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Fran Spooner
Corporate Lawyer | Business Adviser | Mentor | Angel Investor (paused)
Fran Spooner is an experienced corporate lawyer with over a decade of expertise in various corporate transactions such as general corporate advisory, VC, M&A, and debt finance across diverse sectors.
Known for exceptional responsiveness, efficiency, and organizational skills critical in meeting deal deadlines and delivering objectives for clients.
Recognized as a Next Generation Partner for VC by Legal 500 UK, with a specialization in VC and M&A transactions.
Spent time on secondment at VC funds, providing a profound understanding of VC investor clients' needs and preferences.
Currently, focusing on building a practice catering to female founders, tech companies, and organizations emphasizing social impact and purpose.
Leads the corporate social responsibility committee at the firm, overseeing initiatives, engagement, and partnerships with charitable organizations.
Education includes a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Law and Economics from the University of Leicester and a Distinction in the Legal Practice Course from Kaplan Law School.
Previously held roles at Marriott Harrison as Partner, Senior Associate, Legal Associate, and started as a Legal Trainee.
Highlights
3 WEEKS TODAY! See you there 👀
I got Olympics fever this year – cool sports to watch (save for surfing, which is not a spectator sport!), fierce competition, high drama, real emotions. It also felt like a weirdly jarring but nice distraction from all the awful news from around the world – we saw athletes come together and compete with respect, sportsperson-ship and camaraderie. As with all things, we can spot themes (if we're looking 👀):
👫(obvs point no. 1) Diversity. It was great to see more mixed team events; hopefully it continues to grow - there is no reason why not; all athletes can probably learn from training and competing together with different approaches and strengths.
👶Parenting. "AND she's a Mother" was said numerous times about lots of female competitors but very rarely wrt the men. (I am told) Whilst being a parent is immensely rewarding, it is exhausting and incredibly hard unpaid work, so it is right to applaud juggling it with being an Olympian. But aside from the physical trauma of giving birth (and there is some evidence - don't ask me why - that mothers can improve performance, especially in endurance sports), it feels antiquated to still mention that feat about women but not men - wouldn't lots of men these days deserve the proclamation "AND he's a Father"? We should celebrate it for everyone so that men feel more empowered to shout about how and why they prioritise it.
❌Failing to fail. The rhetoric around failing was odd. When competitors didn't achieve what they wanted or what people expected, commentators instead focussed on the great occasion and what fun they had. That can't reflect how the competitors felt. To compete at that level, they must have an unusual work-ethic and ridiculous drive. Maybe after they’ve taken a break they can reflect that even taking part in the Olympics is incredible, but the devastated reactions from Matthew Hudson-Smith and Femke Bol felt more genuine and realistic than the reactions the media were trying to extract - they didn't put in all that time and effort to have fun, and they really wanted to win (which is the main point, after all). I don’t think it hurts to be honest about disappointment when something doesn’t go as planned - failure is only useful if you identify it, learn from it and move on from it quickly.
👑Genius. Some people - Léon Marchand, Novak Djokovic, Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone - have that thing; you can't really identify what it is (aside from immense determination and skill) - they seem to be able to will themselves to win. If you've watched the Michael Jordan documentary, you'll have seen it in action - "Right, I'm going to win now"... and somehow, he does. I'm investing in whoever manages to bottle it first.
... now to find tickets for LA 2028🤞✈🏃♀️
