Angel Investor, business mentor and public speaker Mark Lyttleton invests in and guides growing and early stage companies, providing entrepreneurs with the funding and expertise they need to develop and grow the products and services they offer and their businesses as a whole.
Though non-industry specific, Mr Lyttleton does look for certain keytraits in the business founders that he supports, namely passion, drive, and an aptitude to think very deeply about their business.
Mark Lyttleton joined Mercury Asset Management in September 1992, which became Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and latterly part of the BlackRock group. At the outset of his career he ran institutional pension equity funds, later transitioning to the retail fund division.
In this capacity, Mark Lyttleton oversaw the company’s flagship UK equity funds, which performed strongly during the 2000s. He also ran the retail sector’s first long-short equity fund, UK Absolute Alpha, successfully growing it from launch to more than $4 billion of assets at its peak.
Mark Lyttleton graduated from the University of York in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree with honours in Chemistry. His close collaborations with entrepreneurs have sparked an interest in how the mind and energy works. This interest has resulted in him becoming a certified Pranic Healer. He has also studied meditation and the Three Principles understanding of how the mind works.
With a keen interest in philanthropy, Mr Lyttleton is currently in the process of setting up a charity in the UK, regarding his growing philanthropic pursuits as an important way to contribute to society.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Start with some reading of daily/overnight events. Walk my dog to exercise and clear my head after reading. Try to meditate 2-3x a week along with breathing techniques. Then work on whatever my objectives are for the day. Break for lunch and continue. Try to have another walk in the evening to decompress after my daily objectives and then dinner with my family. Sleep is critical and I usually fall asleep very fast.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I am interested in Karma as a guide to live life by, even though it has been around for thousands of years. Treat others as you wish to be treated. But given that I am running a charity there is another important piece of wisdom – it is in giving that you receive, the more you give, the more you shall receive. I find that fascinating and have seen times in my life when this wisdom has manifested.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
For me, I like to have a to-do list that I can work my way through. It is instructive to look at today’s list vs a month ago – the things that remain on both lists either don’t need to be done…or should be done immediately.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Be open to all teachings, and not just the things that school and the mainstream media feed you. Trust, believe and cultivate your own inner guidance, often called gut instinct.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Spending time in nature and some form of mediation to quieten the mind which is subject to massive overstimulation most of the day.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Walk the dog, take a bath, try to get enough sleep.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I have always enjoyed communicating and talking to people, ideally in person. It brings a degree of connection that you just cannot get on Zoom. People often open up more in person and you can find common ground or they may share more pearls of wisdom that way.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
There have been a number of setbacks, in a way they are good as it is in those moments that you test your mental fortitude and see what you have learnt and what other lessons need to be learnt. When I was a fund manager, I had a period of disappointing performance and was at risk of losing my job. What actually happened is that my boss re-assigned all my clients to another person, leaving me a bit in the lurch. I had to find another team to join and rebuild…which I did, and it was the making of my career as with that new client base I expanded my asset base from $30m to $7bn over the next 8 years. The lesson being that what felt like a disaster at the time of being re-assigned was actually a massive blessing and cleared the path for the next opportunity.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I have loads of podcasts that I listen to but I most enjoy hearing true stories from people who have risen to the top of their field and their path to getting there. Examples include – High Performance, Diary of a CEO, Invest like the Best, How I Built This. Also a healthy dose of self-improvement tips – Work/Life, Huberman Lab.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I stumbled across a show called Pachinko on Apple TV about four generations of a Korean family and their challenges living as immigrants in Japan. Definitely not my usual viewing but really captivating.
Key learnings
- Look after yourself, physically, mentally and spiritually.
- Always be open to helping others, learning new skills and experiences from other people.
- Trust in yourself – you are not defined by your biggest mistake or your worst day.