A commercial and legal advisory service for business builders

Guided by 3 principles: mission, chemistry and skills match, I help ambitious and talented founders grow revenue, expand internationally and protect their assets and commercial interests

What I do:

 

Advisory for software-centric businesses

I have a natural fit with companies building software solutions, especially data analytics and insights technology.

Working closely with strategy, product, engineering and commercial teams to build and integrate climate analytics tools for the BlackRock Aladdin® platform and providing Sustainability consulting advice to government and multilateral institutions and global banks, I developed a deep interest in software being applied towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and measurement solutions.

Despite holding senior executive roles at complex, global companies, I kept being drawn to opportunities to be “employee no.1”, whether that was contributing to commercial growth and building teams from scratch for dynamic business units or in new countries. I bring together this combination of institutional and entrepreneurial experience to help high growth companies build their businesses, now with a much more hands-on approach.

My technical and industry background: 

Legal - ex-Allen & Overy, global magic circle law firm; English-qualified; led negotiations and business development for several emerging markets, including co-founding and growing the Istanbul office

Financial services - led debt and equity capital markets and banking deals on behalf of global investment banks and Fortune250 corporates, including market firsts

Tech and consulting - ex-BlackRock Managing Director; built and led global legal function for the $1.3+bn tech and consulting businesses, supporting revenue growth organically and through acquisitions, product and process innovation, managing regulatory, operational and legal risk

  • >protection of key intellectual property

    >accelerating revenue growth by connecting product development to commercial strategy

    >negotiating and closing customer and partnership deals

    >international expansion: regulatory, licensing, cross border issues

    >risk & compliance assessments

    >project managing discrete, time sensitive tasks with keen attention to detail

    >having been first on the ground in several roles, I love building teams, functions and company culture from scratch

    >managing external legal counsel / coaching internal legal counsel

 

Arts advisory

I love bringing together my network and expertise across finance, tech, law and the arts to advise creatives and creative businesses. As a music obsessive, my current passion project centres around platforms enabling composers, writers and artists to retain control over their creative output and to be fairly acknowledged and paid for their work.

Advisory roles include:

Lady & Bird Films A female-founded, multi-award winning film company that focuses on cinematic documentaries showcasing unique perspectives through powerful, ethical storytelling

  • I represent the company and their projects, helping to grow a passionate and supportive community of patrons and investors, and generally shout about the incredible stories they tell

Nonclassical A charitable organisation founded in 2004 by composer Gabriel Prokofiev, Nonclassical is a music promoter, record label and events producer focused on developing, producing and promoting cross-genre innovative music, nurturing emerging artists and bringing new music to new audiences

  • I am a non-executive director, providing independent strategic and legal oversight and guidance to the charity

ACAVA A pioneer of delivering arts in health and wellbeing settings, bringing artists and local communities together and using culture for social good

  • Board advisor for 10 years, during which we transformed ACAVA’s commercial model, ensuring its long term financial stability and viability following significant cuts to government funding for the arts and socio-economic shifts in the UK. During 2017-18, we ran the hiring process for the current CEO and enabled smooth transition of management team

 

Investment

I’m always on the look out for entrepreneurs to back, particularly those building businesses that align with my values and personal investment thesis. I strongly believe that angel and venture capital, when deployed responsibly, have important roles to play in filling the funding gap when it comes to higher risk, early innovation, early stage businesses and/or under-represented founders.

Active member and LP in venture communities, including:

Alma Angels - angel community investing in and supporting female-led businesses

Ventures Together - collective of 150+ Europe-wide operators and entrepreneurs providing investment and support to founders

Rally Cap VC - a venture fund and collective, investing in early-stage fintech in emerging markets and climate tech globally

  • I invest:

    • in tech-enabled solutions

    • across 3 main themes: (i) climate change (mitigation / adaptation / carbon removal), (ii) health and wellbeing and (iii) unlocking value for intellectual property rights owners within creative arts industries

    • globally, to learn from, and deploy solutions across, different markets

 

Supporting founders and funds with:

Angel investment

Deal sourcing

Founder <> investor intros

Collaborative due diligence

 

Fellowships and mentoring

I mentor founders independently and as a Fellow on venture builder and entrepreneur programmes. I’ve had the benefit of generous and valuable mentorship throughout my career and I enjoy giving back this support.

ZincVC‘s venture builder and investment platform selects and invests in founders who are using science and technology to build commercial, scalable businesses to improve the health of people and planet

  • I provide office hours and ad hoc advice to a cohort of 70 founders tackling some of the toughest problems society faces today. Most recent cohort: environmental threats to our health

About me

Hi! I’m Karen Lee and, outside of Lightful Advisory, you can usually find me balancing precariously on a surfboard, dancing to live music or exploring our beautiful planet

I’ve lived and worked in 7 countries (and counting), and am currently based between Lisbon and London

I am also a qualified Pilates instructor (on mat and reformer) and committed yogi

If you’re interested in working together, please get in touch!

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