Baz Saidieh

Baz started working in the tech startup scene over 15 years ago, having come out of the electronic and manufacturing industries. He worked alongside seasoned investors in building an international consumer data capture business that allowed relevant data to be entered into handheld technologies, at a time way before the iPhone and 4G when WAP was cutting edge. In his role Baz developed and managed the partnerships with Vodafone, Virgin and Orange assisting these businesses to build their in-house capabilities. He was also responsible for helping to secure the company’s early sales on the West Coast and in Europe. Baz went on to build a career as a management consultant with Accenture working across multiple industries such as Biotech, FMCG and F1. Working across Europe and the US, Baz advised global leaders on a range of growth and strategy challenges. During this time, Baz seeded the idea to build a global Medical Technology practice, and in under three years took it from zero to a multi-million dollar global enterprise with quadruple digit growth. Latterly, Baz has advised a London based Venture Capital fund, where he was responsible for supporting a £50m portfolio. Baz supported fundraising for three of the portfolio companies as well as providing business strategy support for the breadth of the portfolio. As CEO at TrueStart, Baz oversees all investment decisions as well as business operations, whilst actively supporting the portfolio companies. This support ranges from helping the portfolio companies with licensing deals, securing relationships with key retailers, and preparing these companies for fund raising. Baz has been involved in dozens of fundraises and is an advisor or board member to over 20 businesses.