Quake Ventures is delighted to announce the acquisition of <a href="https://www.shapepayroll.com/">Shape Payroll</a> by <a href="https://www.ciphr.com/">Ciphr.</a>&nbsp;
HR and payroll software provider Ciphr has strengthened its payroll business by acquiring Shape. The deal marks a significant ramp-up in payroll-focused activities for the Reading-based, ECI-backed tech group, which already processes over &pound;2 billion in payroll and BACS salary payments a year for its clients.
The deal is also significant in the journey of Quake Ventures. Quake invested in Shape Payroll in 2021 whilst looking for a payroll API for an early business idea. After a number of meetings with the Shape founders Alex and Cheri Bartlett, Shape became an investment opportunity that fitted the Quake portfolio perfectly. Quake founder and CTO Dan Leyden explains:&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<blockquote>
&ldquo;The technology was immediately appealing to Quake. The product was supported by an incredible set of API documentation, was well built and amazingly well supported by Alex and Cheri. Their clear category and knowledge of payroll made this an easy company for Quake to make an early stage investment in&rdquo;.
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
Quake Ventures has supported the growth of Shape Payroll over the last three years.&nbsp;The acquisition process was directly supported by Quake Ventures&rsquo; Managing Partner, Rob Wilde. Rob&rsquo;s first-hand experience of building and selling B2B technology businesses was crucial to the successful sale of Shape Payroll.&nbsp;
Alex and Cheri Bartlett, and the rest of their team, also join Ciphr with immediate effect. They will support the integration of Shape&rsquo;s market-leading payroll technology to deliver an even better experience for its new and existing payroll customers. Alex Bartlett of Shape Payroll, commented:&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Cheri and I founded Shape with a vision to build the most flexible payroll software possible, allowing integration at any level via our Open API and backing that up with an intuitive user interface and fantastic customer support. We&rsquo;re immensely proud of what we have achieved over the last five years, and it has been a privilege to work with all the fantastic people we have met along the way. We are both extremely excited about Shape becoming part of the Ciphr Group and taking the next step in this journey. With the help of the amazing team at Ciphr, we will be able to take our application to the next level&rdquo;.
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
Quake Ventures extends their best wishes to Alex and Cheri for the next part of the Shape journey.&nbsp;

Acquisition News – UK-based Ciphr acquires Shape Payroll

<h4 dir="ltr">Quake Ventures are proud to announce the launch of Fluxr - The automated feedback platform for recruitment agencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;</h4>
&nbsp;
Quake believes that high growth recruitment agencies benefit from a consistent feedback loop from their clients, candidates and consultants. But feedback cycles are often irregular, with data gathered in silos. The process is normally slow, costly and time consuming for many agencies.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Set to launch in June 2024, Fluxr makes it easy to gather and process feedback from these critical stakeholders. It automatically surveys an agency's clients, candidates and consultants, pulling feedback into one central platform. Integrated with market leading recruitment CRM 'Bullhorn', Fluxr automates the data collection process 'out of the box', reducing the need for separate systems and hours of admin time.&nbsp;
The Fluxr platform guarantees consistent data collection from all stakeholders. Using AI and sentiment analysis, recruitment leaders can quickly identify and fix problem areas in their agency. Fluxr enables recruitment agencies to focus on making placements whilst knowing that consistently high standards are being met across all agency relationships.
&nbsp;
Since 2022, Quake Ventures have pioneered feedback technology with 'Ten Space' - the first to use WhatsApp for feedback surveys; perfect for mobile and desk-less workforces. With knowledge of the recruitment vertical, Fluxr is the logical next step in their journey to support recruitment agencies with high-impact, low cost SaaS products that help agencies scale and grow.
Joining Quake as Fluxr CEO and co-founder is Martin Happle. Martin's shared passion for recruitment tech led him to Quake to pursue the launch of a recruitment SaaS product. Martin's background in recruitment and HR technology and his deep knowledge of customer challenges makes him a perfect co-founder for the venture.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Quake has raised seed capital from a private investor to launch Fluxr. Quake partner Alec Middleton commented -&nbsp;
<blockquote>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;"Quake's advantage in the recruitment industry and our knowledge of survey tech will be a critical springboard for Fluxr's success.&nbsp;
We know that recruiters struggle to gather reliable, high-quality feedback from all areas of their organisation and Fluxr will help agencies avoid the turbulence of taking steps forwards then immediately backwards in their growth journey.
We've known Martin for a while now and the quality he'll bring as CEO and co-founder means that our early stage seed capital is in safe hands. 2024 is set to be a great year for Quake and Fluxr as we embark on another great venture with an exceptional launch team."
&nbsp;
</blockquote>

Quake launch 'Fluxr' - the feedback platform for recruiters

Quake is a Venture Builder. As a new category in tech-investment, we&rsquo;re often asked what it means. In this article, we explore what a venture builder does and the impact it has on the success of start-ups.
&nbsp;
What is a Venture Builder?
A &lsquo;Venture Builder&rsquo; is an organisation that creates and develops startup companies. Venture builders are involved in the ideation, creation and growth of new ventures.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Venture builders develop an idea into a product, a product into a business and a business into a success. They use their in-house team and their network of contacts. They play a proactive role in the startup ecosystem by providing funding (or the route to funding), but also take part in the creation and development of new ventures. This approach can increase the likelihood of startup success by combining financial support with strategic guidance, operational support, and risk mitigation.
Venture builders take a founder-level equity position in their ventures. Like VC&rsquo;s they tend to back ventures that are aligned with their knowledge and internal team. The initial idea could belong to the venture builder, or it could be the idea of an external party, but the amount of equity is normally significant.
&nbsp;
How do venture builders build and support their portfolio?
Venture builders are there for a specific part of the life of a business - to get it past the difficult teenage years! Venture builders will each have their own methodology based on their experience and the ventures they tend to get involved in. The ambition of the venture builder is to build a portfolio of viable businesses over a short period of time. Their approach will often include the following.
&nbsp;
<ol data-block-id="fa2dc3cf-51c4-4624-8369-eb39ba6f635a">
<li>
Ideation and Team Formation&nbsp;
</li>
</ol>
The idea comes from an entrepreneurial mindset crossed with industry knowledge. The venture normally starts in one of three ways;
<ul>
<li data-block-id="049688ea-6fc1-41df-a147-0662e8021897">Internal sourcing: The Venture Builder has the idea. It&rsquo;s their vision, they start the validation process and expand it with additional co-founders</li>
<li data-block-id="049688ea-6fc1-41df-a147-0662e8021897">External sourcing: An industry expert has the idea. They approach the Venture Builder to form a partnership based on shared ideologies</li>
<li data-block-id="049688ea-6fc1-41df-a147-0662e8021897">Hybrid sourcing: A combination of both where internal and external individuals form part of the starting team with a shared &lsquo;idea&rsquo;</li>
</ul>
Whatever the starting mechanism, the idea and people are critical to gaining momentum. The ideation phase will help to solve questions such as;
<ul>
<li data-block-id="e9902a5a-e598-47ba-8b12-b2e39eb7254b">What value will the business deliver to customers?</li>
<li data-block-id="95bb48f1-50f2-44cd-97a8-b427fd87ed83">What customer problems will it set out to solve?</li>
<li data-block-id="201c9957-135f-4297-a3bf-127a5841885e">What customer needs are we satisfying?</li>
<li data-block-id="92f8a473-320f-4f68-a9d8-320f2ad4d8e6">What products and services will solve these problems?</li>
</ul>
Commercial activities during ideation may include cost structures, revenue streams, marketing and sales channels, partnerships and key activities. Technological activities include experimenting with new technologies, understanding product requirements and prototyping. Experienced venture builders will leverage existing technology, code, systems and frameworks to propel the prototyping.&nbsp;
At the end of the ideation phase, the venture builder will be confident in moving forward with their idea and consider the level of risk associated with the next stage to be appropriate.
&nbsp;
<ol start="2" data-block-id="120a2df5-47b6-4062-9702-7fe2a7274bc8">
<li>
Producing a &lsquo;Minimum Viable Proposition&rsquo;&nbsp;
</li>
</ol>
&lsquo;MVP&rsquo; commonly stands for "Minimum Viable Product." It is a concept and strategy used in product development and startups to create a version of a new product with the minimum features necessary to satisfy early users and gather feedback for future development.&nbsp;
But venture builders are not just concerned with the product. They are trying to build a proposition too. The proposition is critical to having something credible to sell to early stage customers. The proposition will include brand, website, marketing materials and some marketing activity.&nbsp;
The MVP stage is a critical phase in market testing. The team needs to get in front of real prospects and pitch the proposition and product at the same time. Every pitch will produce learnings that result in iteration of the proposition as a whole (and how it's being sold).
The MVP phase concludes with the launch of the business. There will be customers (or users) and some awareness of the brand. The founding team will be getting busy and there will be a need to start hiring. There could be a requirement to raise capital at this stage depending on the level of work required&nbsp;
Overall, the MVP approach is a practical and strategic way for startups and product teams to validate ideas. It helps gather real-world data and refine their product and proposition based on user feedback.
&nbsp;
<ol start="3" data-block-id="aa0c3666-bcd1-4a0f-b656-84ea71dbebeb">
<li>
Establishing &lsquo;Product Market Fit&rsquo;
</li>
</ol>
Establishing product-market fit is a critical milestone for any technology company. It occurs when a product satisfies a significant market demand. Some critical pieces of PMF include;
<ul>
<li data-block-id="68248fff-f969-4795-936f-3ff8088e5f9f">A deep understanding of the market, the customer and the value&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="68248fff-f969-4795-936f-3ff8088e5f9f">Constant customer conversation</li>
<li data-block-id="e600e2dc-5b3e-46a6-ba8d-f8bbd9d6f37b">A product that is developing at pace and solving an increasing number of problems for an increasing number of customers.&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="47bd9743-01f6-4dd4-a4b8-d56f7cdf6041">A consolidated value proposition&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="54983d07-a8be-432e-bab1-93abbc51e545">Customer references and testimonials are plenty</li>
<li data-block-id="54983d07-a8be-432e-bab1-93abbc51e545">The Net Promoter Score is up and customers are part of your sales team</li>
<li data-block-id="0b353f90-7289-49b6-a670-a64865b83e91">Partnerships are becoming established and companies want to collaborate with you</li>
</ul>
Achieving product-market fit validates the business model, reduces the risk of failure, and provides a foundation for scalable growth. It ensures that resources are invested in a solution that people find valuable . This leads to increased customer retention, positive word-of-mouth, and sustainable revenue generation.&nbsp;
Without product-market fit, a company may struggle to attract customers and scale operations. Product-market fit is a key determinant of a company's long-term viability and success in the marketplace.
&nbsp;
<ol start="4" data-block-id="abdafc61-3bda-4af5-8a92-340e7c8dc4ee">
<li>
Scale &amp; Grow
</li>
</ol>
Scaling a technology business involves expanding its operations, customer base, and overall impact. It is a challenging part of the journey - trying to retain the important qualities that established product market fit, appealing to more customers and developing new aspects of your product to sell across your portfolio.
The experience of the venture builder plays a critical role in the following functions;
<ul>
<li data-block-id="f1e3eff5-1730-4b4c-846d-d74935bd1741">Management Information - Accessible data for fast decision making</li>
<li data-block-id="c6f64976-6142-4f93-9c93-6a3998cdd979">Scalable Marketing - Ensuring a steady flow of leads for the sales team&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="b17c05bc-22c5-40a2-981e-d82facf29ee3">Robust Sales - A tried and tested sales process that delivers results&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="521d95af-8aec-4556-8a96-b3edeba1d8f9">Scalable Product - That customers fall in love with and can trust&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="ddb6ae5b-db98-467b-a213-97567d378e47">Building Teams - Building highly engaged teams that deliver for the business</li>
<li data-block-id="c5454c4a-51e4-41f0-969c-9e8805788a33">Financial Governance - For growth and additional capital when needed&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li data-block-id="3ad9db17-6219-468e-96e3-5fbded1e5de0">Preparing for exit - Consistent growth metrics that are attractive&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Perhaps the most important part of the growth phase is the continual work required to be consistent whilst being innovative. The model must scale and must be replicable for more customers. The business must also scale at pace, demonstrating impressive year-on-year growth, not just incremental growth.
&nbsp;
<ol start="5" data-block-id="8da5b457-7b73-4c69-88ef-d6002c07ed06">
<li>
Scale-Up (Goodbye Venture Builder)
</li>
</ol>
As the start-up phase comes to an end, the venture builder must consider its position in the future of the business. A &pound;5m ARR business with an offer of &pound;25m presents a good point for the venture builder to exit. By this time the venture builder has become a custodian of the business. The business is running well and PE or VC money might be required to scale the business to &pound;20m of ARR. Their exit is required for the health of the company.
Successful exits require careful planning and consideration. The choice of strategy depends on various factors, including the business's financial health, the owner's objectives, market conditions, and the level of control the owner wishes to retain. Here are several ways in which a venture builder may play a role in this:
<ul>
<li>Exit Avenues: Exploring a variety of exit avenues, such as mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, or other strategic partnerships</li>
<li data-block-id="6d71f7e7-cfbb-41eb-a0b8-2520c04b9e41">Identifying Opportunities: Venture builders stay informed and monitor the market to help identify exit opportunities</li>
<li data-block-id="f7bc61cf-1aef-4021-8c58-59d300144208">Preparation:&nbsp; Refining business models, optimising operations and enhancing the value proposition</li>
<li data-block-id="29db5544-6f98-43a0-b00a-bdd12e1027d7">Strategic Partnerships: To enhance the startups' value and attractiveness in the eyes of potential acquirers</li>
<li data-block-id="1316de1b-0c73-4d8a-983d-552bbbbf48b4">Dealmaking: Negotiating favourable terms and structuring deals for all parties</li>
<li data-block-id="421a7efa-5346-4129-add5-e189be9b1507">Due Diligence: Ensuring that all necessary documentation and information is readily available</li>
<li data-block-id="d6099eb7-0b2e-4be6-9a4e-2a654acb0c6a">Alignment: Venture builders work to ensure alignment between founders, stakeholders, and potential acquirers or investors</li>
<li data-block-id="f7f70f6d-811a-479e-9d09-61c09d83835c">Maximising Valuation: For more favourable exit outcomes</li>
<li data-block-id="6f1ab8eb-f0d1-4155-9cb4-7089d9e7d4d3">Mitigating Risk: Addressing legal, financial, and operational issues that may arise during the exit process</li>
</ul>
The venture builder's role in the exit strategy is to actively guide and support the startups they create. By leveraging their expertise, networks, and resources, venture builders contribute to the success of the exit strategy and maximise value for all stakeholders.
&nbsp;
Why venture building? What are the benefits of the venture builder model?
More than 90% of all start-up businesses fail. The Venture Builder model offers many benefits for entrepreneurs. It's a way to execute ideas in an agile manner, backed by the experience of a team that have real knowledge of their craft.
Venture builders can quickly turn ideas into viable businesses. Streamlined processes, experienced teams, and available resources accelerate the development and launch of startups. They can reduce the time to market allowing startups to enter the market faster with shared resources, expert guidance and a focus on efficiency.
By spreading resources across multiple startups, venture builders reduce the risk associated with individual ventures. If one startup faces challenges or fails, the impact on the overall venture builder is mitigated by the success of other portfolio companies. Similarly, the risk of failure in the external sourcing approach is less for the external party because of the flexibility offered by the venture builder model.
Being part of a venture builder's network exposes startups to a broader ecosystem of potential customers, partners, and investors. This network effect can contribute to the growth and success of the startups. Venture builders can experiment with various business models, adjusting strategies based on market feedback and changes in the business environment. This flexibility allows for more adaptive and resilient startups.
Overall venture builders increase the likelihood of success. The collective experience and shared knowledge contribute to a more robust foundation for growth. Founders can focus on their core competencies and passion areas while the venture builder handles operational aspects. This enables entrepreneurs to dedicate more time and energy to innovation and market strategy in a supportive environment for entrepreneurial success.

What is a ‘Venture Builder’, how does it work and why does it matter?

Building a SaaS technology business and maximising it's potential for investment or sale is a challenging journey. In this article, Quake's financial director Dave Duggan explores the metrics that matter and why keeping focus on your numbers can dramatically change your valuation prospects.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Applying SaaS metrics to your business</h4>
The right SaaS metrics, calculated the right way, at the right time, can equip business leaders with objective insight and guidance. Not dissimilar to flying an aircraft, they provide you with a suite of primary instruments (the metrics), which deliver critical data from which you can make immediate changes to your control inputs. Whilst the business equivalent of control inputs are not so clear or straightforward (being strategic or operational adjustments), metrics can be the catalyst for confident decision making.
Having said this, unlike other financial metrics which are well standardised, calculation criteria can often be open to debate. Each business model is unique, which makes it imperative to take a step back, and ask yourself two key questions:
1) Is the metric applicable to your business at its current stage?
2) Which financial components are required to correctly calculate the metric?
Cherry picking figures which deliver best in class metrics can be tempting, however if they do not reflect the operating model, this can be a recipe for disaster. True performance will be masked, and you may be storing up problems which become harder to unravel at a later date. As a sense check, metrics that do not reflect underlying P&amp;L performance can sometimes be a red flag, though this is not always the case.
&nbsp;
<h4>How to use your numbers effectively&nbsp;</h4>
Once the above has been considered, and you&rsquo;ve calculated your desired metrics, there are two key uses of the outputs:
1) Actionable insights for running your business:&nbsp;
The metrics should be telling you something, by helping&nbsp; to guide investment, efficiency gains, or further analysis. This is especially important at the growth stage, to help establish if your unit economics are scalable.&nbsp;
2) An honest appraisal of your business:&nbsp;
Lenders, VCs, and potential acquirers will perform their own financial due diligence. They will drill into your numbers and assumptions, and challenge you on their findings. Bear this in mind when discussing figures externally, as you don&rsquo;t want to be caught out and jeopardise your hard earned term sheet.
&nbsp;
As an example, let&rsquo;s pick a metric which is not SaaS specific, but has a significant influence on many of them - Gross Margin.
As we all know, Gross Margin = Revenue less Cost of Sales, expressed as a percentage of revenue. The question is, for a SaaS business, what should be included in your cost of sales? Obviously hosting charges, but it should also reflect all the costs attributable to delivering and supporting your product. On which basis, your delivery team (if you have one), and elements of your customer success and technical support teams need capturing, to provide you with a &lsquo;fully loaded&rsquo; Gross Margin (in addition to all the peripheral costs of employment, such as local taxes). All of a sudden, your Gross Margin might look nothing like the highly automated unicorn you read about, which has a 20x valuation, and has formed the basis of many valuation assumptions.
Gross Margin is also a critical component to customer acquisition cost payback calculations, and as we have seen, the payback period will vary significantly depending on how you calculate Gross Margin.
It&rsquo;s also worth noting that metrics shouldn't just be historical. Ideally, your forecasts should also incorporate them, highlighting areas where efficiency gains or investment may be required, allowing you to adjust strategy and hiring plans with greater confidence.
&nbsp;
<h4>What key metrics are important?&nbsp;</h4>
Some of the key metrics we like to understand at Quake are as follows:
<ul>
<li>Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) per &pound;1 new ARR</li>
<li>Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) payback period - critical in early stages, especially when bootstrapping</li>
<li>Churn (&pound; and logo), stratified by vintage and customer segment</li>
<li>Net Retention, stratified by vintage and customer segment</li>
<li>Gross Margin (helps establish scalability, and as mentioned, influences payback calculations)</li>
<li>ARR growth rate&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Whilst the above list is non exhaustive, they cover the key areas of efficiency, scalability, and product stickiness. Benchmarking is useful, and there are an array of useful resources online, albeit reiterating the theme of this article, everything needs to be considered against the context of your business model, and lifecycle stage.&nbsp;
In summary, it helps to have a baseline understanding of your key SaaS metrics, as they are a true reflection of your operating model. Even if you&rsquo;re not financially minded or despise spreadsheets, a little time spent trying out some calculations can provide you with some of the most objective insight you&rsquo;ll ever have of your business.
Have fun!
&nbsp;

Applying SaaS metrics to your business

 Quake act as lead advisor in refinancing £1m of debt facilities to support  continued portfolio growth

SourceFlow, the recruitment marketing platform, has expanded its global team with a number of senior hires in the US and UK.&nbsp;
The raft of senior hires has included;
<ul>
<li>Ivan Kwan as Head of Customer Success (leading across support and CS functions)</li>
<li>Christain Coley as VP of Sales (heading up the North America expansion plans for SourceFlow)</li>
<li>Will Astbury as Head of Growth (building prospects and relationships through marketing activity)</li>
</ul>
The addition of these key people has also been supported by the opening of two new offices. In the UK, close the Manchester Airport, and in Kuala Lumpur for SourceFlow's APAC team.
SourceFlow CEO Matt Comber commented;
<blockquote>
The SourceFlow journey has been at full throttle since we started. From early on we had a global footprint with customers in APAC and in the US and our plans have always been to provide a great service to customers globally.&nbsp;
Strengthening our senior team with quality individuals is a critical part of our growth plan. We're working with a greater number of enterprise accounts and it's vital that we're able to support with an experienced team.
We're really excited to welcome top talent to the business. In a short space of time we've become a market leading brand and with a market leading EVP.&nbsp; &nbsp;
</blockquote>

SourceFlow growth continues with raft of senior hires

Three successful entreprise account wins have seen SourceFlow exceed their Y1 growth targets.&nbsp;
Backed by Quake, the start-up has grown significantly since inception in January 2022. SourceFlow is a SaaS B2B technology business. In the 'recruitment marketing' category, the SourceFlow platform helps recruitment marketers understand their source of revenue by funneling applications through the recruiter's website where sourcees can be tracked and revenue can be attributed.
The platform is packed full of market leading product features including a CMS (content managment system), revenue analytics and a Google powered job search. The platform integrates with market leading recruitment CRMs including Bullhorn, Vincere and JobAdder. It puts the power in the hands of the recruitment marketing team and gives them the ability to manage their marketing campaigns through a fully customised website front-end.
&nbsp;
SourceFlow CTO Matt Whiteley (partner of Quake Ventures) commented on the success of SourceFlow&nbsp;
<blockquote>
"The rapid growth of SourceFlow over the last 18 months has been an interesting journey and i'm really proud to have led the software development.
Quake's 'venture builder' model has allowed the business to get 'off the blocks' fast. Ideation and team formation was a formality given previous experience of the founding team. Building the MVP was rapid and were establishing product marklet fit by month 6.&nbsp;
We're now powering into the growth phase of the business. It's an exciting time as we're building teams offshore and venturing into the US
The growth of SourceFlow will continue at pace with Quake's assistance"
</blockquote>

Enterprise account wins see SourceFlow exceed early stage growth targets 

Employee Engagement platform Ten Space has launched their new 'Employee Journeys' module to help businesses navigate and understand engagement through different parts of the employee lifecycle.&nbsp;
'Journeys' helps to create exceptional employee experiences. The platform captures regular insights of your employee&rsquo;s at critical parts of their journey to give you incredible visibility and clarity of their engagement. This could include their onboarding, during periods of business change (e.g. growth or redundancy) or when they are on maternity leave. The data enables leaders to make informed decisions to enhance workplace satisfaction on micro and macro levels.&nbsp;
Ten Space CEO Victoria Bond commented;
<blockquote>
Employee's each have their own unique journey in a business, from the day they onboard to the day they move on. Our 'Employee Journeys' features helps you explore the experience of your employees in more detail than ever before.
We're really excited to be working with a number of enterprise customers who have already adopted employee journeys into their business to get a better measure of their initiatives at every stage of teh employee journey.
The Quake Ventures team have been instrumental in the part of the product build and ensuring we have a scalable product for the enterprise market.
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Ten Space introduces ‘Journeys’ for retention of staff through all parts of employee lifecycle

SourceFlow, the market-leading recruitment marketing platform has become the first in the recruitment website category to successfuly integrate AI into the platform.&nbsp;
The platform now uses Chat GPT to help recruiters write high quality job descriptions. When posting jobs to their SourceFlow powered websites, they have the option to use Chat GPT to help develop the job description.&nbsp;The integration of Sourceflow and ChatGPT has made it easier than ever before to write website content. With this integration, users can simply input their topic or subject matter into the chatbot and it will generate high-quality content in a matter of seconds. This means that users no longer have to spend hours researching and writing content themselves, as the chatbot does all the hard work for them.
&nbsp;
SourceFlow CEO Matt Comber commented;
<blockquote>
Sourceflow is the first company in their industry to integrate with ChatGPT, which is a testament to their commitment to innovation and providing their users with the best tools available. The integration has been a game-changer for marketers, as it has significantly reduced the time and effort required to create high-quality content.
</blockquote>

SourceFlow integrates AI to reduce costs and increase productivity for recruiters

'Venture Builder' Quake Ventures has launched &lsquo;Brand Jar&rsquo; - a platform for fast, low cost consumer insights!
&nbsp;
Lauched in partnership with <a href="beamfieldwork.co.uk">BEAM Fieldwork</a> owner Amy Middleton, Brand Jar introduces a totally new dimension to research with it's use of WhatsApp and SMS for data collection. It&nbsp;delivers a better participant experience, making it easy for everyone to participate in research.
&nbsp;
Research is conducted using native apps that your participants are already familiar with - WhatsApp and SMS. The platform sends research questions directly to a participant&rsquo;s mobile device providing a one-to-one interaction that is safe, reliable and secure. Responses are collated in a simple dashboard and can be easily viewed and shared with your marketing and product teams.
&nbsp;
Company Founder Alec Middleton explains;
<blockquote>
Business founders and leaders trust their gut when it comes to decision making.&nbsp;They know what they want their business to be and&nbsp;how to get there.&nbsp;They know their customer and their pain-points and they know how to affect change&nbsp; But often when businesses grow, founders/leaders lose direct contact with their customers. They're so busy looking up and focusing on growth that data-driven decision making on marketing and product needs to be considered. This is where solid consumer research becomes incredibly valuable. The data helps to validate decision making and help businesses make sell more.
Brand Jar provides the perfect platorm for deeper understanding. We get real feedback from real people on how your brand, product, point-of-sale, marketing, promotion and pricing ideas are being received by customers and prospect customers. We help marketing and insight teams gather qualitative and quantitative research, using our WhatsApp based platform.
Brand Jar is the most cost effective way to get real feedback on your products and services - validating your ideas in minutes not months.&nbsp;We&rsquo;re on a mission to revolutionise research, making it super-easy to build a better proposition that gets you new customers and gets your existing customers spending more
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Quake launches ‘Brand Jar’ for fast, low cost consumer insights 

Enterprise payroll software platform Shape Payroll has launched &lsquo;Shape Embedded&rsquo; to help tech companies embed payroll into their products.
&nbsp;
The leading UK SaaS payroll platform hopes to increase the capability for other technology businesses to offer more to their customers by embedding payroll into their platforms for HR, time &amp; attendance and staffing/recruitment.
&nbsp;
The move comes after increasing demand from enterprise businesses and other technology providers for a reliable, fast cloud based solution that can enhance their product. The UK Payroll sector has historically seen a lot of M&amp;A activity, which has reduced the flexibility and increased the cost of products offered by existing marketplace providers.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Shape Embedded hopes to bring the flexibility back by providing &lsquo;Shape Elements&rsquo; (a series of pre-built UI components) and a world-class API so that SaaS businesses can integrate payroll technology into their product. This will offer their customers an integrated payroll solution that is faster and cheaper than existing marketplace providers.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Shape Payroll Founder and CTO Alex Bartlett commented;
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Building a payroll platform from scratch takes years. It requires a deep understanding of UK payroll legislation, as well as the engineering ability to build a complex piece of technology.&nbsp;
For the past 5 years, Shape Payroll has been building a fast, accurate payroll platform for UK businesses. &lsquo;Shape Embedded&rsquo; gives SaaS companies the ability to embed our platform into their product within days. We provide a world-class developer experience with the support you&rsquo;d expect from an enterprise grade platform.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re already working with some of the UK&rsquo;s leading HR technology companies to embed our product with them so we know the demand is there for this product - I can&rsquo;t wait to see this part of Shape grow!&rdquo;
</blockquote>
 If you&rsquo;re looking to embed payroll into your platform, visit <a href="https://embedded.shapepayroll.com/">https://embedded.shapepayroll.com/</a> to find out more. For more information about Shape Payroll and how it supports Enterprise companies throughout the UK, visit <a href="https://www.shapepayroll.com/">https://www.shapepayroll.com/</a>

Shape 'Embedded' launches to help companies easily integrate payroll into their tech-products

In this opinion piece, Managing Partner of Quake, Rob Wilde, talks about the venture building model and why it was such an appealing next step as a technology entrepreneur.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Quake is a Venture Builder - an opinionated organisation on a mission to build wave after wave of new businesses.&nbsp; By our model, each business sits firmly in the B2B SAAS category. We look for early customer wins within 6 months of creation and profitability within 18 months.&nbsp; These businesses are a success in their own right and have newly formed management teams who become the new custodians of the strategy and operations. Once Quake&rsquo;s role in the creation is complete we aim to find a new backer for these businesses as they graduate our programme and move well beyond &pound;5m ARR.
The ideal, not the norm unfortunately.&nbsp; This well coveted road to riches is much harder than appears from an early Excel model projecting the perfect sales figures into the almost certain future.
&nbsp;
Let me introduce myself as Managing Partner of Quake - as a serial entrepreneur trying my hand at various tech businesses in the websites and social media space from 1998 onwards, I eventually found myself as CEO of Volcanic, selling enterprise websites to the recruitment sector.&nbsp; The successful exit completed the cycle and allowed me to start deploying capital and skills back into new startups.&nbsp; Quake was created as the venture vehicle to create and grow these new ideas into profitable businesses capable of their own exits.
This is part of a series of articles to provide some insight into the various roles that exist within our humble Venture Builder.&nbsp; We run the company as per our values and our individual skills shape the roles we undertake.&nbsp; You can find a brief insight into each of our roles that combine to form our operating model.
&nbsp;
<blockquote>
Robert Wilde - Managing Partner
Alec Middleton - COO&nbsp;
Matthew Whiteley - CTO
Dan Leyden - CTO
Dave Duggan - CFO
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
My role as managing partner is to moderate risk and find opportunities.&nbsp; As with any investment the risk/reward dynamic is what defines it most.&nbsp; Our stock is at the extreme end of the spectrum, offering huge returns on initial investment, but the capital is entirely at risk and a business failure leads to the inevitable loss of all cash invested. This is our line of work, and something we&rsquo;ve all become more comfortable with.
No one is unhappy with the potential returns, especially my lead investor in Volcanic who enjoyed a fully liquid 12x return in under 2 years.&nbsp; The issue, of course, lies within the risk department.&nbsp; How we, as a team reduce the risk profile of these companies, ultimately makes them an investable asset class worthy of capital from a balanced portfolio.&nbsp; We wouldn&rsquo;t recommend someone investing more than 15% of their worth into high risk investments, but there is some logic in making these investments if the capital is patient enough to be tied up for a while, as the returns can make a noticeable difference to the portfolio over the long run.
Our formula is simple, we look for businesses that can deliver a high margin product in SAAS form.&nbsp; Always playing in an established category with existing competition, which gives us a framework to work with and we build a product from our existing library of components within 6 months.&nbsp; During this build phase we&rsquo;re onboarding a few friendly customers, who will get a lifetime discount in exchange for their early loyalty.&nbsp; The risk profile drops heavily once we&rsquo;ve got a handful of paying customers, so clearly our task is to get to this position as quickly as we can.
Doing this in practice is where our individual roles come into play.&nbsp; Our wonderful CTO&rsquo;s go about working with engineers to deliver a product quickly, whilst Alec and I work with the businesses CEO to create a go-to-market plan around the brand and the ideal customer profile (ICP).&nbsp; Hiring a sales team follows, which marks another risk reduction milestone, and usually indicates when we can expect profitability.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Profitability within tech companies is a contentious subject amongst founders who have first battled with survival and then moved the focus towards growth.&nbsp; For us however we enjoy a house where the odds are stacked slightly more in our favour.&nbsp; We can build a product in house, and bring it to market, skipping the customary first seed round.&nbsp; We also share various functions such as leadership, HR, finance and tech so the cost base of our businesses is a fraction of an independently founded company.&nbsp; This allows us to focus on winning customers and delivering a cash generative business within 18 months.
Risk reduction is delivered through a profitable company with good governance.&nbsp; Those activities are what a Managing Partner must oversee.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Casting back to the start though is where ideation happens. We are thought leaders who spend our time looking for an idea which leverages our current IP and market access.&nbsp; There is a current theme running through the portfolio already, around HR tech and recruitment, and this becomes the playground for our future ventures.
I am responsible for the fundraising process also, and presenting our financial product so it sits alongside other options as a viable and sensible investment class.&nbsp; We group our investments into cohorts, which allows us to attract investment which will be split across 3-4 new businesses.&nbsp; Each has the potential to deliver a 20x return, but the grouping offers some redundancy to failure and also provides more liquid returns as we aim to sell the businesses onto a new venture player once they are ready.&nbsp; In practice we aim to deliver returns in chunks over a 5 year period as the more successful of the cohort are sold.&nbsp; The remainder can offer liquidity through MBO&rsquo;s or sold on the secondary market.
&nbsp;
This role is tremendously rewarding as creation is continual, and the rewards are top tier.&nbsp; Guiding newly formed startups through the first few years isn&rsquo;t something most VC&rsquo;s or PE houses would be comfortable with, but this is our role in the tech ecosystem and we&rsquo;re getting rather good at it.
&nbsp;

Leading a Venture Builder - Rob Wilde, Managing Partner.

Quake supports re-brand of Space HR to 'Ten Space' to reflect SaaS customer profile

SourceFlow has expanded into the APAC region with the opening of a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With the help of Quake, SourceFlow has acquired AI Recruiter Malaysia giving it the opportunity to recruit an APAC team to onboard and support recruitment agencies in Australia, New Zealand, SouthEast Asia and Japan.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The opening of the new office is supported with the hiring of three new front-end developers who will lead development efforts of websites for the growing number of SourceFlow customers. These key hires and the experience they bring will be the foundation of expanding the team in Malaysia.
&nbsp;
Quake Partner Alec Middleton commented;
&nbsp;
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Global businesses require global recruitment agencies to support their needs. These agencies need the support of SaaS companies in the correct timezone who can listen to their needs and build tech products that help them win.
SourceFlow provides the first step in the candidate acquisition process - marketing tools to attract candidates. We&rsquo;re building a market leading platform that we want recruitment companies around the globe to use for global candidate attraction. Having the team to support our global customer base on their terms is a necessity as we expand.&nbsp;
The acquisition of AI Recruiter is a huge step in building this global business. Malaysia&rsquo;s digital economy and incredibly talented developers make it the natural place to start"
</blockquote>
&nbsp;

Quake supports SourceFlow global growth plans with APAC acquisition

In this opinion piece, Quake partner Alec Middleton talks about the importance of establishing a strong brand presence in the early years of your SaaS B2B technology venture.
<h4>&nbsp;</h4>
<h4>Intro</h4>
As Jeremy Bullmore once said, "Brands are fiendishly complicated, elusive, slippery, half-real/half-virtual things". Brand building is complex and multifacetted. Even most marketers don't understand how to do it properly.&nbsp;
When you're building a B2B SaaS product, you're also building a B2B SaaS brand. A brand is more than just a logo or a name; it represents the collective perception and experience that individuals associate with a particular product, service, or company. It encompasses the visual elements, messaging, values, and overall identity that distinguish one entity from another in the minds of consumers. Brands carry emotional and symbolic meaning, fostering a connection with the audience that goes beyond functional attributes. They serve as a promise of quality, reliability, and consistency, influencing consumer preferences and building loyalty.&nbsp;
A strong brand not only facilitates recognition in a competitive market but also acts as a powerful tool for conveying the unique story and values of a business. Ultimately, understanding a brand is crucial because it shapes consumer perceptions, influences purchasing decisions, and establishes a foundation for long-term relationships, playing a vital role in the success and sustainability of any business.
&nbsp;
<h4 data-block-id="0384b98c-936f-4c89-9f44-1452c76921fd" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Why is brand equity important for a start-up technology businesses?</h4>
Brand equity is particularly crucial for a startup technology business for several reasons. Firstly, in a rapidly evolving and competitive tech landscape, where innovations abound, a strong brand can serve as a beacon of reliability and trust. Building a positive brand image helps establish credibility in the market, assuring customers and stakeholders of the startup's capabilities and commitment to quality.
Secondly, brand equity contributes to customer loyalty. In the tech industry, where solutions may be complex and require ongoing support, loyal customers can become advocates, helping to generate positive word-of-mouth and attracting new users. A reputable brand can also facilitate partnerships and collaborations, crucial for a startup looking to expand its reach and impact.
Thirdly, in attracting investors, brand equity is a valuable asset. Investors are more likely to support a startup with a strong brand, seeing it as a signal of market acceptance and potential for growth.
Finally, a well-established brand can command premium pricing, crucial for startups looking to capture value in competitive markets. It allows the business to position itself as a leader rather than a commodity, potentially leading to higher profit margins and sustainable growth. Overall, brand equity is a strategic advantage that can significantly contribute to the success and longevity of a startup technology business.
&nbsp;
<h4 data-block-id="e07c5b8e-fff9-4e23-bdcd-fda743f1f1b9">What tactics and techniques are best for building great brand equity?</h4>
Building great brand equity requires a comprehensive and strategic approach. Here are some key tactics and techniques:
<ol>
<li data-block-id="2df309a9-01f8-4864-a962-de3e4976a6b7">Define Your Brand Identity: Clearly articulate your brand's mission, values, and personality. Ensure that every aspect of your business, from visuals to communication, aligns with this identity.</li>
<li data-block-id="28662c6c-4f25-42bb-8f1c-590f6bf8b1a5">Consistent Branding: Maintain consistency in your brand elements, such as logo, colors, and messaging, across all platforms and touchpoints. Consistency builds recognition and trust.</li>
<li data-block-id="1af526e9-20dc-45ec-92d9-e85c0ce3a8af">Understand Your Target Audience: Conduct thorough market research to understand your target audience's needs, preferences, and behaviors. Tailor your brand to resonate with them emotionally and functionally.</li>
<li data-block-id="062ad985-a435-400c-ac0e-bf6dabed9897">Exceptional Customer Experience: Provide an outstanding customer experience at every interaction point. Positive experiences create brand advocates who can significantly contribute to positive word-of-mouth.</li>
<li data-block-id="8d95b5fa-9b4a-49ac-9285-3fad99611793">Quality Products/Services: Deliver on the promises your brand makes. Consistently providing high-quality products or services builds trust and contributes to positive brand perceptions.</li>
<li data-block-id="e6cadafd-2d47-431f-9999-1f5c9e7ded77">Effective Communication: Craft a compelling and authentic brand story. Use various communication channels, including social media, to engage with your audience and share your brand narrative consistently.</li>
<li data-block-id="7d0ea5cf-209f-42c6-8d29-dc1a278c81c2">Innovate and Evolve: Stay relevant by continuously innovating. A brand that adapts to changing market trends and customer needs maintains its relevance and perceived value.</li>
<li data-block-id="87498450-c30c-434e-99c4-379328652e00">Community Engagement: Build a community around your brand. Engage with your audience on social media, participate in relevant events and create opportunities for your customers to connect with each other.</li>
<li data-block-id="d2722fc3-047a-4898-9e53-f00e5545b63b">Strategic Partnerships: Form partnerships with other reputable brands or influencers in your industry. Associating your brand with established entities can enhance credibility.</li>
<li data-block-id="23b572e7-0f2f-45a6-a708-5f8695d68b44">Monitor and Adapt: Regularly assess your brand's performance, gather feedback, and be willing to adapt. The business environment evolves, and a successful brand needs to stay agile and responsive.</li>
<li data-block-id="8a48776d-fd0e-46a7-b5c9-487cd36629d3">Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Demonstrate a commitment to social and environmental issues. Consumers increasingly appreciate brands that contribute positively to society.</li>
<li data-block-id="2fd3cae6-3ca7-47b0-8e40-af182cd011d5">Employee Advocacy: Your employees are brand ambassadors. Foster a positive internal culture, and empower your employees to embody and promote your brand values.</li>
</ol>
By employing a combination of these tactics and techniques, a startup can build and strengthen its brand equity over time. This establishes a solid foundation for long-term success and growth.
&nbsp;
<h4>Start with a great name</h4>
Selecting the right company name is a critical aspect of establishing a successful brand. It serves as the cornerstone of the brand identity, conveys the essence and values of the business and creates a lasting impression. A strong company name is memorable, easily recognisable, and reflects the products or services offered. It plays a pivotal role in differentiating the business from competitors, enhancing brand recall, and facilitating effective communication in a crowded marketplace. Additionally, a carefully crafted company name contributes to the establishment of trust and credibility, influencing consumer perceptions and purchase decisions. Your name is a powerful marketing tool, laying the foundation for a positive brand image and long-term success.
You can't buy a domain and get an email address without a name. In our ventures to date we've been really careful to make sure that the company name sends the correct first impression. It needs to sound like a technology business. Other considerstaions have been;
<ol>
<li>Is it easy to spell, read or pronounce e.g. Ten Space</li>
<li>Is the .co.uk domain available in the format you would expect it to be? i.e. short, as pronounced, not extended e.g. <a href="https://www.trenspace">www.tenspace.co.uk</a></li>
<li>The social media handles are available&nbsp;</li>
<li>Are there any companies with the exact same name that are dominating google searches?</li>
<li>Are there any competitors that sound similar</li>
<li>Is there any copyright on the name from another company in the same field</li>
</ol>
If you're happy with your name and it ticks the boxes, sense check it with a few trusted people and get it locked down quickly. Too much procrastination on this topic will stop you from moving forward with your idea.
&nbsp;
For more information on this topic, contact <a href="mailto:alec@quake.co.uk">alec@quake.co.uk</a> and he'll be happy to discuss and help.

'Brand Building' - Why Venture Builders must establish credible brand equity early

Shape Payroll have relaunched their cost effective payroll platform with their enteprise proposition
&nbsp;
Aimed at small and medium UK-based businesses, Shape Payroll offers hassle-free payroll software that is secure, quick and easy to use and HMRC compliant. Providing an intuitive interface with helpful tips throughout, Shape Payroll is setting a new standard for payroll software that supports even those new to payroll through the challenges of ensuring that customer's staff are paid accurately and correctly.
&nbsp;
Founded by husband and wife team Alex and Cheri Bartlett, Shape Payroll has been built from the ground up with highly available and modern APIs that not only support the easy to use cloud-based application for small and medium businesses, but also allow third party developers to integrate payroll easily into their own software solutions.
&nbsp;
Founder Alex Bartlett explains;
<blockquote>"After years of building payroll software and trying to add payroll calculations into other software solutions, I concluded that there were simply no other platforms out there which were built using modern software engineering standards designed to be easy for third parties to integrate with, so I set out to fix that.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Having built an API used by a number of customers to manage payroll from their internal time tracking, finance and HR systems, Cheri and I built the Shape Payroll application to help small and medium businesses through the difficulties of running payroll for themselves by focussing on simple user experience and great support.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Now, as part of the Quake family, we're accelerating our growth and helping new customers we couldn't reach before"</blockquote>

Shape Payroll re-launches for Enterprise market with new website

Employee engagement agency Space HR, has turned its attention to working with businesses to help with better staff retention. Space HR started in the midst of the pandemic and has since grown to work with businesses in the professional services, logistics and technology sectors to name a few. The focus of Space HR is to turn good companies into great companies by encouraging better dialogue between leaders and employees in businesses. Right now, UK job vacancies are at a record high with nearly 1 million fewer people on payroll than there were in early 2021. An estimated 30% of employees are planning to quit their current job in the next six to twelve months. Retaining great employees has become a hot topic in HR and Space HR is leading the charge in helping great businesses protect their most important asset. CEO of Space HR, Victoria Bond says; <blockquote>“The great resignation is in full swing. Never before have we experienced such a movement of people. The combined effects of Brexit, Covid-19, technology, self-employment and Gen-Z has reduced worker availability, accelerated a ‘work from anywhere’ mentality and set higher expectations with employers.</blockquote><blockquote>The costs of hiring, training and retaining good people have increased significantly in the last 18 months. Nothing is more disappointing to a business than a great person leaving, or hiring someone then seeing them leave because they feel dis-engaged.</blockquote><blockquote>Throwing more money at the problem is NOT the answer!</blockquote><blockquote>Often your people just need a ‘really good listening to’ and a way to offer feedback. The combined feedback from your teams can offer great insight into how to make changes that people will really benefit from. If they’re happy and feel part of the conversation, they’re more likely to stay and be part of your journey.</blockquote><blockquote>Space HR here to help you create an incredible workplace. Our consultancy, our technology and our insights encourage better feedback, better decision making and higher engagement. Higher engagement leads to better productivity and better staff retention.“</blockquote>

Space HR focuses its attention on Employee Retention!

Recruitment tech company SourceFlow is about to launch it’s new platform, with a game-changing approach to helping recruitment marketers deliver more bang for their buck!&nbsp;Brainchild of Matt Whiteley, the platform aims to establish itself as the central platform for recruitment marketers to launch, manage and report on their marketing. All features will be accessible within a single platform. As you scale you can use more of the marketing suite for a better integrated experience.The platform includes analytics, integrations and marketing tools with a custom designed website to attract candidates, clients and consultants. Customer success is as the core of the proposition to guarantee that Sourceflow customers get incredible support included in their monthly SaaS subscription.&nbsp;Sourceflow CTO, Matt Whiteley has been responsible for the build of the new platform. He explains; <blockquote>“My experience of working with commercial recruitment agencies has uncovered many customer pain-points over the years. None has been more painful for recruitment marketers than the uncertainty of whether their spend across marketing channels is delivering real return on investment.</blockquote><blockquote>With SourceFlow we’ve set out to provide real answers. Our platform allows recruitment marketers to track the source of candidate applications and understand whether the applicant has been placed and for what fee. This gives full visibility of ‘billing by marketing channel’, which helps recruitment marketers make better budgeting decisions, increase margin and accelerate growth.</blockquote><blockquote>As well as incredible analytics and reporting we’re building a ‘best of breed’ CRM integration with the market leading CRM- Bullhorn. Our Job Search will be powered by Google’s ‘Cloud Talent Solution’ giving your candidates the best possible job search experience. And finally we’ve already started to build an amazing Customer Success team that will provide incredible support, delivery and care all wrapped into a simple monthly fee.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote>We can’t wait to launch properly in April 2022”</blockquote>

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