Enterprise at the UK National Congress

As usual, we held our informal forum to explain who we are and what we do, but the real highlight of our Congress visit was the evening we invited successful entrepreneurs to share their stories.

We arrived at Congress not knowing who would be there, and whether we would find any entrepreneurs to tell their stories.  However, our confidence in doing this has grown over the last couple of years.  And yes, again we found them. Lots of them. 

So, when our enterprise success session started, we had more entrepreneurs than we had time to hear from. In the end we heard from just four of them. I think most attendees were greatly entertained and very inspired by the stories they heard.

And who knows what impact this sharing can have.  As Arif put it: “One of the most inspiring moments for me was when two young women came to see us after the VCP presentation and told us how the success stories session that Rahman Connelly had organised at the Peublo Congress had kickstarted their careers. So, like laughter, success must be infectious!”

By the way, a big shout out to the indefatigable Rifka, who comes to most of our events if she is around and is a great supporter of what we are trying to do.

All the entrepreneurs told stories, not just of hard work and risk, but of how the latihan, sometimes very powerfully, guided them into the field of work in which they became so successful, or unexpectedly helped them at various crisis points during their journey.

Another common element to many of these stories was that when given two options as to the way forward, they were often guided to choose the more difficult path. That was often when things really opened up and they were able to see the evidence of the latihan working in them, in what they were doing, and how it affected their customers and colleagues.

VCP in Difficult Times

Businesses today face a difficult combination of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, tighter access to capital, and the rapid spread of AI. This is making some products and services less valuable.

VCP is taking a different path from the AI-dominated mainstream. While most venture dollars chase a few AI mega-rounds, VCP backs Subud enterprises globally, focusing on durable businesses whose value AI cannot easily erode: energy, health and care services, patented technologies, and enterprises built on skilled people and trusted relationships.

We avoid businesses whose core product or margins could be significantly devalued by AI, such as routine software, content, and information or advisory services that can be automated. Instead, it seeks companies where AI is a tool that lowers costs and lifts productivity.

Amid uncertainty and slow exits, this discipline, together with a 5x return target at exit, gives investors exposure to resilient, well-researched, sensibly priced start-ups that mainstream venture capital overlooks and that are positioned to benefit from AI rather than be displaced by it. 

A Little More About Us

Our newsletter now has a subscriber base of about 3,000 Subud members around the world.  Some of you may not know us very well so, over the next few issues we will provide a brief bio of each of the VCP team members.

In 1999, together with Rahman, Hamid initiated the construction of much of Rungan Sari’s residential accommodation, and he owns and operates the beautiful Rungan Sari Meeting Centre. He has held many positions in Subud.  He is currently Vice Chair of the Muhammad Subud Foundation (MSF) and heads up the World Congress Organising Team for the 2028 congress in Fatima, Portugal.

A Little Gift

As you all know, Rahman Connelly and his business partner, Bradford Temple, were early Subud entrepreneurs - and very successful ones.  They pioneered the superannuation industry in Australia.  In 1995, they published the book “Human Enterprise”. It brought together some of the statements Bapak had made about the role of enterprise within Subud.  We would like to share it with you in this downloadable pdf.

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The VCP Team – Always Eager to Hear from You

Left to Right: Markus Fraval (Board nominee), Rahman Connelly (Founder-Chairman), Hamid da Silva (Founder-Adviser), Arif Matthee (Founder-Director), Irwan Wyllie (Founder-Managing Director),