Startup mentor John Stapleton believes corporate leaders should move away from D&I literature and learn more from the “lived examples” of female entrepreneurs
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John Stapleton is the ‘Authentic Entrepreneur’ with 30 years’ experience in pioneering new FMCG categories and establishing and growing successful consumer-led businesses in both the UK and the USA.
Q&A with Angel Investor John Stapleton – The Sunday Times
Every week we talk to a business angel, one of the early-stage investors who collectively inject £1.5bn a year into British start-up companies.
John Stapleton: ‘I invest in businesses only where I think I can add value’
John Stapleton, 54, co-founded the New Covent Garden Soup Co straight after graduating from Reading University in 1987. After 11 years and with sales of £20m, he sold it to Daniels, a London-listed food company. He later started Little Dish, which makes children’s snacks, and sold that last year.
Stapleton started angel investing two years ago and backs food and drink start-ups including Capsicana, which makes Latin American sauces, and Spoon Cereals, a health food maker.
Stapleton typically funds founders with £100,000.
Why I invest
When you start your own business, you go very deep into a lot of detail — but it’s only one business. Investing gives me a breadth of experience I never had before, and keeps me in touch with the market.