Goff Lalor enjoys Starting, Managing and Growing Successful Businesses.
Goff Lalor skills include:Marketing and Business Development, Mentoring and Angel Investment to Internet based Start-Ups,
Goff Lalor has 30 Years experience in Business Development, Property Development and Investment.
Goff Lalor is also experienced at Private Equity and Venture Capital funding to Internet based start-ups.
Goff Lalor advises Start-ups and pre growth Stage companies in addition to his primary involvement in funding and accelerating Growth Stage Interned based companies.
Interview with Goff Lalor
Posted October 5th, 2012 by Thomas Van den Elzen
Meet Goff Lalor, one of our Senior Partners at Punchlime. He is founder and CEO of a number of successful companies with over 30 years broad expertise in many aspects of growing businesses. We sat down with Goff to speak about his life, his past experiences and his current role in Punchlime.
Hi Goff! Can you tell us something about yourself?
Goff: I was born in a beautiful part of County Tipperary in Ireland. I went to a local school in Clonmel, County Tipperary in Ireland until I was 8 years old then to a boarding school in Dalkey, County Dublin until I was 12. After that I went to another great boarding school called St Columbas College on the edge of the mountains in Dublin. I left there at 17 and started my entrepreneurial career!
County Tipperary, Ireland (National Geographic Stock)
I take it you enjoyed being at boarding schools?
Goff: Yes, generally speaking I did, especially in retrospect! At the time I remember being frustrated by what seemed like petty rules that restricted my freedom but, looking back, I realised that these were mostly necessary for the proper running of the school. What I gained most was the skills to work as a team with others. Being multi-denominational and very international I learnt to respect the cultures and traditions of other nationalities.
Did you not wish to go to university to assist with your career?
Goff: No
Why not?
Goff: Family history and embedded DNA to be an entrepreneur – I came from an entrepreneurial family and never had any doubts that I wouldn’t be self employed. Looking back through my family history over four centuries, there is no record of anyone having ever had a job! All were entrepreneurs. In the late 1600’s and through the 1700’s two generations of my family were involved in the East India Company and sent sailing ships to the far east, bringing back spices and other commodities to Europe. On two occasions their business collapsed during wars between the British, Dutch and Portuguese when warehouses in Malacca were seized by the victors! Later in the mid 1800’s my great great grandfather and great great uncle, William and Robert Jacob, started a bakery in Waterford in Ireland that by the early 1900’s William had built into one of the largest businesses in Britain and Ireland at the time, employing in excess of 4500 people, which wasn’t bad in the seriously depressed economy of Ireland in the early 1900’s. As a Quaker he regarded equality and fair treatment of all staff as of primary importance and pioneered staff housing, medical care, canteens and employee stock options. My grandfather, likewise, was a leader in environmental issues and semi-retired to Tipperary in the early 1950’s to devote his life to social causes and promoting the protection of the environment, tree planting and organic agriculture. He worked closely with Richard St Barbe Baker who became known as “The Man of The Trees” and was particularly involved in tree planting schemes in the southern Sahara to prevent the further desertification of the affected countries. Needless to say I grew up in this fantastic environment, surrounded by nature, trees and growing great organic vegetables.
So what was your first business?
Goff: My very first business was when I was 7 years old. I grew cacti from cuttings and sold them in a local florist. Soon after I grew organic vegetables and sold them to a supermarket. This provided my pocket money and when I left school at 17 I had accumulated enough capital to set myself up as a DJ and started a mobile disco business. Following on from this I started various business through my 20s, investing in property in the early 1980s during my early 20s.
How did that go for you?
Goff: As there was a very severe recession on at the time it was a slow and difficult start right through the 80s. It was only in the early 90s that the global boom began to take off and realizing this I decided it was time to travel before I got too immersed – something I had never had time to when I was younger. During 1991 and ‘92 I sold off any businesses and everything I had except for my house and other investments in property I had accumulated and booked a one way ticket to Delhi with my now wife who I’d met that summer with the idea of spending a year travelling together.
Where did you travel to?
Goff: Because I’d been to Asia two or three times before on short trips and was particularly attracted to Asian food, philosophy and general attitude at the time, it seemed like the natural place to spend some time wandering around. That particular trip involved travelling at a leisurely pace through India, Nepal, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, booking a flight home from Bali several months later. Instead of rushing around I like to find a nice place, sit around, eat well, talk to people and listen to their own story. This gets a far deeper insight into their culture than ticking locations from a list. In fact in the last decade I have been to Dali in Yunnan Province in western China several times and done just that with great hikes in the surrounding mountains thrown in.
Dali in Yunnan Province, China (GEORGE STEINMETZ/National Geographic Stock)
What did you do when you got back?
Goff: During the 90s when I got back from my Asian wanderings I mortgaged everything I owned including my family home and developed property, mostly in Ireland. Not on a huge scale, just one project at a time as I kept it as a small lean business. I also got involved in the early stages of Wind Farm development in 1993 but following the Chinese proverb “If you chase two rabbits, you don’t have any dinner”, although I like the renewable energy business, I focussed on property development in Ireland until 2001 and then I stopped and started looking in other countries where the cycle was starting including South Africa and China. It turned out that most of my projects were in St Jean Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera as its appeal was that by having a very international customer base of the wealthiest individuals, property prices would not be so negatively affected by a rise in European interest rates that I perceived to be imminent. It was a good decision.
Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France (BATES LITTLEHALES/National Geographic Stock)
Do you still have investments there?
Goff: No, I sold everything in Cap Ferrat in the summer of 2008 and didn’t close on the next project that I was in the process of buying when the global recession really hit in the Autumn.
So how did you end up in Punchlime as a VC investing in growth stage internet business?
Goff: After looking around the world for suitable property related investments, I couldn’t find anything that seemed to work and the one or two investments I have made since 2008 have been unimpressive. I was approached by an internet company that was seeking investment and sought the opinion of Stanley, Atiq and Adeel who were still in Google at the time and friends of mine. They saw it as having huge potential and shortly afterwards left Google to form Punchlime with me as a growth stage accelerator and investor, with that company being our first portfolio company.
What do you like most about Punchlime?
Goff: Apart from being great fun working with bright, switched on people right through from my co-senior partners to the fantastic interns, Punchlime itself is an extremely disruptive model as far as VCs are concerned. The level of hands on intensity in which we get involved with and accelerate companies enable us to rapidly gain a deep insight into the product and the team that conventional non-participatory due diligence would not be able to do. For this reason the risk is minimised for ourselves, our co-investors and, of course, the company. We call this “reverse due diligence” and it’s at the cutting edge of VC investment as it is being widely recognised that acceleration is hugely relevant to the rapid growth of a company.
Explain the acceleration process a bit more. Some of the leading VCs have consultants or advisors that can be called upon if required by their portfolio companies. Is this what you mean?
Goff: No. Through our reverse due diligence process of intense, hands on acceleration with the company each of our senior partners bring their skills into the company and as we only select a small amount for acceleration that we can devote our undivided attention to and rapidly grow and fund.
“My own accumulated skills as an entrepreneur really come into use when it comes to strategy and general business development”
What are the skills on the Punchlime team you mention and how can they benefit growth stage companies?
Goff: Starting with the ex-Googlers, Stanley Sarpong combines strong strategic and analytical skills with his ability to build rapport quickly, serving as a great bridge between our VC network and marketing activities. He has extensive experience in building brands internationally. Olju Man is an online marketing specialist with expertise in developing innovative digital media strategies combined with strong execution capabilities. Atiq Khan’s expertise is in optimization of direct sales processes and has outsourcing experience in South East Asia. Adeel Azmat, acting as an advisor to Punchlime, is a Europe-based Google engineer often travelling to the United States, liaising between the Google Product Managers and engineers and playing a vital role in shaping upcoming products. Humphrey Polanen joined us early this year and has vast experience in the internet business over many years with expertise in Big Data and Security products as well as funding, legal and structural skills. Humphrey is based in Palo Alto and has brought a number of successful companies to an IPO as a board member. My involvement is really around bringing like minded partnering VCs on board who understand our business model and the benefit of our hands-on acceleration. This business is largely about developing trust with both partner VCs and the companies we grow and invest in so open and transparent relationships are crucial. My own accumulated skills as an entrepreneur really come into use when it comes to strategy and general business development in the growth stage companies we accelerate and fund.
“I strongly believe that the fundamental purpose of business is to be a force that contributes to society”
What is your core belief that has served you best in developing successful companies?
Goff: I think its my insistence on everything I do being sustainable in three ways – socially, environmentally and financially. When applied to how we behave as human beings and how we view such human activity as construction, forestry, transport, communications etc – this viewpoint ensures a successful outcome that is fair and just, not just to our current society but includes fairness to future generations. I believe that all people inherently possess incredible strength and wisdom in their lives that when we challenge ourselves and take a leap over the abyss into the unknown with the benefit of others in mind, these strengths invariably come to the surface and enable us to tap into deep levels of wisdom, courage and compassion. This is why I enjoy working with the self motivated, visionary people you find in growing businesses so much as I strongly believe that the fundamental purpose of business is to be a force that contributes to society.
What person has inspired you most in your life?
Goff: Daisaku Ikeda without a doubt. As a practising Buddhist for 30 years I have received endless encouragement from him to continue when the going gets tough and never to give in to difficulties. I have learned to believe in the power of the individual to overcome any obstacle and have been inspired to understand that my life doesn’t end at my skin but includes all those around us and all of our broader environment on every level.
Is there a particular quote that you find the most inspiring?
Goff: Yes, It’s from Daisaku Ikeda and goes as follows: “Whether we regard difficulties in life as misfortunes or view them as good fortune depends entirely on how much we have forged our inner determination. It all depends on our attitude or inner state of life. With a dauntless spirit, we can lead a cheerful and thoroughly enjoyable life. We can develop a “self” of such fortitude that we can look forward to life’s trials and tribulations with a sense of profound elation and joy: “Come on obstacles! I’ve been expecting you! This is the chance that I’ve been waiting for!” (Daisaku Ikeda)
Goff Lalor – Punchlime - Senior Partner
Goff Lalor is a senior Partner at Punchlime. He is founder and CEO of a number of successful companies with over 30 years broad expertise in all aspects of growing successful businesses and has extensive experience as a CEO and board member.
Goff has direct experience and extensive interests in Internet Marketing and Private Equity and Venture Capital Funding, Real Estate Development, Renewable Energy and the Hospitality and Leisure Industry. Now interested in acceleration and funding of Growth Stage Internet based companies he has in the past acted as Angel Investor and Advisor to numerous start-up and early stage companies.
Goff really enjoys working with positive, motivated people and holds a strong view that the fundamental purpose of business should be to benefit humanity and society.
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much” – Helen Keller – American author – 1880 – 1968.
Specialties:
• Acceleration and Funding of Growth Stage Internet based companies
• Branding and strategic business development
• Advising start up businesses
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