Changemakers: Dale Murray

Being a woman in tech brings advantages as well as challenges, she says. For a start, there’s a visibility afforded to minority players that has led to offers that may not have come her way otherwise. Her career strategy has consistently been to say yes to the right kind of opportunities.

“I believe that if you can do something and you want to, then you should do it. If it’s within your gift to do so, say yes. And this has led me to amazing opportunities over my career – opportunities that I couldn’t have mapped out or foreseen. It’s become a philosophy of mine: if you can do it, be open to it.”

Among the challenges for women in any business, she says, is an entrenched lack of diversity in senior leadership. It’s something she has noticed increasingly as she has ascended the career ladder.

“Interestingly, in my earlier career, the lack of diversity wasn’t something that was mentioned that much. As I have progressed, I’ve noticed, the more powerful the room, the more alone I have often felt.

“I see more motivation now in the corporate world to welcome a much broader cross-section of people and, perhaps more importantly, to work hard to retain that diverse talent in the workplace. Initiatives like the UK’s 30% Club are also vital in pushing the diversity agenda that is so critical to long-term business success.”

Long-term success is very close to her heart. As an angel investor, she is always on the lookout for “future winners” – those emerging businesses with the vision, the defensible market, the strategy and the execution to weather the many storms of starting up. How does she know where to invest – and where not to?

“Investing in start-ups involves a high degree of risk, so you need to have a solid set of criteria. Then you need to be able to spot those entrepreneurs that you believe have the sheer grit and determination to endure the hard times, the cash-flow challenges and the inevitable difficulties that lie in wait. In my experience, what can limit the risk of failure is where you have a CEO whose investors are also really great mentors; where there are seasoned advisors who have the experience, the insights and the contacts to help you navigate when things turn against you.”

Her own experience of starting up has left her with the strong conviction that business building should stem from passion; from a genuine and personal interest in the product, service, user and market you want to address. Embed this, she says, and the opportunities are manifold.

“There are so many areas ripe for disruption that are still out there. You can see all kinds of pockets where the opportunities are yet untapped. Insurance is one space, and my own field of accounting is another. Banking is really starting to feel disruption from fintech as we move to a more service-based economy and that is only set to continue.

“We are seeing a second wave of disruption coming for incumbents across various sectors. With digital, the challenge will be managing the corollary – cybersecurity threats that are set to increase as you have this collision between the macro-environment and the growing efficacy of hackers.”

Murray’s own future lies in narrowing her focus, she says, by taking on one or two “amazing” companies and portfolios that have the potential to flourish. She is motivated by working with small teams of intelligent, optimistic and hard-working visionaries and helping them realise their potential: “I feel great satisfaction in having built a broad and interesting portfolio, but I still have huge goals. I focus on working with a small number of teams and being more potent, more helpful in enabling them to build their success. There’s always more to do.”

Dale Murray graduated from the Executive MBA programme in 2000.