Riding Unicorns

Matt Wilson, Co-Founder & CEO at Jack and Jill, on AI Career Agents, Talent Density, and Building the Next Network-Effect Marketplace

Nicolò Frisiani, Co-Founder & CEO at Lupa, on Building the AI Operating System for Vets, Enterprise Sales, and Scaling at Speed

George Davis, Founder & CEO at Lorum on Rebuilding Global Clearing, Why Dollars Are Broken, and Building a Payments Only Bank

George Davis discusses building Lorum to revolutionize global payment clearing infrastructure, focusing on why traditional dollar clearing systems are broken and how rebuilding from the ground up can solve fundamental inefficiencies. The conversation explores the technical complexities of payments infrastructure and Lorum's rapid growth serving dollar clearing globally.

David von Rosen, Founder of Lottoland on Majority Stake Investing, Loving Risk, Dubai’s Energy, and the Steve Jobs Turtleneck Story

Serial entrepreneur David von Rosen shares his contrarian investment philosophy of taking larger stakes in fewer deals to enable deeper operational involvement. He discusses founding Lottoland, the energy driving Dubai's startup ecosystem, and his approach to timing and developing ideas before seeking external validation.

Harrison Rose, Co-Founder at GoodFit on Mapping Your Market, Modern Go To Market, and Lessons from Building Paddle

Harrison Rose, co-founder of Paddle and now GoodFit, discusses how most companies waste effort on unqualified prospects and shares insights on building effective go-to-market strategies from first principles. He emphasizes the importance of proper market qualification, team building around complementary strengths, and rapid decision-making with quick iteration.

Ben Freeman, Co-Founder & CEO at Omnea on Building an AI Native Procurement Platform, Talent Density, and Founder Paranoia

Ben Freeman, CEO of AI-native procurement platform Omnea, discusses his journey from investment banking to building a company serving mid-market to enterprise clients like Spotify and Monzo. He emphasizes the importance of talent density, hiring only top-percentile employees, and maintaining a player-coach culture where most team members focus on execution rather than pure management roles.

Why "AI Visibility" is critical for your brand with James Cadwallader, Co-Founder & CEO at Profound

James Cadwallader discusses how AI is fundamentally changing how people search for information, with AI agents retrieving and synthesizing content on behalf of users rather than traditional search. He explores how Profound helps brands optimize their visibility in this new AI-driven landscape by analyzing patterns in how language models source and use information.

From Formula 3 to AI Accountants: Ariel Harmoko, Co-Founder & CEO @ Artifact

Formula 3 racer turned AI founder Ariel Harmoko discusses how his racing background shaped his approach to building Artifact AI, which creates AI agents for accounting firms. The conversation covers the importance of founder-led sales, deep customer discovery in accounting workflows, and the technical challenges of building self-learning AI systems for financial data reconciliation.

Building the AI Super Connector with Andrew D’Souza, Founder of Boardy and Clearco

Andrew D'Souza discusses building Boardy, an AI-powered platform that optimizes founder-investor connections by maximizing 'goodwill' through intelligent matching. He shares insights from scaling Clearco to nine figures and how AI can capture the multidimensional nature of human relationships to facilitate better startup-investor introductions.

Inside SVB's dramatic acquisition and the Future of UK Venture with Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Ventures

Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Ventures and former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank UK & Europe, shares the inside story of SVB's dramatic collapse and acquisition. She discusses the intense pressure of making critical leadership decisions during the four-day crisis, the mental and physical toll on leadership teams, and how transparency and values guide decision-making under extreme stress.

How SuperAwesome Built the World’s Biggest Kid Tech Platform with Co-founder Lee Veitch

Lee Veitch shares the 13-year journey of building SuperAwesome, the world's largest kid-tech platform that helps major brands like LEGO and Disney safely reach young audiences. The discussion covers key strategic decisions like avoiding programmatic advertising to maintain brand relationships, their successful acquisition by Epic Games, and navigating complex child safety regulations like COPPA.

Pioneering the AI-rollup model in the property management space with Dan Lifshits, Co-Founder @ Dwelly

Dan Lifshits discusses Dwelly's AI-first approach to transforming property management by acquiring traditional letting agencies and rebuilding them with technology. The episode explores how they've turned the challenge of targeting hard-to-reach landlords into a competitive advantage, while using data to optimize operational processes across the entire rental lifecycle.

Building the "Spotify of Textbooks" with Gauthier Van Malderen, Founder @ Perlego

Gauthier van Malderen shares how he built Perlego, the 'Spotify for textbooks,' from personal frustration with expensive university textbooks into a global edtech platform. He discusses key growth moments including COVID's acceleration of the business, raising a $50M round, and the importance of balancing mission-driven impact with solid business fundamentals.

Building the capital operating system for fast-growing tech companies with Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap

Paul Becker discusses re:cap's evolution from automated due diligence software to Europe's fastest-growing capital platform, securing over €125M in debt. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on unit economics and gross margins over inflated revenue figures, particularly critiquing the current AI hype cycle where companies prioritize growth without profitability.

What happened to Babylon Health after reaching $1bn+ revenue? And how Ali Parsa is continuing his mission to fix healthcare for all with AI startup Quadrivia.

Ali Parsa reflects on the rise and fall of Babylon Health, sharing candid insights about operational success but financing failures that led to its collapse despite reaching $1bn+ revenue. He discusses his new venture Quadrivia and its AI clinical assistant 'Qu', focusing on how to build trust in healthcare AI and address skepticism around AI safety in medical settings.

The future of Social Commerce with Sam Jacobs, Co-Founder @ Go Places

Sam Jacobs, Co-Founder of Go Places, discusses building the infrastructure layer for social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop, serving major brands like Samsung and Mars. The conversation covers the operational challenges of scaling social commerce, the importance of authentic live shopping presenters, and how AI is being used to optimize performance and pricing across brand portfolios.

AI, Infra vs Apps & Spotting Red Herrings with Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird

Akash Bajwa from Earlybird VC discusses the evolving AI investment landscape, comparing infrastructure versus application layer opportunities and the challenges of distinguishing lasting companies from hype. He shares insights on what makes exceptional AI founders and CTOs, emphasizing the importance of deep technical understanding and the ability to apply cutting-edge research to real-world problems.

Investing in Africa's Digital Future, Lexi Novitske, GP @ Norrsken22

Lexi Novitske discusses growth-stage investing in Africa, emphasizing the importance of local market context and presence across Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. She covers challenges around valuation mismatches with international investors, the emergence of strategic acquirers, and the need to understand market maturity when evaluating African tech companies.

Growth Equity, VCTs and Exits with Rupert West, Managing Director @ Puma Growth Partners

Rupert West, founder of Puma Growth Partners, discusses growth equity investing with £4-10m cheques at Series A stage. He emphasizes the importance of VCs having both deal-making and exit execution skills, sharing insights on helping founders scale their leadership capabilities and preparing businesses for successful exits through comprehensive due diligence and strategic guidance.

Building Outreach to a $4bn unicorn and helping AI agents get paid with Paid.ai - Manny Medina, Co-Founder & CEO @ Paid.ai

Manny Medina shares his journey building Outreach from zero to $250M+ ARR and $4B valuation, then discusses his new venture Paid.ai which is creating a new category for AI agent monetization and payments. The episode covers key lessons on category creation, scaling challenges, and why traditional SaaS pricing models don't work for AI agents.