Culture and values at Forward Partners. Forward Partners is a new style of venture firm that gets ideas off the ground. Focussing on ecommerce, they bring money, rugged business processes and heaps of ingenuity to form your dream into your business. They welcome you as a real partner. There are no catches.

1. A W H I P A N D A
L I G H T S A B R E
A T R U E S T O R Y ( S O R T O F )

3. What are
Indiana Jones
and Yoda
doing here?

4. They represent
two archetypes
that we relate to at
Forward Partners

5. What’s an
archetype
Yoda?
Seek advice you must?
Universal unconscious
patterns that drive
behaviour they are.

6. EXPLORER SAGE

7. Follows paths that are self-
discovered and inspires others to
explore unchartered territory
CHARACTERISTICS
- Independence
- Testing limits
- Bravery
- Non-conformity
EXPLORER

8. “We do not follow maps to buried
treasures and X never ever marks
the spot”
– Indiana Jones
EXPLORER

9. “If you want to be a good
archeologist, you gotta get out of
the library!”
– Indiana Jones
EXPLORER

10. Always seeks out the truth
CHARACTERISTICS
- Wisdom
- Intelligence
- Clarity of thought
- Rational decision making
SAGE

11. “Always pass on what you have
learned.”
– Yoda
SAGE

12. “Do or do not.
There is no try.”
– Yoda
SAGE

13. Our team aspire to be like
Indy and Yoda
There are 7 ways we do that

14. Seek, share and retain know-how
Collaborate to be our best
Make good decisions
Act with courage
Be creative, adventurous and open-minded
Get it done, well
Enjoy the journey
7 T H I N G S W E L O O K F O R
I N O U R S E L V E S

15. L I V I N G O U R V A L U E S

16. A lightsabre and whip are always
at hand in case of emergency
Indy and Yoda don’t have a dress
code, so neither do we
Monthly socials connect everyone
in the room, both Forward Partners’
team and our partners
Private family healthcare is
standard
We measure our happiness every
day

17. Our steampunk hat is used for time
travel and predicting the future
Our company handbook is light. “Use
good judgement” is our main policy
Personal reading and blogging is
encouraged, as is public speaking
We capture our methods and tips in
our “Startup Playbook”
Our quarterly team objectives are
decided as a team

18. We love our open office where we
collaborate with our partners
We’ll try new methods, tools,
processes
Team members can expense any
non-fiction book
We’re data-inspired and use
dashboards to guide us
We eat lunch together on Mondays.
Always

19. We run retrospectives to look at
how we are succeeding and where
we can improve
Our process for reviewing and
closing investments is fast
Feedback to entrepreneurs is
honest
We have simple standard terms
and documents

20. 7 T H I N G S W E L O O K F O R I N O U R S E L V E S
T H E D E T A I L

21. S E E K , S H A R E A N D
R E T A I N K N O W - H O W

22. We have deep experience, knowledge and skills in our own
specialist areas.
We share our expertise, helping entrepreneurs to build great
businesses.
We’re always learning, absorbing new knowledge through
practice.
S E E K , S H A R E A N D
R E T A I N K N O W - H O W

23. “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t
understand it well enough”
Albert Einstein

24. C O L L A B O R A T E T O
B E O U R B E S T

25. It’s by combining and playing to our different strengths that we
can achieve great things.
We solve problems together and encourage each other to be the
best we can. We give and ask for constructive feedback and
assistance.
We want to be the most helpful team that an entrepreneur could
possibly partner with.
C O L L A B O R A T E T O B E
O U R B E S T

26. “In the long history of humankind (and
animal kind, too) those who learned
to collaborate and improvise most
effectively have prevailed.”
Charles Darwin, (maybe)

27. M A K E G O O D D E C I S I O N S

28. Good decisions are based on good information
and smart thinking.
We are decisive and confidently move forward, being able to
explain why. Good judgement includes the small stuff.
We always strive to be fair and balanced.
M A K E G O O D D E C I S I O N S

29. “An expert is someone who has
succeeded in making decisions and
judgements simpler through
knowing what to pay attention to
and what to ignore.”
Edward De Bono

30. A C T W I T H C O U R A G E

31. To be honest, decisive and effective means first being
courageous.
We have the courage to take brave decisions and do the right
thing. We say what we really think.
When the path is unclear we assess the options, face uncertainty
and commit.
A C T W I T H C O U R A G E

32. “Success is not final, failure is
not fatal: it is the courage to
continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill

33. B E C R E A T I V E , A D V E N T U R O U S
A N D O P E N - M I N D E D

34. We believe that great creativity comes through using good
processes, leading edge frameworks and testing the
boundaries of what’s possible.
We actively seek out new ideas, methods, and people.
We recognise and challenge constraints as we aspire to bold
solutions.
B E C R E A T I V E , A D V E N T U R O U S &
O P E N - M I N D E D

35. “As an engineer I'm constantly spotting
problems and plotting how to solve
them.”
“Life is a mountain of solvable problems,
and I enjoy that..”
James Dyson

36. G E T I T D O N E ,
W E L L

37. A bias to action and speed is critical for startup success.
We’re resourceful, pragmatic with a sense of urgency. We work
hard. If we say we will do something, we do it.
We strive to find the optimum balance between speed and
quality.
G E T I T D O N E , W E L L

38. “The most effective way to do it is to do it.”
Amelia Earhart

39. E N J O Y T H E J O U R N E Y

40. We’ll be doing this for a long time together and it’s important to
have fun along the way.
We enjoy each others company, celebrate when things go well
and stay cheerful in the face of challenges.
We take time to get to know each other and our portfolio
companies.
E N J O Y T H E J O U R N E Y

41. “Today was good. Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one’”
Dr Suess

42. Seek, share and retain know-how
Collaborate to be our best
Make good decisions
Act with courage
Be creative, adventurous and open-minded
Get it done, well
Enjoy the journey

43. www.forwardpartners.com
@ForwardPrt