Mannerisms

"I wanted to call it the Cambridge Technology Fund”, replies Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Amadeus, “ but Anne (Anne Glover, Hauser’s co-founder) said she didn't like the word Cambridge, and didn't like the word technology”, recalls Hauser.

“So I told her: 'Think of a better name'. She came back with fifty from Neptune and Saturn to Jupiter and Amadeus”, remembers Hauser, “and because Amadeus had the Austrian connection (Hauser is Austrian), and Mozart had good connotations for most people, we went with Amadeus."

Asked what he looks for in a business proposal, Hauser lists five things:

“1, There's got to be a real need for that product or service;
2, There's got to be a large market with high growth rate;
3, There has to be at least one star in the team;
4, There has to be defensible (i.e. legally protectable) technology;
5, It has to fit the partnership business model."

In terms of personal qualities of aspirant entrepreneurs, Hauser looks for: "Enthusiasm. The fire in the belly. Unless people have a tremendous amount of energy, they will not get over the hiccups there will invariably be."

After that come: "A fine brain, business nous, a team-building capability, and a good idea - a good business idea."