Matt Jonns

Investing in, and building, tech companies with non-technical founders | Founder and CEO @ Founder + Lightning

I build and back ambitious ventures - with product, capital, and talent.

It started with helping to digitise my family’s business 15 years ago. Since then, I’ve worked with 40+ startups to turn ideas into companies - raising millions and launching dozens of products along the way.

That journey led to Founder + Lightning and now The Lightning Group - a group of connected services that help startups, scale-ups, and corporates move faster and smarter.

What we do: 

• Strategy and product development that gets you to launch and beyond 
• Access to capital and investor networks
• High-performing, flexible talent (onshore + offshore)
• Designing and building venture studios 

If you’re looking to raise, launch, or scale - or you’re just figuring out where to start - feel free to reach out.

https://www.founderandlightning.com


Founder & CEO

(Formerly ucreate.it)

We partner with ambitious, Non-tech Founders and equip them with the team, tools, expertise and scale to build highly successful technology companies

100+ team - 25 portfolio companies - £100 million + valuation - £30 million + raised 

Our offices are in London, Cardiff, Chandigarh and Kraków

We don’t talk enough about founder risk.

Both financial and personal risk. 

The kind that creeps in when there’s no safety net.
No guaranteed salary. No fallback option. No HR to call when things go sideways. The fear of being “unemployable” if it all goes wrong. 

In the UK, we’ve built up decent support for employees - and that’s great. 
But we’re still awkward about supporting founders.
The people who create the jobs, that then pay the taxes, and drive most of the innovation.

Over the last 10 years I’ve worked with 100+ early-stage founders.
And I’ve seen the same things, over and over again:

• Founders paying their team before they pay themselves
• Signing personal guarantees just to unlock a small credit line
• Funding payroll from personal savings - or worse, debt
• Making redundancies and taking all that personal pressure on 
• Spending their weekends trying to fix things quietly so their team doesn’t panic
• Going months without knowing if they’ll be able to raise, ship, or even survive

It’s a lonely spot to operate from.
And most people don’t see it - especially once the PR narrative kicks in.

But the truth is: the first 12–24 months of any startup (and often years and years of any business) usually look like this.
Low pay, high stress, total exposure.

We should be doing more to support those people - not just when they raise or exit, but when they’re in the middle of the mess.

If you’re a founder - 
what’s something you’ve done to keep the lights on that no one saw ?

Venture Studio Founder & Startup Investor.

Edward Murphy

FactorySpec

What we do is the following

1. Convert Factory layout to BIM
2. Convert Machines/ equipment to exploded diagrams using CAD
3. We then use object recognition to view the exploded diagrams in AR
4. We then convert instruction manuals to PDF and attach to exploded diagrams
5. We automate the purchasing of the parts in the exploded CAD diagrams into the ERP system to automate the purchasing
6. We overlay this with analytics to see all your spend per site looking @ savings of plus 25%
7. The whole layout can be viewed in augmented reality via Microsoft HoloLens tablet or mobile phone
8. Integrate you sensor data from all machines and sites onto one platform
9. We also be doing remote work via AR

We have no competition and can also convert the CAD files to CAM via vendor Protolabs to have a quote in 30mins and delivery of parts produced either by 3D printing, CNC machined parts, injection molded parts or even sheet metal work within 24 hours.

While we are concentrating on engineering spend will have scope to consolidate all spend per factory.

This is the fundamental building blocks for the industry 4.0 that is coming and we will be positioned to take advantage of it.

If it is something your considering please contacts me directly Edward Murphy or comment/ connect and will contact you with more details directly and follow up a with free zoom meeting to see if our solution is a good fit for your factories and can service all locations globally up to 1000 sites

Size of the market 10 million factories globally

Best regards

Edward Murphy
Founder & CEO of FactorySpec
+44 07743621221
eddie.murphy.17.09.1982@gmail.com.

Founder, CEO

https://corporatespec.com

What i have done @ www.corporatespec.com is a follows:

Brought in house the whole supplychain

Secured 2 years of forward stock and exclusive supplier agreement 

25 000 units in stock and dispatched within 24 hours and delivered next working day within a 2 hour window across Europe. 

Year 2 Turnover 12 million looking to double in year three

Co-Owner Director of Procurement and supply chain 

IESA Ltd (Bakkavör Group Plc) 

•	I also started to request that the drawings of the site and the machinery within to be digitised via BIM and Cad format so that information was to hand immediately and requested the manufacturers of the equipment to produce the instruction manuals in the same format as Haynes Pro digital automotive platform broken down product. This information was also passed up to head of procurement to cost and roll out across the rest of the sites. (The cost for this pushed to the vendors as once done for each machine reduced cost in printing of operation and maintenance manuals but the cost of storing the data was under negotiation possibly shared cost as the manufacturers only pay for the own products and we cover the need to build data base of all the equipment used in all the sites. The monetary savings by doing this was access to correct information faster so cost saving in labour also site specific part numbers assigned to the manufactures part numbers so reduction in place orders for replacement and eliminate human error from identification of parts to be ordered between the engineer and the purchasing department also reduction in the time taken to order the part and confirmation with the vendor as digital exploded visual representation of the part could be issued with the purchase order.) This will also be the basis of the information required if augmented reality becomes cost effective in the future and I believe that is will reducing the time to identify order/manufacture or repair a fault.    
•	I will give you an example of direct saving made in the role: Castor wheels 100mm diameter was purchasing and £17.50 each changed spec to Nylon and purchased at £1.10 per unit annual usage of 4800 units total monetary saving of £78,720 over a 12 month period.

Buyer / Stores Manager Part 3

•	I will give you an example of how I identified and recouped money from parts in stock for redundant machines on site boxed and labelled by manufacturer and part numbers and offered to other sites then offered back to the vendor hoping to recoup what we paid for it but as no longer any use to us, so any money recouped was a bonus and the stock value write off a little softer to take as had to be factored into weekly budget.
•	I will give you an example of reduction of stock but in two different ways: 
•	First was all homogenous Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE)  conveyer belts that were currently in stock but only four different widths but 100 plus of different lengths which would be in held in stock for site critical machines and others ordered next day from a vast range of manufacturers so identified all belt sizes required and put an case in form the role of the stock belt to be put in stock but cut and fixed together on site so eliminated the need for all the different sizes to be kept in stock reducing the numbers on SKUs on the system down to four. It freed up shelf space and money tied up with the different sizes in stock but this also reduced the lead time for get the product. This also allowed the consolidation of the manufacturers this was also past up to procurement to apply in other sites.

Buyer / Stores Manager Part 4

•	For the second I consolidate the s/s wire belting from a stock items to a preventative maintenance contract the reason to eliminate the cost of soring the belts as a stock item and had to have duplicates of all the belts as they production critical item and down time would have cost £10,000 per hour. They were bulky and expensive and had a total stock value of over £100,000. I brought in the different manufacturers of the belts and stated to them that I wanted them to provide me with a planned maintenance and replacement of each of the belts on site that would allow me to eliminate the stock holding but ensure the belts would maintained or replaced frequently enough to eliminate down time. They first stated it could not be done but when I went on to explain the increased revenue they would generate in changing the belts every 3 months and with a planned schedule they could produce the goods to order reducing there need to hold stock. I discussed the touchy subject of automating the manufacturing process as one vendor made product by machine and the other manually using a workforce. (Work force could be retrained and installers so they would still have job just in a different role). But then burst the bubble that the belt price will be based on commodity price plus a margin to cover the change and structure of the delivery of the products. I know that it lead to an increased cost but was a fixed cost that could built into next year’s budget thus eliminating surprize costs and eliminated the stock holding.

Buyer/ Stores Manager Part 5

•	I recommended and started to implement that all the vendors provide digital 3D cad files for the parts in stock and all the parts from manufacturers parts list the reason was to have the file on site to possible consolidate via OME manufacturer (massive reduction in cost when rolled across all sites passed up the procurement department to implement) or for all the parts to be made from the stock material in stock. The aim was to reduce lead time and as the site was staffed 24hours a day and 7 days a week and would allow the manufacture of the items as and when required, This in turn allow for the reduction of holding of spare parts on site thus reducing stock holding value.

Buyer / Stores Manager Part 2

•	Brought buying back from head office to the site where I was based to reduce lead time of ordering goods from 1-3 days to immediately. The reason was to bring in material/parts in as fast as possible to reduce the cost of down time in the production facility which was calculated £10,000 per hour. 
•	I downloaded the vendor list from SAP operating system and Iesa’s own operating system built on top of the SAP’s operating system for the site and list for all vendors from the other 400 plus sites under management and approved by head of procurement and then selected the preferred vendors by category and channelled all work via them to increase spend with the preferred companies. By doing so planted the seed of increasing the revenue for the companies which in turn will allow head of procurement to have more leverage when the next round of tender bids will be issued.
•	I started to consolidated the products in the store room over 6k of individual SKUs by sub category and correct sock profile and volume (min/max) based on the 12 months usage of those products with aim to reduce the stock holding on site which was over £550k I started to assign new barcode and product identification on the bins broken down by size & manufacturer etc. (Recommended vending machines and load cells to give exact stock levels and control the access to the items to reduce the manual stock take and ensure/reduce items going missing. Pushed up to procurement but the cost would have been passed to the vendor so shelved for the moment but to be review in the future)

Buyer / Stores Manager Part 1

Matthew Clark Ltd (ASAP Recruitment Ltd)

•    Matthew Clark Ltd: I was the working as the drivers mate based out of the Park Royal depot and was helping load and unload alcoholic drinks to pubs and clubs around London started at 5am and would finish about 4-5pm

General Laborer

Arclite Removals Ltd (ASAP Recruitment Ltd)

•	Arclite Removals Ltd: I was up at 5am to get to Twickenham for an 8am start. The roles were assigned in the morning in the office by the owner. Depending on the size of the removal I would be either assigned to help pack house hold goods for the next day load and move to new house. I also drove a small Luton van when required. I also helped deconstruct furniture and reassembled it on arrival to the new house.  The rest of the time was picking up boxes by room and carried it to the van and helped load the van with the customers items

AMEY PLC  (ASAP Recruitment Ltd)

• Amey Plc: I was doing the collection of waste around Hillingdon this was based on a 2-3 days a week. Start at 6am and finish at 4-5 pm.

Car Giant Ltd (Excel Recruitment Ltd, Greenford)

•    I worked in the customer service department and that consisted of moving sold cars from storage area wash, hover and polish the car and move to collection point for the customer. Working in part of a team and were doing between 300 – 500 cars a day.  This was based on a 60 hour week in shift pattern spread across night and day 7 days a week.

Customer Service

Feb 2015 – May 2015 Amazon (Transline Group Recruitment)

•	I was a driver out of the Hayes depot and had a start time of 7am in the morning the got a parking space and have to sort out the 220 parcels average into delivery order then pack into the van and then drive to surrey where my delivery round was and then would return back to the depot at about 5-6pm later some days to return the handheld device that was used to get signatures from the customers when dropping of the packages. I was sent to Hertfordshire main depot and was a very impressive site to help out when they were short of drivers. Amazon a company to watch for the future because a Tech, logistic, manufacturer, media and retailer. When I was leaving they were moving the route I was doing to surrey to further reduce the time taken to deliver goods working towards a 30min delivery for order to delivery within 30mins amazing.

Delivery Driver

Orridge Ltd (Part of the Christie Group Plc)

•	I was trained to use the companies equipment to take stock for a lot of the main retailers and the work was given by area so work was given when and only working within your area.

Stock Counter

London United Busways Ltd 

•	I worked here for a week as holiday cover and worked in a three man team to ensure all the parts were ordered for the garage to ensure the buses could be repaired and returned back into service as fast possible. I also looked after the flue and chemical via digital display on the computer system to ensure they never dropped below ones day use.

Senior Buyer

Founder, CEO of FactorySpec

A highly strategic and results orientated Purchasing manager     with particular strengths in the management of international suppliers, the delivery of cost reduction programmes, and the application of modern sourcing techniques in the Construction, Marketing, Technology, Retail and Design sectors.

Excellent Leadership and Management skills in the coaching, motivating and structuring of multi-disciplinary teams, and in the appraisal process to monitor performance, setting new targets and objectives

Exceptional Stakeholder Management skills in presenting to Board Members, influencing internal colleagues, negotiating with suppliers, and advising customers, demonstrating the ability to build and maintain strong working relationships

Strong analytical and evaluation skills in identifying opportunities for improvement, to initiate new creative and innovative ideas, and in the execution of detailed planning to deliver and implement the projects

Outstanding ability in the rationalisation of products and suppliers, to partner and collaborate with vendors to produce sustainable contractual agreements and improved systems and processes.


•	I also started to request that the drawings of the site and the machinery within to be digitised via BIM and Cad format so that information was to hand immediately and requested the manufacturers of the equipment to produce the instruction manuals in the same format as Haynes Pro digital automotive platform broken down product. This information was also passed up to head of procurement to cost and roll out across the rest of the sites. (The cost for this pushed to the vendors as once done for each machine reduced cost in printing of operation and maintenance manuals but the cost of storing the data was under negotiation possibly shared cost as the manufacturers only pay for the own products and we cover the need to build data base of all the equipment used in all the sites. The monetary savings by doing this was access to correct information faster so cost saving in labour also site specific part numbers assigned to the manufactures part numbers so reduction in place orders for replacement and eliminate human error from identification of parts to be ordered between the engineer and the purchasing department also reduction in the time taken to order the part and confirmation with the vendor as digital exploded visual representation of the part could be issued with the purchase order.) This will also be the basis of the information required if augmented reality becomes cost effective in the future and I believe that is will reducing the time to identify order/manufacture or repair a fault.    
•	I will give you an example of direct saving made in the role: Castor wheels 100mm diameter was purchasing and £17.50 each changed spec to Nylon and purchased at £1.10 per unit annual usage of 4800 units total monetary saving of £78,720 over a 12 month period. 


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The Battle

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