Nicola Telford

Inquirer
DISC Type : dc

Founding Partner at Tabu Ventures

Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Overview

Nicola Telford is the Founding Partner of Tabu. Ventures, a venture builder and syndicate dedicated to investing in taboo and overlooked businesses. An award-winning founder, she previously founded ViewsForChange and was named TechSPARKs Founder of the Year in 2022. She holds a BA from Cardiff University and a diploma in Strategic Marketing.

Nicola is passionate about fostering human connection in an increasingly artificial world. After living in Sri Lanka, she returned to Europe with a renewed drive to build impactful ventures. She actively champions female founders and enjoys creating communities for entrepreneurs to share experiences and support one another.

She is leading a charge to declare 2026 as "The Year of Taboo" and has explored creating a "findom investment club" to fund womens health and pleasure.

Personality Overview

ROI Conscious

Hard To Convince

Demanding

They respond well to confident salespeople.  They don’t always try to control the conversation but neither do they like yielding it fully. They focus on objectivity in a pitch and pay little attention to bells and whistles.

Topics They Care About

Taboo Investing
Her firm, Tabu. Ventures, explicitly focuses on building and investing in businesses considered taboo or overlooked by traditional venture capital.
Venture Building
Her role at Tabu. Ventures is a "Venture Builder, Studio + Syndicate, " indicating a hands-on approach to creating companies, not just funding them.
Angel Investing
She is an active angel investor and organizes curated groups of other angels to find and fund deals, particularly within her niche.

Media Appearances

Nicola has no verified media appearances

Work History

6-2025
Founding Partner at Tabu Ventures
4-2024
Marketing at Loowatt Ltd
6-2024
Investor at EcoPack (formally part of Wasthra Ceylon)
10-2024 - 7-2025
Generalist at Female Founders Directory
2-2024 - 10-2024
Co-Founder at Kula One

Education

2011 - 2014
Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd
2016 - 2017
L6 Strategic Marketing from CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 1 Location : Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal Job Level : N/A Designation : Founding Partner at Tabu Ventures
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Insights For Selling To Nicola

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Stress on the business value that your product offers
  • Tell them that you are there to help them create visible impact within their organization
  • Make sure that they have the necessary authority, they could present false stature sometimes

DONT's

  • Don't try too hard to get friendly, let it happen with time
  • Refrain from asking too many questions
  • Do not give up if they are not convinced, try again with a different approach

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Nicola is

  • Conviction in the product matters to them, followed by proof points and strong testimonials.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Nicola

  • They may not be very forthcoming, but they will say no if needed.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Nicola move?

  • Their decision making speed is somewhere in the middle.
  • Can Nicola take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks but after weighing up the pros and cons.

You And Nicola

Personality Compatibility


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