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! 🎙️🦄

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! 🎙️🦄

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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 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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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! 🎙️🦄

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

Nigel Verdon the co-founder & CEO of Railsr (formerly 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 Railsr 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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

 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.

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. 

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.

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! 🎙️🦄

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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 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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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! 🎙️🦄

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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! 🎙️🦄

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.