From PhD in Pharmaceutics to Revolutionising Pharma Compliance w/ Rina Newton | Code Clarity

‍Rina Newton: 0:00

Being on maternity leave with my third child, I was made redundant. I mean, it couldn't have been lower. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I saw that as an immense blessing, and I tried all these different branches of pharmacy before I landed in corporate, and corporate pharma was like a fluke. I didn't even know it existed. The bit I specialize in is very niche, very high value, low volume. So there are a few experts in the UK. If pharma gets this wrong, then we're talking about, you know, boards of directors getting sacked. I wouldn't call myself a businesswoman, I call myself a compliance expert who happens to be in business.

Amardeep Parmar: 0:42

Today on the podcast, we have Rina Newton, who's an entrepreneur and investor. She's got a really interesting background. Having been brought up where she wanted to study a few different subjects, she chose to go into pharmacy, realised she didn't like the traditional path in pharmacy but found corporate pharmacy instead, and this is an area where she really excelled in and worked there for a significant amount of time, really built some expertise, but she always had an itch to do something for herself in some way. She was lucky when she got made redundant. This enabled her to give that launching pad to build her own business, which she then scaled significantly and was able to exit this after growing her team to over 20 people. She's now looking at other opportunities and to help other female founders in their businesses, especially in life sciences. Hope you enjoy today's episode. I'm Amar from the BAE HQ, and this podcast is powered by HSBC Innovation Banking. So, Rina, it's so great to have you on today. Can we start off with when you were growing up? What were your dreams? What were your ambitions? What did you want to be?

Rina Newton: 1:38

Thank you for having me. Firstly, Amar, it’s always a pleasure. I guess I wanted to do lots of different things when I was young. I think this really reflects my personality in terms of how much I love diversity, variety, and get bored very easily. So when I was young, I wanted to do pharmacy, law, and teaching. So I did kind of a week of everything when I did work experience, and it's actually quite funny that I've landed doing a combination of all of those things now. So, yeah, I couldn't really decide, but pharmacy just pipped it to the post in terms of what I was going to study at university, just because I think science was a little bit stronger. But I could easily have done any of those three things.

Amardeep Parmar: 2:20

So, and you obviously went to the best university in the world that I also went to. So, how was that experience like, from that transition of you wanting to do a few different things? Now you're going to university for pharmacy, and pharmacy is obviously a very specific course, right? It's like you don't really do much outside of that particular area. Was it what you hoped it would be? Were you happy with the decision?

Rina Newton: 2:39

Very happy with the decision and obviously completely agreed in terms of the best university, the best time there, and the best friends made, all of that. But Bath, and lots of universities like Bath, are guilty of not really introducing anything other than clinical pharmacy during the undergrad. So they're really just breeding people to go into hospitals or retail pharmacies, both of which I absolutely hated. So there was a little bit of a dread in me as to, 'Oh my gosh, I'm being bred for this,' and I really am not going to do either of them. So what am I going to do? So I did a PhD because I thought, 'Actually, maybe R&D and lab work is the way forward.' Did a little bit of that. Hated it. I did a little bit of academia because when you're doing your PhD, you get to lecture and demonstrate to the undergrads. Hated them.

Rina Newton: 3:31

So, this isn't going to work out either.

Amardeep Parmar: 3:33

So you said you wanted to be a teacher when you were younger as well. So you did a little bit of it.

Rina Newton: 3:36

I think what it is, right? I think I probably could have taught kids.

Rina Newton: 3:39

But, well, these are like snotty, think-they-know-it-all undergrads. So when you're a PhD, you're kind of a bit, you know. So I was a horrible snob. So this to me is one of my mistakes that was worth doing, right, because I think I'm a big advocate of making mistakes but learn from them, and I tried all these different branches of pharmacy before I landed in corporate, and corporate pharma was like a fluke. I didn't even know it existed, and so I'm at pains now to say to universities, 'You need to tell people what's available. Choice is everything, and if they don't know what's on offer,' I think that's a really sad state of affairs, because pharmacists are on a par with medics in corporate pharma, which is very different in other areas of pharmacy.' 

Amardeep Parmar: 4:27

It's interesting.I think the big pharma companies have got huge amounts of money, right? I thought they'd be trying to attract all the talent from the pharmacy students in studying, but was it not really the case at that time that they were trying to attract you?

Rina Newton: 4:38

No, not really. I mean, in our last year, you had to go and do a year of what's called pre-registration. And I mean I would say probably 95% of the places were hospital and retail. It was a handful of places that were industrial pharmacies and even then, I was GSK and GSK put me in a lab for six months. So in fact, even the companies there didn't put you in a corporate pharma space, which is again, it's just such a mistake that they're making. There's a lot of pharmacists now that contact me. My God, I know we were talking about how many contacts and requests for information we get on LinkedIn, but I get lots of retail pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, contacting me and it irks me a little bit, to be fair, if they've done no research. Like if someone says to me, 'I want to join corporate pharma,' my question would be, 'What do you know about it?' 'Nothing.' I kind of, like, I don't really want to help that person.

Rina Newton: 5:35

And in a nice way. I might say, 'You probably just need to do a bit of reading. Contact some recruiters.' They're always very good at giving you information, but, yeah, I feel like no one's pushing people into corporate pharma. I'm trying with the uni roadshows, but there is information out there. Now the ABPI has stuff on their website, so that's good.

Amardeep Parmar: 5:54

So obviously you enjoyed the experience, if you're in industry. But then when you actually went on to work there longer term, how was that experience? Did you enjoy your time there?

Rina Newton: 6:02

There? It was a bit restricting, I would say, and I haven't really worked out if it's me and my personality or whether it was genuinely just quite restricting. So all the jobs I was in were medical and I was always reporting to a medic. So the message was very clear to us that you couldn't afford to be ambitious because you were never going to make it to a senior position because I was only a pharmacist and not a medic. And that was because the regulations didn't allow pharmacists to act like that. So I was made redundant and I think, like a lot of entrepreneurs, I saw that as an immense blessing.

Rina Newton: 6:42

Again, I think it's, I don't know whether it's our culture or what have you, but I know that people can feel very worried, very jittery, like it's a bad thing, but it was the biggest thing, the positive thing that happened to me. It was such an opportunity because it made me realise that I could just do things the way I wanted to do. So I did love my time at Pharma. I worked at loads of different pharma companies and, again, because of the boredom, I was skipping about doing lots of roles, getting promoted, moving companies, all very good, but I still hadn't found my kind of groove until the age of 39, which again I think is another point to make to the listeners who sometimes feel that they hit the 30s and it's too late to start a business. I didn't. I started CompliMed, my first business, until I was 39. And I'd been on maternity leave with my third child and I was made redundant. I mean it couldn't have been lower and yet I had enough excitement and energy to start a business.

Amardeep Parmar: 7:41

So I've got a friend I'm talking to right now who's 25. I think I've just got made redundant and they're in this kind of stage of it's the end of the world and I'm lost. So if they're listening to this, I'm going to tell them that this is coming out so they don't feel too attacked. But it's that whole idea. It's like there's so much more life to go, even at, say, 39, right? You've still got a huge career ahead of you. But we're having this, all these different things that you need to be by a certain age. By that, there's some kind of age expiry on that, and so many of the people who've heard, or so many of the big global companies are like KFC, things like that started from people who were older entrepreneurs and our challenges I think in recent times we've had Google, like Meta, and those kinds of companies started by people a bit younger, but that's actually an anomaly. A lot of the actual large companies you might not even know who founded them because maybe they're not in the public eye.

Amardeep Parmar: 8:31

And it is like you said. It's important to change the idea that you have to do it fresh out of university. You have to do it when you're young because, like I was at university earlier today, a lot of students, they won't start a company straight away, but if they know that they can do it down the line, they can start collecting experience, they can start collecting ideas and know that they have the option available to, which is really important. So when you got made redundant, did you already have the business idea in mind at that point, or was it like, okay, I've got some time, now let me think of what I want to do here?

Rina Newton: 9:03

So I think it was probably a combination of both those things.

Rina Newton: 9:04

I think, if you're an entrepreneur, ideas don't suddenly just come to you because you have to now start a business. I think I was given the opportunity to go, 'Oh, I can get all my ideas that I've always, whilst being at pharma, complained about this, that, and the other.' You. I thought, 'Well, if I can do it better, this is my opportunity.' So I think it's also important for your listeners to understand that redundancy isn't the only time you can set up a business. Yes, it was great. For me, it was a great opportunity, and the redundancy pot was what I needed for my confidence. Other people need different things for their confidence, whether it's a mentor or someone that they look up to, saying, 'Yes, you can do it,' or whatever it is. So I just think for me, I probably would have started a business anyway. The timing was right.

Rina Newton: 9:52

I think the redundancy was almost like a happy coincidence, but the ideas were just always at the very forefront of my mind. It was just then I got to put it into action. So that was really exciting, and I think you could probably say to an entrepreneur now, 'How many other ideas do you have in your pocket?' Just, I will have ideas all the time. If I talk to someone who's particularly stimulating, I will think of an idea. It's like that, and there are people in my life who I will seek out and have dinner with, especially because that dinner will generate for both of us lots of ideas just about our own respective businesses. And I think it's really important when entrepreneurs get together, you could be completely different businesses, but the personalities are enough to spark new ideas and that's actually really exciting. So when you have events and things which I know, you know, you guys do, I think that's one of the biggest things that I get out of it.I always take a book to write in.

Amardeep Parmar: 10:44

I think a lot of people probably don't realize too, the BAE HQ. A lot of things we do are amalgamations of things. I've seen other communities, other companies do that very well. Learn from those communities, learn from those other companies, be like, 'Okay, we could do something like this and make it work for our community,' and you. Sometimes it's not even like what they've done, it's totally different to what we've done, but it triggered the idea of like, 'Oh, we could do something related to that.' Are they feeling this need that we're not feeling? How do you feel that I need better?' And what was that initial idea that you did decide to take on and like, make your key, like, like the first baby, I guess, in terms of the startup space?

Rina Newton: 11:19

So I think I'm quite lucky in the area that I specialize in is what pharma considers to be quite dull, which is the really complicated, lengthy regulations, because pharma is self-regulated. So we have a book called the Code, which is a really difficult read but I've always loved it. Like I absolutely love the Code, which is a really difficult read but I've always loved it. Like I absolutely love the Code and I love interpreting it for people, because that light bulb moment is probably the most satisfying thing for me and if I can explain something difficult in a really simple way, there I'm tapping into my pharmacy, my interest in law and training. So it always goes back to my roots, so to speak, and I think, 'Oh gosh, I really am getting to practice that.'

Rina Newton: 12:04

So the bit I specialize in is very niche, very high value, low volume. So there are a few experts in the UK but we all do really, really well out of it, because this is the stuff. If pharma gets this wrong, then we're talking about, you know, boards of directors getting sacked and all of that. So I would quite frequently say to CEOs, 'What keeps you up at night?' and it's compliance or the risk of not complying.

Rina Newton: 12:32

So I kind of have an open door for most clients that I work with.

Amardeep Parmar: 12:37

So, taking the idea of like, here's a need that needs to be fulfilled. You've got skills to do it. So then trying to grow a business out of that, how did those initial first steps move? Like what was the initial thing you're trying to offer, and how did that adapt over time?

Rina Newton: 12:49

So that's a really good question, because I, you know, again, I don't even think I started a business. I think what I did was go it alone. So in my head I'm just freelancing. I'm just going to freelance a bit more. I'm just going to be like super busy, oh, I've got a bit of extra work, I might give it to a friend and then I might get that friend on my books as well, and then I charge in commission because I've got lots of friends who are now putting their work through me.

Rina Newton: 13:13

And, you know, before you know it, my goodness, I'm a bona fide business where I now need premises and all the rest of it. And at the heart of it, I'm a scientific nerd and the code is a difficult book. So, you know, how do you grasp the skills of IT, finance, business? The other thing is, when I was corporate, we were dragged into things like strat planning, ops planning, brand strategy, business models. So I was absolutely determined when I set my company up, 'We're not going to have any of that BS, I'm going to do things my way and I don't need to do any of that.'

Rina Newton: 13:47

And then you realise down the line, 'I'm lacking focus. I don't know what my direction is. I need to have a forecast because I'm going to recruit people,' and then you realize there's actually something good out of doing a bit of strat planning and ops planning and having a SWOT analysis. So all that came back in. But when you do it on your terms, you're way more invested, and I think that's such a learning for all these big companies, right, is don't drag people to that table. Make them feel like they're actually genuinely part of it. And lo and behold, all our plans worked. We were exceeding our forecasts, you know, because we were very, very focused. So I wasn't good at business and I don't even now. It's a bit of imposter syndrome, right, but I wouldn't call myself a businesswoman. I call myself a compliance expert who happens to be in business.

Amardeep Parmar: 14:36

So what do you think was the hardest part of that? That you had to learn that you didn't have from your previous show, and how did you go about learning it?

Rina Newton: 14:42

I think it was stuff like all the acronyms. You know, finance people. They are so good at using so many: CAP, TAM, EBITDA, and, you know, I was constantly Googling. But when I decided to look at acquisition, merger, I employed the best financiers and no question was too stupid for them. So, apart from me Googling things, I would constantly ask them, 'How exactly is EBITDA measured? What does it stand for, again? And what does that A thing mean?' At the end, they were so patient with me and I think this is a nice thing that they've experienced this a lot. You know, it's quite usual for them to see business people who don't necessarily know all the business terminology. So I would say finance, hands down. I still find it really difficult, actually. And now I'm an investor. You know, I'm going to go to investing school because I need to be on top of these terms, right?

Amardeep Parmar: 15:39

I remember before as well that you said how there's different resources you use to teach yourself as well, right, and you join different communities and things like that. That helped you as well. Could you elaborate on that?

Rina Newton: 15:49

So the resources in terms of growing the business? Yeah, I mean, I had some spectacular help. Again, a bit fluky how it all happened, but I was on the train home one night. I had a seven-year itch. I'd just been working so hard, relentlessly and really without focus.

Rina Newton: 16:09

And I was on the tube and I picked up a copy of the Evening Standard and on the back page was an ad for the British Library, Innovating for Growth Program, and it said, 'If your revenue is over 100k and you're stressed out, you know, you can apply for help.'

Rina Newton: 16:23

I was like, 'Brilliant, that's exactly what I wanted.' I wasn't even sure what the help was. I didn't even know what I was applying for. I applied, I won, and then my eyes were opened because at this Innovating for Growth Programme, you do workshops on strategy, masterclasses, classes on branding, one-to-one with an IP lawyer and, you know, all the things that you should have been doing from the beginning and no one tells you off, which is really nice, right? No one said, 'Oh, you've been doing it all wrong for the last seven years.' You know, which I had been. 'You should really be doing it in this way.' They just, the focus and the networking and the discussions, we tripled revenue in a year and I absolutely put that down to the British Library's support, which is why I'm still a bit of an ambassador for them, because I think that's the best thing that an entrepreneur needed was to be with other entrepreneurs and get that support.

Amardeep Parmar: 17:16

We hope you're enjoying the episode so far. We just want to give a quick shout out to our headline partners, HSBC Innovation Banking. One of the biggest challenges for so many startups is finding the right bank to support them, because you might start off and try to use a traditional bank, but they don't understand what you're doing. You're just talking to an AI assistant or you're talking to somebody who doesn't really understand what it is you've been trying to do. HSBC have got the team they've built out over years to make sure they understand what you're doing. They've got the deep sector expertise and they can help connect you with the right people to make your dreams come true.

Amardeep Parmar: 17:47

So if you want to learn more, check out hbscinnovationbanking.com. So once you'd had that experience, right, and you said you tripled growth in the first year, your revenue in the first year, your revenue in the first year, what then happened from there? Because you mentioned emergency acquisitions and obviously that's how that story ended there. How did that come about? How did that then grow into something? Because you then decided let's take an offer here.

Rina Newton: 18:16

So CompliMed at the time was focused very heavily in compliance and medical, as the name suggests, and I built the team to 20 people and we had a beautiful office and we were doing really, really well, like a high-performing team, very happy team. But because our focus was on the UK code and every country has its own code, like in Europe, all of Europe, self-regulated, we couldn't, like, my team couldn't scale into these other countries because we weren't familiar with the French code and the German code and all that. So what I decided to do was to start thinking, 'Could we partner with an organization that already has what we're doing in France, you know, could I just join them?' And lo and behold, we were quickly working out that there wasn't anyone like us. Again, huge opportunity, huge gap in the market. There wasn't anyone like us. Again, huge opportunity, huge gap in the market. There wasn't anyone like us.

Rina Newton: 18:59

And our model, if you take away the UK code, our model of how we operated, worked beautifully. So all I had to do was to speak to a global partner who had offices in these countries, but not this service, and convince them to adopt our model in the major markets in Europe, and that's exactly what we did. So I think I went from very quickly going, 'We'll partner.' 'Oh God, there's no one to partner with.' 'In that case we'll think about a merger,' and the merger had to be with somebody big, somebody global, somebody who would understand our importance and allow our model to not be affected. And that's quite difficult because they're interviewing you, you know, for whether you're a good fit. But actually, what I would say to entrepreneurs thinking about exiting is please don't forget, you must interview them. It has to fit, you know, not just in terms of the business model, but culturally as well, because they've got to respect your values, because it was my values that made the business successful.

Amardeep Parmar: 19:55

And obviously the business would be so important to that point as well, right? You put so much work into it, and what was it about the people you merged with that made you decide these are the people that I want to sell to. These are the people that I value and they share my values.

Rina Newton: 20:07

I think it was. You know, I was at an event yesterday and we were talking about people buying from people. So at the end of the day, yeah, there was all the paperwork and the offer and this and the promises, but at the end of the day, the CEO is a guy I really, really respected. He was probably slightly eccentric and I quite like that, you know, because he had a spark about him. He didn't. The other thing was that he didn't necessarily fully understand what it was that we do, but he admitted that. So I liked his self-awareness, I liked that he wasn't really putting himself on a pedestal. I liked that he, um, he and I had a good kind of friendly relationship.

Rina Newton: 20:45

And this is where my gut instincts kick in. You know, I've always, always been a kind of an instinct sort of person and always trusted my gut because it literally has got me. Sometimes I've made a mistake with my gut instincts, but I've learned something from that. So even then, I think my instinct was still right. I still should have done that because I've learned this really valuable lesson. So, purely on the, the finance is telling me on paper, it was a good deal and me and my interaction with the CEO. I really liked him and it worked.

Amardeep Parmar: 21:16

It worked really well and I think a lot of people get quite stressed out about this situation, selling your company and there's so many different factors to consider. One is, obviously the people you work for, your team. You want to make sure they're looked after, right? You also make sure you get a fair price. And these different factors, how do you think about those things? Beyond the value of the people you're working with and them getting along with them, how did you think about what's the right amount of money for me to leave, for example, as well?

Rina Newton: 21:40

That's a difficult one, really. I think there were so many factors. Probably the first one, the most important one, completely non-negotiable, was that they were, my team had to stay together. They were kind of part of the package and that was a no-brainer and given that the model would only be successful if the team was completely stayed in place, that was quite easy to convince everybody of. The. The second thing again, probably not the acquisition price, it depends.

Rina Newton: 22:11

Everyone's got their different values. For me, money has never really been a value. Even security as such, interestingly, isn't one of my core values. I'm quite a risky person. I'm quite adventurous in that respect as well, even though I'm a mom with kids. I'm not saying I, you know, throw them out in the street and stuff, but my appetite and my interest and my excitement levels are higher in a riskier sort of situation. So I didn't really look at the money, I looked at the excitement of the opportunity and we were lucky. You know, we had several different offers. The financiers did a great job for me, really, hands down, and what was different about some of the offers that were really similar financially was that some companies just didn't look as exciting as this particular company, and that's what it boiled down to. Again, a very personal, a bit different for everybody that you speak to, I guess.

Amardeep Parmar: 23:03

And obviously you bootstrapped the early test stage, right, and how big was the team? When you handed over? 

Rina Newton: 23:22

So the team, yeah I bootstrapped it but that remember bootstrapping  for me was because I was freelanced for so many years, right.I really didn’t need, and we didn’t have an online presence or a platform or anything like that. I paid £ 20 000 to a couple of developers to create a bespoke e-learning platform. The licenses on that platform we would sell at £5,000, and we'd probably educate about 600 people a year.

Rina Newton: 23:39

So I think that tells people straight away. If you're clever, some assets are just a cash cow, and when I sold the business, I employed 20 people and our revenue was £3 million, so these people were bringing in a lot of money. You know, mostly all pharmacists. Um, 100% of my leadership team was women, which I'm very proud to say, and, uh, yeah, 90% of the team were women as well. 

Amardeep Parmar: 24:06

And once you exited, what was the next stage? What were you thinking about? Was it, let's take a bit of a break for a while? Was there already something which, like, this is what I want to do next?

Rina Newton: 24:11

N no, I think my sights were very firmly set on sort of global domination. You know, I was so excited about, um, this kind of merger with a big corporate company, uh, but what I would say is, you know, it's still. You still never know what the company's like until you're in it. You can do all these interviews and you can read the documentation. And what I didn't appreciate was all the things about myself, like I didn't appreciate that I couldn't go back to corporate. That being an entrepreneur is a way of life. Sometimes it's not a choice anymore. You are that and you can't help it and you'll always be an entrepreneur. Which meant that I would want to make my own decision. I would want to make it quickly. I'd want to recruit before I'd win the business, because I was confident about winning the business and all these things that don't really wash in a corporate world. Because I had spreadsheets I had to fill out and timesheets for people and justifications, and so after a while I just missed being an entrepreneur. It was as simple as that.

Rina Newton: 25:14

So I did my earn out period. I hung around, made sure the team was all happy and I was put under a non-compete for 12 months. So yeah, officially. I should have really taken it easy in those 12 months, but there was a loophole and the loophole was thought leadership. I kind of am known in the industry for challenging the authorities, because pharma can be quite nervous and afraid to challenge the people who rule on their complaints, right? So it's really difficult for anyone to do that. Plus I had so many clients I have a bird's eye view for anyone to do that. Plus I had so many clients I have a bird's eye view.

Rina Newton: 25:48

So I think, when you're not in an industry, you have the data, you can crunch the data, you can show people the trends and the patterns, and I love doing all of that. So I spend my 12 months reading cases, writing white papers, thought leadership conferences, all that kind of stuff. Loved all of it.

Amardeep Parmar: 26:13

And then another big mission of yours was to help other, um, founders ourselves, right? So what's—

Amardeep Parmar: 26:15

 kind of thesis there? What kind of founders you look to invest in, help out?

Rina Newton: 26:16

So I'm kind of looking at two different investment theses. The first one, I would say, is Asian female founders, because you know the stats and the evidence speak for themselves. I happen to be on the APPG for Women and Enterprise.

Rina Newton: 26:31

I'm on the Business and Parliament Forum for looking at small businesses as well, so I am lucky enough to see the numbers and it's really disappointing, you know, in terms of women who get funding or access to funding, it's just so low. When you look at VC funding, it's just pitiful. And then when you crunch the data for Asian women, it's even smaller. So I have chosen Asian female founders because I believe they need it the most and representation is important, right? I want people to see me or what I've done and know that I'm an angel investor and I'm looking to help people who were like me 20, 30 years ago. So, yeah, why not? The second part of the thesis, I would say, is still very much focused on female founders, but in life sciences. So that's where I think I would be less of a passive investor, a bit more of an active investor, because I've got good contacts when it comes to those kinds of sectors in the UK and in Europe as well.

Amardeep Parmar: 27:30

And how's that journey going so far with angel investing? Because obviously it's something which is relatively new to you after exiting and it's a new project, a new excitement and I think a lot of people who are in this space like the idea of angel investing. But it can be quite difficult to get started and understand the lay of the land. I know I did the same thing when I started Angel Invest myself. It's that I kind of just did an investment and then learnt on the go afterwards.

Rina Newton: 27:55

Okay, I mean, that's definitely an option. A couple of people have said that to me. 'Just do it, just have a go.'

Amardeep Parmar: 28:00

With tiny cheques. Didn't put much money at risk.

Rina Newton: 28:05

I think for me, I am determined not to rush it and there's no reason why I should rush it. It's funny because you talk to a few businesses and they're like, 'Yeah, I mean, we need to know, now we need to know,' and that actually turns me off a little bit. So you know, top tip is don't rush me, because people make decisions and people need a bit of time. And I've always said to people, 'I'm rubbish with finance, so I will definitely be asking you a lot of time.' And I've always said to people, 'I'm rubbish with finance, so I will definitely be asking you a lot of questions and we'll go back and forth on this, particularly when I don't understand the forecast, right?' So I have joined syndicates at the advice of some very experienced angels, so hooked up with them. They said to me to join the syndicates.

Rina Newton: 28:46

Syndicates are a great way of seeing what due diligence looks like on these companies, kind of having your hand held through the whole process and, yeah, you can dip your toe in the water once, twice. Small amounts, you know, I mean these not even like £5,000, sort of some of these investments. So on paper I think people go, 'Oh my God, angel investment, you're going to need 100K.' But some of the people I've spoken to have got loads of angel investments, but really tiny amounts and I'm not quite sure where I want to be on that kind of level.

Rina Newton: 29:19

Do I want lots of companies? Do I want lots of money invested? To me it's about will I meet a really passionate person because I go back to people, right? Will I meet a really passionate person because I go back to people, right? I want to help a female founder who's super passionate about what she's doing, that really understands her marketplace and has a beautiful solution to a need which affects our future. Because all good and well with me selling my business and I've got an amazing trust fund for my kids, but I want my kids to have a great future and a great planet. So I'm interested in all these things where people have got ideas for a better future.

Amardeep Parmar: 29:55

So that's a great note to move to the next fire questions on. So it's been a great interview so far. So first one is who are three British Asians who think you're doing incredible work?

Rina Newton: 30:06

They love to shout out today. Okay, so I've chosen, you know, three people at very different places in their career. The first person is Kavita Oberoi. She is really a legend in the pharma industry and she was, I think she was on the Secret Millionaire on TV, so she's really been one of the first Asian woman founders that I've looked up to, and she's just a wonderful, wonderful person as well. The second one is Tiba Rao. So she's chief innovation officer for a company that her and her husband founded called Soar Beyond. She's a phenomenal woman. She's the one I was saying to you that I could meet her for brunch, which I am tomorrow, and we would just have a couple of hours of sparking ideas of one another. And we both come our way from our respective businesses with much more. And then the third person is probably at the very start of her career and fundraising, and that's Anoli Mehta, and she set up a company called Circular Threads, and I think I really love that. She's not in life sciences or anything, but I love the idea that she's created this company, which is about pre-loved designer wear wedding designer wear as well. So, you know, she's going to be doing something good for the planet in the future, and she's got this lovely cultural fit. S so those would be my three.

Amardeep Parmar: 31:28

And then, if people want to get in touch with you, what's the best way to do that?

Rina Newton: 31:30

I think they could get in touch with me, uh, with my email address. Very happy to be contacted that way. Or they can find me on LinkedIn just under my name, Rina Newton.

Amardeep Parmar: 31:39

Very happy to speak to anyone and is there anything that you need help for yourself right now that the audience could help you?

Rina Newton: 31:44

I think what I would like to get the audience to let me know is, if they've got an Asian female founder, my God, in life sciences, even better that they think might be looking at trying to raise funding, then I would love to speak to them because this is the reason why I've entered, um, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. You know, because I'm not really an awards person, I wouldn't necessarily need it, if that makes sense. I mean external. I've got such high internal standards that external accommodations don't often mean something to me, but I recognize that if I had something like this and I'm in the finalist category for entrepreneur, then I think other people like young Asian female founders could look at me and think, 'Actually, that isn't an angel investor that I'd like to talk to.'

Amardeep Parmar: 32:35

So it's been so great to talk to you today. Have you got any final words for the audience?

Rina Newton: 32:38

No, not really. I think it's. I think about my experience and my journey, you know? I hope I've made it very clear that I've had loads of mistakes. The path is not paved in gold and mistakes are good. Every mistake I've made, I have learned from. So sometimes it's painful but, as my mum says, 'Everything is a phase and soon this phase will be over. It turns into something good again.' And I think, lastly, that my parents have been my biggest cheerleaders in my life. I think it's very important that we all have somebody who is, you know, behind us and supporting us, and they've both always done that for me, so big thank you to them.

Amardeep Parmar: 33:18

Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe. See you next time.

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