Who is James Caan?

Some concepts have the potential of ushering in a revolution much like the computer and the cell phone have done in recent years. James Caan– venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur and multi-millionaire - is the founder and CEO of the firm Hamilton Bradshaw has pulled out something from his psychological bag that has as good as created a revolution of sorts in the field of investment and capital lending. Through his firm he has been practicing a totally different and hitherto unheard concept of investment. The firm not only invests in companies but also provides genuine managers. These managers work in close coordination with the investee company that is the team get themselves on the board of the company, in which they have invested, and seek to achieve successful outcomes. Other institutional capital providers provide only capital and then pressurize the investee company to meet IRR targets without actually getting to know the problems faced by the investee company. This is the principle difference between Hamilton Bradshaw and other institutional credit or capital providers. However the contribution of the Hamilton Bradshaw team is only at a strategic level and the firm avoids from entangling itself in day to day working of the investee company.

The success of James Caan has ensured that he is set to join the next series of the Dragon’s Den to be screened on BBC TWO in the autumn of this year. James lives in both London and Caanes and till date has invested millions in both start-ups and mature businesses in a variety of sectors ranging from retail and leisure to technology and financial services. On being asked to react on his being set to join the prestigious Dragon’s Den, Caan said that he was thrilled. He further added that it was his policy to invest in people as it was the people who created success through their ideas, passion, conviction and perseverance. James is a graduate from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme and has been in the field of creating, buying and selling businesses for the past twenty years and has achieved great success through the combination of theoretical knowledge coupled with perseverance and innovation. In 1985, he set up the Alexander Mann Group, which went on to become one of UK’s leading HR Outsourcing Companies. The Group achieved a turnover of 130 million pounds before it was sold to a private equity firm in 2002. Caan had also set up an Executive head hunting firm, which he expanded through the Humana International Brand. This firm successfully spread its tentacles in 30 countries through 147 offices and was then purchased by a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed company some years ago.

Success speaks for itself. Caan has bagged the prestigious Price water house Cooper’s Entrepreneur of the year award in the year 2003. In 2001 he won the Enterprise of the year award for the astounding success that he has achieved. His glorious professional career has also given him opportunities to teach a few intelligent things to others in that he was till recently a Resident Entrepreneur Mentor for MBA students at London Business School.