Attracting B2B tech investors with Liam McLaughlin, Managing Partner, Europe at Clarity

Hi, all, and welcome back to the Finite Podcast. Today we're talking markets, we're talking funding, we're talking stages of growth, and specifically how to use marketing and communications to attract investors. Our guest today is Liam McLaughlin, who is the managing partner of Europe at Clarity and Clarity is a global growth consultancy, and as you may know, the parent of Finite. Liam came to me very excited to share his insights about preparing for a tech funding round or your next B2B growth stage, including IPO. In this episode, he shares advice for marketers looking to secure funding, what's required from a marketing and communications perspective, and how to show up as a brand investors want to pour money into. Liam has a great understanding of current market trends and forecasts, as well as booming sectors and regions. He has almost 20 years of integrated comms experience working with global technology brands including Oracle, NetApp and EMC. A final note to remember that investment decisions are not just based on numbers, they're based on instinct as well. I hope you enjoy. Hi, Liam. Hi, Jodie. Welcome to the Finite Podcast. Thank you very much for having me. Thank you for coming on. It's so great to have you here. You came to me with this really exciting idea for an episode, one that I hope resonates with a lot of our listeners at the moment, and that's preparing for your next funding round or ipo, your next growth stage through comms and marketing, which you're an expert on. So thank you for sharing that with us. And I can't wait to get into it. But before we do, why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are, how you got into marketing in your career so far. Well, I'm Liam. I'm the managing partner of Cloud Heat Europe. I have been a B2B marketer for roughly 20 years. I've done a little bit of consumer marketing in my time, but most of that time I focus on B2B brands to tech, health, tech, fintech. And in that journey, loads of my clients have either gone through funding rounds or they have done public offerings, and comms has been a really, really key part of that strategy. I've also been at Clarity for quite a while. We've had some very exciting clients go public during my time at Clarity, and we've taken them on that journey. So it's been a real kind of learning curve for me as well. That sounds really exciting. And tell me about your current role at End Team. So who are you working with? What are you working on? Well, we mix. I. We work with a really exciting mix of clients. I'm not going to go into names because public offering and serious funding can be quite sensitive, but it really is a mix of pure tech. Deep tech, SaaS, fintech, cyber health tech, anything with tech attached to it we do as a team and we have a great team in both UK and in the Netherlands that really know this space really well. So we service some fantastic brands and that gives us great exposure to very, very, you know, very different kinds of market challenges and marketing challenges as well. The past five or six years, as everyone knows, has been completely tumultuous. So we've had to, you know, really rise to the occasion and do some fantastic work, especially in this space. Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like your experience spans a lot of the industry and I would love to dig into that more and actually learn, you know, are more clients coming to you with this challenge? What are you actually seeing in market? Is there much growth in general? Are there any sectors that are stagnant? Where is it concentrated? Do you know anything about, you know, the kind of regional areas of Europe versus uk, anything like that? What kind of trends are you seeing around kind of tech growth and clients coming to you with this challenge? Well, one of the reasons I thought this would be a conversation topic is because I'm seeing more and more interest from clients about how they elevate themselves to the next, next milestone in their journey, either through series funding or through a public offering. But going back a couple of years, obviously the market had to correct itself. So after things that happened, like SVB bank collapse, we saw a lot of funding drying up and the market wasn't quite such a hotbed for investments, especially in Europe. So the trend really is that America is still the major market for investments, but there's loads of really exciting things happening in Europe. So more and more of my clients are coming to me and saying, right, we're on a journey and, and it may be going to be a two year journey or a three year journey, but we want to start thinking about how we show up better as we start to talk to investors and how we start to engage our stakeholders as we take them on that journey. So definitely there's more appetite for that in the past year or so, I would say. And I think the tech landscape is changing so significantly. AI has just transformed how everyone is working. It is going to be such a massive boom that that is a particular space that people want to invest in and it's giving our clients, is giving organizations and companies the momentum to go out and seek Further funding. So they can just grow, they can expand their innovation, they can expand their offering and really just take hold of the moment. Yeah. So I mean, I don't want to be reductive, but I'd love to hear your opinion on do you think CMOs and marketing leaders should be optimistic about growth opportunities and should be optimistic about achieving those funding rounds in the future? I mean, it's a really good question, Joey. My personal opinion, my personal feeling on this is that you can't be pessimistic, you need to be pragmatic and realistic. But you should be optimistic too. Otherwise, you know, why are you doing it and what are you doing it for? But there is a lot of opportunity and things are changing really quickly. I wanted to reference but global VC investments crossed 500 billion in 2025. So that's the highest it's been since 2021. That shows a significant jump upwards which would give organizations, CMOs good confidence in the fact that actually there's money out there to help with growth and development and there's everything to play for. So we're seeing an upward trend. That actually makes me think of quite a clear question is, you know, especially with AI driven investment decision making where they literally just take, you know, commercial growth, market growth, kind of, you know, positive forecasts and signals for the future where it feels like it's increasingly numerical or predictable in the way that they make investment decisions. How should communications supplement that? And what's, what's more important? Is it more important that their numbers are stronger or their narrative is stronger or both or investors just going to go with numbers now? How can COM support that? Well, I think investors have always been number driven people. That's just part of their DNA. They are, you know, they're highly commercial and they know what they're looking for, what fits within their own portfolios, within their own organization and they know how to get the most out of that. So they're always going to be number people. But AI is allowing us the tools to actually make more sense of numbers quicker and make decisions quicker based on the numbers and the facts that are in front of us. So the decision making process can be faster, the due diligence process again can be faster. But I think the best investors probably have a great intuition for what they think is going to work, what's going to fit within their organization and what their organization can also do to help that along the journey. So everyone's good to have a type of company that they, you know, that is a sweet spot for Them that they have experience with a market that they know really well, their contacts, their networks. So whilst they're going to use AI to help on the harder end of decision making, looking at the numbers in black and white, great investors are also highly experienced and have great intuition about what's going to work. I think that's a great answer. So yeah, it's not just, you know, numerical, it's not just doing what an AI forecasting tool tells you what to do. They, they are experts, they have this intuition and the comms that, and marketing that surrounds your brand should be nurturing that and helping them feel like this is a risk free, of course this is going to work decision as well. Yeah, there's lots of different factors at play there. You know, the black and white numbers tell a story and you can help sell that back to the business in whatever way you want. But if you've got great intuition, you have sectors or you have industries that you're particularly interested in that you feel passionate about, there's other things to think about. You know, what are they doing that's going to improve societal change or make positive impact in the world or whatever it might be. You know, the really great investors are going to not take a punt. I think that's too strong a term taking a punt. But they're going to be excited by something that isn't just a black and white numbers decision. And when I read investor stories that have gone really, really well, it's always the ones where people have done something a little bit left of field or you know, they've looked at the numbers, they look great. But actually this is a space they love. They're going to take a chance, they've got a calculated risk, it could be exciting. Guess what? It turned out that it really, really was. And those are the investor stories that I think grab people's attention. Those are the ones that journalist and media write about and those are the ones that we remember really good. Not just the 100% this is going to turn up, turn a profit within six months. Absolutely. Because at that, who knows what's going to happen to B2E tech. You're going to lose customers, your competitor gains an advantage, you lose market share, anything can happen. And but if you've got that kind of strong steamboat around you of like authenticity and differentiation and that messaging of innovation that's going to drive customer acquisition in the long term, those are also kind of signals that investors are going to look at. I completely agree with that. And tech is such a great space it's moving really, really quickly. AI has hastened that completely. So whilst it might feel sometimes it's a bit hard to keep up to date with what's developing in the market, it's also just, you know, such a rich feel for the new and the exciting and the unpredictable that I can understand why a lot of investors are super attracted to, you know, the bleeding edge of tech and what's coming next. I love working in this space for that reason. And this is why this episode is so relevant. It's because there is money to grab and things are increasing globally. So I want to know about your insight into the mind of a tech investor. What do they look for in a company to fund? What should marketers or chief comms officers or growth leaders be thinking about in terms of their approach to enticing and attracting these investors? Good question. Again, I think there's probably three things that are really, really important. I think it is authenticity. Authenticity, you know, what is your company doing, what is the problem it is solving and who is it solving for? But also what are the proof points that you have to back that up? So AI is obviously grabbing all the headlines right now and a lot of people are focusing on AI investment and AI development. So that is a major space for growth. But to stand out in a super competitive market, you really, really have to be doing something that is genuinely making an impact. You can't just be doing air washing. You really have to have something that stands out for the market, that is credible, that has proof points and that is you're talking about your products and your brand and your service with authenticity. So I think the second thing would be narrative, the story that you're telling the market. So if you want to attract the attention of investors and attract the attention of the market, you've got to have a really solid and consistent narrative across all of your channels. So typically we would be looking at things like the messaging of the company, how we go to market, the positioning, how our execs are showing up, what channels they're using, how they talk to media, the messages that they deliver to media. But it's suddenly got a bit more complex. AI has changed the landscape a little bit. So the new stakeholder in the room is actually AI visibility. So before we be doing things like running messaging workshops and gathering our proof points, talking about our customers, getting great third party endorsement from media, from analysts, where it might come from, but now we've also got to look at things through an AI lens as well. Investors are primarily going to AI search for their first as their first port of call for information gathering. So it's completely transformed in a very short time how people find out information about your company. So if you're going to market and you're looking for investments, media, trade, national, whatever is key for your space, most relevant for your business is one thing. But how your brand is showing up on AI platforms in LLMs is also massively important. And that's changed significantly in the past 12 months. So we were advising clients that that's got to be part of an active strategy if they want to attract investors. Investors are getting their information from so many different stored sources. They get their, you know, they get their initial information online via AI search, then they look at media, then they look at analyst relations and what analyst reports are saying. So there's a myriad and there's a homozaic approach to gathering information, but everything has to go through an AI visibility lens now. So that is one of the major changes that's happened in the past couple of years. And it's come at a time when we're seeing further excitement, investment back into the VC world and investment in tech. And I can see how that relates to narrative. It's creating that consistent narrative across all those channels. Because at this point, as much as we know about how AI search or how AI chooses its sources, you really want to be showing up the same across all of those so that you have a really strong narrative on AI. I want to know what separates a good narrative from, or a strong narrative from a weaker narrative. Do you have any examples of companies you don't need to name names that maybe aren't presenting in the best way possible? Their positioning's off, their messaging's off. What mistakes might people make in that area? I think the major mistake is actually not knowing exactly what it is you're selling, so giving too many messages out to the market. You mentioned consistency, and that is really important, and that's always been really important in the comms process or ahead of a fundraise, ahead of going public. That's always been super important. But because information is so easily serviceable across so many different channels, that consistency piece is more important than ever. And what makes a good narrative is understanding very, very clearly, or allowing your stakeholders and your external stakeholders to understand very, very clearly what it is you're offering. What do you do that is different? Why is it exciting? How are you growing? How is it. Are you growing through acquisition of customers? Are you growing your product portfolio? Are you growing your tech capabilities and your Innovation, there has to be something that's going to grab the attention. Numbers are not always just enough. There has to be a little bit more than just that. What are you doing? That's very, very different because the world is competitive. So the best narratives ahead of any kind of investment round or any kind of public offering is demonstrating to the people that matter why you should be taken seriously, why you're exciting and why they should stop in their day and take a little bit of time to investigate your company, your product, your service. Thus that for me is what makes a great narrative. So it's almost infusing a little bit of emotion in there, like what's going to create that, you know, excitement from an investor, what's going to make them sit up in their seats and think, oh wow, this is innovation. Yeah, completely. I mean there's so many ways of doing this and there's so many different strands to this coming to life. It could be something, you know, as simple as starting off with a really, really compelling founder story. I've got a client here who in the health tech space looking specifically at cancer care and post cancer care. But it was born out of a very, very personal journey and it was transformed into a very, very forward thinking edge of technology offering that transforms how people, patients and their families deal with the after effects of cancer care. And it's so exciting. But it was born out of something that was true, that was genuine and that, you know, really sparked someone to take action. So that's a great example of someone taking something personal and transforming into a business that is actually pushing boundaries for a much, much wider audience. But it could be equally, it could be something like a new type of product or a new technology innovation that is doing something really, really different. You know, this is the great thing about the age that we live in is that tech is kind of unbound, is boundless and we, you know, there's so much potential, the creativity involved in innovation, it is, is so exciting. And that can also carry a story and help develop a really, really compelling narrative. So there could be lots of different strands that build credibility. It's not just one thing, but I think for your organization you've got to have a very clear idea of what it is, what makes you special and how you then deliver that message and where and you know, a founder led story is the ultimate kind of proof point of authenticity. Do you think investors can since win something's not authentic? I think good investors know. Yeah, I think. Well, I mean good investors will be able to spot A great commercial opportunity. And that's backed up by proof points, by growth, all these kind of things. But sometimes mission driven founder stories can really, really grab, grab the attention in a way that other things can't. And it's not the only way of doing it, by the way. But I see some great ones on our client base that have come to life and really carried the story and developed on something else. You don't want to fall into the pitfall of relying too heavily on the founder story. There's got to be more to it. It can't just be a passion project for an individual. There's got to be genuine, you know, genuine reasons to invest, genuine reasons to take a company seriously. But that could be a good starting, a good door opener. Absolutely. It feels like it's, you know, predetermining our future almost as a society as well. Which gives us a great story for our impact as well. Definitely. So I wanted, for my final question, I just want to bring this to life a bit and give some, something that the listeners can really kind of hold on to. Maybe take wash away the abstract and give a clear example of how you've helped a client in tech reach their next funding round. Their IPO helps them achieve their kind of growth ambitions through comms and marketing and through this narrative. Your narratives. Yeah, I've got, I've probably got two examples I can think of off the top of my head. One, we'll say, we'll call them company A, a well established EV charging infrastructure company, large, great footprint, amazing software, amazing, amazing technology, but working in a space that was rapidly being adopted globally and globally by consumers. So EVs, you know, there's a lot of question about whether or not people would ever switch to EVs and then suddenly it happened and they were part of that journey. So we worked with them as they were raising a large amount of money, a significant amount of money to help with future growth, future adoption, sustainability. Just taking that, being part of that EV journey globally and moving it forward for the benefit of consumers. So working with them, it was actually about how do they talk about themselves as a company moving away from the innovative and the exciting to being seen as a serious player in the space internationally. So it meant really thinking about how our comms deliver the story, deliver the messages. It wasn't just about trying to find any opportunity in any trade publication. It was about being very, very selective about how we used our very experienced and very smart spokespeople to deliver a really future gazing story to the market. That would grab the attention of future investors when they were ready to go for that serious round. They knew who their targets were. They were very clear about the kind of investment they wanted to attract and where they wanted to attract it from. But our job was actually to map that out and to find where are those messages going to land the best, where is it going to have longevity, where's it going to really move the needle for their business? And really careful and considered strategic comms, not just to spray and pray, but actually having a roadmap for the next three years. How did we elevate their communications to be more sophisticated, to be more consistent, to demonstrate more proof points, to highlight partnerships, investment, investment in people, investment technology and just all of it navaring up to a company that was really at the cutting edge of this space over the course of two or three years ahead of some serious investment rounds. That sounds really exciting and thank you to it was. And we actually ended up helping them on the journey to go public. And that was the combination of that kind of two year long or three year long comm strategy and it was a very nice moment to see it come to life and see it come to fruition. And the second one is actually a more recent one. I'm not going to, again, not going to name names, but this is in the fintech space. I'm currently working with a super exciting fintech that has an amazing customer base, has an amazing customer proposition. It is doing really, really, really well. But they've got a question, how do they scale up and how do they scale up quickly? And one of the routes that they're going down is external investment. So what does that look like for them and how do they get there? Going from being an independently privately owned company to suddenly seeking external investment from major players so they can scale at large and very, very quickly is requiring us to take a completely different view on what their comms should look like and how we should attract, you know, potential investors, what our investor relations looks like, how we talk to external stakeholders, how we keep our internal stakeholders updated as well. But also like we talked about earlier on, we've got the whole AI element in this. So if we were having this conversation with a particular client three or four years ago, we probably wouldn't even have had a consideration about how we show up on AI search and in LLMs. But this has got to be actually at the crux of the strategy. Now we are building out programs that attract and resonate with all of these different stakeholders. But the central core bit is showing up via an AI search and on LLMs so that everyone can find out information about them. And the message is consistent across all channels, whether it's, you know, the execs, LinkedIn, whether it's their own channels, whether it's media, whether it's analyst reports. That is the job. And that's one of the key parts of that, that process we're going through right now. And that's what's one of the major things that changed. Wow. And it feels like you really are at the frontier of this. We're only just learning how to navigate this space and try and learn and try and measure as much as possible as well. Yeah. And actually, one of the major developments of AI and AI visibility is measurability. So PR has given us an additional measurability element to our PR and our comms work. We have some hard facts. We can see how well we're showing up. We can see what is being said about us much easier. We can see whether we're being surfaced and whether we're visible at all or not. And those are milestones and markers for us as a comms team, which we can constantly change, we can constantly adapt, and we constantly tweak until we are, you know, where we want to be. Wow. Well, I can't wait to hear how this growth journey goes for your exciting FinTech client. We'll have to have you back. I would love to come and talk about it more. So let's check in maybe in a year's time on that one. Absolutely. It was an absolute pleasure to have you here, Liam. Thank you so much.