Riding Unicorns: Recent Episodes

Riding Unicorns

The Podcast About Growth Startups. Co-Hosted by James Pringle ex-operator and now Partner @ Goldsmith Ventures and Hector Mason ex-operator and now Partner @ Episode 1 Ventures. Riding Unicorns dives into the operational side of building tech unicorns through interviews with the best founders and investors in the venture space. A must listen for any founder or aspiring founder.

What does it take to build a frontier AI model lab in a world dominated by OpenAI, Anthropic and Google?

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Yang Li, Co-Founder & CEO of Cosine, one of the UK's leading frontier AI companies building sovereign AI models for enterprise and government.

Cosine began by fine-tuning foundation models for software engineering before evolving into a full frontier AI lab, training its own models from scratch. Today, the company works with organisations across defence, financial services and critical national infrastructure, deploying AI securely inside highly regulated environments.

The conversation explores why sovereign AI has become a strategic priority, how smaller model labs can compete with the biggest players, and what the future of enterprise AI will look like.

Yang also shares how AI is changing software engineering, why synthetic data has become a competitive advantage, and the lessons he's learned building one of Europe's most ambitious AI companies.

Topics Covered

• How Cosine evolved from AI coding tools into a frontier AI model lab
• Why sovereign AI is becoming critical for governments and enterprises
• Competing with OpenAI and Anthropic without billions in funding
• Building AI models using synthetic data and post-training techniques
• Why defence, banking and healthcare are driving enterprise AI adoption
• The future of software engineering in the age of AI coding agents
• Air-gapped AI, on-premise deployment and enterprise security
• The geopolitical race for AI infrastructure and compute sovereignty
• Hiring world-class AI talent and building high-performance teams
• Founder lessons on conviction, resilience and staying alive long enough to win

This is a conversation about the future of frontier AI, the growing importance of sovereign technology, and what it takes to build an AI company that competes on the global stage.

What happens when computing reaches the limits of classical physics?

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Ashley Montanaro, Co-Founder & CEO of Phasecraft, one of Europe's leading quantum computing companies.

Backed by Episode 1, Phasecraft is building the software and algorithms that will unlock the commercial potential of quantum computers. While much of the industry focuses on hardware, Ashley explains why the real breakthroughs will come from the software layer, and why better algorithms could be worth orders of magnitude more than incremental hardware improvements.

The conversation explores what quantum computing actually is, why "quantum advantage" could become one of the defining technology milestones of the next decade, and how quantum and AI will work together to accelerate scientific discovery.

Ashley also shares what it's really like building a deep tech company, how non-dilutive funding helped Phasecraft grow, and why the next generation of computing could transform industries ranging from energy and pharmaceuticals to materials science and cybersecurity.

Topics Covered

• What quantum computing actually is and why it matters
• Why software may create more value than quantum hardware
• The race towards practical quantum advantage
• How quantum algorithms unlock problems classical computers cannot solve
• The future of materials discovery, batteries, pharmaceuticals and chemistry
• Why AI and quantum computing will reinforce each other
• The cybersecurity implications of post-quantum computing
• Building a deep tech company with long development cycles
• Raising over £5m in non-dilutive funding through grants and government programmes
• Commercialising frontier research before the market fully exists
• Lessons from building one of Europe's leading quantum software companies
• Why radically new computing architectures could define the next generation of technology

This is a conversation about one of the most important technological revolutions still to come, why quantum computing is moving from theory to commercial reality, and what it takes to build a company at the frontier of science and software.

How do you build AI for one of the world's largest, most valuable, and least digitised industries?

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Dr. Kate Jarvis, CEO & Co-Founder of Fifth Dimension, the AI company transforming how institutional real estate investors make decisions.

With a PhD from Stanford in machine learning and linguistics, Kate has spent her career applying AI to complex industries. Today, Fifth Dimension is building what she describes as the Bloomberg Terminal for real assets, helping some of the world's largest property investors replace spreadsheets, PDFs and manual workflows with AI-powered decision intelligence.

The conversation explores why commercial real estate has remained decades behind other financial markets, how AI is finally unlocking the sector, and what it takes to build enterprise software for one of the world's most relationship-driven industries.

Kate also shares candid insights on fundraising in today's AI market, founder-led sales, pricing AI products, and why Europe may have a unique advantage in the next wave of vertical AI companies.

Topics Covered

• Why commercial real estate remains one of the world's least digitised industries
• Building the Bloomberg Terminal for institutional property investors
• How AI transforms underwriting, portfolio management and investment decisions
• Why decision intelligence matters more than simply collecting more data
• The challenge of changing behaviour in relationship-driven industries
• Founder-led sales and scaling enterprise go-to-market teams
• Pricing AI products while managing token costs and unit economics
• Building vertical AI companies versus foundation models
• The differences between fundraising in Europe and the US
• Why Europe could become the leader in vertical AI applications
• The realities of raising venture capital as an AI founder
• Founder resilience, conviction and building through uncertainty

This is a conversation about applying AI where it creates the greatest economic value, why enterprise transformation is ultimately about people rather than technology, and what it takes to modernise one of the world's biggest industries.

Laura Modiano leads Founder Experience at OpenAI, a newly created function designed to help startups build, grow, and scale on the world's leading AI platform.

Having previously worked with startups at AWS and now at OpenAI, Laura sits at the intersection of founders, technology, and the future of company building.

In this episode, Laura shares how AI is fundamentally changing the startup journey, why founders can now build companies faster than ever before, and what OpenAI is doing to support the next generation of builders from day one.

We discuss:

• Why OpenAI created the Founder Experience team
• How startup building is changing in the AI era
• What founders need from AI platforms beyond infrastructure
• The difference between building a feature and building a company
• Why AI-native founders are moving faster than ever before
• How OpenAI gathers feedback directly from founders
• The rise of non-technical founders building technical products
• Why anyone can now learn, build and create with AI tools
• How Laura uses Codex to automate workflows and increase productivity
• The future relationship between startups and AI platforms
• Lessons from AWS, healthcare, startups and OpenAI
• What makes great founders stand out in a rapidly changing market

Laura also shares her thoughts on the future of AI applications, the opportunities for founders building on top of foundation models, and why curiosity, speed and continuous learning are becoming the most valuable skills in technology.

This is a conversation about the future of entrepreneurship, the democratisation of software creation, and what happens when anyone with an idea can build a company.

What does it take to build an AI company a decade before the world realises AI is the future?

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder & CEO of Cleo, the AI financial assistant helping millions of consumers make smarter money decisions.

Barney started building Cleo years before ChatGPT brought AI into the mainstream. Today, Cleo has grown into one of the UK's leading fintech success stories, reaching $400M ARR and becoming a category-defining consumer AI company.

The conversation explores the realities of scaling from zero revenue to hundreds of millions in ARR, surviving the shift from the ZIRP era to COVID, and building a product-led company that endured long before AI became fashionable.

Barney also shares how AI is transforming the way Cleo operates internally, why every executive team member is now shipping code, and how founder behaviour, company culture, and execution speed are changing in the age of AI.

Topics Covered:

• Building an AI company before the AI boom
• The origins of Cleo and the vision for an AI financial assistant
• Growing from $0 to $400M ARR
• Why the first $100M is the hardest milestone
• Surviving COVID and finding product-market fit
• Building data moats and defensibility in AI
• Why AI has transformed customer acquisition
• How Cleo uses AI internally across engineering and operations
• The rise of AI-native companies and the future of work
• Why some employees thrive with AI and others fall behind
• The best AI tools Barney is using today
• Advice for founders on fundraising, execution, and building great products
• The next generation of AI startups and future unicorn predictions

A candid conversation about ambition, execution, AI, and what it really takes to build a generational technology company.

What happens when software adapts to humans, rather than humans adapting to software?

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Jonathan Sanders, Founder & CEO of Light, the AI-native finance platform redefining how businesses manage money.

Jonathan's journey spans investment banking, consulting, Pleo, founding Juni, and now building Light. Along the way, he has developed a unique perspective on technology, AI, and what the next generation of business software will look like.

The conversation explores Jonathan's concept of "organic software" where AI agents learn, adapt, and operate alongside teams, reducing complexity and transforming finance from a reporting function into a strategic intelligence layer.

Jonathan shares real-world examples of AI agents managing company spend, monitoring compliance, automating finance workflows, and generating insights that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

The discussion also covers founder psychology, building through uncertainty, AI-first organisations, and how leadership teams must evolve in a world where software development, product design, and operations are increasingly powered by AI.

Topics Covered:

• Jonathan's journey from finance and consulting into startups
• Why founding a company is one of the hardest ways to create change
• The concept of "organic software" and AI-native business tools
• How AI agents learn from company behaviour and improve over time
• Building finance software that tells stories instead of generating reports
• Real-world examples of autonomous finance workflows
• Why AI is changing the role of CFOs and finance teams
• How Light uses AI internally across product, engineering, and operations
• The rise of AI-first organisations and new ways of working
• Founder resilience, stress, and the realities of building companies
• Why software development is changing faster than most people realise
• The future of business operations in an AI-native world

This is a conversation about the next generation of software, the future of work, and what happens when AI becomes a true operating system for businesses.

Steve Domin, Founder & CEO of Duffel, the company rebuilding the infrastructure layer of the global travel industry.

Duffel is taking on one of the most complex and outdated sectors, creating modern, developer-first APIs for flights, hotels, and more. Backed by investors including Index Ventures and Benchmark, the company has raised over $50M to transform how travel is bought and sold.

Steve shares the journey of building Duffel from scratch, including:

Why the travel industry is fundamentally broken
The insight that led to Duffel’s API-first approach
Building deep supply-side integrations with airlines and incumbents
Navigating COVID when travel demand dropped to zero
The painful reality of scaling, resetting, and rebuilding product-market fit
Where long-term defensibility comes from in complex infrastructure businesses

We also explore:

What makes companies like GoCardless “talent factories”
How AI is changing how modern engineering teams are built
The future of smaller, highly efficient companies
Steve’s view on the next generation of AI-native products

This is a masterclass in persistence, infrastructure thinking, and building through uncertainty.

Mahdi Yahya, Founder and CEO of Ori, is now part of Radiant following its partnership with Brookfield.

Mahdi is building at the centre of one of the most important shifts in technology: the global race to scale AI infrastructure.

We cover:

From telecoms to data centres: lessons from building infrastructure businesses from age 20
Why Ori chose the harder path of building for a future that did not yet exist
What “AI infrastructure” actually means, from GPU clusters to orchestration software
The Radiant model: combining capital, power, compute and software into a single platform
Why AI is becoming sovereign infrastructure and what that means for governments
Where value will accrue in the AI stack across hardware, infrastructure and applications
The importance of vertical integration and marginal gains in a capital-intensive market
Two pivotal decisions that shaped the company, including early acquisition and moving into physical infrastructure
Founder resilience and the simple rule: stay alive

Mahdi also shares his perspective on the next wave of AI companies, the opportunity in inference, and why robotics could be the next breakout category.

This is a conversation about building at civilisational scale and what it takes to operate where technology, capital and infrastructure collide.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Charlotte Palmer, Vice President of Venture Capital at Integra Global Advisors.

Charlotte sits on the other side of the table as an LP, backing emerging venture funds globally. In this episode, she lifts the lid on how LPs actually evaluate VCs, what really matters beyond headline performance, and why many GPs still get fundraising wrong.

We cover:

• How LPs really underwrite venture funds and why early DPI is often misunderstood
• What matters more than performance in the early years of a fund
• Why access and ownership drive returns more than anything else
• The reality of backing emerging managers and why smaller funds win
• Team dynamics, attribution, and how LPs assess partners under the hood
• Why fewer funds are getting backed and what’s changed in the market
• The shift in venture towards early-stage and how late-stage AI impacts LP strategy
• Portfolio construction from an LP perspective and how diversification actually works
• The role of co-investments and why LPs increasingly lean into them
• How GPs can create urgency in fundraising and what actually cuts through

Charlotte also shares practical advice for GPs, including how to re-engage LPs, how to position a fund without strong DPI, and why most outreach fails to land.

A clear, honest view from the LP side on what it takes to get backed and build a fund that lasts.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we welcome back Alan Chang, Founder and CEO of Fuse Energy.

Since his last appearance, Fuse has scaled rapidly, reaching a $5B valuation and setting its sights on £1B ARR. In this episode, Alan breaks down what it really takes to build a full-stack energy company from scratch, and why solving energy is one of the hardest and most important challenges of our time.

We cover:

• Why lowering the cost of energy is a trillion-pound opportunity
• The reality of building in a deeply complex, regulated industry
• What it actually means to “buy the grid” and why it matters
• How Fuse has already reduced energy costs by 15%
• The next big product: plug-and-play solar and battery for every home
• Why time, not capital, is the biggest constraint in building a company
• Hiring world-class engineers and building a high-performance culture
• Lessons from Revolut and applying them to energy
• Why the best founders are obsessed with speed, not comfort

Alan also shares his mindset as a founder, why he rarely looks back at achievements, and why he’s more convinced than ever that this problem can be solved.

Clear thinking on how to build a generational company in one of the world’s most complex industries.

What does a genuinely great VC fund look like today, from an LP’s perspective?

In this episode, James and Hector are joined by Dave Neumann, Investment Manager at Schroders Capital, one of the most experienced institutional investors in venture. With a career spanning decades and exposure to top-tier global funds, Dave shares how leading LPs actually evaluate venture firms, and where many GPs get it wrong.

The conversation covers what separates top quartile funds from the rest, why venture is increasingly about building a firm rather than just making investments, and how the best managers create a long-term flywheel across talent, track record and capital.

They also go deep on often overlooked topics including DPI, liquidity, fund size, and portfolio construction. Dave explains why access is everything in venture, why consistency matters more than one-off performance, and how LPs think about returns in a world where companies stay private for longer.

A sharp, practical look at venture through the LP lens and what it takes to build a durable, high-performing fund.

Topics Covered

What defines a top VC fund today
The LP perspective on venture performance
Why venture is about building a firm, not just investing
Top quartile vs lower quartile returns and the compounding effect
Talent, incentives and the VC flywheel
Portfolio construction myths vs reality
Fund size and where returns are really made
DPI, liquidity and secondaries in Europe
How LPs think about risk, time horizons and outcomes
Why access is the biggest advantage in venture

Tony Jamous first joined Riding Unicorns in January 2023, just after Oyster became a unicorn. Since then, the company has raised its Series D, Tony has moved into the Executive Chairman role, and Hadi Moussa has stepped in as CEO.

In this episode, James sits down with both Tony and Hadi to unpack what really happens when a founder hands over the CEO role in a high-growth company. They discuss why Tony knew Oyster needed a different kind of leader for its next stage, how the search process unfolded, and what Hadi has focused on in his first months in the role.

They also go deep on scaling leadership, building operational rhythm, giving effective feedback, and how to turn a strong remote culture into a genuinely high-performing organisation. The conversation then shifts to the future of global employment, the impact of AI on hiring, and why Oyster still sees a huge opportunity ahead.

A candid episode on succession, self-awareness, scale, and what it takes to lead a mission-driven company through its next chapter.

Topics covered:

Why Tony stepped aside as CEO
How Oyster prepared for a leadership transition
What Hadi is changing in his first months as CEO
Founder-led vision vs operator-led execution
Building a high-performing remote team
Feedback, vulnerability, and leadership maturity
AI’s impact on hiring and global talent
The future of Oyster and global employment

Nikola Mrkšić is the Co-Founder and CEO of PolyAI, one of the world’s leading voice AI companies, helping enterprises automate customer service through conversational AI at massive scale.

Before PolyAI, Nikola was a machine learning researcher and part of the team behind Siri. In this episode, he joins James to unpack what the world is only now starting to understand about voice AI, why most automation still misses the point, and how PolyAI has built a full stack enterprise product that goes far beyond simply reducing call queues.

They discuss how PolyAI is used by major brands across hospitality, utilities, retail, banking and insurance, and why the real opportunity is not just handling calls, but turning the contact centre into an intelligence layer for the whole business. Nikola also explains why enterprise voice AI is harder than it looks, where the moat really sits, and why owning the models and the application layer matters.

The conversation covers Siri, Gordon Ramsay, pricing power, Nvidia, enterprise stickiness, and what it takes to build a category leader from Europe.

Topics include:

Why Siri was too early for the vision it was aiming at
Why PolyAI focused on the step between clunky IVR and true AI assistants
How voice AI can improve revenue, customer experience and operational insight
Why enterprise deployments become hard to rip out
The difference between real voice AI companies and wrappers
Whether voice AI is becoming commoditised
How PolyAI thinks about pricing, margins and defensibility
Why Nikola believes many “AI companies” are borrowing from the future
Gordon Ramsay as a customer and brand partner
Nikola’s future unicorn pick: Paid.ai

This week on Riding Unicorns, Matt Wilson returns to the podcast. Matt previously joined us in September 2022 to talk about Omnipresent, which has since been acquired by Deel. He is now back building Jack and Jill, one of the most talked-about venture-backed companies in Europe right now.

Jack and Jill is bringing conversational AI to job hunting and hiring, with two agents built for two audiences:

Jack, an AI agent for individuals that learns who you are, what you want, and monitors the job market for you, while also helping with career coaching, CVs, and interview prep.
Jill, an AI agent for companies that learns what you are hiring for, then works with Jack to make high-signal introductions at scale.

In this episode, we cover:

Why careers and hiring remain massively under-optimised, and why that matters
How Jack and Jill avoids the marketplace cold start by winning in “single-player mode” first
Why Matt is building a flatter, leaner org this time, and staying closer to the action
Talent density in an AI-native company, and why paying above-market is a deliberate strategy
What “escape velocity” looks like in a two-sided marketplace, and the metric they track
The long-term moat: network effects over features
Matt’s future unicorn picks, plus dinner party guests (with Steve Jobs, Reid Hoffman, and a very specific competitive curiosity)

If you care about AI agents, marketplaces, or how recruiting changes when everyone has an AI working on their behalf, you’ll enjoy this one.

Nicolò Frisiani is Co-Founder & CEO of Lupa, the world’s first enterprise-ready AI operating system for veterinary clinics.

Lupa has raised over $25m from investors including Singular and Firstminute Capital, and is on a mission to modernise a sector still running on 1980s technology.

In this episode, Nicolò shares:

Why Lupa started as a consumer app and quickly pivoted to a full-stack operating system
How note-taking became the wedge product into a much bigger platform vision
What he learned from sending his co-founder to work as a vet receptionist for a month
The complexity of selling into PE-backed veterinary groups
Why speed and momentum drove two fundraises in quick succession
The long-term vision: from clinic OS, to monetisation infrastructure, to unlocking veterinary data for AI-driven medical research

We also discuss the realities of scaling enterprise SaaS, underestimating sales cycles, hiring challenges, and how a consulting background shapes early-stage founders.

If you’re interested in vertical SaaS, AI infrastructure, or how to go from scrappy MVP to enterprise-ready platform, this one is worth your time.

George Davis, Founder and CEO of Lorum.

George has been deep in payments for years: Head of Product at TrueLayer, then co-founder of BVNK, and now building Lorum to tackle the hardest layer of the stack: global clearing.

We get into:

Why payments becomes an obsession if you look closely enough
What “rebuilding clearing from the ground up” actually means, in plain English
Virtual accounts, ledgering, Swift, and why settlement speed still matters
The real opportunity: fixing dollar clearing and cross border flows
How Lorum makes money, and why being “payments only” changes the incentives
The fundraising sprint, choosing Northzone, and what great investors actually do day to day
The hardest part early on: banking reality versus licensing theory in the Middle East
How George runs transparency, morale, and intensity during high growth
A simple lesson for founders: do not start a company unless you care deeply about the problem

James sits down with Dr. David von Rosen, the serial founder behind Lottoland and 25 Degrees, and the Principal of the VONROSEN family office, through which he invests globally and pan-sector in fast-growth pre-IPO startups.

David does not pretend to have one neat playbook. He prefers volatility, backs ideas that feel genuinely new, and invests like an operator, often taking a significant stake so he can get involved properly.

We talk about:

Why David prefers fewer bets with bigger ownership
How he thinks about hiring generalists and spotting motivation over credentials
What most people misunderstand about risk, and how his relationship with risk has changed with age
Why Dubai feels like a magnet for talent, capital, and momentum
The origin story of Lottoland, and the clever regulatory workaround that made it possible
His future unicorn pick: Tytan Technologies
Dinner party guests, featuring Alex Honnold and Rihanna

Plus, a brilliant story from David’s past: how his fashion brand ended up on Steve Jobs during an Apple WWDC keynote, and what happened next.

If you like founder psychology, unconventional investing, and real operator stories, you’ll enjoy this one.

Harrison Rose co-founded Paddle, one of the UK’s standout B2B billing and payments companies. Now he is building GoodFit, a go to market platform helping teams prioritise the right accounts, at the right time, with the right data.

In this episode, Harrison breaks down a simple idea most teams still get wrong: before you buy another shiny GTM tool, make sure you are actually selling to qualified customers. He shares how Paddle approached go to market from first principles, why the “execution layer” has exploded (16,000 tools and counting), and why fundamentals like market mapping and qualification still matter most.

We also get into what he learned on a 10-year unicorn journey, the reality of hard days (including the moment Paddle’s whole sales team quit), and what motivates him second time around when failure is no longer existential.

Ben Freeman is the Co-founder and CEO of Omnea, an AI native procurement and supplier management platform used by companies from the mid-market through to enterprise, including Synthesia, Typeform, Spotify, Monzo, Albertsons, and The Adecco Group.

Ben’s path to procurement was not obvious. From running a bootstrapped events business in Manchester (and dropping out of uni), to a stint in investment banking at Lazard, to scaling cybersecurity company Tessian in New York, he accidentally discovered just how broken procurement can be inside otherwise world class organisations.

In this conversation, Ben breaks down how he found conviction for Omnea through hundreds of user interviews, why procurement is a horizontal problem that touches every employee, and how macro shifts are making procurement a board-level priority.

We also go deep on what Omnea is known for internally: talent density. Ben shares how they hired their early team, what “mutual fit” really means, why they are willing to pass on an “8”, and how he thinks about building an enduring company with a flat, player coach org structure.

We cover:

How to do customer discovery properly (and when to walk away)
Why procurement is a huge market hiding in plain sight
The trade off between speed and shipping the right product for enterprise
Hiring for traits over skills and what Ben looks for in interviews
Founder paranoia, time management, and staying close to customers
Ben’s dinner party guests and the future unicorn he is backing

James and Hector sit down with James Cadwallader, CEO and Co Founder of Profound, to unpack how AI is reshaping the internet and what that means for every brand on the planet.

James explains why large language models are not just a new interface, but a fundamental platform shift in how people retrieve information. Instead of humans clicking blue links, user agents now visit the web on our behalf, read content, and answer questions directly. Profound sits in the middle of this change, helping some of the worlds biggest brands understand if and how they show up in AI answers, and then create content that is designed for bots rather than humans.

The conversation covers what GEO (generative engine optimisation) actually is, how Profound uses a huge consumer prompt panel and reasoning models to map where AI gets its answers from, and why SEO teams are surprisingly well placed to become the heroes of this next era. James also shares his view on how ads will work inside products like ChatGPT, why this may finally break the search monopoly, and how he thinks marketers will work in a world where AI creates, distributes and measures most of their campaigns.

James talks through Profounds rapid journey from idea to working with Fortune 10 brands, the fundraising story with Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins and others, and why this is the last company he plans to build.

Ariel Harmoko is the Co Founder and CEO of Artifact AI. Ariel joined James and Hector for a conversation that moves from race tracks to reconciliation engines.

Ariel grew up in Jakarta, was thrown into Go Karts at eight, and went on to race professionally all the way to Formula 3 alongside the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell. That early immersion in high performance teams, engineering and discipline shaped how he now operates as a founder.

He shares how a love of maths and science took him to boarding school in the UK, then into machine learning research at Cambridge while still a teenager, working on early diagnosis in medtech and later deploying internal GPT tools at JP Morgan.

Today Ariel is building Artifact AI, an “agent accountant” that sits on top of existing ledgers like Xero, QuickBooks and NetSuite. The product tackles two huge problems for accounting firms. Fragmented legacy stacks and chronic staff shortages. Ariel explains how their agents ingest data, reconcile, post to ledgers and learn from human review, and why accuracy, auditability and trust are non negotiable in this space.

The conversation covers selling into one of the most conservative industries on earth, founder led FDE style implementations, why advisory is the real margin in accounting, and how vertical AI and agentic workflows could reshape professional services.

Andrew D’Souza is the Founder of Boardy, the Creandum backed AI super connector reshaping how founders and investors meet and build trust.

Before Boardy, Andrew co-founded Clearco, one of the first revenue based financing companies. Clearco deployed over $5bn to thousands of businesses, scaled to six hundred employees, and passed one hundred million dollars in revenue. Andrew is one of the few founders who has built a nine figure company before starting again.

Clearco’s early AI work and Andrew’s interest in generative AI since 2020 sparked the idea for Boardy.

Boardy is a voice based AI that speaks to founders and investors, remembers context instantly, and makes high quality introductions at scale. What started as a side experiment is now one of the fastest growing AI products in fundraising.

We also cover Boardy’s newest chapter. After helping founders secure meetings, term sheets and oversubscribed rounds through his recent campaign, Boardy has launched Boardy Ventures, the world’s first AI led venture fund, allowing him to back the founders he already supports.

We explore the journey from bedroom prototype to top tier backing from Creandum, and how Boardy is building powerful emergent network effects.

In this episode we get into:
🧠 The Clearco story and lessons from hypergrowth
🤖 Early GPT-3 experiments and the Clear Angel project
📞 Why voice matters and why intelligence beats latency
🎯 How Boardy creates uncannily strong introductions
📈 Network effects and solving the cold start problem
💸 How founders are already closing rounds through Boardy
🧪 The superpowered version now helping founders and VC firms
🧩 The long-term vision from venture partner to AI holding company
🎨 Creativity, identity and why great companies reflect their founders

A sharp and thought provoking conversation on AI, networks and entrepreneurial energy.

Erin Platts is the CEO of Octopus Ventures and former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank UK & Europe — one of the most pivotal figures in the UK tech ecosystem.

In this conversation, Erin opens up in remarkable detail about her personal journey from two decades inside SVB to leading one of Europe’s most active venture firms. She shares the inside story of the SVB collapse — the all-nighters, the adrenaline, the leadership decisions made under extreme pressure, and what it was really like to shoulder responsibility for thousands of founders, operators and employees during a once-in-a-generation crisis.

We then explore Erin’s new chapter at Octopus Ventures, and how she's shaping a platform that spans pre-seed to growth investing, powered by the unique capital model of the wider Octopus Group. We discuss the future of the UK ecosystem, the evolution of UK capital markets, and what needs to change to ensure the best founders choose to build and list here.

In this episode we dive into: 🔥 The inside view of the SVB implosion — four days, 90 minutes of sleep, and how the team navigated full-blown crisis
🧭 Leadership principles forged through chaos: communication, context and visible leadership
🏦 Why Erin joined Octopus Ventures and how she plans to scale a multi-fund, multi-stage European VC platform
🌍 The capital continuum — and how the UK can close the growth and public-markets gap
⚡ Why founders underestimate their own agency in shaping the future of the ecosystem
🏛️ Erin’s role in the Capital Markets Industry Taskforce and what a healthier UK exit landscape could look like
🏫 Octopus’ growing footprint in education, financial services, and energy, including the rise of Octopus Legacy

This is one of the most candid conversations we’ve recorded — a masterclass in leadership, resilience and building through volatility.

Lee Veitch is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of SuperAwesome, the world’s leading kid-tech and youth marketing platform.

SuperAwesome powers billions of kid-safe digital transactions every month — helping brands like LEGO, Disney, and Nickelodeon connect with young audiences responsibly and safely.

Lee takes us behind the scenes of a remarkable 13-year journey — from the early days of fear, frustration, and opportunity, to scaling globally, being acquired by Epic Games, and then buying the business back to continue its mission independently.

In this episode we dive into:
👶 Why the internet needed a safe space for kids — and how SuperAwesome built it
📺 The shift from TV to digital — and how the youth ad economy evolved
⚖️ Balancing commercial success with mission and ethics
💡 The strategic choice not to build a programmatic platform
🧱 Lessons from the Epic Games acquisition and buyback
🔐 How regulation like COPPA and GDPR-K shaped the company’s tech
🌍 Using influence to drive global policy change
🔥 Founder energy, culture, and why humour builds great teams

Lee also shares what’s next for SuperAwesome — from global expansion and M&A to building Awesome Intelligence, a new data platform that helps brands understand kids’ digital lives without compromising safety.

The AI rollup transforming property management

This week on Riding Unicorns, we sit down with Dan Lifshits, Co-Founder & COO of Dwelly — the AI-first lettings and property management platform reinventing how landlords, tenants, and agents interact.

Dwelly is on a mission to modernise the UK rental market by acquiring traditional letting agencies and rebuilding them with technology at their core. The business is growing fast, backed by General Catalyst and other leading investors, combining the operational rigour of real estate with the scalability of AI.

Before founding Dwelly, Dan was one of the youngest associates at McKinsey, then helped scale Gett (the ride-hailing company) from early stage to over $1bn in GMV and 1,000+ employees — experience that now shapes Dwelly’s operational DNA.

In this episode, we dive into:
🏢 The rollup model — why Dwelly is buying agencies instead of building from scratch
💡 Applying AI to traditional services — from lettings to maintenance and communication
🌍 Moving to Hull — and why the founding team relocated to be closer to their first acquisition
🚀 Turning investor scepticism into conviction: why rollups might define the next decade
🤖 Using data to discover the “perfect process” across thousands of lettings
💼 How to balance being a product builder, operator, and M&A organisation
🔥 Lessons from Gett and McKinsey on scaling complex, real-world businesses

Dan also shares his view on the coming wave of AI-enabled rollups, why the UK rental market is “crying out for disruption,” and what founders can learn from industries still running on manual workflows.

Hector is joined by Gauthier van Malderen, Founder and CEO of Perlego, the “Spotify for textbooks” and one of Europe’s leading edtech scale-ups.

Gauthier shares the remarkable journey of building Perlego from a personal frustration with expensive university textbooks into a global subscription platform transforming access to educational content. He reflects on early failures, the turning points that led to success, and how COVID accelerated the company’s growth.

The discussion dives deep into topics including:

Solving the chicken-and-egg problem of marketplace growth
The power of B2B partnerships in edtech
Building a resilient and mission-driven culture
Hiring mistakes, founder evolution, and staying authentic as a CEO
Lessons from scaling internationally and the differences between European and US venture ecosystems

Gauthier also shares his thoughts on leadership, founder ambition, and why being “more American” changed his mindset on growth and success.

A candid and inspiring conversation about persistence, humility, and global ambition from one of Europe’s standout founders.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap, a fintech platform helping digital businesses unlock capital and understand their financial position through intelligent forecasting, real-time data insights, and flexible financing.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Paul walks us through re:cap’s journey from an idea for automated due diligence software to becoming one of Europe’s fastest-growing capital platforms, recently securing over €125M in debt financing to power its next phase.

We explore the intricacies of fintech business models, investor expectations, the realities of growing a company during AI hype cycles, and what it takes to build enduring value in modern financial infrastructure.

In this episode, we discuss:

💰 How re:cap evolved from an underwriting tool to a full capital + finops engine
📊 Why Paul obsesses over gross margin more than revenue — and how that influenced product decisions
🚨 Lessons from building through hype: “growth at all costs” vs quality of revenue
🧠 The role of AI in financial tooling — and why re:cap built its copilot carefully and quietly
🏗️ Building a remote-first, values-aligned company from day one
📍 What it’s like starting multiple companies with the same co-founders — and how friendship and complementary skills helped them scale
🔁 “Back to the future”: how re:cap is returning to its original thesis, now with product-market fit
🌍 Vision: re:cap as the capital allocation engine for the modern CFO
📉 How investor expectations flipped 180° in 18 months — and why Paul sticks to economic logic over trend-following

Ali first joined us in January 2022, when Babylon was still one of the most ambitious healthtech companies in the world. Today, he returns with a new mission, building Quadrivia and its clinical AI assistant, “Qu”, designed to automate millions of repetitive healthcare workflows and rebalance the global shortage of clinical labour.

In this episode, Ali reflects candidly on the rise and fall of Babylon, the structural challenges behind its collapse, and the lessons he’s applying to his new venture. He also explains why he believes AI finally offers the chance to create abundance in healthcare, and how Quadrivia’s technology can deliver trusted, autonomous support for doctors, nurses, and patients alike.

🧠 Key topics discussed:
💡 The structural imbalance between global healthcare supply and demand and how AI can finally fix it
🏥 Babylon’s story: what went right, what went wrong, and what Ali learned from the SPAC era
🤖 Introducing Quadrivia’s “Qu”: a clinical AI that can handle patient calls, follow-ups, and real‑time triage
🔐 Building trust in AI: safety, guardrails, and how to design human‑in‑the‑loop autonomy
🎧 Live demo — a real patient conversation handled entirely by AI
📈 Why the future of healthcare lies in clinical process outsourcing powered by intelligent agents
🧩 Building small, fast, focused team, and why scale isn’t the goal (yet)
💬 Lessons on leadership, luck, and surviving the infinite game of entrepreneurship

Ali also shares his candid reflections on failure, resilience, and what it really takes to build world-changing technology in one of the hardest industries imaginable.

A fascinating, raw, and inspiring conversation with one of the most visionary founders in global healthtech and a glimpse into how AI could redefine the future of care.

Sam Jacobs is the Co-Founder of Go Places, the operating system for social commerce.

In just 18 months, Go Places has become a trusted partner to some of the world’s biggest brands including Samsung, Mars, The Body Shop, and Trip. Backed by deep experience from Amazon and Coca-Cola, Sam and his co-founder Jack are building the infrastructure layer for TikTok Shop, combining performance, content, live shopping, affiliate management and analytics into a single high-performance engine.

Go Places runs 9 in-house live shopping studios (growing to 25 next year), manages 60+ trained presenters, and has developed AI-powered tools like One Place - a real-time data platform that helps brands understand the full impact of social commerce beyond the TikTok checkout.

We dive deep into:

📈 The rise of TikTok Shop and why social commerce isn’t just a trend — it’s becoming a core pillar of brand distribution
🎥 Lessons from China’s live shopping boom and why it’s just getting started in the West
🛠️ Building infrastructure: from creator training to studio logistics and custom AI tooling
💡 How enterprise brands are learning to think like challenger brands in social commerce
🤖 AI’s role in content generation, performance analysis, and dynamic presenter optimisation
🚀 Scaling a startup from 6 to 35 people in 12 months — while maintaining speed and culture
🧠 The underrated skill every founder needs: how to sell
🌍 Why luxury brands are coming to TikTok Shop — and how Go Places helps them adapt

Plus, Sam shares his North Star vision, the wildest stat from TikTok Shop, his dream dinner guests (including Mourinho and Ryan Reynolds), and his future unicorn pick in AI-powered finance support.

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of commerce, creator-led brands, or scaling complex operations at speed. Sam brings clarity, ambition, and sharp execution to one of the most exciting spaces in consumer tech right now.

Akash Bajwa, Principal at Earlybird VC, one of Europe’s longest-standing early-stage funds.

Akash shares his journey into venture and how he helped launch Earlybird’s London office, now a core hub for the firm. We dive into the state of AI investing, how to distinguish enduring companies from short-term hype, and what traits define the next wave of outlier founders.

With experience backing companies like Briefcase (AI for accountants) and Spatial (3D generative AI), Akash offers a deep and practical perspective on both infrastructure and application-layer AI—and how to evaluate founder-market fit in the era of LLMs.

In this episode, we discuss:

🧠 What “the art of early-stage” really means at Earlybird
🤖 AI-native founders vs experienced SaaS veterans – who wins?
💡 Infra vs apps – where to invest, and how to spot defensibility
🚀 Why velocity and learning rate matter more than credentials
⚠️ Red herrings in AI and why some infra startups vanish overnight
🛠️ From vector DBs to prompt tooling – what survives when labs move fast
🔎 Deep dive on recent Earlybird investments including Briefcase and Spatial
💬 Why go-to-market insight is more valuable than tech alone
🔮 How to underwrite GenAI founders in an environment that’s changing monthly

Whether you're building at the frontier of AI, trying to raise your seed round, or navigating a product roadmap in a fast-moving category, this conversation offers frameworks you’ll want to revisit.

Lexi Novitske, General Partner at Norrsken22, a $205m growth-stage fund backing transformative tech companies across Africa.

Lexi has spent over a decade living and investing in Nigeria, backing breakout African startups like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Smile Identity. As one of the continent’s most respected VCs, she shares how her team is building a truly Pan-African platform — with partners on the ground in Lagos, Johannesburg, and Nairobi — and why local presence and context are essential for investing in emerging markets.

Norrsken22 is on a mission to scale the outliers — high-growth companies tackling infrastructure, financial inclusion, identity, healthcare and more — and Lexi pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to win in this market.

🦄 In this episode, we discuss:

🌍 Africa’s startup boom and what global investors often get wrong
📈 Why Africa’s massive, mobile-first population is a global tech superpower
💸 The rise of Fintech, remittance, and payments infrastructure across the continent
🧠 Building trust in low-trust environments and how tech is solving for identity & access
📊 Valuation discipline and why applying Silicon Valley multiples doesn’t work in Africa
🛠️ Infrastructure before apps and how context shapes investment strategy
🤝 Partnering with international funds - the good, the bad, and the nuanced
🚀 Recent investments like Tyme Bank and what makes a Pan-African breakout
🇪🇬 Egypt, DRC, and beyond and which next-gen markets Lexi is most excited about
📚 Why VCs need empathy, not just capital, to invest in complex environments

Lexi also reflects on her evolution as an investor, the importance of local talent, and why venture success in Africa isn’t just possible, it’s already happening.

Please note: The topics covered in this episode should not be taken as investment advice.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Rupert West, the founder and Managing Director of Puma Growth Partners, a UK-based growth equity investor backing companies at Series A with cheque sizes of £4–10m. Puma invests across consumer brands, B2B SaaS, and scalable business services, with a hands-on approach to helping founders scale sustainably and successfully exit.

Rupert shares the story of building Puma from scratch, starting with the core mission: to deliver true value-add support to founders using his team’s operational and financial expertise. He also dives into the firm’s unique structure (including VCTs), investment thesis, and deep operational involvement with portfolio companies like Pockit and YASO.

🦄 In this episode, we discuss:

📊 Why Puma takes a multi-sector approach and how it helps reduce concentration risk
🧠 What makes a founder truly “venture-backable” and how Puma assesses founder psychology
🚀 Case study: Why Puma backed social commerce infra startup YASO to help brands scale in China
🧰 Exit readiness: How VCs should focus on DPI, not just deployment
📍 Why “next round ready” is as important as product-market fit
💥 Lessons from navigating crises from 2008 to COVID to today’s inflation squeeze
🏦 The power of VCTs and permanent capital in turbulent markets
🌱 Why every venture firm needs resilience and empathy to support founders in hard times
💬 Rupert’s take on customer obsession and why the best founders keep buyers front and centre

Whether you’re raising your Series A or building a growth fund yourself, this episode offers deep insight into what great VC support should look like and how fund managers can stay close to the action while scaling.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Manny Medina, the visionary founder behind Outreach — the $4B sales engagement unicorn — and now co-founder & CEO of Paid.ai, a startup pioneering how AI agents get priced, paid, and scaled.

We dive into Manny’s remarkable journey from zero to $250M+ ARR with Outreach, the gritty early days of selling door-to-door with no cash, and how he turned that experience into a masterclass in category creation. Now, with Paid.ai, Manny is laser-focused on building the financial stack that will power the next wave of autonomous agents — and helping AI-native businesses build real, durable revenue.

🚀 In this episode, we cover:

🧠 What an AI Agent really is — and why it changes everything
💸 Why the old SaaS pricing models don't work for agent-native businesses
📊 Outreach’s year-by-year revenue climb — and how they avoided collapse
🪙 Why durable growth matters more than fast growth
🔥 How Paid.ai is redefining payments, margin tracking, and monetisation for agents
🛠️ Building new infra for a world where humans no longer press the buttons
📈 Creating categories — and why most startups get it wrong
⚠️ Why many startups confuse market pull with product genius
👀 Insights into retention challenges at tools like Lovable, Cursor, and Bolt
💰 Manny’s fundraising advice — why sometimes raising less is more dangerous

Manny is one of the most respected builders in SaaS and now sits at the bleeding edge of the agentic future. If you’re building with agents, selling B2B, or navigating a shift from software to automation, this is a must-listen.

In this episode we are joined by Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner at AlleyCorp — one of New York’s most prolific early-stage funds known for incubating companies like MongoDB, Business Insider, and Radical AI.

Kenneth’s journey from coding at 16 in Copenhagen to shaping global developer ecosystems at Stripe and Microsoft gives him a unique lens into the next generation of software businesses — and the rise of AI agents.

💥 In this episode, we dive into:

🤖 Why “agentic” workflows are changing everything — and how founders should rethink UX, infrastructure, and pricing
🚀 The new founder playbook — how AI-native teams are replacing engineers with agents and scaling faster than ever
🛠️ Building agent-first infrastructure — what Resend, Stripe, and Supabase are doing right (and why developers are no longer your only user)
💼 The business model shift — why agents need their own payments, APIs, and enterprise stack
🧠 From artisanal to mass-produced software — and what it means for defensibility, data moats, and GTM
🇪🇺 Europe vs the US — the real difference in ambition, infrastructure, and what founders can learn from each ecosystem
🧪 Inside AlleyCorp’s incubation model — how Kenneth prototypes ideas with vibe-coding and builds companies from zero to seed

This is a must-listen for anyone thinking seriously about the next wave of AI-native startups, especially if you’re building agents, infrastructure, or developer-first products.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder and CEO of Nu Quantum, a pioneering company building the networking layer for the quantum computing era.

Carmen’s journey started in academia, researching quantum photonics, before she spun out Nu Quantum from the University of Cambridge. Now backed by top deep tech investors, the company is on a mission to connect quantum processors and make quantum computing commercially scalable.

🎙️ In this episode, we discuss:

🧠 What quantum networking is — and why it’s essential for unlocking quantum advantage
📈 Nu Quantum’s pivot from photonic components to full-stack infrastructure
🧬 How to build a team at the bleeding edge of science and engineering
⏳ Why quantum adoption is closer than most people think
🔐 The importance of entanglement, secure comms & UK leadership in quantum
💡 Lessons on commercialising research and navigating long deep-tech timelines
🏗️ Analogies to cloud infrastructure and what Carmen learned from traditional data centres
🌍 Carmen’s take on the global race to build the quantum internet

This is a fascinating look into a frontier technology that could reshape everything from national security to pharmaceuticals. A must-listen for founders, investors, and anyone curious about the future of computing.

In this episode, we're joined by Patrick Haede, the founder of Superscale AI, a breakout new startup transforming how digital products are marketed. 🚀

Inspired by Lovable’s success in democratising product-building, Patrick saw the next major frontier: distribution. In a world where anyone can now build a product, how do you market it effectively? Superscale AI is the answer — a platform that lets you instantly generate performance-ready, AI-powered video ads for TikTok, Instagram, and Meta, using just a product URL and a few prompts.

Patrick’s vision is big: turning every founder into a full-stack marketer, and replacing marketing agencies with a prompt-based AI interface that’s actually performant.

We dive into:

📈 The origin story – from digital product studio to pivoting into the AI-native future of marketing
🤖 Why “prompt-first” is the new UI – and how GenAI is changing how people interact with software
🎥 How Superscale creates hyper-performant UGC-style ads at scale using AI-generated actors
💡 Getting creative at speed – empowering users to produce 100s of high-converting ads with minimal effort
🔥 Why performance data should drive product development, not just UX or engagement
🧠 Agentic workflows – how Superscale is building an agent that can ideate, iterate, and deploy ads automatically
🌍 Who their power users are – from indie hackers and Shopify merchants to Lovable app founders and performance marketers
🧪 What makes an ad “work” in 2025 – and how creative risk-taking is becoming an AI superpower
🔮 The future of marketing – closing the loop between performance data and automated content creation
💰 Business model innovation – the potential of usage-based pricing, rev share, and agency-in-your-pocket experiences

We also chat about Patrick’s fundraising journey with Creandum, investor feedback loops, and what it takes to win in a competitive GenAI market where everyone's launching an “agent”.

This is an essential listen for:

Founders building digital products
Growth marketers trying to scale content
Builders excited about the next wave of AI-native tools
Investors tracking the next Lovable-style breakout

🎧 Tune in now to learn how Superscale AI is giving every product the power of a top-tier marketing agency — at lightning speed and near-zero cost.

Paul Anthony is the co-founder of Primer, a rapidly growing payment orchestration platform with over 200 employees and more than £70 million in funding from top-tier investors including Seed Camp, Balderton, Accel, and Iconic. His journey began as the first employee at a FinTech startup (now called Depay), followed by a stint at PayPal's Braintree division, before founding Primer to solve the complex payment infrastructure challenges he witnessed amongst enterprise merchants. Paul is now also a co-founder of Colossal, an innovative new venture that leverages AI and LLMs to help digital goods creators build customised commerce experiences through a prompt-based interface.

Key Topics Discussed:

The Payment Orchestration Insight - How Paul's experience at Braintree meeting enterprise merchants face-to-face revealed the need for a unified payment infrastructure layer that didn't exist in the market
Hypergrowth Challenges - Scaling Primer from a three-person team to Series B funding (nearly half-billion valuation) within just 16 months, whilst building a robust enterprise product during COVID
Hiring Philosophy and Culture - Paul's approach of interviewing 20-30 people for every hire, treating "autonomy as a requirement not a benefit," and maintaining a "we're not a real business yet" mentality to drive innovation
Product Development Approach - The importance of building POCs and technical spikes to understand how products "feel" rather than just look good on paper, especially when serving enterprise customers
The Colossal Vision - Paul's new venture described as "Lovable for commerce," using AI to help creators build sophisticated customer journeys without technical knowledge, targeting the £400 billion digital goods market

Tune in to hear Paul's fascinating insights on building payment infrastructure for enterprise clients, navigating hypergrowth whilst maintaining product focus, and his bold new vision for democratising commerce through AI. This episode offers invaluable lessons for founders tackling complex technical problems and scaling rapidly in competitive markets.

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, the world’s leading blockchain analytics company. Simone’s career path is anything but conventional — from a history degree and Deutsche Bank to leading a $100M+ funded crypto intelligence powerhouse.

🧠 After 8 years in banking and a stint in anti-money laundering consulting, Simone joined Elliptic as Head of Product. What began as a pivot turned into a mission: tackling financial crime in the digital asset space. When Elliptic hit an inflection point, Simone stepped into the CEO role — enabling the founder to focus on product while she scaled operations and managed the board.

👥 One of Simone’s most powerful lessons? Hiring an experienced Chair who had been a CEO — a move that transformed how Elliptic operated at board level and beyond. From transparency to over-communication, Simone shares a refreshing and tactical take on what it really takes to lead through complexity.

We dive into:

🚀 Founder to CEO transition — The playbook for scaling when roles are clearly defined
📊 Mastering board management — Running better meetings, communicating through chaos
💾 Business model evolution — Moving from SaaS to data-as-a-service for enterprise clients
📉 Crypto market cycles — Leading through volatility without losing focus
💪 Building resilience — Fostering curiosity and discipline in fast-moving markets
🏢 Enterprise adoption — Why crypto infrastructure is still early — and full of potential
This is a must-listen for founders, operators, and anyone navigating leadership, growth, and the wild world of crypto. Simone’s thoughtful, candid approach is packed with wisdom on how to scale with integrity.

🎧 Listen now on your favourite platform and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow Riding Unicorns for more inspiring episodes. 🦄

From international math olympiads to high-frequency trading to leading deals at Accel, Andrei Brasoveanu has carved one of the most impressive careers in European tech. After a decade on Wall Street as a quant, he joined Accel’s London office and quickly became one of their top investors—backing breakout companies like Celonis and, more recently, Polar.

In this episode, we explore the mindset, methods, and milestones behind his success.

What You’ll Learn:

🧠 “Founders are the constant” — Why Andrei trusts people over metrics when chasing outliers
💶 The Celonis origin story — How a €100k pricing bet helped three inexperienced founders build a global leader
🌍 Accel’s European edge — Why they focus on non-obvious founders across Europe and Israel
🔁 The art of pattern recognition — Tactical advice for young VCs on fast-tracking their investment instincts
⚙️ No-code and AI — Why technical founders may have more of an edge than ever
🧊 Inside the Polar deal — How Andrei convinced a former Shopify exec to raise a round he didn’t plan to
🧩 Strategic angel orchestration — Why top VCs pull unicorn operators into early rounds (hint: it's not just for PR)
🔐 His future unicorn pick — A cybersecurity company from an unexpected European hub building with open-source DNA

This episode is a masterclass in European venture strategy. Whether you’re an investor, a founder, or just obsessed with how unicorns get made, this one will shift your perspective.

This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Martin Kassing, founder and CEO of Upvest, one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech infrastructure companies.

Martin’s journey spans private equity, Rocket Internet, multiple startups, and now leading a company that powers investment products for the likes of Revolut and N26. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore what it really takes to build an enduring infrastructure company in Europe.

🎧 Topics covered include:

The founding journey of Upvest and its pivot from blockchain to API investment infrastructure
Lessons from being a repeat founder (including early failures and a Klarna acquisition)
Building a high-performance team and the hiring strategies that work
The challenges of finding product-market fit in fintech
Fundraising insights: raising from Bessemer, lessons from Series A and B
How Martin keeps himself motivated and structured as a high-pressure founder
Why he still does outbound hiring personally on LinkedIn
His view on IPOs, partnerships, and what comes next for Upvest

Martin shares candid reflections, hard-earned wisdom, and a rare glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster of building something meaningful. A must-listen for fintech founders, investors, and operators.

In this special Riding Unicorns episode, recorded live during London Tech Week and hosted at Cooley’s London HQ, we bring you two candid conversations from the frontline of startup building.

🚀 First up: Yoann Pavy, a growth marketing veteran (ex-Deliveroo, Depop, Perkbox), shares why distribution-first thinking is flipping product development on its head. From testing product ideas with viral TikTok mockups to building multi-million ARR with a 3-person team, Yoann reveals:

The real metrics that matter in growth today
Why “building an audience” is dead
How vibe marketing and AI tooling are reshaping GTM

🤖 Then: Oana Jinga, Co-Founder of Dexory, shares the raw truth behind building a robotics company in Europe. From early rejections to raising a Series B, she opens up on:

Pivoting from home robots to warehouse intelligence
Why VCs are finally backing robotics and hardware
The unexpected edge UK robotics startups have over US peers

💡 This is one for operators, investors, and anyone building at the edge of tech.

In this episode, we’re joined by Apostolos Apostolakis, the founder-turned-VC behind VentureFriends, a pan-European pre-seed and seed fund known for backing consumer and fintech breakouts like Plum, Blueground, Huspy, Carmoola and Instashop.

Apostolos shares a remarkable story of resilience — from scaling a startup to €100M+ in revenue and 500 employees, to facing bankruptcy and rebuilding his career with a major exit, prolific angel track record, and eventually launching one of Greece’s most successful VC funds.

We dive into:

💥 Lessons from scaling fast… and failing hard
🏗️ Rebuilding after burnout and public failure
💡 Founding VentureFriends and filling Europe’s early-stage funding gaps
🌍 What it’s like running a distributed VC firm from Athens
🤝 How to support founders without overreaching
🎯 The evolution of his founder selection playbook
🔎 Why grit, clarity of thinking, and mission-driven ambition now matter most
🦄 His unicorn pick? Carmoola — and the story behind QED’s entry

This is a raw, thoughtful, and inspiring episode for anyone navigating the highs and lows of the startup world — whether you’re a founder, investor, or just deeply curious about the human side of VC.

In this episode, we’re joined by Deepka Rana, Principal at leading venture fund Northzone, early backers of Klarna, Truelayer, Spotify, iZettle, Kahoot, and Personio. Deepka shares her journey from physics at Imperial and investment banking to investing in some of Europe’s most exciting startups.

We unpack:

💸 What it’s like to operate a billion-dollar multi-stage VC fund
🧠 How founders should assess the right type of capital for their journey
🤖 Why AI is fundamentally changing the way software, search, and commerce work
💡 The rise of agent commerce and tooling for AI-native discovery and transactions
📈 Why resilience and adaptability are now non-negotiable founder traits
🎯 What great board members actually do (and why most don’t measure up)
🌍 The UK’s deep technical talent and what’s needed to unlock more entrepreneurship

This episode is packed with hard-won wisdom for founders navigating today’s funding landscape, plus a fascinating look at what’s next in tech.

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carles Reina, Go-to-Market Lead at ElevenLabs, an AI Audio research and deployment company that tripled it's valuation to $3.3BN in January, after confirming a new $180M funding round.

From starting out as a banker in Barcelona to scaling Uber’s first European team, and now investing in over 70 startups, Carles shares the hard-won lessons that drive startup success.

We dive into:

🔄 Career pivot: Leaving banking for Uber at 20 people and discovering the thrill of early-stage impact
📈 Building GTM from scratch: Lessons from Tractable & ElevenLabs—experimenting on ICPs, pricing, and pitches
💼 Angel investing playbook: How to break in as an operator-investor, source top deals, and add value beyond capital
🗣 Voice AI’s inflection point: Why high-quality speech models are the next frontier, and how ElevenLabs powers voice notes for surgery prep and on-demand customer support
🤖 Robotics meets LLMs: The “GPT moment” in hardware, investing in companies merging industrial robotics with large language models
✂️ Trimming strategies: Locking in gains (10–20%) at Series B/C while staying exposed to upside
🌐 Scaling globally: Personalizing GTM across the US, Europe, Asia, and beyond

This is a must-listen for GTM leaders, startup builders, and aspiring angels looking to roll up their sleeves, experiment at speed, and back the next wave of unicorns.

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Romain Sestier and Guillaume Lebedel, the co-founders of StackOne, a rapidly growing startup that’s building the universal integration layer for modern SaaS and AI products. Hot off the back of their $20M Series A led by GV, the duo joins us to share their journey, insights, and lessons from the trenches.

Romain and Guillaume have known each other for over a decade, having worked together across multiple companies before launching StackOne. Their deep co-founder chemistry and clarity of vision have helped them move fast and build credibility with customers and investors alike.

We dive into:

🔧 What StackOne does and why integrations are mission-critical infrastructure
🧠 How they approached finding a co-founder (and why that came before the idea)
🚀 Their path from idea to Series A, including early customer acquisition and GTM learnings
💼 Building a high-talent, low-ego team and making tough hiring decisions
💡 How to scale enterprise sales as a founder
🔥 The mindset shift required to build a venture-scale company
🧪 How they stay nimble while evolving the product and org structure
📣 Tips on empowering internal champions and structuring a sales process that scales

This is a must-listen for any B2B SaaS or infrastructure founder looking to build something big, fast, and globally relevant.

Recorded live at the Capsule Scale-Up 50 event in London on 30th April 2025, this episode features a standout panel discussion moderated by our co-host James Pringle.

The Scale-Up 50 is Capsule’s flagship celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing, most exciting scale-ups, recognising the founders, leaders, and investors driving the next generation of breakout success stories. Supported by Cooper Parry and HSBC Innovation Banking, the event brings together top-tier talent from across the startup ecosystem for a day of insight, inspiration, and connection.

The panels features leaders from category-defining startups. Aidan Rushby (CEO, Carmoola), Tamara Orlova (CFO, Flo Health Inc.), Alexandra French (CEO, Xampla), Nikola Mrkšić (CEO, PolyAI) - these founders share their journeys in achieving product-market fit and building strong team cultures.

In this episode, you will:

🛒 Learn how PolyAI found product-market fit amidst the AI revolution.
♟️ Discover the unique strategies Carmoola used to disrupt the car finance industry.
🏆 Understand the significance of team culture and feedback at Xampla in maintaining growth.
🤝 Explore the dynamics of investor relations and the importance of board composition.
🤖 Hear insights on the role AI tools play in different operational areas within a business.

Tune in for a discussion featuring leading entrepreneurs as they share practical wisdom, strategic lessons, and real-world experiences you can apply directly to your own business journey.

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle is joined by Raffi Salama, Co-Founder & CEO of Passionfruit, a fast-growing marketing OS used by the world’s most ambitious brands to orchestrate campaigns across resourcing, planning, execution, and tracking.

Raffi shares his journey from launching David Beckham’s Inter Miami football club to scaling Passionfruit across London, Lisbon, and now New York. What started as a freelance marketplace has evolved into a full-stack platform for marketing teams in the AI era, already used by the likes of PepsiCo, L’Oreal, Motorway, and Klaviyo.

We explore:

🛠 The evolution of Passionfruit from talent marketplace to vertical SaaS
🎯 Why every marketing campaign is like launching a mini business
🤖 How AI and voice tooling are changing workflows inside enterprises
🧠 Dogfooding, distribution, and why Passionfruit must walk the talk
🎥 Creators as employees — and the future of influencer equity
📊 Why distribution is the biggest challenge of the AI age
⚖️ The 3 hiring principles that drive Passionfruit’s culture and velocity
📈 Raffi’s personal evolution as a founder from “glorified intern” to visionary CEO
🍽 His dream dinner guests (with a little NFL chat thrown in)

This is a must-listen for anyone building in B2B SaaS, marketing, or the future of work, or simply curious about what a next-gen startup looks like under the hood.

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In this episode we're joined by Mike Jones, Managing Partner at Science Inc., a trailblazing venture studio behind breakout brands like Dollar Shave Club, Liquid Death, and DogVacay (merged with Rover).

Mike is one of LA’s most prolific entrepreneurs and investors. From turning around MySpace to co-founding and investing in over 150 companies, his career is filled with pivotal lessons on operating, scaling, and backing iconic consumer brands.

We dive deep into:

🚀 How Mike transitioned from founder to turnaround CEO to VC
🧠 His three phases of leadership: micromanager, manager through people, and board-level strategist
🔍 What he looks for in early-stage consumer brands
💡 The signals that made Liquid Death and Dollar Shave Club stand out
🧪 Why he loves the studio model and how it works behind the scenes
📉 Hard lessons from ventures that didn’t go to plan — and how to know when to pivot
🛠️ The biggest distribution mistake consumer founders make
🧬 How AI is transforming the way he builds and backs companies
🧭 The trends he's most excited about — from AI legal to loneliness-driven consumer experiences

Plus, Mike shares the best dinner guest he’s ever had and who he’d love to sit down with across time.

This is a masterclass in consumer investing, venture building, and founder psychology.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by legendary repeat founder Dylan Collins, known for building and exiting three companies—including SuperAwesome, acquired by Epic Games.

Dylan takes us on a fascinating journey from founding middleware for Call of Duty at university, to building tools that made the internet safer for kids, and now backing the next generation of Gen Z and Gen Alpha startups through his investment company, LFG Holdings.

We dive deep into:

🎮 The early days of multiplayer gaming infrastructure
📱 Building SuperAwesome and why kids’ digital safety became his mission
⚡️ Emotional fuel: why desperation and revenge can drive great founders
🧠 Survivorship bias and staying sharp as a repeat entrepreneur
📈 Why most VCs still don’t understand M&A—and why that’s about to change
💸 How the next wave of liquidity will be unlocked in venture
🌍 Why today’s 20-year-olds live in a completely different world from 30-year-olds
🧪 His bullish take on agent middleware and the future of AI-powered interfaces

This episode is a masterclass in longevity, startup psychology, and identifying generational shifts before anyone else. Dylan brings humour, honesty, and razor-sharp insight throughout.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle and Hector Mason are joined by Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial—a thesis-driven venture capital firm investing in B2B FinTech and enterprise technology companies that are redefining the future of financial services.

With offices in London, New York, and Singapore, Illuminate is deeply embedded in the global financial ecosystem. Its strategic LPs—ranging from major banks to market infrastructure providers—offer more than just capital; they provide meaningful insight, early validation, and go-to-market support for portfolio companies. For more, visit www.illuminatefinancial.com.

Mark takes us through his remarkable three-decade journey in financial markets—from trader at Deutsche Bank, to entrepreneur, to operator, and now VC. He shares how these experiences shaped the Illuminate model and its unique position at the intersection of venture and financial institutions.

We dive into:

💸 Mark’s journey from Deutsche Bank to launching Illuminate

🏦 The rise of institutional FinTech and why B2B was overlooked in 2014

🌍 The complexity of selling into financial institutions—and how to overcome it

🧠 How VCs stay relevant and avoid anchoring in past trends

🤖 Where AI fits (and doesn’t) in heavily regulated environments

🛡 Reality Defender and the arms race against deepfake fraud

🧩 The slow death of legacy infrastructure and promise of microservices

🚗 Mark’s passion for cars and his dream dinner party lineup

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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This episode sees James Pringle and Hector Mason sit down with Staffan Helgesson, General Partner of Creandum.

Creandum is one of Europe's top early stage investors focused on Seed and Series A across a range of sectors from fintech to SaaS to devtools to climate tech, consumer tech and, of course, AI. Breakthrough companies that Creandum backed early include Spotify, Depop, iZettle, Klarna, Bolt and Trade Republic.

n this wide-ranging conversation, Staffan shares the incredible story of Creandum’s origin, starting in the Nordics over 20 years ago, and how it became one of Europe’s most successful and respected venture franchises.

From early challenges to establishing a long-term vision, we explore what it takes to build an enduring VC brand.

In this episode:
🇺🇸 How a trip to Stanford in 1999 inspired Staffan to build a VC firm in Europe
🎵 The early days of Creandum and backing Spotify pre-hype
💰 The strategy behind holding long and building funds for 17+ years
🧠 Advice for emerging managers on picking LPs and thinking long-term
🏦 Building a venture franchise vs. just a firm
⭐ Brand-building in VC and leveraging the power of the portfolio
🤖 The inside story on investing in Lovable, Europe’s hottest new startup
🇪🇺 Why Staffan remains bullish on European innovation despite structural challenges

A masterclass in longevity, strategy, and humility in venture capital—this is one for fund managers, founders, and startup ecosystem nerds alike.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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Joseph Pizzolato is the Founder & General Partner at Defiant VC, a newly launched venture fund bringing a tech-first approach to investing.

Joseph shares his journey from engineering to venture capital, his experiences at Vitruvian Partners and Felix Capital, and what led him to take the leap and launch Defiant. He explains how the fund is using data-driven insights, deep thematic research, and proprietary software to build a new model for venture investing.

We also discuss:

The future of venture capital and why it needs to evolve
The role of proprietary technology in sourcing, selecting, and supporting startups
How to structure a portfolio thoughtfully and avoid ‘groupthink’ in VC
Joseph’s views on AI investing and why it may be overhyped
Lessons from raising a first-time fund in one of the toughest VC markets

This is a must-listen for VCs, LPs, and founders interested in the future of venture capital and how emerging funds can differentiate in a crowded market.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Aidan Rushby, Founder & CEO of Carmoola, a fintech company reinventing the way people buy used cars through a seamless, mobile-first car finance experience.

Aidan shares his journey from running a property rental marketplace to identifying a massive opportunity in car finance, how he validated his business model before launching, and the lessons he learned from raising over £250m in debt and equity funding.

We also dive into:

How Carmoola is leveraging automation and behavioral economics to create a superior lending experience
The challenges of building a high-growth, capital-intensive fintech
What it takes to scale a fully automated lending platform
The importance of validating key business assumptions before committing
The future of car finance and Carmoola’s expansion plans

This is an insightful conversation for fintech founders, investors, and anyone interested in disrupting traditional industries with technology.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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Mike Smeed, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s corporate venture capital arm.

Mike shares his journey from a career in finance to leading one of the most active CVCs in the UK. He provides unique insights into the role of corporate venture capital in driving strategic innovation, supporting startups, and helping transform legacy industries like automotive.

In this episode, we cover:

The vision behind InMotion Ventures and its focus on climate, industrial, and enterprise tech
Balancing strategic goals with financial returns as a CVC
How InMotion Ventures partners with startups to accelerate innovation at Jaguar Land Rover
The evolving landscape of driverless cars and the future of autonomous vehicles
The importance of longevity and integration for CVC success

Mike also offers a fascinating perspective on the value of collaboration between CVCs and startups, as well as what it takes to build a sustainable and impactful venture arm.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

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This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Adam Norris, Founder & CEO of Pure Electric, one of the leading premium electric scooter brands. Adam is also well known for playing a key role in managing the career of his son, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 driver.

From building the UK’s largest pension business at Hargreaves Lansdown to investing in 30+ startups through Horatio Investments, Adam has a fascinating entrepreneurial journey that has spanned multiple industries. Now, he’s on a mission to revolutionise urban mobility with Pure Electric, creating world-class electric scooters designed for global markets.

In this episode, we discuss:

🔹 Early struggles & drive – How Adam overcame dyslexia, academic setbacks & early career challenges
🔹 Building Hargreaves Lansdown’s pensions empire – Spotting trends early & scaling a market-defining business
🔹 Angel investing & lessons learned – Why he backed 30+ startups & how it shaped his entrepreneurial approach
🔹 Scaling Pure Electric – The global opportunity in micro-mobility & how he’s competing with industry giants
🔹 Lando Norris’s journey to F1 – The untold story of the dedication, investment & sacrifices behind his success
🔹 Big ambitions – Why Adam believes Pure Electric could become the “Apple of scooters”

Adam also shares his unique approach to work ethic, his zero-distraction mindset, and how he thinks about long-term, category-defining businesses.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Stefano Vaccinois the Founder and CEO of Yapily, a leading open banking infrastructure provider.

Stefano shares his unique journey from a career in nanotransistor research and investment banking to discovering his passion for technology and founding Yapily. We explore how open banking regulations like PSD2 inspired him to create a mission-driven company and the challenges he faced as a solo founder building one of the leading players in this competitive space.

In this episode, we discuss:

Stefano’s career transition from corporate life at Goldman Sachs to becoming a tech founder
Key insights on when to take the entrepreneurial leap and how to manage the risks
The evolution of open banking, its global potential, and the massive opportunities it unlocks in payments, lending, and identity verification
Lessons on building credibility as a solo founder, raising funding from top VCs and fintech leaders, and navigating a competitive landscape
The importance of resilience, family support, and maintaining balance as a founder

Stefano’s insights into open banking’s future and the role Yapily plays in transforming financial services are invaluable for founders, operators, and anyone curious about fintech innovation.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Mandeep Singhis an angel investor and co-founder and former CEO of Trouva, a marketplace for independent boutiques that was acquired by Made.com.

Mandeep takes us through his journey from founding Trouva, navigating its growth, and the eventual exit, to his current role as an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 80 companies.

In this episode, we dive into:

The story behind Trouva’s evolution, including the pivots and lessons learned from building both B2B and consumer propositions
The challenges of building a marketplace, balancing stakeholders, and achieving product-market fit
Reflections on fundraising, scaling, and navigating acquisitions
Mandeep’s approach to angel investing, what he looks for in founders, and his perspective on valuation at the earliest stages
Lessons on resilience, grit, and determination, drawn from his entrepreneurial journey

Mandeep also shares unique insights into the European startup ecosystem, including the challenges of scaling marketplaces and the capital landscape for ambitious founders.

Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just curious about the behind-the-scenes of startup life, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Tim Chongis the Co-Founder and CEO of Yonder, a modern lifestyle rewards credit card designed for young city adventurers.

Tim shares his journey from growing up in Australia and a career in consulting to working at ClearScore and ultimately founding Yonder. We delve into the evolution of the Yonder product and brand, from solving credit challenges for expats to becoming a lifestyle companion for urban explorers.

In this episode, we explore:

The pivotal insights that shaped Yonder’s unique proposition and its focus on restaurant and travel rewards
Lessons on customer discovery, why it’s crucial for founders, and how to execute it effectively
Building a high-frequency, habit-forming product that becomes a primary card for users
The importance of organisational design, culture, and language in scaling startups
Insights into raising funding through challenging market conditions and the importance of patience in building a generational company

Tim also reflects on his role as a first-time founder, the art of adapting as a CEO, and why building great companies takes time, vision, and conviction.

Whether you’re a founder, operator, or just curious about building products and brands, this episode is packed with actionable insights and inspiration. 🎙️

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Romina Savova, Founder & CEO of PensionBee, the platform transforming how people manage their pensions. With over 260,000 customers and £5.5 billion in assets under management, PensionBee has become a household name in the UK. Romina shares the journey of building a public company that empowers consumers to take control of their retirement savings.

In this episode, we explore:

🎙️ Romina's career shift from investment banking to founding PensionBee
🔍 How PensionBee approached the complexities of trust-building in the pensions industry
🏟️ Their thoughtful brand partnerships, including sponsorship of Brentford FC and National Geographic
💡 The decision to go public, raising £55 million and the benefits of transparency and simplified ownership structures
🇺🇸 The exciting expansion into the US market and the parallels between UK and US pension landscapes
👩‍💼 Hiring strategies that prioritise internal progression and a deep understanding of customer needs

Romina also shares insights into navigating the political landscape surrounding pensions, the importance of long-term thinking, and how PensionBee stays focused amidst external noise. Plus, don’t miss her Future Unicorn prediction and a fascinating dinner party guest list that blends business and politics!

Tune in to hear how Romina and her team have built PensionBee into a trusted brand and what’s next for the company as they continue their mission to give consumers “extra time” in retirement. 🚀

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This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Dom Hallas, Executive Director at the Startup Coalition, the policy voice for UK tech startups and scaleups. Dom brings a wealth of insight into the intersection of tech, venture, and public policy, offering a fascinating look into the state of the UK ecosystem during a time of governmental and economic change.

Dom discusses the Startup Coalition's mission to advocate for startups and investors by addressing key challenges such as access to talent, funding, and regulatory clarity. He also shares valuable perspectives on how policy can shape the future of startups across areas like AI, climate tech, and FinTech.

In this episode, we explore:

🎙️ The impact of the new UK government and Autumn Budget on startups and investors
📊 The state of venture funding, including changes to tax incentives, capital gains, and carried interest
📍 Regional disparities in startup funding and the Coalition's "Funding the Underfunded" project tackling inequalities across gender, race, class, and geography
🤖 The future of AI regulation and how the UK can become a global leader in building and applying AI technologies
💡 Opportunities for the UK to leverage its strengths in sectors like finance and healthcare to remain competitive on the global stage

Dom also shares his personal passion for football and sports, offering a light-hearted end to an episode packed with actionable insights for founders, investors, and policymakers alike.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Ron Levinis theManaging Partner at Alumni Ventures, the most active venture capital firm in the US. Hector spoke to Ron to discuss his journey from entrepreneur to investor and his insights on scaling ventures and building impactful companies.

Ron shares his fascinating career story, from organising trading card shows as a teenager to founding the travel-tech unicorn TravelPerk and eventually joining Alumni Ventures, where he leads their dedicated Seed Fund. The conversation dives into:

Ron’s unique career trajectory, blending tech, travel, and entrepreneurship
Founding TravelPerk and the lessons learned from pivoting early
Alumni Ventures' innovative model and how they empower founders while co-investing
The importance of serendipity, curiosity, and acting on opportunities in building a career
His philosophy on investing for impact and solving big societal problems

This episode is packed with wisdom and actionable advice for founders, investors, and anyone interested in venture capital and entrepreneurship.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Martin Sokk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear. He joined Hector to discuss his journey from product management at Wise (formerly TransferWise) to building a company revolutionising retail investing in Europe.

Martin shares how his product-driven mindset and relentless curiosity have shaped his career, offering insights into creating 10x products, scaling startups, and understanding customer needs through direct engagement. The conversation also dives into:

Lightyear’s mission to transform Europe’s outdated and costly investing infrastructure
The challenges and opportunities of building a pan-European fintech solution
Lessons learned from Wise and the importance of fostering entrepreneurial talent
The role of resilience in navigating crises and maintaining focus on long-term goals

Martin’s story is packed with actionable advice and inspiration for founders, operators, and anyone passionate about fintech innovation.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James is joined by Matt Chandler, Principal at Octopus Ventures, one of Europe’s leading early-stage venture capital firms. Known for his focus on consumer tech, Matt shares his journey from aspiring oil painter to venture capitalist, weaving creativity into every step of his career.

Matt discusses the unique dynamics at Octopus Ventures, including their thematic investment approach and their mission to back transformative startups across sectors like gaming, consumer AI, and niche communities. He provides fascinating insights into the "practicalities of change," lessons learned from his entrepreneurial past, and how to maintain focus on core customers during periods of growth.

The conversation dives into Octopus’s recent investments, including their backing of Onibi, a groundbreaking MMO gaming platform introducing innovative physics to user-generated worlds. Matt also explores overlooked themes in venture capital, including loneliness, consumer AI, and the evolving world of niche communities.

This episode is packed with actionable insights for founders and investors alike. Tune in to hear how Octopus Ventures is championing underdog consumer startups and how Matt’s creative approach is shaping the future of venture capital.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner at Creator Ventures, joins James Pringle on Riding Unicorns to discuss his journey into venture capital, the evolution of Creator Ventures, and the unique insights creators bring to consumer internet investing.

In this episode, Sasha dives into:

The transition from an investment club to a $20M fund
Backing transformative startups like beehiiv, Praktika.ai, & ElevenLabs
Leveraging creator expertise to navigate social media strategies and consumer trends
The importance of team and market defensibility in early-stage investing

Sasha also shares his views on running a nimble, founder-led fund, scaling sustainably, and the future of AI-driven consumer products.

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in consumer-focused venture capital and the intersection of creators and startups.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, joins James Pringle and Hector Mason on Riding Unicorns to delve into the fascinating intersection of behavioural science, marketing, and business strategy. With a career dedicated to understanding human decision-making, Rory shares his unique perspective on how psychological insights can unlock growth and create competitive advantages in today's business landscape.

In this episode, Rory explores why even the most brilliant ideas can fail without the right marketing approach and how concepts like the Netflix subscription model and the reliability of brands like McDonald's and Five Guys build customer trust through consistency. He introduces the concept of “inshittification” — when successful companies lose their way by prioritising profits over user experience — and critiques the tech industry’s obsession with automation at the expense of user needs.

Rory’s thought-provoking insights touch on everything from counterintuitive customer behaviour and the hidden power of psychological hacks to why founders need to consider both product and distribution as essential locks to unlocking success. This episode offers practical takeaways for founders, VCs, and creatives on how to better align products with consumer psychology and navigate today’s competitive market.

Listen now for Rory Sutherland’s refreshing take on behavioural science and its unexpected impact on business growth.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on your favourite podcast platform and stay connected with us on social media to never miss an episode! 🎙️🦄

Vidu Shanmugarajah is a Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), where he invests in transformative tech companies across Europe. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, Vidu joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share his journey from corporate law to venture capital, highlighting how his unique background has shaped his approach to investing.

Vidu discusses his atypical career path, starting as an M&A lawyer before transitioning to private equity and eventually venturing into tech as an entrepreneur and investor. He sheds light on GV's distinct model as an independent venture firm backed by Alphabet, explaining how it leverages Alphabet’s resources while maintaining a startup-focused ethos. Throughout the conversation, Vidu offers insights into his investment strategy, emphasizing the importance of identifying standout founders, the growing role of AI, and the value of diversity in venture capital.

This episode provides a compelling look into the mindset of a successful VC, the nuances of investing in tech, and the evolving landscape of European startups. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just curious about the venture capital world, you won’t want to miss Vidu’s insights on building and scaling impactful tech companies.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes! 🎙️🦄

Edwina Johnson is the General Manager of MoneyGram Online International, responsible for overseeing the company’s digital consumer business outside of North America. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, Edwina joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to talk about her diverse career, ranging from working with startups to corporate roles, as well as her experience as an angel investor and startup advisor.

Edwina shares her unique journey, beginning in digital media and advertising, co-founding an ad tech startup, and eventually moving into fintech, where she played a pivotal role at Startup Bootcamp and Alloy. She discusses the challenges and rewards of transitioning from a fast-growing startup to a well-established institution like MoneyGram, shedding light on the major shifts needed for traditional businesses to stay competitive in a digital age.

Throughout the conversation, Edwina emphasises the importance of supporting underrepresented founders and shares insights from her own angel investing criteria, which focuses on B2B fintech, regtech, and SAS businesses led by founders from underestimated backgrounds. She also highlights the need for diversity in tech, particularly in the fintech space, and the barriers still present in early-stage investment networks.

This episode offers valuable lessons in career adaptability, building diverse teams, and fostering innovation across sectors. If you’re interested in the intersection of fintech, startup culture, and angel investing, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite podcast platform and stay connected with us on social media for more exciting episodes! 🎙️🦄

Paul Yacoubian is the Founder and CEO of Copy.ai, a company revolutionising the way businesses create marketing and sales copy by automating workflows with AI. Founded in 2020, Copy.ai initially helped distribute the value of GPT-3, but has since expanded to build an enterprise product streamlining go-to-market efforts for companies globally. In this episode, Paul joins hosts James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss his journey from an accounting and hedge fund career to becoming a leading AI entrepreneur.

They dive deep into Paul's entrepreneurial roots, the early days of Copy.ai, and how his experience working with venture-backed companies influenced his approach to building scalable solutions. Paul also shares insights on the evolving role of AI, how large language models are reshaping business processes, and why he believes in the future of automated business operations.

The conversation touches on the challenges and opportunities in the AI space, the importance of talent density in startups, and how companies can leverage AI to drive growth. Paul’s passion for innovation shines through, offering founders, VCs, and anyone interested in the tech space valuable takeaways about building, scaling, and navigating the future of AI-driven companies.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on your favourite podcast platform and stay connected with us on social media to never miss an episode! 🎙️🦄

Charles Wells is the Founder and CEO of HelloSelf, a technology business focused on personalised psychological advice aimed at self-betterment. In this episode, Charlie joins hosts James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss his eclectic career in marketing, charity, angel investing, and entrepreneurship, as well as the story behind HelloSelf. The business provides personalised online therapy designed to help people feel better, faster and stay better, longer, and Charlie shares how his near-death experience inspired him to dive into the brain tech space and focus on mental health.

Throughout the conversation, Charlie discusses his mapping of the emerging neurotechnology space, breaking it down into chemicals, hardware, and software categories. He also talks about the massive potential of AI in understanding our brains, while highlighting the importance of therapy that empowers individuals to become their own therapists.

Charlie’s extraordinary journey, which includes surviving a category five brain haemorrhage and undergoing extensive neuro-rehabilitation, has profoundly shaped his outlook on life and business. His commitment to brain health and earth health drives his work, and his story offers valuable lessons about resilience, focus, and the power of incremental self-improvement.

Curious about how HelloSelf could help you? HelloSelf are offering taster sessions with psychologists to give you a personalised glimpse into their services. Whether you're considering therapy for yourself or want to learn more about their approach to mental wellbeing, these no-obligation sessions are designed to help you take the first step toward feeling better, faster. Learn more and book your session here.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on your favourite podcast platform and stay connected with us on social media for more episodes! 🎙️🦄

Simon Mellin is the Founder and CEO of The Modern Milkman. Their business started as a local milkround inspired by David Attenborough's Blue Planet and the need to reduce plastic waste. In the space of a few short years, they've grown from four friends and a truck to a vast network of milkmen and women working tirelessly to reduce consumer waste. Their mobile tech supports their 'eco-warriors on earlies' by connecting them to their customers via online ordering and driver apps, facilitating convenient doorstep deliveries. The tech also connects them to their network of independent dairies, farmers and suppliers who are mutually committed to sustainable produce and plastic-free packaging. Their mission is to revolutionise consumer habits by delivering fresh ways to return and reuse packaging, shop ethically and feel good about convenience.

Simon joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss key lessons from moving from farmer to founder, the idea behind The Modern Milkman, business expansion to the US, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

David Jarvis is the Co-Founder and CEO of Griffin. Griffin puts the bank in Banking as a Service. They combine the secure, regulated infrastructure of a bank with the speed and power of modern software into one powerful full-stack BaaS platform. Their goal is to empower companies to embed banking into their products quickly and safely. With purpose-built APIs and an all-access developer sandbox, they’re helping customers build and launch payment platforms, financial wellness apps, client account products, business loans, and more.

David joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the founding principles of Griffin, company culture and management, the future of embedded finance, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Mike Soutar worked in the media and entertainment industry since the mid-1980s, starting as a magazine journalist and editor before becoming a Publisher and Managing Director working across print, digital, and broadcast platforms in the UK and America. In 2000 Mike joined the Board of Britain’s largest magazine publisher, IPC, and was part of the Board team which sold that business to Time Warner. In 2006 Mike co-founded Shortlist Media, one of the fastest-growing media companies of the early 2000s. As CEO he led the business from a 5-strong start-up to an award-winning enterprise employing 180 staff, with operations in the UK and Europe, across print, digital and events. He led the ultimate successful sale of the business to legendary Scottish publishers DC Thomson, the company he joined from school as a trainee journalist aged 17.

Mike joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the winning formula for a successful media brand, what he enjoys about being a CEO, the future of media, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

George Henry is a General Partner at LocalGlobe. LocalGlobe is a venture capital firm that focuses on seed and impact investments. They have seeded impactful founders since 1999 at places like Citymapper, Improbable, Lovefilm, Moo, Wise, and Zoopla. They invest in startups selling to consumers, small businesses, and enterprises. They are lean, data-driven, and move fast in decision-making. They offer highly structured, collaborative support to investee companies, and have an excellent track record in getting their startups to a Series A raising (almost 90% vs less than 40% EU average).

George joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss founder evaluation, the 4 investment themes they’re excited about, what the next 10 years potentially hold for VC, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Read George's 4 investment themes for 2024 here: https://digitalculture.substack.com/p/4-investment-themes

Richard Anton is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Oxx. Oxx partners with the most promising European B2B software companies at the scale-up stage. As a specialist SaaS investor, Oxx provides each entrepreneur with a support system of unique specialist expertise and network, and a culture of unfaltering partnership and absolute conviction. The firm’s strategy is built around the concept of “Go-To-Market Fit”, developing a structure for thinking about how to build a repeatable, sustainable growth engine that accelerates and propels the growth of SaaS companies.

Richard joins James Pringle to discuss Oxx’s investment strategy, what needs to change about ventures in the UK, investing in AI and cybersecurity, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Tim Creswick is the CEO and Founder of Vorboss. Vorboss is a dedicated fibre network and internet service purpose-built for the needs of London’s most demanding businesses. They are the only internet service provider that offers 10Gbps as a minimum—meaning that their network can cope with the demands of the most data-hungry businesses for the next decade and beyond.

Tim joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss infrastructure operations, significant business pivots, network security, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Oana Andreea Jinga is a CCO and Co-founder of Dexory. They develop robotics and AI logistics solutions to drive better business decisions. Through their DexoryView platform, they automate data collection and build real-time fed digital twin technology that unlocks insights across all levels of warehouse operations.

Oana joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss what problem Dexory solves, leaving Google to start Dexory, her view on humanoid robots, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Gareth Jefferies is a Partner at RTP Global, a global, early-stage venture capital firm, backing the ambitious founders who are reshaping the world with technology. Their track record speaks for itself; over 110 investments worldwide, with one in 10 becoming multi-billion dollar companies including Datadog, DeliveryHero, and Cred.

Gareth joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share the skills to hone as a VC, common profiles of companies that became unicorns, intuition in investing, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Akshat Goenka is a Partner at Moonfire. Enabling European entrepreneurs to dream big and execute fully on their bold ideas at the very earliest stages of their journeys is Moonfire’s passion and cause. Moonfire can help entrepreneurs at the very start of their journeys to create the right foundations to drive growth exponentially. Moonfire lights a fire within seed stage investing in Europe to help entrepreneurs grow their boundless ambition and burning creativity. In partnering with Moonfire, companies benefit from Mattias Ljungman’s extensive experience including 13 years as a Co-Founder of Atomico with investments in like Supercell, viagogo, Klarna and Rovio. Moonfire focuses on reimagining finance & money, realising the future of work, new frontiers in gaming and transforming healthcare.

Sam joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss Moonfire’s data-driven approach, Moonfire’s ambition, the future of capital allocation, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Sam Ettelaie is the Co-Founder and CIO at Thema, Europe's strategic LP for emerging fund managers. They act as a strategic cornerstone limited partner, writing first tickets of up to £5m, offering operational and regulatory support.

Sam joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss building long-term defensibility, knowledge vs operational edge, Fund of Funds investing, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Callum Taylor is the Head of ITV AdVentures Ignite, they are here to help startup and scaleup brands begin an ongoing journey into the exciting world of TV - not as simply a media owner, but as a business partner. Hosting some of the nation’s favorite shows and offering unrivaled reach, advertising on ITV will supercharge your brand's growth - unlocking new customers in the only medium that can give you the scale and gravitas to tell your brand’s story with impact. They’ll use their expertise to help you identify the right media strategy, target audience, and creative messaging to help you maximize the outcome of your TV campaigns.

Callum joins James Pringle to share about the Ignite Program, what media for equity is, new standards in the TV industry, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Johannes Weber is the Founding Partner at Ananda Impact Ventures, the leading impact venture capital fund with a pan-European investment remit, managing ca. €200 million in four Core Impact Funds, with backing from notable institutional and private investors. They back technology businesses committed to having a positive impact that answers the most pressing social and ecological challenges of our time, in a way that is both scalable and sustainable. The active portfolio includes NatureMetrics (biodiversity monitoring & assessment), Close Loop Medicine (personalized medicine), OroraTech (wildfire detection & monitoring from space), and IESO Digital Health (online psychotherapy).

Johannes joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to speak about the super skill a VC should have, founder’s health, founder alignment, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Meri Beckwith is a Co-Founder at Lindus Health. Their mission is to accelerate clinical trials, so patients can benefit from new treatments sooner. They are an anti-CRO running radically faster, more reliable clinical trials for life science pioneers. They do this thanks to a commercial model that aligns incentives (fixed-priced quotes per study, with milestone-based payments), marrying a world-class clinical operations team with their unique software platform, and access to 30 million Electronic Health Records. They handle the end-to-end execution of clinical studies, including design, patient recruitment, clinical data capture, monitoring, and project management.

Meri joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share what anti-CRO means, how the traditional CRO model is broken, factors behind Lindus Health's success, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Chrys Chrysanthou and Leila Zegna are General Partners at Kindred Capital. At Kindred, they align their ambitions and achievements with their portfolio - in structure and in spirit. Every entrepreneur they invest in becomes a co-owner of the fund and they call it ‘equitable venture’. They invest early and work with their community of founders and advisers to help founders get further, faster from the very beginning.

Chrys and Leila join James Pringle and Hector Mason to share what it is like to be Kindred, relationships vs intellectual horsepower, the need for humbleness in Venture & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Suranga Chandratillake is a General Partner at Balderton Capital; a multistage venture firm with more than two decades of experience supporting Europe’s best founders from Seed to IPO. They have both early and growth funds and invest across the technology sector.

Suranga joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share strategies for creating new processes, the importance of establishing good relationships with investors, the Balderton Founder Wellbeing & Performance Platform, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dinika Mahtani is a Partner at Cherry Ventures; an early-stage venture capital firm led by a team of entrepreneurs with experience building fast-scaling companies such as Zalando and Spotify. The firm backs Europe's boldest founders, usually as their first institutional investor, and supports them in everything from their go-to-market strategy and the scaling of their businesses.

Dinika joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share share her career in banking and then at Uber, angel investing, Cherry Ventures’ secret sauce to success, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Amon Ghaiumy is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ophelos; a fintech startup with unique technology that uses machine learning and behavioural science to get people debt-free and organisations paid back.

Amon joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss how he started Ophelos, the existing debt collection industry situation, the founder experience in the UK Tech ecosystem, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

James Evans is the Co-Founder and CEO of CommandBar; an AI-powered user assistance platform that makes your product easier to use. Activate and retain more users to grow faster.James joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **to discuss how to determine product-market fit, CommandBar’s hiring philosophy, their fundraising strategy, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Christian Gabriel is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Capdesk (acquired by Carta), a platform that helps people manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Their mission is to unlock the power of equity ownership for more people in more places. Carta is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 5,000 investment funds, and half a million employees for cap table management, compensation management, liquidity venture capital solutions, and more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

David Bateman is a Managing Partner at Claret Capital Partners**.

The Claret team has been active in the technology financing markets for over 20 years and provides debt solutions to help entrepreneurs and private equity investors grow their companies while minimizing dilution. Since 2013 Claret has backed over 140 European SMEs from a wide range of geographies across Europe.*David* joins James Pringle to talk about the company profile they prefer to back, what success looks like for a venture fund, the biggest misconception about venture debt, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Agate Freimane is a General Partner at Norrsken VC, an Article 9, or "dark green," investment fund. They operate as a pure impact fund, exclusively investing in companies that have a sustainable objective for the product or service they develop. They provide extensive support to their portfolio companies, assisting them in implementing impact workshops and training programs. This enables them to measure their company's impact incrementally over time and establish long-term ESG goals.Agate joins James Pringle **to discuss important founder traits, what sets Norrsken VC apart from other VCs, the person who made an impact on her career, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Christian Noske is a Partner at NGP Capital. They back early-stage B2B companies from Series A onwards in Europe, the US, Israel, and China within enterprise software, industrial tech, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. Their current portfolio includes Coda, DataLoop, Clue, Nova Labs, Scandit, Shippeo, & SecurityScorecard, while their exits include Deliveroo, Xiaomi, Moovit, Kaltura, and many more.Christian joins James Pringle **to talk about investment process fundamentals, market changes, company expectations for Series A funding, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This episode is with Raphael Thiolon (Managing Director) and Lopo Champalimaud (Co-Founder & Managing Partner at V3 Ventures) at Verlinvest, an international, family-backed evergreen investment company. They partner with visionary entrepreneurs who are driving consumer revolutions and building the next generation of category-defining brands that will positively impact the consumer sector for years to come.

Raph and Lopo join James Pringle and Hector Mason to talk about the story behind Verlinvest, why they are focused on the consumer space, how different investor perspectives help with company building, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Audrey Handem is a VC at Speedinvest**; one of Europe’s most active early-stage investors with more than €1 billion AuM and 40+ investors based in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, and Vienna.

Founder success is Speedinvest’s top priority, so they don’t just send some money and "check in" at board meetings. Their mission is to empower founders with game-changing support through every stage of their journey.*Audrey* joins James Pringle to discuss the mistakes founders make in fundraising, what she looks for in investments now, what sets SpeedInvest apart from other VCs, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Jay Radia is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blissgrowth. They ideate, build, and scale industry winning B2B software technology companies with the best second-time founders.Jay joins Hector Mason **to talk about decision-making, how happiness affects the business, startup process for his different companies, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Roger Wade is the Chairman of Boxfund VC, a venture capital fund established by entrepreneurs, funded by entrepreneurs, and dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs. They possess a deep understanding of the qualities required for entrepreneurial success and actively seek out exceptional individuals with brilliant ideas. They provide them with financial backing and expert guidance to help them thrive.Roger joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **to discuss the impact of emotional intelligence, embracing change, using his voice to create a better world, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Sir Martin Sorrell is the Founder and Executive Chairman of S4Capital **plc, the tech led, new age / new era digital advertising and marketing services company for global, multinational, regional and local clients, and millennial-driven influencer brands.

To commemorate the launch of Riding Unicorns in 2020, Sir Martin joins James Pringle and Hector Mason the second time around to talk about the latest developments at S4 Capital, his perspective on the global market, how he has navigated the profound changes in our world, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

**Chris Smalling is a professional footballer and is also the Co-Founder of The Player's Fund. Chris currently plays for AS Roma in Italy. He has 31 caps and 1 goal for England.

A few year's ago Chris started investing in companies that align with his plant-based lifestyle and he has now helped launch The Player's Fund alongside other top investing athletes such as Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Hector Bellerin.

We learn more about Chris's journey as an athlete investor.**

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Niccolo Perra is the Co-Founder of Pleo.Pleo offers smart company cards that enable employees to buy the things they need for work, all while keeping a company's finance team in control of spending. Simplify bookkeeping, eliminate expense reports, and revolutionize your business.Niccolo joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to talk about Co-Founder relationships, product feedback, management and iteration, learnings from launching into new markets, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Jimmy Fussing Nielsen is a Partner and Co-founder of Heartcore Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund with offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, and Paris. Since 2007, they have backed some of Europe’s biggest category-defining companies, such as Tink, Neo4j, Boozt, Peakon, Seriously and TravelPerk. So far, they have invested in over 100 founding teams from 13 different countries. And they're looking for more.Jimmy joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to discuss high-risk investing, what’s the hardcore pitch to founders, balancing contrarian views, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Babs Ogundeyi is the Founder and CEO of Kuda, a fintech company on a mission to make financial services more accessible, affordable and rewarding for every African on the planet. They've built the money app for Africans around the world, giving them a better alternative to traditional finance by delivering services including free money transfers, smart budgeting, investments and instant access to credit through digital devices.Babs joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to share about the first key actions he took to start the business, what makes building a bank in Africa different from building one in the US or UK, what is the big vision for Kuda, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Kirsty Grant is Managing Director at Seedrs. Seedrs is Europe’s leading online private investing platform that enables individuals to invest in startups, growth companies, and, if eligible, top VC funds, as well as supporting entrepreneurs in all sectors to raise capital from their communities, angels and institutional investors.Since its launch in 2012 as an equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs has funded over 2,000 deals, with over £2.5 billion invested on the platform to date. With the recent acquisition of Seedrs by Republic, it is now part of the largest private investing platform in the world, with more than 2.5 million members globally that have invested in over 2,400 deals. The combined strength of Seedrs and Republic gives both investors and entrepreneurs unprecedented access to capital and investment opportunities across the globe.

Kirsty joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to discuss where crowdfunding is at now, creating products that cater to different kinds of investors & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Donald Gillies and Henry Irish are the Founders of PassFort**. They enable regulated financial services companies to rapidly onboard customers then manage risk and compliance standards throughout the customer lifecycle. Their integration model enables them to ingest datasets from any provider and interoperate with any system. They help you build a data ecosystem, with pre-built connectors to more than 25 data providers and growing.

PassFort’s dynamic orchestration of customer due diligence (CDD), enhanced due diligence (EDD), Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB) and anti-money laundering (AML) workflows puts the weight of compliance activity on automation and our risk engine, not your customers.*Donald* and Henry join James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to share about creating a strong relationship foundation as CEOs, building a high performance culture, life after acquisition and exit, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Saif Hameed is Founder and CEO of Altruistiq. The platform enables large enterprises with complex supply chains to automate sustainability data measurement, management and exchange - with unparalleled accuracy and ease. They believe that business has the power to be a force for positive change in the world.Their mission is to help businesses do more of what is measurably good, and less of what is immeasurably wrong.Saif joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to talk about working on green initiatives, leaving the corporate world to become a founder, the challenges of building a business, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Jack Durling is Co-Founder of Lockdown Liquor & Co. The brand offers award-winning premium blended cocktails, crafted by expert mixologists using the best quality ingredients resulting in unique and great tasting cocktails. Having initially traded direct to consumers, Lockdown Liquor is now retailed in a selection of prestigious outlets including Daylesford Organic, Anthropologie to name a few, as well as a diverse selection of customers in the on trade from national restaurant groups, 5 hotels, members clubs, theaters to private aviation.Jack joins James Pringle and Hector Mason *in this episode to talk about how to break out as a brand, the signals of a growing business, venturing to the on-trade industry, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Alex Macdonald Co-Founded Velocity Black which went on to be acquired by Capital One and is now the Co-Founder at sequel **helping the world's best athletes invest in the world's best startups, making a positive impact.

They are on a mission to help athletes build legacies for their families and for the world. They harness cutting-edge technology and a network of founders, angels, and venture capitalists built over a decade to enable athletes to invest in the most promising startups changing the world for the better.*Alex* joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to discuss investing in startups, the competitive advantage of athletes against other investors, helping worthy young entrepreneurs & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Saasha Celestial-One is the co-founder & COO of Olio**, a sharing app for local communities, on a mission to fight waste. They make it easy to pass on the things we no longer need — from food to furniture, and clothes to books — to people who live nearby. They also work with businesses to redistribute unsold or unserved food. That way, every last bit of edible food ends up benefitting local people, rather than it ending up in the bin.

Prior to founding Olio, Saasha spent 13 years in finance, strategy and business development roles at Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & American Express, and also founded My Creche, London's first PAYG provider offering flexible childcare for busy parents.*Saasha* joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to share about the food waste problem that sparked the idea for Olio, the challenge of building a business around it, dealing with doubters, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Cristina Vila Vives is the founder and CEO of Cledara. A dreamer and a doer, she started Cledara as a result of her life-long desire to start a company that focussed on helping people.Cledara brings visibility and control to software subscriptions, helping users to reduce software costs by 30% and save +20h a month on finance admin. With 1000+ customers and offices in Denver, London and Barcelona, Cledara is all companies need to manage their software in 2023.Cristina joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to discuss the prevalent but unrealized issues in a company's software management, the processes they implemented that helped Cledara’s growth and success, key learnings in business fund raising, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guest is Earlybird Venture Capital Partner, Dr. Andre RetterathEarlybird Venture Capital focuses on European technology companies. Founded in 1997, Earlybird identifies and backs exceptional early-stage companies on a pan-European basis and supports them through their growth and development phases – providing financial resources, strategic support, and access to an international network & capital markets.Andre joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to share how looking at data can help you win deals, dealing with the classic AI problem, data-driven software for VCs, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guests are Leapsome Co-founders, Jenny von Podewils and Kajetan von ArmanspergLeapsome is an all-in-one intelligent people enablement platform. CEOs and HR teams at more than 1400 forward-thinking companies (including Spotify, monday.com, and Unity) use Leapsome’s intelligent people enablement platform to drive employee development, productivity, and engagement.Jenny and Kajetan join James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to share what it’s like having two CEOs at Leapsome, leading a high-performance organization, cutting through the noise of HR-tech, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guest is Creandum Partner, Peter SpechtCreandum is a leading European early-stage venture capital firm backing some of Europe’s most successful tech companies including Spotify, iZettle, Depop, Klarna, KRY, Epidemic Sound and Small Giant Games.Peter joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to discuss how to be a super valuable board member, the odds of questioning, managing the speed of a deal, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guest is Sequence Co-founder & CEO, Riya GroverSequence helps B2B companies design and iterate on billing and payment flows so they can stay focused on their mission. Their goal is to empower operators to build, scale and iterate, expand seamlessly into new markets and product verticals, and have a real time pulse on their business.Riya joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this episode to share tips for facilitating merger and acquisition, the inspiration for Sequence, her views on building enterprise products, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guest is Playfair Partner, Henrik Wetter Sanchez.Playfair is a generalist fund with a contrarian approach to pre-seed technology investing. They have backed 70+ companies across two funds including Thought Machine, Andela, Mapillary and Omnipresent.Henrik joins James Pringle and Hector Mason **in this special episode to discuss his journey to VC, scaling Playfair, culture fit, crowdfunding, learning from other VCs, & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

This week's guests are Odin Co-founders, Paddy Ryan and Mary Lin.Odin **is building a better way to invest together: a relationship-centric investment marketplace for founders, angels, and VC’s.

Paddy and Mary join James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to discuss the founder's psyche, finding your Ikigai, creative strategies to facilitate people in your network to invest in startups & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Startup Spotlight with Edmond Boulle, Co-Founder at Orbital Witness.

Orbital Witness is a legaltech/proptech company liberating everyone involved in property transactions by organising all the information at the start of the process so there are no nasty surprises.

Over 1.5% of all commercial property transactions in the UK use Orbital Witness and they have just raised a £7.5m Series A led by Parker89 to continue growing and also expand into the residential space.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

This week's guest is Yulife CEO & Co-founder Sammy Rubin.Yulife **is on a mission to inspire people to live their best lives: financially, mentally and physically. They have fundamentally changed the nature of life insurance, creating an innovative new ‘win-win’ model which benefits individuals, businesses and society.

Sammy joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to discuss how to spark creativity, how to build the right team, showing vulnerability in leadership & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄**

Startup Spotlight with Alex Lempka, Co-Founder at Connect Earth.

Connect Earth is an environmental data company working with banks and fintechs to offer customers insights into the impact of their spending and investments on the climate.

Its technology is integrated with banking groups such as KBC Bank, community banks and fintech firms in Europe and the United States.

Connect Earth recently raised a £4.5m round led by Gresham House Ventures.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

This week's guest is Packfleet CEO & Co-founder Tristan Thomas.

Packfleet is on a mission to empower independent businesses across the UK to offer the best deliveries on Earth.

Tristan joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this episode to discuss how to scale a business, how to time your fundraising activities, some thoughts on product management & so much more..

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

This week's guest is hackajob Co-founder & CEO Mark Chaffey

hackajob have made it their mission to make the hiring process fairer, faster and based on skills rather than backgrounds, so people can get the job they deserve and earn what they're worth.

Mark joins James Pringle and Hector Mason in this special extended episode to discuss how to validate an idea, lessons learnt during his career, the importance of professional coaching & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

This week's guest is CodeMonk Founder & CEO Maulik Sailor

CodeMonk is changing the way the world goes to work — thanks to their dedicated platform powered by a global network of world-class, remote-based tech professionals. They offer companies a complete end-to-end solution, enabling them to hire entire development teams in just a matter of days.

Maulik joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss proactive vs reactive, how to define a Product Manager, the importance of decision making & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Otta CEO Sam Franklin

Otta is the better way to find a job in tech. They have raised over $20m including a Series A led by Tiger Global after initial backing from LocalGlobe and Riding Unicorns Live 2022 special guest Paul Forster. Sam has worked as a management consultant and cut his teeth at tech company Nested.

Sam joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss what makes an entrepreneur, the pathway to Otta.com, imposter syndrome & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Eileen Burbidge, Partner @ Passion Capital and Director @ Fertifa

Eileen has worked for some of the biggest tech companies in the world such as Skype, Apple and Yahoo. She founded venture firm Passion Capital in 2011 and has backed incredible companies such as Tide, Monzo, Tray.io and others from pre-seed stage.

Eileen joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss what it's like being an interim CEO, the excitement of investing, the importance of quick decisions & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Thomas Wynne, Co-Founder & CEO @Capsule!

Capsule is a specialist, purpose-led insurance partner for growth companies – partnering with innovative and ambitious businesses on their scale-up journey. They are a certified B Corporation with ESG at their core.

Thomas joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the emotional side of selling a company, the opportunity in the insurance space, speaking to customers to help shape the product & so much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Startup Spotlight with Dan Webb, Co-Founder at Light Garden.

Light Garden are building Existent®, the platform that brings physical interaction to the metaverse. Existent® is a software platform and set of authoring tools that extend state-of-the-art virtual reality with the ability for players to be able to physically interact with everything they see in the virtual world. They have raised from Stride VC, Portfolio Ventures and key angels across gaming, sports and entertainment.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Yann Sarfati, Co-Founder & CEO @ Userled Userled helps products sell themselves by initiating product led growth journeys.

Yann joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the forming of Userled, how prior startup attempts shape your next company, hiring sunshine people and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Startup Spotlight with Chris Priebe, Founder at Zelt.

Zelt is a cloud application you can use to onboard new joiners in 2 minutes and manage HR, payroll and IT from a single system of employee record. They have raised from Episode 1 Ventures, The Fund, Lakestar and Portfolio Ventures.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Tony Jamous, CEO @ Oyster™ Oyster is a distributed talent enablement platform that allows growing companies to tap into the global talent pool and offer their remote workers around the world, a great employment experience. They have raised over $220 million from the likes of Connect Ventures, Slack Emergence, Salesforce Ventures. PayPal Ventures and others.

Tony joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the future of work, the traits of successful founders, creating a healthy schedule and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Mayowa Ogunremi, Investment Principal @ Form Ventures Form is a new early stage venture fund investing in startups disrupting regulated markets, or building in new markets that will face regulation. They use decades of experience to help founders break down policy barriers and shape winning regulatory strategies.

Mayowa joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss her route into venture, her experience as a therapist turned VC, Founder appetite to build a huge business and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Crowdcube Co-CEO Matt Cooper. Crowdcube is a leading equity crowdfunding platform for investing in high-growth opportunities across Europe. They help entrepreneurs of start-ups and growing businesses to connect with potential investors. Dedicated to helping UK-based entrepreneurs raise finance to start or grow their business, Crowdcube gives investors real equity in the companies they fund.

Matt joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the evolution of crowdfunding, the democratisation of private market investing, work-life balance and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Startup Spotlight with Blair Hawthorne, CEO & Founder at LoopFX.

They've just come out of stealth mode to improve the efficiency of high level foreign exchange trades. LoopFX have secured funding from some of the best finance angels in the country with participation from Portfolio Ventures.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Our guest this week is Believe in Science Founder & CEO Anthony Fletcher.The Believe in Science mission is to prove people can indulge responsibly, helping consumers make better decisions when it comes to food, starting with The Urban Legend Doughnut - the ultimate treat food, sticky, sweet, delicious yet never high in fat, sugar or calories.

Anthony joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss how the business stared, the dangers of sugar, working with supermarkets and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Tesseract Energy Founder & CEO **Alan Chang.

Tesseract was founded to generate affordable renewable power and solve climate change. Their mission is to build a Terawatt of renewable capacity to power the world. They have raised $78m from top tier investors like Balderton, Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Lowercarbon, and Ribbit to date.
Alan joins James Pringle and Hector Mason** to discuss the Revolut journey, where the idea for Tesseract came from, never settle culture, the future of the energy industry and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Fearless Adventures Founding Partner David Newns. Fearless Adventures invest in and support entrepreneur-led businesses with their expertise in growth strategy and support building great teams. Their founding team have built and scaled their own businesses from scratch to multi-million-pound exits and are now looking to use that capital and expertise to help new founders on their journey to reach the same peaks.David joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, building the Fearless Academy, habits to stay efficient and much, much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Left Lane Capital Principal Magnus Karnehm.Left Lane is a global venture capital and growth equity firm investing in high-growth internet and consumer technology companies that are fundamental to the lives of customers. The foundation of Left Lane’s strategy is built on four main elements: specialization in internet-first businesses, proprietary sourcing at every level, deep data rigor and best practices, and a genuine philosophy around partnering with founders.Magnus joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss what drew him to VC, what to look for in an investment, hiring, and much more!

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik.Kinnevik’s ambition is to be Europe’s leading listed growth investor, they back the best digital companies for a reimagined every day and to deliver significant returns. They have a strong and expanding portfolio in ClimateTech, HealthTech, consumer services, food tech, and fintech. Kinnevik’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s list for large-cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.Georgi joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss leadership habits, investment committees, hiring, and much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is George Richardson, Co-Founder & CEO of AeroCloud.AeroCloud’s modular intelligent airport management platform is built on
leading-edge technology & uses predictive AI & machine learning. Combined with common-use passenger processing & self-service solutions, they deliver an innovative answer to the complex operational challenges experienced by airports across the globe. AeroCloud’s market share has been steadily ramping up since 2019 with their platform currently supporting operations in 32 airports across the US & Europe, & serves over 120 million passengers annually with a strategy to expand into MENA in 2023.George joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss George's background as a racing driver. Data and AI. What it's like helping a fragmented industry get super efficient. The impact of COVID on the airline and airport sector and much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Startup Spotlight with Kadence. They've just announced a $10M Seed funding round led by Kickstart Fund with participation from Portfolio Ventures, Manta Ray, Hambro Perks and Vectr7 as well as Shadow Ventures and Forward VC.

Our guest this week is Jamie Beaumont, Founder of Playter.Playter helps fund the global community of startups and scaleups by helping them convert any invoice into Buy Now, Pay Later. Playter is the growth platform that helps businesses scale quicker, reduce their burn rate, increase their runway and take control of all payment terms regardless of the supplier. Jamie joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to discuss the rise of Playter, fundraising growth competition, and much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Dev Interrupted
What the smartest minds in engineering are thinking about, working on and investing in.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our guest this week is Gordon Midwood, CEO of **Anything World.

Anything World is an innovative platform that combines AI, voice computing and 3D rendering with layers of behavioural intelligence. They enable users to request and play with any object imaginable. It’s the easiest and fastest way for developers to create AI-driven 3D experiences powered by voice.
The Anything World Mission** is to simplify and redefine 3D content creation for everyone across the metaverse. We want to eliminate the barriers to 3D creativity.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, our mini-series, which will provide insight into an early-stage company that we are very excited about.

This week's spotlight shines on 5mins. 5Mins.ai is the TikTok of L&D. With 13,000+ bite-sized lessons tailored to each role . Live in 80+ countries with leading tech brands such as SmartPension, Perkbox, Spenmo etc - our customers find that with our bite-sized learning approach, employees upskill 3X faster and it delivers 8X better return on spend than traditional long-form learning platforms.Founder & CEO Saurav sat down with James to discuss the importance of building such a culture within a company and how their unique platform helps companies succeed via learning through bite-sized video content.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast never to miss an episode. Also, don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Welcome to Season 5 🥳Our first guest for the new season is Victor Trokoudes, Co-Founder & CEO of Plum.

Plum is an app that empowers you to put your money into action, wherever you are on your financial journey. You can save, spend, earn and invest, in one app with ease. Using AI-powered saving tools and investment features which make building and diversifying your portfolio seamless, Plum has helped customers save and invest £1.2 billion. Victor joined James Pringle & Hector Mason to discuss crowdfunding, FinTech, Super apps, North Star metrics, and much more.

Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow The Riding Unicorns Podcast on our socials and your chosen podcast platform to stay up to date! 🎙️🦄

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at The Oval in Vauxhall as part of our first live event. Guests and friends of the show gathered to celebrate 2 years of Riding Unicorns.

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, our mini-series, which will provide you with an insight into an early-stage company that we are very excited about.

This week's spotlight shines on Kuai Commerce, a startup focused on helping western brands sell Direct to consumers in the Chinese market. James sat down with co-founder Jonny Plein to discuss the opportunity the Chinese market presents and how Kuai provides western brands with access to the opportunity the Chinese consumer market presents.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also, don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Justina Tartilaite is the Co-Founder of Adsum, tax credit specialists. Adsum is pioneering innovation in tax-based financing and is at the forefront of leveraging modern technology in order to provide businesses with much-needed tax credits in real-time. Prior to launching Adsum, Justina worked as a Director at Deutsche Bank and in various capital markets roles for ABN AMRO Bank.

Justina joined us on this, our penultimate episode of the season, to discuss her career leading up to Adsum, why she decided to become an entrepreneur and what the early bootstrapped days looked like. Later in the episode, Justina opens up about her love of referrals, building an exceptional culture and what it was like to finally seek external capital.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast never to miss an episode. Also, don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, our mini-series, which will provide you with an insight into an early-stage company that we are very excited about.

On this weeks episode we will be discussing Monet, an embedded fintech for the creator economy - enabling platforms and agencies to offer borderless credit and payments.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Pietro Bezza is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of thesis-led venture capital firm, Connect Ventures. Specialising in investing in seed companies, Connect was the first to invest in unicorns such as TrueLayer, Typeform and Oyster.

Long-time listeners will be aware that this is not the first time we have had a member of the Connect Ventures team on the show. In fact, in Season 2 we invited Sitar Teli to discuss all things product.

This time round though we invited Pietro onto the show to double down on product and to discuss a myriad of different subjects. In fact, the episode kicks off with James and Hector learning about how cheese played an essential part during the early part of Pietros career. Following this, the trio also go on to cover the topics of whether founders should be using Doc Send and if having board members is worth it or not.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast never to miss an episode. Also, don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, an entirely new series, which will provide you with an insight into a company that we are very excited about.

On this weeks episode we will be discussing Deployed, which is looking to help simplify the way we write and build effective dialogue.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Joe Curtis is the Director and Co-Founder of 11 Investments, a seed-stage investment and accelerator program for recruitment businesses. Not content with one running one recruitment business Joe also works as a Director at Recruiter Labs, a recruitment consultancy business that he also co-founded and as if that wasn't enough he also finds time for a third role, that of Director at 3Search. All in all then we think it is fair to say that when it comes to speaking on the topic of recruitment there is no one better than Joe.

James sat down with Joe to discuss what led him into recruitment, why he chose to bootstrap his businesses and what he is looking to achieve in the long term. The pair also go on to discuss some of the common misconceptions of recruitment, why founders should look to build strong relationships with recruiters and how to develop a strong culture within an agency model.

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The Future Is Freelance
This show is for freelancers, sole traders, solopreneurs, digital nomads, consultants,...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, an entirely new series, which will provide you with an insight into a company that we are very excited about.

This weeks episode features the co-founders of Inveztor, Katee Hunter-Sharpe and Alastair Sharpe. Inveztor is developing a simple, efficient and collaborative digital platform for issuing and maintaining European debt securities.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Yoko Spirig is the co-founder & CEO of Ledgy, an equity management and investor relations platform for startups and high-growth companies. Yoko comes from a Physics background and such was her proclivity for the subject as a student that she was invited to become the project lead of Swissloop, an initiative which was looking to build the first Hyperloop pod in Switzerland. Upon graduating Yoko and her co-founders Ben-Elias Brandt and Timo Horstschaefer, who she met at university decided to launch Ledgy to help scaling companies make ownership simple. Since its launch in 2017 the company has gone on to secure investment from the likes of Sequoia and a number of high profile angel investors. Clients to-date have included Wefox, Kry, Bitpanda, Gorillas and Trade Republic.

The boys invited Yoko onto the show to better understand what problem Ledgy is trying to solve, how long it took the founders to validate their idea and how they were able to attract investors early on. Yoko then goes on to explain how the culture at the company continues to evolve and what she is looking to achieve as a founder, both in the present and in the future.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Welcome back to our latest Startup Spotlight, an entirely new series, which will provide you with an insight into a company that we are very excited about.

This weeks episode features Awabah, a digital pension platform for self-employed Africans. The co-founder & CEO Tunji Andrews joins us to explain exactly what the business does and how be plans to achieve his big vision.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Matthew Wilson is the Co-CEO and Co-founder of Omnipresent, one of the leading global HR providers. Matthew is an experienced entrepreneur and in fact had, prior to Omnipresent, already founded and run a number of businesses including an enterprise software business. Matthew launched Omnipresent alongside his fellow co-founder, Guenther Eisinger, in the hope of solving many of the challenges companies face when managing a remote team. His work and career achievements have been recognised by Forbes who in 2019 named him in their 30 under 30 list.

The Oxford alum sat down with James and Hector to discuss what it was like to launch a company in the midst of a pandemic and some of the practical steps he undertook to accelerate growth. Matthew also went on to explain why he isn't afraid of operating in such a competitive space and what future opportunities lie ahead for Omnipresent.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

A new product. Welcome to our quickfire Startup Spotlight feature. Our first Startup Spotlight is with Raffi Salama at Passionfruit, a UK-based GenZ freelancing platform. They recently closed a seed round of $4.3m.

Ben Kaminski is a Partner at leading technology investment firm, Target Global. Prior to joining the firm, Ben spent over a decade working in Investment Banking where he was responsible for overseeing several high-profile M&A transactions. At Target Global since 2018 Ben now heads up the firm's dedicated Mobility 2.0 Fund. His investments include Auto1, Delivery Hero, GoEuro, Flink and numerous others. As well as all this Ben still finds the time to be an active angel investor in over a dozen startups across a number of segments, including mobility, logistics, marketplaces and software.

Ben stopped by to discuss his time at Goldman Sachs, why crisis often leads to opportunity and open up on the mistakes he has made as an angel investor. James and Hector also probe deeper into what makes Target Global different to other firms, what the future of mobility will look like and Ben’s career objectives.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Tom Wilson is a Partner at Seedcamp, an early stage seed fund investing in European businesses that are solving real problems using technology. Prior to his time in Venture, Tom worked in Law where he specialised in VC fundraising and M&A. Since joining Seedcamp In 2014 Tom has been helping the fund source and select companies to invest in at the early stage of their inception. Some of their investments to-date include UiPath, Wise, Hopin and Revolut.

We invited Tom on the show to discuss the Seedcamp model, look back on how the fund has evolved throughout the years and to better understand the core characteristics of what they look for in a founder and a business. During the episode we also go on to learn how the fund plans to scale in the next few years, what it is about the team dynamic that works so well and their plans for the future.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Francesco Simoneschi is co-Founder and CEO of TrueLayer, a fintech development platform. TrueLayer is not, however, Francesco's first experience in founding, managing and growing a successful tech company. In fact, prior to launching TrueLayer, Francesco helped develop an angel fund called Mission and Market, which was able to provide investment to more than 50 startups. Following a period working in mobile game development Francesco became VP of Strategy for FOVE – the world’s first eye tracking virtual reality headset. With TrueLayer Francesco is looking to grow the Open Banking economy by creating a truly global platform for companies to develop new financial services and products.

Francesco joined us on the show to discuss his time working as a VC, what inspired the idea behind TrueLayer and what plans he has for the business moving forward. James and Hector also go on to quiz Francesco on what he believes the future of Open Banking will look like, what he looks for when picking a seed investor and whether the founder mindset can be taught.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Haakon Overli is the Founder and General Partner of Dawn Capital, a VC firm investing in European founders in the hope of helping them build the next generation of global software companies. During the early stage of his career Haakon worked in investment banking before eventually taking the decision to go out on his own and become an entrepreneur. In 1999 he launched Self Trade, an on-line stock broker, which he eventually sold in 2000 to HypoVereinsbank for €911m (US$1.1bn). Haakon now spends his time developing relationships with founders and providing them with advice in an attempt to help them grow their businesses.

Haakon sat down with James and Hector to discuss his time with Self Trade, the various investment models currently at play in venture capital, and what he considers to be a red flag when investing. Haakon also goes on to share his personal philosophy on business and life, which as we go on to learn, much of which is informed by his neurodiversity.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Aidan Corbett is the co-founder and CEO of Dublin-based Wayflyer. Founded in 2019 the company supports e-commerce businesses worldwide by providing a range of financing and analytics solutions that improve cash flow, drive sales and optimise supply chains. Since launching in April 2020 the company has already gone on to provide over $500 million to businesses, a fact which has meant that Aidan and his team have been able to build a unicorn in just 20 months. Wayflyer now has more than 800 customers across 11 countries, and employs 250 people between Dublin, London, New York, Atlanta and Sydney.

We invited Aidan to learn more about how his time at Conjura led him to founding Wayflyer, his thoughts on the future of B2B finance and why the Irish start-up scene is thriving. Aidan also left us with plenty of practical advice such as how best to prepare for international expansion, how to attract talent and the best ways to build a solid workplace culture.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Martin Bysh is the co-founder & CEO of Huboo, an award-winning order fulfilment service for eCommerce sellers. Martin spent the early part of his career working in a number of industries including everything from video games to dating sites and market research. After years of toiling in different ventures Martin finally decided to launch Huboo in 2017 with his co-founder Paul Dodd. Since then the company has grown at a remarkable rate and is now responsible for shipping an average of five million packages a year. This has led the Bristol based company to open new fulfilment centres around the globe in locations such as Madrid, Eindhoven and in the very near future, Leipzig.

Martin sat down with us to reflect on his many career moves to date, explain how he met his co-founder Paul and shed some light on why he always found it difficult to maintain focus throughout his career and how founding Huboo helped him finally achieve that. We also go on to learn how the company has managed to align all its products whilst simultaneously building a great company culture.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Charles Delingpole is the Founder & CEO of ComplyAdvantage, leaders in AI driven fraud and AML risk detection. Founded in 2014, ComplyAdvantage works with over 500 clients across 75 countries to tackle the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption. Prior to ComplyAdvantage Charles founded the world’s largest student discussion forum The Student Room Group. He then followed this up by co-founding MarketFinance, a corporate financial solutions company.

Charles joined James and Hector on Riding Unicorns to discuss how his passion for coding helped him to become an entrepreneur, the secrets behind his three successful start-ups and how his role as a CEO continues to evolve. This episode also goes on to cover the motivations behind his journey and what legacy he hopes to leave behind.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

Tom Goodwin is the co-founder of innovation consultancy, All We Have Is Now. Tom is however much more than just an entrepreneur. Tom has spent over 20 years studying topics such as the impact of new technology, changing consumer behaviours, and trends in digital marketing and as such is regarded as one of the experts in his field. He is also the author of Digital Darwinism, a business book that explores the current digital transformation in business. As well as this Tom is a much sought after public speaker and has spent much time educating audiences all over the world on digital transformation and innovation.

Tom sat down with Riding Unicorns for what turned out to be quite a lively debate on the topic of venture capital. Tom makes his feelings on VC’s abundantly clear throughout the episode. We go on to learn that Tom’s main gripe is his belief that VC’s have become unimaginative in their approach to investing, which in his mind, is resulting in a slew of uninspiring and in some cases copycat companies. Towards the end of the episode the conversation turns to brand building, a topic Tom is very familiar with. Unsurprisingly Tom is full of fascinating insights and even goes on to provide founders with some sage advice on the subject.

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Katie Marrache is a Partner at JamJar Ventures, a VC firm founded by the people behind the hugely popular Innocent drinks. Katie is the definition of a go-getter. Whilst at University she secured an internship with Dragons’ Den investor, James Caan, which saw her manage the entrepreneurs portfolio of consumer investments. After a short stint working in television Katie joined Innocent drinks as a category manager, which once again saw her manage an investment portfolio. In 2017 she made Partner and with it became Europe's youngest ever female venture capital partner.

Speaking to Riding Unicorns Katie reflects on her career to date, how she as a VC quantifies the size of a market and the benefits of focusing on product. In what turned out to be a discussion full of fascinating insights and opinions James, Hector and Katie also go on to discuss the trends that most excite them in the consumer space and the marketing strategies they feel are most effective when going to market.

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Kevin Diestel is a Partner at Sapphire Ventures, a venture capital firm that primarily invests in Series B technology companies. Before moving into private equity Kevin worked as an Analyst for Merrill Lynch. After two years working for the Investment Bank Kevin began working for Shamrock Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. During his time there he was responsible for evaluating investments in the media, entertainment and communications sectors. Having joined Sapphire in 2012 Kevin now focuses his time primarily on innovative consumer businesses and vertical software applications. Kevin holds a board seat at a number of companies including Culture Amp, Current, Degreed, project44, and Sun Basket.

In this episode Kevin starts off by explaining his role at Sapphire Ventures, his approach to investing and how he and his team deal with downturns in performance. Kevin also goes on to detail how he strikes a balance between intuition and data when investing. Finally James and Hector quiz Kevin on how he avoids bias during the decision making process and what the ultimate goal is for his career.

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Freddy Ward is the co-founder of D2C cosmetics company, Wild. Freddy started his career at Hello Fresh and is actually credited as being its fifth ever employee. After working his way up to Marketing Director Freddy decided to start his own company, Wild, with lifelong friend and former Director of Fly Hiring, Charlie Bowes-Lyon. Wild is best known for its refillable deodorants and range of exotic fragrances, which customers seem to have really warmed too. In fact the company has already sold over 300,000 deodorants in little over 18 months. The company is hoping that by focusing on natural ingredients and by cutting down on plastic waste it will be at the forefront of a new wave of environmentally friendly consumer products.

In this episode Freddy explains what marketing means to him, how he went about starting Wild and how he later developed its brand. The episode also covers how one should go about experimenting with new marketing channels, the thought process behind launching new products and what value Freddy believes he brings to the business.

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Small But Mighty Agency
A podcast that uncovers how to go from solopreneur to seven figure agency with ease.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Future of Humanity
Discuss the impact of emerging new technologies and economic and political landscape in...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

James Routledge is the Founder of Sanctus, leading providers of mental health coaches. After starting his first business at University James was hooked by the idea of being an entrepreneur. His first business venture, MatchChat, a social media app would however ultimately go on to be unsuccessful. As is often the case in life there is a silver lining to all supposed failures. James would ultimately go on to reflect more deeply about the stress he felt around this time and how it affected his mental health. Spurred on by this experience James launched Sanctus in 2016 and the company has since partnered with some of the biggest brands to help them transform their mental health culture. In November 2022 James took the difficult decision to step down as CEO but as he mentions during the episode he continues to have a very strong relationship with the company to this day. James now spends much of his time writing and is in fact a best selling author. His first book, Mental Health at Work, shares his stories, learnings and guidance on the topic of mental health.

Riding Unicorns invited James on the show to discuss the highs and lows of working on MatchChat and the inspiration behind launching Sanctus. Mental health was of course a huge topic throughout the episode. James went on to share some practical advice on how to improve mental health in the workplace.

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Paul Murphy (@paulbz on Twitter) is a Partner at Lightspeed, a global venture capital firm focusing on multi-stage investments in the enterprise technology, consumer, and health sectors. Prior to his stint at Lightspeed Paul worked at Microsoft, Betaworks, Giphy and Northzone to name but a few. Paul also has extensive experience as an entrepreneur having set-up several companies namely Mobile Games Studio, Dots and calendar app, Katch. Paul is now sharing his knowledge of what it takes to build a successful business with the next generation of founders and helping Lightspeed identify the game changing businesses of the future.

Paul dropped by the Riding Unicorns offices to shed some light on the decision making process behind his career moves, the lessons he has learnt from incorporating businesses and how his experiences in business has informed his approach to investing. The guys also go on to probe Paul on why Europe is becoming attractive to U.S funds, what common traits successful founders share and what he aims to achieve moving forward.

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Julie Chen is the Founder and CEO of The Cheeky Panda, makers of a range of Bamboo toiletry products including traditional toilet paper, facial tissues, kitchen towel, wipes and nappies. The idea for the company was born out of a family trip to China. While in China, Julie and her husband couldn't help but notice the abundance of Bamboo, which is of course one the world's fastest growing plants. It was there where Julie spotted the opportunity to create an environmentally friendly alternative to tree based tissue paper we use in the west. The company finally launched in 2016 and has since reached B Corp status with many of their products now available in over 25 countries. The hope is to continue to grow the company so that one day it is in the position to be able to go public.

Julie joined us to explain what inspired her to launch the brand, detail some of the challenges she has faced in building Cheeky Panda and what she hopes to achieve in the coming years. James and Hector also quiz Julie on her approach to crowdfunding, what it is like running a business with her husband and her thoughts on the importance of increased opportunities for underrepresented founders.

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Adnan Ebrahim is the co-founder and CEO of health and mindfulness app, Mindlabs. Adnan can trace his entrepreneurial roots all the way back to the school playground where he would often be seen selling wristbands to his classmates. Adnan’s love for business did not stop there however and after one successful venture in blogging Adnan decided to follow that up by launching Car Throttle, an online community for car enthusiasts. What started out as an idea born in his bedroom quickly grew into one of the most popular content platforms in the automotive space. The company's growth drew the attention of none other than Dennis Publishing, who in 2019 decided to acquire the company. Shortly after the acquisition Adnan decided to launch his latest venture, Mindlabs in the hope of bringing people some much needed peace of mind through accessible wellness classes.

In this episode James and Hector start off by looking back at Adnan’s time at CarThrottle, the challenges he faced growing the business and its subsequent acquisition by Dennis Publishing. Later into the episode the three discuss the motivation behind Adnan's new venture and explore what learnings he is taking from his first start-up experience. The episode closes with some helpful tips on fundraising and angel investing.

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Rania Lamprou is the co-founder and CEO of Simpler - 1-click checkout for online shopping. Prior to launching Simpler Rania worked in several industries from marketing, business development, sales and product management. In 2020, Rania decided to launch Simpler with the aim of revolutionising the online checkout experience for both shoppers and sellers alike. The company has recently exited stealth mode and is now looking to grow its offering in the coming months.

Riding Unicorns invited Rania on the show to get a better understanding of why she decided to become a founder, what leadership skills she picked up in her previous roles and what she is trying to achieve with Simpler. During the episode we also dive deeper into the goings on at Fast, which recently announced that it was ceasing operations. James, Hector and Rania reflect on how the company got to that point and what lessons Simpler can take from their story. The episode also covers operational processes, tips on attracting the best talent and how to build a great culture.

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Hussein Kanji is the founding partner at renowned early stage venture firm, Hoxton Ventures. Following experiences at Microsoft and Accel Partners Hussein decided to set up Hoxton Ventures in 2013 in the hope that by backing Europe’s best global tech companies, his team would be able to bring a slice of Silicon Valley to Europe. As a result of backing four unicorns and creating $54bn of value both Hussein and Hoxton have gone on to develop a reputation as one of the best operators in the venture space.

In this episode Hussein begins by reflecting on his time at Microsoft and how that experience went on to shape his approach to venture. James and Hector then dig deeper into Hussein’s personal motivations behind going into venture and lessons he has learnt from picking founders.

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Dominic McGregor is the Founding Partner of Investment Firm Fearless Adventures. Dominic however is perhaps best known for the role he played in helping to build the hugely successful social media agency, Social Chain. With the help of his co-founder Steven Bartlett the pair were able to transform a mere idea, dreamt up in their university halls, into one of the world's leading media companies. Having both now exited the company Dominic has launched Fearless Adventures in the hope of helping other founders on their own start-up journeys. Dominic is also a prominent mental health advocate and regularly speaks on the topic of his own personal struggles with anxiety and alcoholism.

In this, the first episode of season 4, James, Hector and Dominic sit down to discuss the work that went into building Social Chain, his philosophy when it comes to hiring and the issues you face when running a heavily cash flow reliant business. Dominic also opens up on his latest venture. We go on to learn more about his vision for Fearless Adventures and what he is looking for from founders. The episode closes with Dominic opening up about his own battles with sobriety with Dominic offering advice on what coping mechanisms to employ during difficult periods.

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In this special bonus episode James and Hector look back at the best moments from Season 3. The pair discuss the progress the show has made this season, the insights that made an impact and what the plans they have for the podcast moving forward. The episode ends with James and Hector revealing just some of the amazing guests we have coming your way in season 4.

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Brad Coffey is the Chief Customer Officer at Pipe, the trading platform that enables entrepreneurs to grow their business on their terms. By treating recurring revenue streams as an asset, Pipe allows companies to transform their recurring revenue into up-front capital, instantly. Prior to joining Pipe Brad was the Chief Strategy Officer at HubSpot, where he helped grow the business from $1m to $1b in ARR. Brad is also a keen angel investor and advisor having helped many startups develop their strategy around product, packaging and pricing.

In this the final episode of Season 3 Hector and James sit down with Brad to explore the differences between entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, the challenges of fundraising and what metrics are the most valuable. Later into the episode the trio cover the topics of cross team KPIs, the best way to build a multi product company and Brad's views on the competition and the future of Pipe.

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Taymoor Atighetchi is the Founder and CEO of British e-commerce stationary brand, Papier. The story of Taymoor’s rise in business is fascinating. He started out by selling antiques on Portobello Market before going on to co-found the now very popular news youth site, The Tab. Upon graduating Taymoor secured a role at Bain & Company as a consultant. It was there where Taymoor spotted the opportunity to disrupt the retail space by providing an online offering to what was once a very bricks and mortar dependent sector. In the seven years since its launch Papier has raised over $65 million. The company now employs over 100 people and has plans for further expansion into America.

In this, the penultimate episode of Season 3, Hector and James sit down with Taymoor to better understand his entrepreneurial journey, the motivations behind launching Papier and the practicalities of making the business work. During the episode the trio also delve into the company's experience of fundraising, its approach to culture and its future plans.

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Larry Gadea is the Founder and CEO of unicorn workplace software provider, Envoy. Larry’s story is a remarkable one. After his family fled Romania as refugees Larry spent much of his early childhood perfecting his knowledge of computer engineering. His proclivity in this space would see him go on to secure prominent positions at both Google & Twitter. In 2013 Larry decided to go it alone and launch Envoy with the mission of improving visitor and host experiences in the workplace. The company now oversees over 100,000 new sign-ins every day and has plans for further growth in the coming years.

Hector and James invited Larry on Riding Unicorns to explore what drives him, find out more about his experiences at Google & Twitter and to better understand what pain points Envoy was trying to solve. We also manage to get Larry’s thoughts on the operational side of the business, in fact we manage to get him to share a little bit more about the company's initial go to market strategy, why they continue to focus heavily on building relationships with their core customer base and how they are going about building a great business culture.

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Jimmy Williams is the Co-Founder and CEO of InsurTech, Urban Jungle. Jimmy started out in consulting before pivoting towards insurance following his own frustrating experience trying to secure a policy. In 2016 Jimmy launched Urban Jungle in the hope of providing an alternative offering in what he increasingly saw as an unfair, expensive and slow moving sector. Having recently closed an $11.4m Series A round the company hopes to continue building its reputation as one of the key disruptors in insurance.

Jimmy joined Riding Unicorns to discuss his transition from consulting to entrepreneurship. We learn how freelancing helped bridge that gap. We also probed Jimmy on how he went about finding and recruiting his fellow co-founder, Greg Smyth. Finally we dive into his personal philosophy on culture and why he prefers to overlook certain favoured metrics when trying to scale his business.

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Tom Leathes is the co-founder and CEO of Motorway. Launched four years ago by Tom and his long term friend and business partner Harry Jones, Motorway is harnessing the power of technology to deliver an amazing experience for customers looking to value and sell their car. In the four years it has been operating the company has already helped over 2.5m customers resulting in 300% year on year growth.

Riding Unicorns were lucky enough to sit down with Tom and pick his brain on several topics including the motivation behind Motorway, which we go on to learn was fuelled by failing with a previous start-up. Tom goes on to explain how his role in the business has changed since it has scaled, how the team was able to develop its MVP and why customer satisfaction will always be his and the company's number one priority. We close by exploring Tom's qualities as a founder, what advice he would give to his younger self and his plans for the future.

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Guy Podjarny is the Founder of cybersecurity firm, Snyk. Founded in 2015 the company specialises in offering developer-first security and was recently valued at over £8bn. Prior to Synk Guy worked as CTO at Akamai following their acquisition of his startup, Blaze.io. Guy has spent his career becoming an expert in web application security, a topic which he covers in depth on his own podcast, The Secure Developer podcast.

Guy spent some time with James and Hector to discuss how a big vision starts with small steps and why he believes everything is a product. The trio also cover topics such as managing a cap table over several rounds, how to enforce company values and what qualities Guy possesses as a founder.

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Gordon Sanghera is the co-founder and CEO of Oxford Nanopore. With the help of some of the brightest minds around the globe Gordon, who has over 15 years experience in the design and development of biosensor devices, and his team have been able to develop revolutionary sensing technology that performs precise analysis of single molecules.

Riding Unicorns invited Gordon on the show to explain in simple terms what the company does, the real world benefits to its products and how despite the difficulty they were able to find a commercial model that worked. We also delve into the rock n roll culture Gordon has helped implement at Oxford Nanopore, why he hires people with a diverse skill set and what the future looks like for him and the company

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Ray Chohan is the co-founder of PatSnap, one of the global leaders in connected innovation intelligence. With more than 800 individuals located across three continents, Ray and his team really are at the forefront of revolutionizing the innovation process.

During the episode Ray reveals the motivation behind founding PatSnap and exactly what problem the company is trying to solve. From an operational perspective Ray was able to share some tips for fundraising, hiring and how to become an expert communicator. In closing Ray goes on to explain why he is hugely excited about web 3.0 and what value he thinks it will bring to our daily lives.

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Giles Andrews is the co-founder of British financial services company, Zopa, which in 2005 made waves by launching the world's first peer-to-peer lending service. Prior to revolutionising the financial sector Giles, a keen car enthusiast, worked at a car dealership but quickly turned his attention to other endeavours including becoming the Chairman of Carwow, a position amongst many others, which he still holds to this day.

Giles joined us to share the story behind Zopa and its early years. He also goes on to provide more context into the decision to move the company away from P2P lending and pivot it towards becoming a bank. Finally, Giles, a multiple times Chairman, provides us with tips on how to be a good chairman and what to look out for when making hiring decisions.

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Philip Belamant is the founder & CEO of BNPL firm, Zilch. Philip started his career in mobile gaming in his native South Africa but quickly realised the potential of BNPL and decided to set up his own firm, which is now worth over £2bn.

Philip explains some of the challenges he faced when initially trying to break into the market, how Zilch’s offering differs from the incumbents and his thoughts on the competition. Philip also goes on to pull no punches when questioned on VC’s and their suitability when raising investment. We end the conversation by discussing the benefits or lack thereof, of different marketing mediums including television and social media advertising.

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Michelle Kennedy is the co-founder & CEO of social media app, Peanut. The former Badoo and Bumble executive used her experience in the social space to launch Peanut, which since 2017 has connected over 2.7 million mothers and helped them find advice and connect with other women on all manner of topics including pregnancy, childbirth and menopause.

Michelle sat down with us to discuss how she managed the transition from lawyer to entrepreneur in such a quick time frame. We also dive deep into the operational side of the business and go onto learn how the team was able to build out its platform. Finally we discuss the plans for the future and how Michelle is able to find a balance between appeasing legacy users and implementing new features, which will attract new members.

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Jonathan Anguelov is the co-founder and GM of cloud-based call center software unicorn, Aircall. Jonathan has always had a passion for entrepreneurship. In fact, prior to launching Aircall in 2014 Jonathan had already amassed a great deal of business experience through his various ventures in real estate.

In this episode Jonathan opens up about the struggles he faced during his childhood and how the challenges he overcame early on in life propelled him to pursue a life as an entrepreneur. Jonathan also goes on to recall the time when in an unprecedented move he ordered Aircall to suspend all sales for two whole months in order to fix the quality of their service. Finally we are able to get Jonathan to share some of his tips for fundraising and building a collaborative culture.

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Sacha Michaud is the co-founder of commerce start-up Glovo. Shortly after recording the episode with Sacha the company made headlines after it was announced that German multinational online food-delivery service Delivery Hero had acquired a majority stake in the company.

The former jockey turned entrepreneur and investor sat down with Riding Unicorns to reveal what keeps drawing him back to entrepreneurship, the similarities between being an athlete and a founder and the areas of the business he wished he had invested in earlier. James and Hector also get Sacha’s thoughts on building a sustainable business whilst maintaining a healthy appetite to grow.

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Nigel Verdon the co-founder & CEO of RailsBank, the world's leading Embedded Finance Experience platform. Nigel has spent decades learning everything there is to know about payments and foreign exchange, first through his experience as an investment banker and subsequently as an entrepreneur of multiple financial start-ups.

The serial FinTech founder sat down with James and Hector and opened up on the motivation behind launching RailsBank so soon after his previous success with the now acquired Currencycloud. Nigel went on to explain why founders should always establish some emotional distance between themselves and their ‘baby’. Nigel, a keen rugby fan, also reflected on how sports management informs his approach to being a leader in his business. The trio rounded off the discussion by focusing on the importance of culture and why the role of a CEO centres around knowing when to relinquish control.

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Ali Parsa is the Founder & CEO of HealthTech Unicorn Babylon. Ali’s knowledge and expertise on the topic of healthcare is unmatched by anyone else in the UK. In fact prior to launching Babylon the British Iranian entrepreneur co-founded hospital operator Circle Health.

The former investment banker sat down with Riding Unicorns to give us an insight into his stoic approach to both business and life. We go on to learn that Ali is a big believer in going with the flow and not letting the little obstacles get in the way of his ambitious plans. Ali also goes on to share his thoughts on how to develop the perfect union between the private and public healthcare sector and his tips for fundraising.

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Felix Oshwald is the Founder of GoStudent, a venture-backed ed-tech unicorn, which has been disrupting the tutoring space since being founded in 2016. The company as Felis is keen to stress is now on a mission to become the world's number 1 global school.

The Riding Unicorns team sat down with Felix to better understand how this mathematics enthusiast was able to find market fit and differentiate GoStudents from its competitors, how he built a culture obsessed with operations and how he measures performance and gathers feedback.James and Hector were also able to dig a little deeper into Felix as a founder and discovered what motivates him and how he differs from others in his position.

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Steven Mendel is the co-founder of ManyPets (prev. Bought By Many), the insurance provider that is revolutionising the way consumers purchase pet coverage. Rather interestingly the idea for the company came as a result of Stevens own rather disappointing personal experience when trying to buy private medical insurance for him and his familys. Like any good entrepreneur Steven took it upon himself to try and improve the customer experience, which going by the amount of awards the company has won, he seems to have done rather successfully.

The McKinsey alumni sat down with James & Hector to discuss several topics including why a high employee retention continues to play an important role in the success of the company, his opinion on the importance or lack thereof of company valuation and how his expectations differ from the present day business reality.

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Aron Gelbard is the co-founder & CEO of Bloom & Wild, one of the UK’s most-loved online florists. Prior to launching B&W Aron spent time working as a consultant for Bain & Company, who he goes on to credit for giving him the ideal launch pad to pursue his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.

James & Hector sat down with Aron to discuss the early struggles he faced when getting the business off the ground, the on-going logistics of delivering flowers and why technology continues to be at the centre of everything the company does. Aron also opens up about his journey as a CEO and the lessons he has learnt from the occasional hiring mis-steps. As the conversation draws to a close Aron goes on to reveal his future ambitions for the company.

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Andy Shovel is the co-founder of THIS, one of the leading plant based meat alternative companies in the UK. Andy is a true example of a versatile entrepreneur. Having succeeded with the beef burger chain, Chosen Bun, Andy then decided to turn his life upside down by giving up meat and going plant based. His ambition ever since has been to crack the meat free code in the hopes of providing people with a true culinary alternative to meat.

The former carnivore spoke to us about the epiphany that led him and his co-founder to explore meat free alternatives and his philosophy when creating new products. Andy also has his say on the criticisms levelled against plant based products and goes on to predict what the meat free industry will look like in ten years. Finally we ask Andy to run through his process of raising a round and deliberate on what qualities he thinks makes him a successful founder.

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Alex Chesterman OBE is one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs and Angel Investors. Through his unparalleled intuition and bravery Alex has carved out a reputation as a serial winner and disruptor of several traditional industries. His most recent venture, online car retailer Cazoo is proving to be yet another success having already raised over £1 bn in total funding.

In this Season 3 opener Alex begins by reflecting on what entrepreneurship means to him, what has motivated him to keep going despite all of his success and why he chose the car industry as his next project. Alex then goes on to share his thoughts on being an angel investor and how his experience as an entrepreneur has helped him sharpen up his investment skills.

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Hector and James take a look back at the 25 episodes recorded in Season 2, their favourites and the most-listened to shows. Then they introduce the incredible line-up for Season 3. This is the first place to find out who is going to be on the show for the next 20 weeks.

Jon Coker is one of the Founding Partners of Eka Ventures. His work at the Impact VC fund has transformed him into one of the pioneers of ESG investments in Europe. Prior to Eka Ventures Jon led the investment team as a partner at MMC Ventures.

The Oxford alumni sat down with James and Hector and shared some insights into his upbringing, his passion for maths and science and his life prior to entering the world of VC. Later in the conversation the trio touch upon topics such as, how VC has changed and continues to change, what makes a good VC and the concerns people have over impact investing.

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Rémy Astié is the founder & co-CEO of online investment platform Vauban. Backed by the likes of MJ Hudson, Pentech and Outward Vauban is looking to democratise private investment. Through its revolutionary infrastructure the company has already helped investors fund $700m in companies such as Airbnb, SpaceX, Tide and many more.

In this, the penultimate episode of Season 2, James and Hector dive into Rémy’s decision to pivot Vauban away from hedge funds, his thoughts on the future of crowdfunding and the pros and cons to rules currently regulating the investment markets.

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Steve Tigar is the founder & CEO of Scottish based EV company loveelectric. With the ever increasing pressure to lower our carbon footprint leading more and more drivers to opt for electric cars, the company is hoping that through its car scheme, which promises to halve the monthly cost of any new electric car, it will soon be the number one choice for all new car buyers out there.

Riding Unicorns invited the former CEO of Money Dashboard on the show to discuss the importance of hiring and delegating, how the recent fuel crisis has impacted the EV market and the challenges the industry will face moving forward.

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Irina Scarlat is the Chief Growth Officer at centralized crypto exchange Bitpanda. With over 12 years experience in tech marketing, which have included stints at Uber & Revolut, Irina is slowly carving out a reputation as one of the best project managers in her field.

Irina sat down with James and Hector to discuss her time at both Uber and Revolut, her personal definition of growth and opinions on the current hustle culture trend.

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Mark Smukler is the founder & CEO of Flow, a location-based app that makes it easy to discover the best coworking spaces, gyms, spas and experiences around you. Flow is now available in 50 locations across London with the target being to have 300 locations signed up by the end of the year.

The now exited founder of tenant & resident management platform, Bixby sat down to shed some light on the decision making process behind enrolling in a computer science course, his rather unconventional approach to raising investment during his time at Bixby and the learnings he is taking into the launch of his second business venture.

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A year ago today, we released S1E1 of Riding Unicorns with Sir Martin Sorrell. In this first edition of Riding Unicorns bitesize, we pick out the best bits from that episode and dissect some of the advice given by Sir Martin.

Jos White is a General Partner at VC firm Notion Capital. In 2000 Jos alongside his brother launched MessageLabs, the first company in the world to introduce anti-virus as a service, which incidentally at the time also made it the first SaaS business ever. Seven years later MessageLabs was acquired by Symantec in 2008 for $700m.

The self confessed entrepreneur obsessive sat down with Riding Unicorns for what turned out to be a riveting conversation, which touched on topics such as how Jos overcame his shyness in the early years, his tips on spreading the risk of investing and his feelings behind being an exit founder.

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Jonny Plein is the now exited co-founder of the coupon browser extension, Pouch. Jonny spent his postgraduate years working for EY before leaving in 2017 to work on Pouch full time. During his time Jonny and his team were able to win the MassChallenge startup accelerator award. Jonny is now the Director Of Business Development at the Global Savings Group.

James and Hector sat down with Jonny to discuss the challenges in achieving product market fit, his Dragon’s Den experience and the lesson learnt from dealing with media companies. The conversation also goes on to cover Jonny’s life post Dragons Den, Pouches struggles when raising capital and what advice he has to give to fellow founders now that he has gone through the experience of exiting a company.

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Hector and James discuss mega rounds, valuations, and the effect of public markets on private markets.

George Robson is a Partner at the renowned Venture Capital firm, Sequoia. Preceding his time at Sequoia George worked first with Morgan Stanley and then with Revolut as the Senior Product Owner.

During the time we had with George we were able to cover the lessons he learnt from his time at the financial technology company, what it was like working alongside its renowned founder, Nikolay Storonsky and his personal thesis when looking to invest in start-ups. George also addresses the topic of age and whether it may in fact provide him a competitive advantage.

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Darren Tenkorang is the founder and CEO of Trim-IT, one of the first app-powered mobile Barber Shops in the UK. The idea for the business came to Darren whilst he was still at University. He entered his business plan into a competition and much to his surprise he won. The subsequent £10,000 award ended up forming the base to launch the business that we see today.

The South London native sat down with Riding Unicorns to discuss how his dyslexia diagnosis fuelled his desire to become an entrepreneur, the pros and cons to operating a franchise model and why you should never work with your close friends. Darren closes by opening up on his future plans for the business and what he perceives to be the challenges towards achieving continued growth.

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Jeremy King is the CEO and founder of one of the leading consumer research platforms in the world, Attest. Jeremy graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA, which led him to secure several prestigious interning positions. In 2005 Jeremy began working at McKinsey as an Engagement Manager. After ten years with the consultancy firm Jeremy had decided that he was ready to go out on his own. He created Attest with the goal of simplifying consumer data. The company now services over 110 million consumers across 45 countries.

In this episode Jeremy explains how his love of science led him to pursue a career in consumer data, his unique strategy to fundraising and why data continues to be mis-used by organisations. Jeremy also helped us unpack What questions founders should ask themselves at the start of their journey, how to navigate the complexity of a product and how you evolve that product so that you start generating revenue.

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James and Hector review August's episodes, discuss the future of VC, AgriTech, Sustainability and Robotics. The guys also finally announce their dinner party guests.

Georgia Stewart is the co-founder and CEO at Tumelo, a start-up which provides investment platforms and pension providers increased transparency on the companies they own. Georgia grew up in Edinburgh and was originally keen on pursuing a career as a vet. Whilst studying at Cambridge University Georgia became exposed to just how little transparency there was in the investment sector and made a mental note to circle back to this when the time was right. After a number of years working in asset management Georgia decided that it was time to revisit a topic that she had become thoroughly passionate about. In January 2018 Tumelo was launched in the hope of helping every investor have a positive impact.

James and Hector sat down with Georgia to discuss what led her to pursue a career in ESG, the importance of continually evolving your hiring process and why there is no such thing as a perfectly ethical company.

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Alice Bentinck MBE is one of the co-founders of Entrepreneur First, one of the world's leading talent investors that helps people develop their startup ideas. Away from EF Alice is also one of the founders of Code First: Girls, an organisation which offers free web programming courses for women in university. In 2015 Alice was named one of the Fifty Most Inspiring Women in European Tech by Inspiring Fifty.

James and Hector sat down with the former McKinsey Management Consultant to discuss what drove her to launch her own business, what Entrepreneur First looks for in potential founders and why it is important to adapt to different business cultures when expanding globally.

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Amy Lewin is the Deputy Editor at Sifted. Backed by the Financial Times, Sifted is a new media publication that provides In-depth reporting, news and analysis on European startups and their founders, investors and partners. Before joining Sifted Amy served as a writer and editorial assistant for IKEA Family Magazine at August Media before moving to Courier magazine to work as a features editor.

Amy was kind enough to sit down to discuss a range of fascinating topics including the growth of the high speed grocery delivery market, how information on VC news is sourced and the importance of good press coverage for companies that are looking to raise capital. Amy also opens up about her personal motivations and where she sees the future of Sifted heading.

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Sitar Teli is a founder and Managing Partner at Connect Ventures, a thesis-led, pan-European, seed stage VC. With over 14 years experience in early-stage investments in both consumer and B2B companies, Sitar has become an expert on growth, culture, building high performance teams and finance strategy. Most notably Sitar led the Series A round for SoundCloud when working for Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.

The product and design specialist sat down with Riding Unicorns to discuss how she transitioned from investment banking into venture capital, the future of the remote workplace and the different approaches the US and Europe take to product.

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Simon Franks is a partner at Venture Capital and Private Equity firm, Redbus. Simon however is perhaps best known for co-founding LoveFILM, which during its time was one of the biggest names in film rental. After the company had reached two million subscribers it was sold to Amazon In 2011 for £200m. Simon has spent much of the proceeding years focusing on philanthropy. Through his work at the Franks Family Foundation he is able to provide mentorship to charitable organisations to help them address problems in some of the poorest regions from around the world.

Simon sat down with us to discuss his time at the popular DVD-by-mail provider, his plans to revolutionise the rental car space and the difficulties involved in modern day philanthropy.

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The second of our monthly round up episodes. We discuss our favourite episodes in July as well as the World becoming a more competitive, the Square acquisition of Australian FinTech Afterpay and what's going on in the B2B space... hint "Data Is The New Oil".

David Semmens is the Chief Investment Officer at leading UK digital wealth management service, Wealthify. David has experience working across a number of industries covering banking, insurance and asset management and has worked for world renowned financial institutions such HSBC Asset Management, Euler Hermes and Standard Chartered Bank. David has gained a reputation as the go-to person for anyone looking to improve their financial literacy and become an investor.

The multi-asset investment strategist sat down with James and Hector to discuss a number of topics ranging from the continued digitalisation of wealth management, to his own experiences of working abroad and how startups differ from bigger corporations.

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James Hind is the Founder and CEO of Carwow, one of the most popular platforms for buying new and used cars in the UK. James studied Finance, which led him into the corporate world, however it was not long before he realised that the only was he was going to be fulfilled professionally was if he went it alone. After working as a ski guide for a few months James went ahead and launched carwow in 2011 with the mission of helping people choose and buy the best car. Since then carwow has grown to become one of the most exciting marketplaces and media brands in the automotive sector.

James sat down with Riding Unicorns to discuss what propelled him to launch the business, what lessons he has learnt along the way and what plans he has for the future of the company.

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Eamonn Carey is the Managing Director at Techstars, a global platform that connects entrepreneurs, investors and corporations. Away from Techstars Eamonn also operates as an Angel Investor, which has seen him invest in over 50 companies. His expertise and knowledge has seen him invited to speak at conferences all around the world including Web Summit, Collision, SXSW and Mobile World Congress as well as many more.

James and Hector sat down with the former journalist to discuss his transition from media to VC, what continues to motivate him to do the work he does and what new trends we can expect to see in future early stages.

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Harry Franks is the co-Founder of Zego, a tech enabled insurance intermediary, servicing commercial customers in the modern world. The company was launched in 2016 and now employs over 60 people spread across both London and Madrid. Much of Zego’s growth is due in part to Harrys high-level understanding of how to build partnerships with leading companies in the on-demand space and within the insurance sector.

In this episode the guys discuss the challenges of entrepreneurship, what it is like to fundraise and what scaling looks like. Harry also goes on to share his thoughts on the idea that Zego could one day IPO.

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This is the first of our new monthly series where Hector and James discuss what's going on in the world of venture and startups, take a look back at the last month's episodes and talk through what's going on at their firms.

Jean Nehme is the founder & CEO of Touch Surgery, a health tech company shaping the future of surgery through the convergence of surgical expertise and technology. Jean, a trained surgeon, founded Touch Surgery in 2010, in a bid to offer patients educational surgical simulations for more than 200 procedures in 17 specialties. The company was acquired by Medtronic in 2020 but Jean’s continues to be at the centre of the healthtech boom and was even recently involved in a new SPAC.

Jean sat down with us to explore the hurdles he and the company faced to unlock growth, the similarities between surgeons and entrepreneurs and the company's first big win.

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Matthew Ford is a Partner at Global FinTech Investment Firm, Mouro Capital. Matthew and his team manage over $400M assets that targets early to growth fintech investment opportunities across Europe, North America and Latin America. Prior to Mouro Capital Matthew worked as the Chief Product Officer at Tandem Bank.

Matthew joined James and Hector to discuss his transition from working in operations to becoming a VC, the empathy he has for prospective founders and the trends that Matthew expects to see in FinTech in the near future.

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Laurence Krieger is the CEO of Tide, the leading provider of UK SME business accounts and one of the fastest-growing FinTechs in the UK. With over 12 years of experience working in senior roles at fast-growing fintech start-ups Laurence has played a huge role in shaping the industry that we see today. Prior to Tide Laurence launched one of the first prepaid cards into the UK with Moneysupermarket and before joining working at Revolut as its COO.

In this episode we hear about Lawrence's career in tech, Tide's plans to expand into India and what Lawrence looks for when hiring - customer focus, data driven and team first approaches are ingrained in the Tide culture.

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Sam Louis is an Investor at Venture Capital and Private Equity firm, AIV Capital. Having worked for a wide range of companies, including Angel Investment Network, BrickTribe, SeedTribe Sam has a good idea of the inner workings of the whole entire funding ecosystem and as such has developed a deep understanding over what makes a good founder.

Riding Unicorns invited Sam on the show to mull over the topics of what impact investing means to him, how he is able to source great deal flow and the type of founders he attracts.

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Jullite Souliman is a VC Investor at MMC Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in early stage, high-growth UK companies. Juliette is well regarded for her expertise in fintech, insurtech and the blockchain. Away from MMC Julliette is also the co-founder of Ground Floor Ventures, a European and US business angel network focusing on pre-seed venture deals.

Juliette, Hector and James sat down and discussed the two sides of investing and operating, what characteristics she looks out for in founders, VC's look for and why founders need to paint a big vision when talking to investors. For all you crypto enthusiasts we also delve into blockchain and its long term viability from an investment perspective.

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Rachel Carrell is the Founder and CEO of private childcare provider, Koru Kids, Originally from New Zealand Rachel moved to London and soon realised after having a baby just how difficult it was to arrange good quality childcare in the capital. She therefore decided to launch Koru kids to help parents find the right childcare to suit their needs. Prior to Korus Kids Rachel worked at McKinsey.

In this season 2 opener, James is not only joined by Racehl but also our new co-host, Hector Mason, Investor at Episode 1 Ventures. The trio sat down to discuss striking the right balance between human interaction and technology, the early milestones that made her believe this venture would amount to something and the well trodden path between consulting and entrepreneurism.

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Welcome back to Riding Unicorns as we usher in Season 2 with more guests and more insight into the world of startups and VC. We are also delighted to welcome Hector Mason, from Episode 1 Ventures as co-host for Season 2.

Hector McNeil is Founder and Co-CEO at ETF business, HANetf. The company is Europe’s first independent white label ETF platform and has over $2bn assets under its management. Hector is considered a veteran of the EFT space after having played a huge role in establishing Susquehanna’s ETF desk in Europe as head of business development. His work has been recognised several times, most recently by being included in the ETF Stream ‘30 Index’.

In this, the last final episode of season 2, Hector discusses the power of the ETF, what its like managing assets and what product trends he expects to see in the near future.

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Chad West is Director of Global Marketing & Communications at British unicorn, Revolut. The Fintech startup has acquired over 3.5 million customers in three years and was recently valued at over $1.7B making it one of the most revered British companies in recent years. Prior to Revolut Chad worked in Marketing and Communications at VC, Rocket Internet.

During the episode Chad discusses his time working for Rocket Internet, becoming one of the first employees at Revolut and how the company has been able to scale so quickly in such a short period of time.

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Carlos Eduardo Espinal is the Managing Partner at Seedcamp, a European seed fund investing in early stage startups. To date Seedcamp has backed over 400 companies, 6 of whom went on to become unicorns. Carlos is one of the most experienced investors in Europe having worked at numerous high profile companies before joining Seedcamp in 2010.

Carlos dropped by to talk about how Seedcamp started, how and why they invested in Hopin before lockdown and what gives Europe the edge when it comes to FinTech and Privacy.

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Roisin Levine is the Head of Banks at one of the UK’s leading fintech companies, Flux. The online banking app provides fully itemised digital receipts into banking apps for the likes of Barclays, Monzo and Starling and many more. Roisin has experienced a meteoric ascension in the space which has seen her crowned winner of the Rising Star in Women in Fintech Award an incredible three times.

In this episode Roisin stops by Riding Unicorns to tell her story, explain what it's like working for such a fast growing company and detail her plans for the future.

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David Wascha is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Zoopla and also a Product Adviser at Kindred Capital. David is, as he describes on his official website, “a product guy at heart.” In fact David has dedicated his entire career to becoming an expert in this field and his tremendous knowledge in the space has seen him work at numerous successful tech companies including Microsoft, Moo.com and Photobox.

In this Riding Unicorn episode David discusses his career, what he is most excited about in PropTech at the moment and what makes the Kindred Capital model so unique.

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Jasper Martens is the Chief Marketing Officer at leading online pension provider, PensionBee. Jasper is an award winning marketing professional with over 15 years of client side experience. Prior to joining PensionBee, Jasper worked at Simply Business, bringing business insurance to SMEs online.

James and Jasper came together to discuss his rise as a marketer, how he helped grow PensionBee from a team of 5 to being on the verge of an IPO and what his plans are for the future of the company.

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Harry Hugo is the co-founder of award winning global influencer agency, The Goat Agency. Operating across international offices and with over 200 employees, The Goat Agency is the world’s fastest growing influencer marketing agency. Since its launch seven years ago the company has achieved great acclaim having worked on huge campaigns for the likes of Lidl, British Airways, New Look and Chelsea FC. Currently working as Chief Campaign Officer Harry oversees campaign success, ensuring that KPIs are met and that clients achieve their objectives.

Harry was kind enough to share some of his time with us. Whilst in our company he gave us an update on how Covid is impacting the influencer space, opened up on his most remarkable achievement to date and explained the difficulty in measuring the effectiveness of content marketing.

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Rikke Rosenlund is the Founder and CEO of online platform Borrow My Doggy. Much of Rikke’s career was spent working in financial services and entrepreneurship. It was only in 2012, following her own experience of dog sitting for a friend, that she decided to launch the company to help connect dog owners with trusted local dog walkers and carers. 10 years on the brand has established a reputation as the premier dog sitting service in the UK.

Rikke popped by to discuss how she went from studying an MBA with INSEAD to starting her own business. James also questions Rikke on her approach to talking to customers and how she views the process of ideation and scaling.

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Natasha Thomas is the co-founder of premium blended cocktail company, Lockdown Liquor. Launched at the beginning of the pandemic by Natasha and her husband Jack Durling the brand has already been able to shift more than 10,000 units since April 2020. Natasha works on the brand alongside her other venture she founded, Total Management, a leading global event, travel and experiences group.

In this episode Natasha tells us the story behind how she and her husband started Lockdown Liquor and how they have been able to grow it into a category leader in such a short space of time.

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Lucas London is the co-founder & CEO at the UK’s fastest-growing home decor startup, Lick London. The brand is revolutionising the interiors sector with their unique community-driven ethos, content-rich approach and high-touch quality support. Lucas started out in investment banking before going on to cut his teeth at a host of tech startups. In 2020 Lucas and his fellow co-founder Sam Bradley launched Lick Home and it has quickly grown to become one of the most desirable home decor brands.

James invited Lucas on Riding Unicorns to find out more about the company's internal processes, the key hires they made in the early days and its future plans post pandemic.

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Mustafa Khanbhai is a Venture Partner at Seamlessly, a VC looking to help companies launch, source & scale sustainably. Mustafa for his part is an experienced corporate development and business leader. Prior to joining Seamlessly Mustafa worked at Uber and helped it grow to the business powerhouse we know it to be today. Elsewhere Mustafa spent 5 years at Virgin helping them launch businesses within the Health Care, Financial Services and Consumer Technical Support sectors.

The LSE alumni stopped by Riding Unicorns to share some anecdotes from his illustrious and varied career. We go one to hear about Mustafas experiences whilst on the factory floor at a pet plant to the time he met the one and only Travis Kalanick.

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Sam Hodges is the Growth Director at men's health company, Numan. Founded in 2018 Numan has quickly become the go-to place for men looking to treat all manner of health issues such as hair loss, gut and lung health and nutritional deficiencies. The company's honest and modern approach to healthcare, fuelled in part by Sam expertise in Performance & Multichannel Marketing, has seen it become one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK.

In this episode James and Sam focus on the topic of growth, predominantly what it means, how to become a growth specialist and how to build out a successful growth team.

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Paul Lindley OBE is Founder of organic baby and toddler food brand, Ella’s Kitchen. Before turning Ella’s Kitchen into a company with a global turnover of over $100 million the entrepreneur worked as deputy managing director of Nickelodeon UK. Away from work Paul is a committed philanthropist. He is currently the Chair for Robert F Kennedy Human Rights UK and a Trustee of Sesame Workshop, a Board member of social enterprise Toast Ale and Counsellor at One Young World and a Director of Bite the Ballot to name but a few.

James sat down with Paul for a fascinating chat, which covered his early career, how and why he started Ella's Kitchen and why he believes business can be a driver for positive change within society.

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Hector Mason is an Investor at Episode 1 Ventures, a seed stage Venture Capital fund, whose previous investments include Carwow, Attest, Zoopla and Shazam. Prior to his time at Episode 1 Hector tried his hand at being a founder and after a couple of attempts, one of which included a successful exit Hector decided to move into consultancy before finally settling on venture capital. Since his move Hector has been slowly making a name for himself as one of the most adept early stage investors in the U.K.

Hector sat down with James to open up on his time as an entrepreneur, his meteoric rise in venture and what he looks for when investing. Hector also opened up about his plans for The Seed Stage, a demo day he created to help founders optimise their round and generate term sheets.

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Jeff Kelisky is the CEO at equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs. Jeff is an experienced executive whose track record in building, leading and scaling successful technology businesses has made him one of the most revered figures in his space. Before joining Seedrs, Jeff was CEO for Picsolve and Multimap, the latter of which he led through a successful sale to Microsoft.

In this our sixth ever episode we discuss with Jeff his remarkable career, what it was like selling a business to Microsoft and what impact the Seedrs/Crowdcube merger will have on private market investing.

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Vlad Tropko is a Partner at Digital Horizon, a new generation international venture company focused on B2B software based companies in fintech, retail and e-commerce. Vlad is a seasoned VC executive with over 15 years of experience with particular expertise in European and American startups. As well as this Vlad is also an Investor at companies such as Advisable, Bnext, and Ably.

Vlad joined Riding Unicorns to explain the composition of his preferred founder, what founders get wrong when pitching to an investor and the importance of a total addressable market when investing in a company.

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Jonathan is the VP Commercial at Europe’s largest equity investment platform, Crowdcube. The company has invested over £1bn into startups including Revolut, Monzo & Moneybox. Prior to Crowdcube Jonathan spent time working for the United Nations, UK energy firm, Centrica and was part of the founding team at Pavegen. Jonathan is multiple times Tedx speaker and has spoken at conferences around the world including Future 50.

James sat down with Jonathamn to talk about the ins and outs of crowdfunding, what it takes to succeed in the space and the sudden emergence of secondary markets in the non-listed sector.

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Hamish Grierson is the co-founder & CEO of Thriva Health, a Wellness and Fitness company providing personalised blood tests, GP-reviewed results, and evidence-based advice. Thriva has already raised over £11m to help it achieve its mission of providing simple and affordable tools to help people better understand and track their internal health data.

In this episode we discover Hamish’s journey prior to Thriva, his experiences raising money and how he and his fellow co-founders plan to scale and grow the company in the coming years.

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Andrew Scott is the Founding Partner of early-stage startup investor, 7percent Ventures. Andrew and his team have a keen eye for ambitious companies with huge upside. Several of his investments to-date include Oculus VR, Source DNA & Magic Pony, which have been sold to Facebook, Apple & Twitter respectively.

Riding Unicorns sat down with the entrepreneur turned investor to talk about what he looks out for in a potential company, what the process is like when coming to sell a business and what he believes is missing in the current VC market today.

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Sir Martin Sorrell is the Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital plc. Sir Martin rose to prominence for founding WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group. Prior to his departure from WPP in 2018, Sorrell had become the longest-serving chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.

We are absolutely delighted to launch the podcast with such a fantastic guest. In this first ever Riding Unicorns episode James and Sir Martin discuss his legacy, the process of going through an acquisition and the mentality required to succeed in business.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the Riding Unicorns podcast to never miss an episode. Also don't forget to give Riding Unicorns a follow on Twitter and LinkedIn to keep on top of the latest developments.

The podcast about growth startups. Launched October 2018.