Myrtle Jerde

Why this persona fits the audience

She co-leads a 7-person angel syndicate in London, reviews inbound seed deals weekly, and uses a paid investor CRM plus spreadsheets to record member commitments, SPVs, and follow-up tasks.

• Age: 39
• Location: London, UK
• Occupation: Angel syndicate lead and independent startup adviser
• Income: £140k + carried interest
• Education: MSc Finance
• Company size: N/A (Independent/Syndicate Lead)
• Years in role: 6

“In this game, your reputation is your only currency that you can't afford to devalue, so I'd rather say no to a good deal than yes to a risky one.”

Myrtle Jerde is a cornerstone of London's early-stage investment landscape, having carved out a niche as a meticulous and highly respected syndicate lead. At 39, she bridges the gap between traditional finance discipline and the frenetic energy of the startup world. Following her MSc in Finance, she spent five years in corporate venture capital before realizing the rigidity of large funds stifled her ability to support early-stage founders directly. Six years ago, she co-founded her current syndicate, starting with a small group of former colleagues and growing it organically to its current size of seven active investors. Her professional identity is defined by an obsessive commitment to operational excellence. While many peers rely on intuition, Myrtle treats investing as a science, utilizing a sophisticated mix of paid CRM software and bespoke, macro-level Excel spreadsheets to track every nuance of her portfolio. She has recently made the strategic decision to centralize all member commitments into a single source of truth, a move that required months of painful data migration but has significantly reduced administrative friction. Despite her success, she remains acutely aware of the 'hollow middle' problem in angel investing—the lack of tools designed specifically for the coordination needs of small, agile groups. Myrtle's recent decisions reflect a shift towards automation and scalability. She has been quietly exploring ways to digitize the SPV formation process to save time, though she remains skeptical of black-box solutions that lack transparency. Her career is not just about capital allocation; it is about building a sustainable ecosystem where founders get fair treatment and investors get clear visibility. She is currently balancing the pressures of scaling her syndicate with the demands of raising a second fund, a task that keeps her constantly on the edge of burnout. Yet, her neuroticism is low; she thrives under pressure, viewing chaotic deal flows as puzzles to be solved rather than threats. To her, the future of angel investing lies not in larger check sizes, but in better, clearer systems that allow human judgment to flourish.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Myrtle wakes at 5:30 AM for a run, returning just as the light hits the kitchen tiles. By 7:30 AM, she is reviewing emails, filtering out spam and flagging urgent founder requests. Her morning is dedicated to deep work: building valuation models for a potential fintech acquisition and drafting a term sheet summary for the Tuesday committee. Lunch is usually a standing call with a founder in Shoreditch, eaten quickly while walking through the park. Afternoons are fragmented—back-to-back Zoom calls with LPs, administrative tasks like updating the CRM with new contact details, and mediating a disagreement between two syndicate members about a portfolio strategy. She leaves the office by 6:30 PM, aiming to be present for dinner, though she often brings her laptop home to finish the weekly report. Evenings are reserved for winding down, perhaps reading a book on behavioral economics or helping with homework, strictly avoiding work-related notifications until the next morning.

Lifestyle

Myrtle lives in a sunlit, slightly cluttered home in Islington where the chaos of toddler toys competes with stacks of financial journals on the coffee table. She is a dedicated runner, often logging 45-minute morning runs along the Regent's Canal before the city wakes up, using this time to mentally reset rather than plan work. Her social life is tightly curated around high-trust circles; weekends are split between family time and attending exclusive pitch dinners or gallery openings where she can network without the pressure of a sales floor. Financially, she is disciplined, treating her personal budget with the same spreadsheet logic as her syndicate, prioritizing long-term wealth preservation over flashy consumption. She values quality over quantity in everything from her wardrobe to her wine collection.

Work life

Myrtle's role is a hybrid of deal sourcing, legal oversight, and community management. Her week revolves around a rigorous Tuesday review cycle where she and her co-lead dissect inbound decks, deciding within minutes which startups warrant deeper due diligence. She spends her days navigating the friction of coordinating seven other busy professionals who each have their own day jobs. Her toolkit is a patchwork: a premium CRM for tracking relationships, but heavily supplemented by complex Excel models for calculating pro-rata rights and SPV structures. The pressure is constant; one missed deadline on an investment committee memo can stall a round for weeks. She acts as the gatekeeper for founder access, ensuring only serious inquiries reach the full syndicate, a role that requires immense patience and diplomatic finesse.

Relationships

Myrtle is deeply embedded in London's tech ecosystem, viewing her syndicate members as both professional peers and trusted confidants. Her relationship with her co-lead is built on a decade of friendship and shared academic history. At home, her husband is supportive but less involved in the granular details of her work, serving more as a sounding board for stress than a collaborator. She relies heavily on a small circle of senior advisors for legal and tax questions, preferring to outsource complexity rather than learn every niche regulation herself. Her influence stems from her reputation for fairness and transparency; if she says a deal is 'good,' the room listens.

How they decide

Myrtle employs a 'verify then trust' approach. She rarely makes decisions based on gut feeling alone; even for high-stakes investments, she demands a paper trail, a second opinion, and a clear risk assessment matrix. She is research-heavy, often spending hours cross-referencing market data against founder claims. Peer influence is significant; she looks to the consensus of her most trusted five peers before committing capital to a new sector. However, once the data aligns with her internal models, she moves with decisive speed, valuing efficiency over prolonged deliberation.

How they sound

Myrtle speaks with a crisp, Received Pronunciation accent, typical of her London upbringing, but her tone is warm and inviting. She avoids jargon unless explaining it, preferring plain English to ensure clarity. Her cadence is measured and deliberate; she pauses to think before answering, never rushing to fill silence. She tends to use phrases like 'let's ground this in the data' or 'from a governance perspective.' She avoids emotional hyperbole, focusing instead on concrete outcomes and logical consistency. When discussing failures, she is blunt and direct, viewing them as learning opportunities rather than sources of shame.