Weâre excited to announce a fireside chat style conversation next week with Founder and Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, Harley Miller, and Freetrade CEO & Founder, Adam Dodds.
Left Lane is an investor in Freetrade having led the Series B in early 2021 and also took part in the 2022 loan note.
A growth equity firm focused on high-growth, high-retention internet & consumer technology businesses, Left Lane is focused on opportunities across North America, Europe, Israel and emerging markets.
Harley will join @adam on a Zoom call at 8 PM on Wednesday 28 September (please note this has changed from the previous date of Tue 27 Sep).
As usual, weâll share the link to the call here shortly before 8 PM on the day.
Drop your questions below and weâll do our best to answer as many as we can on the night
I found out about FreeTrade from Ben Morris on YouTube and have been loving it ever since but Iâve not seen any ads this year about FreeTradeâŠwill there ever be more?
I am one of FT biggest supporters and me and my wife individually have invested a lot of savings. A number of my friends have invested significantly more than us.
However, I fear my investment and theirs is in the balance. Maybe its just the economic uncertainty playing on my mind unnecessarily.
Can you reassure me with your knowledge that i have nothing to worry about?
Can you explain how happy you are with the performance of management and product development and market expansion on a scale of 1 to 10? 1 being unacceptable and 10 being beyond expectations.
Would be great to hear Harleyâs view on PFOF and if he thinks that the practice will end up getting banned? If I understood correctly one other portfolio company of LL has PFOF as one of the revenue streams. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this.
If possible separate the discussion into US and Europe
Whatâs your view on FTâs competitive landscape in Europe?
How do you attract customers in the biggest markets in Europe when an extremely well funded German competitor offers trades of any size at a cost of 1eur with mostly similar product.
Have you and Adam benchmarked the value proposition of FT to whatâs already offered in Europe by the competitors? What was the result?
How happy are you with FTâs execution post series B (roadmap delivery)?
What are the FTâs biggest strength and biggest weakness at the moment as a business?
What will convince you to invest in FTâs series C?
As much as I am in the same boat as you and I desperately want to be reassured I canât imagine you getting a sensible answer to this.
âHey, during the current crowdfund raise where we are trying to attract more investment can you let me know if itâs all going to fail? Honest answers only pleaseâ.
Oof - these questions are all pretty hardcore so far! Give them a break, ask them what their favourite breakfast cereal is or something! AnywayâŠ
Hi Harley. Professor Scott Galloway has spoken numerous times about a whole generation working in finance for the last decade who may never have experienced a proper crash or bear market and have only really had to deal with stagnation and/or a tech bubble that felt like it was going to grow forever. I canât work out your age (without cutting you in half and counting the rings) so Iâm not sure if you were active in the workplace in 2008.
Do you share Gallowayâs concerns and, if this is your first downward rodeo, how are you trying to keep a positive outlook especially when youâre investing in pre IPO companies which have a high failure rate even at the best of times?
Adam, given the dramatic shift in global outlook, significant material uncertainty and what looks to be a challenging operating environment over the next 12-18 months, where do you see the biggest hurdles to execution of the strategy, and how do you envisage overcoming these? (to the extent you can share)?
Harley, related question on outlook; weâve seen a dramatic correction in public market valuations for tech and tech enabled FS firms, and to some degree weâve seen this cascade into private space, yet thereâs a widely held view that weâve got a lot further to go before current valuations reflect ârealityâ. I would love to hear your perspective on this and how this translates to the house view on of exits and acquisitions.
Finally, for both: following on from @CashCow excellent q on breakfast cereal: lucky charms or fruit loops?
Do you think the current pricing model of Freetrade e.g., free, standard, plus with current growth trajectories will result in a net profit for Freetrade? Or do you feel restricting the free (GIA account) so early on in the growth phase was a bad move?
Speaking from personal experience, I (standard) still use Freetrade. 4 people I recommended (GIA account) closed their accounts after the recent pricing model change and moved elsewhere.
FYI, the stated reason was because they were still learning the ropes but felt the walls closing in on stock accessibility. E.g., losing access to the American stocks.
How do you separate the performance of a business and the valuation? Milestones are normally used to assess the valuation but when the market takes a tumble it would be good to hear how you adjust your thinking.
Can you talk a little about how what you feel youâre able to bring to Freetrade?
How important is it for You / Left Lane to lead an investment round?
