Coutu graduated from
University of British Columbia, with a first class honours BA, in 1986, with distinction from the
London School of Economics, with an MSc, in Economics, and from
Harvard Business School, with an MBA, in 1993. As an entrepreneur, Sherry founded
Interactive Investor International in 1994. She ran it until 2000 when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange and she stepped down when it was acquired by AMP in 2001. She became an
angel investor in 2000 and since then has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and specialised in consumer internet, information services and education. She has made angel investments in more than 50 companies and holds investments in five
venture capital firms. In November 2014, Coutu authored the "Scale-Up Report" which was commissioned by the Digital Economy Council. The report urged the UK government to support '
scaleups' and not only '
startups'. In June 2015, partnering with
Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of
LinkedIn, Coutu launched the Scale Up Institute, a non-profit body to support UK businesses wishing to scale up. Support for businesses will include help in improving leadership skills, accessing a network of advisers and raising finance. In early July 2015 it was reported and later confirmed by Coutu that she would be curtailing her angel investing activities in favour of investing philanthropically in charitable endeavours in the future via Founders4Schools, a charity to improve the employability of young people. In 2017, Founders4Schools launched their work experience service for 16- to 24-year-olds, Workfinder. Workfinder is a
TripAdvisor-style app to easily connect young people with fast-growing companies across the UK. ==Positions==