This year’s annual Philip David Gray Trust Memorial Lecture at Stewart’s Melville College took place on the 27th of February. The Trust was delighted to have as our guest speaker Mr Gary Le Sueur.
Gary is an FP (former pupil) of Stewart’s Melville and returned to the school to share insights and experiences from his over thirty year career in venture capital, both in the UK and internationally.
To a packed room of over sixty economics students from S4 and S5, Gary described how his early career decisions and direction around law and finance were shaped by being open to the opportunities that came to him. He worked at Scottish Enterprise before leading a spinout from there, becoming a founding partner of Scottish Equity Partners, now one of Europe’s most highly regarded venture capital companies.
Using real world examples of investments made, Gary took the students on a very interesting journey through the world of venture capital, discussing the highs and the lows, the challenges and opportunities and the role of venture capital and companies in both the economic and social development of society. It was a highly informative and enjoyable talk, underlined by the constant stream of questions that followed when Gary opened the discussion to the students.
The engagement of students in the talk was a sign of how well it was received, demonstrating Gary’s ability to make his career choices and the complex world of venture capital accessible and interesting for the students. The Trustees extend their sincere thanks to Gary for sharing his time and expertise.
