generic e.g. “Seeking investment”
Your deck has 40 slides with tiny fonts and no clear ask.

Even if you're fundable and well-targeted, bad execution kills your response rate.

→ Write a short email with a custom hook. Keep your deck to 10-15 slides. Make it easy for them to say yes to a call.

Which one is it? 🤔

I stopped telling founders when they shouldn't raise. They’re not listening anyways.

They're not thinking straight.

They just want to become "real founders" by closing a round.

They see the TechCrunch headlines and the social validation that comes with. And they want the same thing for themselves. 

Because of that, founders make bad decisions:

· They raise when they don't need to, giving away equity for no reason.
· They accept poor valuations and/or abusive terms to close the deal.
· They waste months chasing an impossible round instead of improving their fundamentals.

But you can't tell them not to raise. They won't listen.

Like horny teenagers, they're not rational.
They seek external validation from VCs to feel seen.

Here's what I try to tell new founders:

Get to $10k/month first.
That's enough to find self-worth in your business.
You won't need VCs to validate your existence.

At that point, you might still choose to raise.
If you do, that’s fine. It'll be because it's the right business decision.

Stop being “VC horny”.
Build something valuable first.
Then decide if you actually want to raise.

Follow me Stephane Nasser for incredible tools and terrible insights for VCs and founders. 🫡

Boston has hundreds of VCs.

But do you know 7 who actually invest in your space?

Probably not. That's why we built Google Maps for venture capital.

OpenMap has over 100 investors in Boston, here's how to find them:

1️⃣ Go to OpenMap (link below)
2️⃣ Zoom into Boston, Massachusetts
3️⃣ Filter by ANY vertical (SaaS, women-led, etc)
4️⃣ See who’s active, where they’re based, and what they invest in

You can also go deeper:

Check their website, find warm intros, and understand your local ecosystem.

If you're raising in Boston, this will save you weeks.
If you're a VC in Boston, make sure you're on it.

🌎 Explore the Boston investor map here → https://lnkd.in/ezEhEb6u

PS: Not in Boston? You’ll probably find your city there too.

How to raise $50M with no product. A step-by-step guide:

1️⃣ Build a landing page in Webflow.

Make sure it has gradients and the word "AI-powered" somewhere visible.

2️⃣ Create a waitlist.

Use a tool that shows fake signups scrolling in real-time.

→ 10,000 people "joined" in the last 48 hours.

3️⃣ Write a LinkedIn post about how you're "reshaping the whole industry."

Use phrases like "no competition" and "unicorn in the making."

4️⃣ Generate product screenshots in Midjourney.

Make sure the UI looks futuristic. Lots of purple. Maybe some holograms.

5️⃣ Record a Loom video explaining your vision.

Don't show the product. Just talk about the problem for 8 minutes while gesturing confidently.

6️⃣ Cold DM 100 VCs on LinkedIn.

Subject line: "We're oversubscribed but saving you a spot."

Use only urgency and scarcity, don’t share anything about the product.

7️⃣ Get one "yes" from your grandmother

Immediately post "Excited to announce our $50M Series A led by [redacted top-tier fund]."

8️⃣ Add "Founder & CEO" to your bio.

Change your LinkedIn banner to a gradient that matches your landing page.

9️⃣ Wait for the term sheet.

PS: None of this works, obviously. Build something people want first. Then raise (or not). 

Have a nice day!

5 red flags VCs won't tell you about. But will reject you for:

1️⃣ You make empty claims.

VCs hear bullshit all day. If you don't back up claims with facts, they assume you're another wannabe founder with no substance.

→ Replace every vague claim with a number, a name, or a date.

"Experienced team" becomes "CEO has 15 years in fintech, CTO was lead dev at Google."

2️⃣ You don't know your unit economics.
If you can't explain CAC, LTV, or payback period in 30 seconds, they assume you're guessing.
→ Founders who know their numbers get funded. Founders who don't get ghosted.

3️⃣ You're raising to "extend your runway."
Translation: you have no clear plan on how to hit the next milestone.
→ VCs fund growth, not survival.

4️⃣ Your deck has typos.
Sounds petty. It is petty.
→ But if you can't proofread 15 slides, they don't trust you to run a company.

5️⃣ You're defensive when they push back.
VCs test how you handle pressure.
→ If you get combative during DD, they assume you'll be impossible to work with as a board member.

None of these will show up in rejection emails.
They'll say "not the right fit" or "we're passing for now."

But these are the real reasons.
Fix them before you pitch.

As a founder, these are the only Tier 1/Tier 2/Tier 3 VCs that I care about.

Tier 1 VC:
To qualify as Tier 1, an investor needs ALL THREE of these:

1: Clear yes/no within 30 days
Speed = respect for your time. No 6-month drag-and-drop games while your runway burns.

2: Clean term sheet
No hidden clauses, no 3x liquidation preferences, no personal guarantees. Standard terms that won't kill your next round.

3: Some value add, mostly get out of the way
They give intros when needed but don't micromanage. You're the founder, not their employee.

Tier 2 VC:
To qualify as Tier 2, an investor needs all three of these:

1: Clear yes/no within 3 months
Slower than Tier 1, but still reasonable. You can plan around 90 days without losing all momentum.

2: Clean term sheet
Same standard. No abusive terms, no traps that blow up at exit.

3: Some value add, mostly get out of the way
Helpful but not intrusive. Strategic advice without constant board drama.

Tier 3 VC:
To qualify as Tier 3, an investor needs all three of these:

1: Takes forever to get a clear yes/no
6+ months of "we're interested" with no decision. You waste time and miss other opportunities.

2: Dirty term sheet
Hidden clauses that screw you at exit. Vesting clawbacks. Legal fees you cover. It's a trap.

3: Backseat driver, control freak
Board control, veto rights, approval over every hire. You're no longer running your company.

Most founders don't realize this until it's too late.
They think all VC money is the same.

Don't take money from Tier 3 VCs. Even if it's your only option

I'm giving away one custom pitch deck – completely free.

Yep. 100% free.

Join here: https://lnkd.in/daWSMEA4

I've partnered with a professional designer to build one founder a VC-ready pitch deck.

You’ll get:

💬 Storyline and content at real VC standards
🎨 Fully custom design in your brand colors
📊 Editable file (PPTX or Google Slides)

No cost, no upsell. Just helping one founder raise better.

Wanna participate?

Join here: https://lnkd.in/daWSMEA4

PS: We’ll pick 1 founder on November 30, 2025 and make them a deck that investors can’t ignore.

5 FREE tools to help you raise your first round:

Save them for later.

1️⃣ Open Map – Basically Google Maps for VC. Browse 11,750+ investors around the world 👉 https://lnkd.in/ezEhEb6u

2️⃣ Assess your startup fundability – Get tested on common red flags and determine your target valuation 👉 http://fundability.app/

3️⃣ Fundraising Playbook – Your visual guide to navigating the complex world of startup fundraising 👉 https://lnkd.in/e22iTE4B

4️⃣ OpenVC AI Deck Tool – Supercharge your pitch deck and track investor interactions with AI 👉 https://lnkd.in/ecChr2JC

5️⃣ OpenDeck – Steal inspiration from 1,500+ startup slides 
👉 https://lnkd.in/e5f_Abxs

Which tool is missing? We might build it soon.

Follow me Stephane Nasser for more tools

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