Marcus Sterling is a venture partner and startup finance strategist specialising in fundraising, financial modelling, and exit planning for technology companies. He holds an MBA from London Business School and ACA qualification from his early career at EY. With 15 years as both founder and investor, he advises startups from seed through Series B on capital strategy and investor relations.
Marcus Sterling brings the rare perspective of someone who has sat on both sides of the fundraising table, having built venture-backed startups and now deployed capital into the next generation of founders. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) through Ernst & Young's technology audit practice, he pursued an MBA at London Business School where he specialised in entrepreneurial finance and venture capital. His operating experience includes CFO roles at two venture-backed fintech startups, one achieving successful trade sale and one navigating the painful lessons of a down-round before eventual recovery. Marcus subsequently transitioned to investing, joining a mid-stage venture fund as Operating Partner before his current role as Venture Partner at a seed-focused firm deploying across UK and European technology companies. His technical expertise spans financial modelling for investor presentations, cap table management, term sheet negotiation covering liquidation preferences and anti-dilution provisions, and the operational metrics that genuinely predict startup success versus vanity indicators. He has reviewed over 2,000 pitch decks and understands precisely why most fail to progress despite strong underlying businesses. Marcus writes because he wishes someone had shared these insights when he was a first-time founder making expensive mistakes with equity and investor selection. His articles address founders navigating their first fundraise alongside experienced operators preparing for growth rounds, always grounded in the commercial realities of UK startup ecosystems.