Alex Cooper previously worked as an army commander before, in March 2020, he became a director of Test & Trace, managing the UK's mass testing response during the Covid pandemic.
After spotting suboptimal data collection, in 2023 Cooper co-founded Electric Twin, which replaces traditional market research methods with ‘synthetic audiences’ to predict what people are thinking right now.Now used by brands including News UK and Lebara to shape marketing decisions, Electric Twin's recent $14m fundraise included investment from billionaire Marc Andreessen and Slack co-founder Cal Henderson. Here he shares his advice on how to get noticed by big backers:
"Drop all unsupported claims
If you’re using vague, unsupported claims like “groundbreaking”, “revolutionary”, and “game-changing” to describe your idea in your pitch, it’s probably none of those things. Experienced investors can see straight through it. Even when building something innovative, generic claims can make it look like you’re overcompensating. Instead, use your product, team and data to prove that your startup is worth backing. “Show, don’t tell” - that’s what we did. We were essentially a research lab in our first year. We heavily tested our assumptions and built an evidence base which showcased what our solution could do. That meant we could present concrete evidence and let that do the talking.
Build a crack team
Having a strong idea is great, but investors need to be convinced that you can actually bring it to life. Bring experts on board early with deep knowledge of the space and the problem you’re trying to solve, and the skills to bring it to life. My co-founder, Dr Ben Warner, was previously chief advisor on digital and data to the Prime Minister - we met at No.10 and both saw firsthand the problem we’re now tackling. He’s an expert in AI-driven behavioural prediction; we also brought on Professor Michael Muthukrishna - a leading researcher in behavioural science - as our chief scientific advisor. The level of expertise on our team helped attract high-quality initial hires and money.
Start networking early
Connections unlock doors. Start building your network earlier than you think, and don’t just target people more senior than you. People progress and change roles, so connect with those above, below and at your level. You don’t know who will be the bridge to your ideal investor in the future. Try to be the person who consistently goes out of their way to help others out and facilitate genuinely valuable connections, even when there’s nothing immediate in it for you. People will remember: when you need an investor introduction, you’ll have people willing to go the extra mile to help you."
