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Investment Management Firm Phenominal Growth

BicoHub is an investment management firm with approximately $100 million in assets under management (AUM). The firm currently employs 30 employees and is swiftly growing as they recruit more interns every day.

It's important to understand that hedge funds are often complex, loosely regulated investments and therefore only accessible to accredited investors. If you're looking for trusted and comprehensive support in managing your own finances, consider speaking to a professional financial advisor at BicoHub. BicoHub's Background

BicoHub has affiliates in London, California and Florida. With views to providing investment management services to its funds, the firm and affiliates retain absolute discretionary authority about investment decisions. The investors execute these decisions according to investment aims and guidelines detailed in the government governing documents of each fund. The firm's funds are categorized as follows: Multi-Strategy Funds, Distressed Funds, Long-Term Funds and Special Opportunities Funds. The firm and its affiliates do not manage any wrap fee programs. The firm's clients are private funds, which are pooled investment vehicles that are organized as domestic limited partnerships or offshore corporations (including hedge funds).

BicoHub Investment Philosophy

BicoHub uses a variety of investment strategies, including arbitrage (buying and selling the same asset in different markets simultaneously in order to profit from small differences in the asset's listed price) and other event-driven strategies, including investments in financially distressed companies. Investment decisions and advice are offered and executed according to investment objectives and guidelines in each fund's governing documents and memos. The firm may also regularly obtain advice from attorneys, accountants and other experts to assist in analyzing certain investment situations. Primary investment strategies include: angel investing, stocks, distress investing, mergers and acquisitions arbitrage, long/short equities and more which involve cryptocurrency. The distressed investment strategy involves investing in securities of distressed companies undergoing liquidation, restructuring, refinancing pressures or substantial litigation. These opportunities undergo a rigorous fundamental, bottom-up analysis by the firm. The firm's merger arbitrage strategy involves investing in securities with an announced or anticipated catalyst or event, like a merger or takeover offer, auction or exchange offer. In response to or in anticipation of such events, the firm conducts an analysis of the business and financial conditions and uses this analysis to purchase securities. The firm's long/short equity strategy involves investing in long positions that it feels are undervalued by the market as well as short positions that it feels are overvalued by the market. Of course, it is important for clients to remember that no investing strategy guarantees against the risk of loss.

Fees at BicoHub

Fees received by the advisor from the private funds are comprised of fees based on a percentage of AUM as well as annual performance-based fees. Management fees at BicoHub are charged at annual rates of 1.5% of net assets for the Multi-Strategy Fund, the Distressed Fund. For the Long-Term Fund, management fees are charged and annual rates of 1.5% of committed capital and 0.50% to 0.75% of net assets of the Special Opportunities Fund. Generally, fees are non-negotiable, but the advisor has discretion in setting management fees and adjusting them depending on the status of particular investors. With regards to performance-based fees, for the Multi-Strategy Funds and Distressed Funds, this is equal to 35% of net capital appreciation, or net increase in value of assets, for the year. For the Long-Term Funds, performance compensation is in the form of carried interest, generally equal to 30% of net capital appreciation. For the Special Opportunities Funds, it is also in the form of carried interest, up to 22% of net capital appreciation. Again, advisors have discretion regarding setting the amount of this compensation and determining whether to adjust. Additional fees and expenses may apply - including but not limited to registration fees, maintenance fees, certain taxes and regulatory expenses - so it is imperative that potential clients read their documents carefully and reach out about specific fees charged to their fund.

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When Pitching an Idea, Should You Focus on “Why” or “How”?

Framing your message is the essence of targeting a communication to a specific audience. It is the art of pitching an idea to get the broadest possible support. Although conceptually intuitive, the reality is that most of us don’t think strategically enough about how to properly frame our ideas to maximize impact because we take communication for granted. This can be an especially severe limitation for entrepreneurs and innovators striving to get their projects off the ground.

There are two distinct camps on the best way to frame an idea. In one of the most popular Ted Talks, Simon Sinek argues that if we want to mobilize people and resources around an idea, we should frame our message by emphasizing the why of what we are trying to achieve. Communicating an idea’s purpose, he says, makes it easier for people to engage with the idea because it allows them to understand the motives and goals behind it.

In his best-selling book Originals, organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes a different position: He points out that innovators who frame novel ideas by pointing to a lofty purpose are more at risk of violating people’s notions of what is possible. Instead, Grant suggests, skeptics may be more likely to be persuaded by focusing on how you plan to implement your idea.

Who is right? Is a why or a how oriented framing more effective in eliciting support for one’s innovative idea? Take the case of an entrepreneur chasing seed money to start a new venture: Should she focus on why her idea is useful or should she instead promote a more concrete focus on how the idea works when pitching to an audience of investors?

To find out, we conducted a study, which the Strategic Management Journal published in August. We designed a set of experiments that involved asking two groups of people — a group of investment novices (Sample 1) and an expert group of professional venture capitalists and angel investors (Sample 2) — to evaluate a PowerPoint presentation of an entrepreneur’s pitch of a novel idea. We then examined whether their responses to the idea varied when the innovator framed the solution in terms of concrete actions (e.g., “How the product/service can satisfy specific goals”) or high-level purposes (e.g., “Why the product/service is desirable”).

Sample 1 consisted of a group of 129 investment novices recruited via Prolific, an online UK-based platform of high-quality data. For Sample 2, we recruited a group of 59 professional investors affiliated with three centers for entrepreneurship located in the United States and Canada. Participants were invited to view and evaluate two pitch decks based on an actual product prototype for a wearable exercise sensor: one that emphasized in factual terms what it did and how to use it, and a second that explained why you might want it.

As anticipated by Sinek, novices appreciated the idea more when it was framed in more abstract why terms. However, experts appreciated the idea more when it was framed in more concrete how terms, as Grant suggests. The difference turned out to be sizable. A why frame, as opposed to a how frame, increased novices’ probability of appreciating the idea by 25%. Conversely, pitching the idea emphasizing a how rather than a why frame boosted experts’ probability of selecting the idea by 44%.

To double-check the results of our first two experiments, we recruited a different group of novices and a different group of experts (innovation managers) and asked them to review the pitch for another product, a special sun lamp that mimics natural light. These additional experiments confirmed our findings. Choosing a why or a how framing does make a significant difference in mobilizing support, but there is no universal framing solution. Instead, there is a right framing for the right audience.

Why It Matters

The experts (e.g., professional investors or innovation managers) are individuals who, over a long period of time, have acquired significant experience in evaluating innovative ideas, while novices are not used to evaluating ideas. Lacking expert knowledge, novices concentrate more on the desirability of an idea and its ultimate benefits. Pitches with an emphasis on why help novices appreciate the reasons for an idea and why it is desirable, particularly if they perceive it as useful. This is what matters most to them. Experts, on the other hand, are more likely to respond to concrete arguments about how something can be done, presumably because they already understand what the advantages of the idea would be.

Although audiences in control of resources that are critical to support innovation (e.g., crowdfunders, venture capitalists, angel investors, funding organizations, innovation or R&D managers, users, and so on) strive to select the best ideas, they often make mistakes. In the early-stage funding of entrepreneurial projects, key resource providers often overlook or even sneer at innovative venture ideas that later prove to be highly valuable. The founders of game-changing enterprises whose early pitches to potential investors were repeatedly rejected include the people who gave us Apple, Southwest Airlines, Airbnb, Grameen Bank, and Teach for America.

Our experiments demonstrate that employing a why or how framing is a terribly important choice, and whether it works better to frame an argument for an idea in why or how terms will depend on who is at the receiving end of the pitch. Innovators championing novel ideas have a better chance of appealing to novices (e.g., the crowd, friends, family members) when their pitch emphasizes why it is desirable. But the same ideas pitched to experts (e.g., professional investors, innovation managers) would be better served if the emphasis is on how something can be done. In other words, whether you should choose why or how depends on your audience.

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Getting Back to the Basics of Human Connection

Returning to in-person work can be a tricky process that comes with a complicated mixture of feelings. Whether you’re excited or anxious about reentry, you can expect being around other people to require a lot of energy that you probably haven’t had to expend in a while. Why is in-person interaction such a drain, and how can you muster up the energy to reconnect with your colleagues?

While some of us may be eager to share our experiences with old and new coworkers, others may not be ready to talk about the emotionally searing experiences we’ve been through over the past year and a half. We may even feel like different people than we were in February 2020. At the very least, we’ve probably grown more distant from each other and less accustomed to each other’s rhythms. For those of us who struggle with social anxiety, this can be all the more challenging. Add to that the extra energy needed to get to know new people who were hired during the pandemic whom you’ve only known virtually — or maybe you’re that new person, anxious about how to integrate yourself into your team in real life.

Like the start of the pandemic, the transition back to in-person work will require another period of adjustment. Some people may not be ready for such an abrupt increase in the level of social stimulation that in-person work demands. As a result, don’t be surprised if it’s notably more challenging to keep your attention focused on conversations or tasks that used to be a breeze.

To reboot our in-person working relationships — and maybe make them even better than they were pre-pandemic — it’s helpful to go back to the basics of human connection. In our 2021 book Missing Each Other, we explore one of the most fundamental social skills: attunement, or the ability to be aware of your own state of mind and body while tuning in and connecting to another person. It’s the ability to be “in tune” and “in sync” with both your own feelings and others’ feelings over the course of the sometimes unpredictable twists and turns of an interaction.

This is an endlessly useful skill, both in the workplace and in our more personal relationships. Here’s how we describe it in the book: “Attunement should not be viewed as simply fostering a touchy-feely emotional connection with others, but as a unique power — a power that enables us to perceive communications from others, to connect and have our message understood, and to manage conflict.”

In our own research and clinical experience, we routinely support adolescents and adults on the autism spectrum with forming and maintaining social connections. In doing this work, we’ve seen that focusing on this foundational social skill of attunement is very useful for improving the quality of interactions. And we’ve found that it’s not only useful for people on the spectrum, but for virtually anyone — ourselves included. We propose that attunement can be broken down into four components, each of which can be developed through regular practice.

The following four steps can help you manage the many feelings you may have as you return to in-person work, ranging from excitement to anxiety, and make your communication more effective by increasing your chances of hearing and understanding what others are trying to communicate to you, and vice versa. They can also strengthen your capacity to stay in sync with others, especially in awkward or difficult conversations.

Take time to prepare your nervous system.

Just before your next meeting starts, pause for a moment, tilt your chin down, and feel as if your head is gently suspended from above, which should give you a feeling of gentle lengthening of your neck. Relax your shoulders down. Feel your belly expand with your in-breath and relax back down with your out-breath. Tune in to your environment. These steps can calm your nervous system and make you feel more grounded and centered in the present moment. It’ll help you to give the other person your undivided attention, which is a real gift in our world of constant digital distractions.

We often take these steps ourselves before going into a high-stakes meeting, cultivating a state of “relaxed awareness,” which makes us feel better able to engage with the other person and less caught up in our own worries and tension. Ideally, try to practice these steps on your own on a daily basis. In doing so, even in the course of your regular activities, you’ll be much better able to call upon them in the heat of the moment at work.

Listen to the other person — and yourself.

Pay attention to the other person’s cues. For at least a minute or two, try to think of what they’re saying and expressing as the most important thing to you. As you listen to them, check in with yourself occasionally, to be aware of your own feelings, ranging from emotions to physical sensations. If you sense tension in yourself, go back to the previous step: Let your shoulders drop and relax and take a mindful breath. Then return your attention to the other person.

Listening well can be surprisingly challenging, especially when you’re tense or caught up in your own thoughts and distractions. When you practice these steps regularly, though, you’ll be able to gain clarity and hear what your boss or coworkers are actually saying to you, rather than misunderstanding them due to anxiety about what they might say or preoccupation with the outcomes of the conversation.

Practice empathy.

Try to consider what the other person’s experience or perspective might be. All of our lived experiences differ in some way, so be tolerant of the possibility that you may have different perspectives. Consider what barriers you may face in trying to understand the other person, like assumptions you may be making about them, what you need from them, or your own reactivity.

On the other hand, maybe your colleagues are silently navigating pandemic-related challenges that are similar to your own struggles. Consider those alternative or invisible explanations when you’re having trouble understanding someone. Cultivating a level of self- and other-focused compassion can aid in navigating conflict or disagreements more gracefully.

Keep expressing interest.

While our culture encourages us to be assertive and push our own agenda, communication is often more effective when we start by meeting the other person where they are mentally and emotionally. You might let the other person start with their agenda items or what’s on their mind. By doing so with openness and interest, you foster a greater connection and make it more likely that they’ll then listen to you, in turn. Try to stay in the flow of the interaction with them for at least for a few minutes, without getting too stuck on your own worries, agenda items, or digital distractions.

If this all seems like a lot to ask of yourself when you first start seeing coworkers again, start by practicing these steps when talking with your family members or trusted friends. With daily practice, you can develop a “muscle memory” for the skills, which makes it much more likely that you’ll implement them in the heat of the moment at work.

Of course it would be ideal if your conversation or meeting partners were also working on these skills. But even if you’re the one who initiates them, your coworkers will probably notice and appreciate your new way of relating to them. Feeling more heard and met by you will have a positive effect and may inspire them to be more open and responsive to you.

Don’t worry about being perfect at this. No one is, and we all have moments of miscommunication and falling out of attunement. But with the skills we’ve described, you’ll know that after a momentary lapse, you can begin again and reconnect. Even just a small improvement in these skills can have a major positive impact on your working relationships.