The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding

John Cole is the CCO of Ezoic. Ezoic is a Google award-winning artificial intelligence platform designed to automatically test ads, website layouts, mediation, and more to increase ad revenue and optimize user experiences at the same time. John is the Chief Customer Officer of Ezoic. Formerly an officer in the British Royal Navy, John was a founding Director of Media Run Group – which started several online businesses in the mid 2000's (Media Run Search, Media Run Ad Network, and Blowfish Digital Ad Agency). Following the acquisition of Media Run Ad Network by Adknowledge Inc in Oct 2007, John managed Adknowledge in Europe, which included the Super Rewards virtual currency platform (which monetized Facebook, MMO & Mobile Games) & Cubics – the first Social display advertising platform inside Facebook. After a brief and successful foray into the world of independent online publishing (he was founder of UK website operator ‘Epirical'), John sold his online interests to Ezoic in Dec 2011 and joined as CCO. John moved his family from London UK to live in San Diego in August 2013. 0034 John explains that Ezoic combines ad-testing, CMS and UX; and dives into some of the complexities of multivariate testing 0205 Why did Ezoic stay in stealth for three years? 0400 Even though the company has pivoted, the central idea has remained the same: where and how an ad appears on a page is as important as retargeting and context. 0500 John explains that Ezoic bought 500 websites, and used them to test and hone their theories 0715 The secret sauce is achieving the balance between UX and monetisation - the assumption is that one usually compromises the other. 1055 John talks about the human cost of staying in stealth for three years, and resisting the urge to shout about Ezoic from the rooftops 1400 Does staying in stealth for three years to undertake a long period of testing and re-testing mean that you guys are anti-'lean startup'? 1540 John explains the strategic rationale behind the choice of the name 'Ezoic' 2300 What's next? Times are exciting at Ezoic - making acquisitions and winning awards!

Mårten Mickos is a rare European founder. He has led 3 global software companies, including the Balderton-backed MySQL, and is now opening the London office of HackerOne, a new company which is used by Uber, Twitter and Github to protect their critical systems. Mårten joined open-source database company MySQL as CEO early in the company's journey. He remained in charge until the $1 billion acquisition by Sun Microsystems in 2011. Mårten's next role was again as a software CEO, at cloud software company Eucalyptus. Hewlett-Packard acquired the business in 2014. In this video, Mårten is interviewed by Balderton's Managing Partner, Bernard Liautaud. Like Mårten, Bernard spent the majority of his professional life as a software CEO at the very highest level. As CEO and Founder of Business Objects, Bernard become the first European to IPO a software company on Nasdaq in 1994, and continued in the role of CEO until the company was acquired by SAP in January 2008, for $6.8bn. For further reading, see Mårten's blog, which is intended help startup CEOs with questions around leadership and company-building here: http://schoolofherring.com/

All three coFounders of Lovecrafts - Cherry Freeman, Nigel Whiteoak and Edward Griffith - joined Ben Goldsmith for the latest episode of the Balderton podcast. Lovecrafts create online marketplaces such as LoveKnitting and LoveCrochet that bring traditional crafts to the digital age. Balderton first invested in the company in 2015, leading a $7.5m round. LoveCrafts have since raised a further $20m. 0030 You have three cofounders: is that better or worse than one, single CEO figure? 0100 Edward started the business and brought in Cherry and Nigel. How did that process work? Did they need convincing? 0230 How did the founders first meet? 0300 Nigel, how did Edward coax you to leave your job and join him at Lovecrafts? 0405 Is Lovecrafts an inherently difficult idea - getting a potentially older demographic online can be tricky. 0550 Edward has previously spoken about a craft renaissance - what is driving that? 0655 As leaders of the 'making' company, What do the Lovecrafts cofounders make? 0740 How does fundraising work with three founders? Does one take the lead? 0845 How do you divide responsibilities within the business. 0940 Hiring: is the hiring process at all complicated due to the 'three founder system'? 1210 Cherry explains why their hiring process won't drastically change as they scale. 1350 The trio share some advice for early-stage cofounding teams.

The Tab's CEO and Founder Jack Rivlin talks to Ben Goldsmith about all of the 'first-times' he's encountered since founding student media company The Tab with a group of friends at Cambridge University. The first time Jack hired people outside of the founding team, the first fund-raise, the first time that The Tab decided that they were going to launch in New York... 0014 Without pausing for breath, Jack starts the episode by sharing the news that The Tab recently smashed one of their own traffic records. 0135 Jack talks about Babe, The Tab's very recently launched new title for a female readership. 0200 Why launch Babe? Jack discusses how a lot of media aimed at women is patronising, and heavily product and celebrity focuses. The 'Babe' team want to change that. 0240 The subject of 'firsts' - as a 19 year old founder, Jack has had to go through a lot of complex, important and often high profile experiences at a comparatively early age. 0325 What was the first story published on The Tab? 0450 When did The Tab first gain the attention of the national media? 0550 When was the firs time that The Tab got into hot water? 0640 Jack talks us through the first apology issues by The Tab... which is now taught on journalism courses. 0710 What was the mission of the business when you first launched The Tab? As I'd imagine it wasn't "we want to build a media company that gets funded by VCs in 7 years time!" 0830 When was the first time you did something wrong? 1040 Jack talks about achieving a blend of serious journalism and more frivolous stories 1220 Why do you do 'the fun stuff'? 1350 Jack explains how what The Tab is doing is different, and why it is good for young people to have a publication like The Tab 1430 How did you make your first hires outside the original team? 1600 Jack talks about finding their first sales person... at Glastonbury. 1745 When did The Tab stop being the fun publications that a group of friends set up at Cambridge, and become a business? 1950 When did you decide to take The Tab to the USA? 2250 What's next for The Tab?

Steve O'Hear is best known as a technology journalist, currently at TechCrunch where he focuses on European startups, companies and products. Steve joined TechCrunch in November 2009 as Contributing Editor for TechCrunch Europe, where he worked alongside Editor Mike Butcher to help build TechCrunch's coverage in the continent. In June 2011, Steve took a break from journalism to co-found the London and Prague-based startup Beepl. In his role as CEO, he helped the company raise its first VC round, along with seeing the Question & Answer site through development, private alpha and a high profile public launch. Steve joins Ben Goldsmith to talk about the future of journalism, and whether being an entrepreneur helped Steve to be a better journalist. 0055 Steve talks about why he left journalism in 2009 in order to become the cofounder of a startup… 0300 Steve talks about what it was about Beepl that was so tempting it lured him away from journalism 0430 Did Beepl fail? 0735 The big question: has being an entrepreneur helped Steve to become a better journo 0940 Steve explains why the VC fundraising process necessities a conflict of interest on part of the entrepreneurs raising the money 1230 In the modern age of journalism, will the strict line between church and state (editorial and money-making) move? 1630 Would Steve work for a publication that pays a journalist based on how many clicks they receive? 1855 Steve talks about the kind of journalism that the internet is killing 2030 Clickbait is overhyped: it has always existed; just it used to be only available in print. 2130 So called ‘content creators' are everywhere. Will this deluge of content ever render the journalist extinct? 2320 Steve talks about how he covers news 2600 Even though social media allows journalists to build personal profiles, they are rarely bigger than the publication they write for. 2830 White, male, middle class… the internet has democratised journalism at the entry level. 2900 Big shoutout for Harry Stebbings and the 20VC!

In the latest Balderton Capital podcast, James Cook talks to Ben Goldsmith about how technology entrepreneurs (and their PRs) can get newsjacking right, and avoid falling foul of a journalist's 'delete' button. James Cook is Technology Editor at Business Insider UK. He was formerly Contributing Editor at The Daily Dot, and the Deputy Editor of The Kernel. He also runs @LedZepNews. 0100 James explains why he currently deletes most of your emails. 0125 “We've done this to ourselves” – James admit that journalists do ask for this kind of stuff, but he urges his peers to take caution. 0225 James explains what happens to his inbox when a big news story breaks, and why it is (at present) very difficult to sift through the heft of messages to find the really useful emails. 0400 How can we fix comment fatigue? James tells entrepreneurs not to stop emailing, but warns against sending emails just to check the box that says ‘do some PR'. 0525 A big question: How do you, as a tech entrepreneur or a PR, work your way into a journalists' good books? 0830 Entrepreneurs need to consider what they can tell a journalist that no one else can. James reminds us that startup founders do usually have incredibly useful knowledge of something very specific, by virtue of them dedicating their lives to one industry. 1130 Journalists have gaps in their knowledge – if you're sharing a comment, aim to fill those gaps; don't just repeat obvious sentiment or well-reported facts. 1345 What questions should an entrepreneur ask themselves to ‘sanity check' whether they should email you? 1520 Entrepreneurs should feel encouraged to give journalists more than just comment: don't be shy about sharing data, case studies, reports etc. 1720 If you've just started out, how do you get to know journalists? 1830 It helps if entrepreneurs demonstrate an understanding of how news works. Understand that journalists are on deadlines, that breaking news need to be fast, and that they appreciate things like imagery and data.

The latest Balderton Capital podcast is a recording of the panel session from the latest Doctorpreneurs Meetup, which was held at Balderton HQ. Doctorpreneurs is the ‘global community for doctors, medical students, and individuals interested in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship'. The panellists were: Dr Andre Chow, TouchSurgery Dr Jean Nehme, TouchSurgery Melissa Morris, Network Locum Dr Jamie Wilson, My Home Touch Daniel Nathrath, MedX Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, Patients Know Best Moderator: Ben Goldsmith, Balderton Capital. Special thanks go to Vishal and the Doctorpreneurs team. 0100 Question: How do you hire the first person that isn't you? And, for the doctors-turned-entrepreneurs, how do you hire the first non-medical person? Dr Jamie Wilson shares his experiences on the answer. 0240 Melissa Morris of Network Locum, explains her own tactics on how to poach key players from other companies. She also goes through the questions that she asks candidates. 0510 Question: How do you hire individuals with highly specifics skills who are not in a different field of expertise to yourself? Jean and Andre answer this question, as they are both surgeon who have perfected their skill of hiring animators. 0700 Andre reminds the audience that the ‘mission' of a healthcare technology company can be key in helping to persuade employees to join a company at an early stage. 0745 Daniel Nathrath talks about helping early employees adapt as the business grows, and what to do if they can't. Daniel also explains why bringing in ‘senior people' from big companies doesn't always work for startups. 0955 Mohammad Al-Ubaydli shares his experiences regarding how employees adapt as companies grow 1100 Question: When did you then that is was the ‘right time' to raise money from external investors? 1310 Question: Do your investors need to have knowledge of the healthcare industry? 1515 Jamie Wilson explains that investors should be treated as members of the tea, who have skills that can supplement that of the ‘core team'. 1520 Melissa talks about why she turned down a term-sheet from a healthcare-specific investor, and also advocates the importance of having a board of medical advisors. Daniel Nathrath seconds this point. 1730 John and Andre talk about ‘the very, very long learning curve' that they encountered when they were looking for investment. They talk about their first ever VC deck, which was way too long and cryptic; and about exactly how much money you should ask your VC for… 2000 The TouchSurgery founders also talk about why you need to share exactly what your company does, and its monetisation strategy, if you're looking for investment. To paraphrase Andre: if you're worried that someone else is going to steal your idea, you need to get over yourselves, as ideas are cheap – execution is the important part. 2340 Audience Question: What gives entrepreneurs conviction an the earliest stages, when nothing is proven? 2700 Melissa ventures the opinion that, even thought conviction is great, it is very useful to remain flexible and to not confuse conviction with arrogance. 2800 Audience Question: If you're building a marketplace company, is it best to build out the supply or demand side first? Melissa recommends focusing on the supply side, and that you can accelerate this process by offering the supply side something they need (other than custom). 3045 Audience Question: What should you look for in investment term sheets? Mohammed comes in on this question, recommending that it is better to have no investors, rather than to have a bad investor. 3215 Final Audience Question to the Drs: What made you feel like it was the right time top step back from your medical career in favour of entrepreneurship?

Chris Morton is the CEO and founder of Lyst, a fashion aggregation and discovery app, and universal checkout cart. Before launching Lyst, Morton was part of our investment team here at Balderton Capital. Chris talks to Ben Goldsmith about building a team from 3-150 people, and about the decision he made to take the business through a massive pivot. 0020 Chris has taken Lyst from 3 cofounders in London, to a team of 150 spread across continents. 0100 Chris explains that fluidity and informality were key to hiring at an early stage. Of course, this has changed over time and now Lyst have recruited a Head of Talent to bring order to the proceedings. But Chris is proud that they can still hire at speed. 0305 Question: Do early entrepreneurs need to have a 1/2/5/10 year plan for hiring? Chris advocates hiring for today, not tomorrow; as the concept of what 'tomorrow' is going to be can change. 0450 Sometimes the earliest hires that an entrepreneur makes can't scale with the team, because these people are best at launching companies. This isn't a black mark, it's just the way scaling works. But Chris does advocate managing changes to your business actively, rather than being passively pushed about by them. 0700 Question: What is the effect of raising large sums of money on team growth? Chris explains that he advocates a process of SCALING RAPIDLY and then 'FIXING' any feathers that may have been ruffled during this process. 0930 A piece of advice Chris has for other entrepreneurs: don't use the size of your team as a measurement of success. 1200 50% of Chris' team at Lyst are engineers or data scientists. Chris explains how, as a non-technical founder, he maintains and grows such a specialised team. 1600 Question: How important is a technical cofounder? 1800 Chris is a rare thing: an investor turned entrepreneur. Chris dives into how his experience at Balderton helped when it came to raising money. 2110 Lyst went through a huge pivot - Chris explains how he convinced his team, his investors, and other stakeholders that this huge change was the right thing to do. 2535 Another big tip from Chris: When you make a huge 'bet the business'-type decision, such as a large pivot, you can't always be as data-driven as you would like. Of course, use all of the data around you, but don't be afraid to listen to your gut: finding a mix of conviction and data is key. 2830 Chris talks about why it's useful for entrepreneurs to be challenged by their investors.

Graham Cooke is the Founder and CEO of Qubit. Graham set up Qubit alongside three former colleagues from Google, and has piloted the business through its Balderton-led Series A, it's Accel-led Series B, and its most recent funding from Goldman Sachs, Salesforce Ventures and others. Ben caught up with Graham on the subject of how building a team scales throughout a period of rapid growth. 0100 Qubit have a founding team of four, which Graham is comparatively large. This has great benefits due to the range of skills within the founding team, but also a few negatives. Graham explains why multiple founders should not look to constantly achieve consensus. 0230 Larger founding teams need to be like a band: you need vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. Not vocals, vocals, vocals, and vocals. 0520 A piece of advice from Graham to larger founding teams: multiple founders should not work towards a single, consensus-driven nirvana; instead, they should each have their own goals which are inexorably linked to their particular skills. That will drive the business forward. 0620 Graham talks about the difficulties and challenges faced when making his first hires 0725 Allowing your early hires to 'scale as the company scales' is a fine art - Graham shares how needed all of his early hires to be able to reinvent themselves. 0830 Graham talks about the importance of getting your CFO hire right 1005 Compromise is very important when making hires. Graham explains that Qubit used to look for the 'bionic man' or 'bionic woman'... and that is just doesn't work. 1150 Specialists vs. Great Generalists 1240 Graham zeroes into how and why a company's hiring strategies will change after raising Series A, B and C. 1610 How did Qubit you scale the hiring process while maintain a constant company culture? 1820 Graham talks about something that is often forgotten: the review processes that happen after a hire. How does it work? What does that process actually look like for Qubit? 2030 How has growing from 10+, 50+, 100+ people changes Graham's role as CEO? 2230 Offices are intrinsically important when it comes to company culture.

Olivier Pailhes is the Founder and CEO of Aircall. Aircall is an telephony service that is the built on top of the newest technologies for realtime communication: Websockets, WebRTC. Aircall brings its customers a new approach for managing their business calls. 0100 Very early in Aircall's life, Olivier and the founding team took the company to the USA to participate in the 500 Startups accelerator programme. Olivier explains why the decision was made to take the company to the USA during their early stages. 0345 As many early-stage entrepreneurs will be deciding whether they apply for accelerator programmes, Olivier explains how a founder should chose which programme that they will participate in. 0415 Olivier urges fellow European tech entrepreneurs to spend time in the USA. 0530 After their successful spell with 500 Startups, the Aircall team set up their headquarters in Paris. Olivier shares the reasonings behind coming 'back' to Europe. 0725 On the subject of opening a second office: Olivier explains some of the questions that were asked when Aircall made the decision to open a second office in New York. For example, how did they select NY over SF? 0930 On the subject of opening a second office #2: Should entrepreneurs try to replicate the culture they have built in their original hq? Or is it wiser to tailor the culture to each environment. 1105 Olivier talks about the challenges he faced and overcame when growing his team at speed over a 4 month period 1530 When Aircall were raising investment, Olivier met with 125 investors. He admits that other entrepreneurs only met around 25 before closing their round. He explains why he was happy to wait and make the 'right' decision, rather than closing early. 2100 On Enterprise SaaS: Enterprise SaaS is not cool. Oliver explains how Aircall are attempting to make enterprise telephony a far 'sexier' technology, and why other SaaS entrepreneurs should do the same, by focusing on their product.

George Spencer is founder and CEO at Rentify, a software platform which helps landlords market, manage, and make money from their properties. Gabriele Maroso is the Director of Business Operations at Rentify. 0120 There are two factors that effect an entrepreneur's ability to hire smart people at the very early-stage: chiefly available capital, and the own ability to 'sell' the company to prospective employees. 0240 If there are multiple founders at an early-stage company, each founder needs to have complimentary skills. It's not useful when it comes to execution if you have three founders with overlapping, similar skills. 0310 George speaks about his first hire. Even though they were a great, their role become automated as the company developed. 0415 As the company evolves, the CEO is pivotal in ensuring the team, the culture and the hiring strategy evolves at the right pace. 0600 George has a tip for entrepreneurs: Startups at seed stage often attempt to optimise every process for minimal gain. They should focus on speed, rather than achieve an extra 1% here and there. 0720 Gabriele was the third employee at Rentify. Joining any growth company is a risk, so Ben asks why he chose to work in a startup. 0830 Would Gabriele recommend students to go and work for a startup? 1018 Hiring friends: it's tempting for a CEO, but is it a good idea? 1220 Since founded Rentify, George has parted ways with his original two cofounders. He talks through how that process, and discusses what he learnt. 1330 Startup founders need to be hugely aware that job roles and focuses change as the company grows. 1435 Gabriele explains how his job is now totally different to the role he took three years ago. 1537 Gabriele lifts the lid on how George has changed as a CEO over the last three years. From friend to statesman... 1645 On the subject of mistakes, George answers the question: How do you keep your team believing in the 'Rentify ethos' after particularly difficult moments for the business? 1830 Hiring from large technology behemoths into scaling startups is hard. George explains that employees of large companies often get used to a life of delegation and strategising, and aren't used to rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in. 2055 Gabriele is now in the position where he has made his first hire into his own team. 2225 Having established the company at 24, George talks about the downsides of being a young Founder.

Before we get into the detail... SIGN UP FOR THE TOUCHSURGERY HACKATHON!! Title: Healthcare Innovation Hackathon - Inspire innovation and impact healthcare. Date: June 4th & 5th 10am - 4pm Location: Balderton Capital - The Stables, 28 Britannia St, Kings Cross, London WC1X 9JF, United Kingdom Goal of the event: Identify problems in the medical field and offer solutions that can realistically be pursued as a viable product as; Tools/ instruments, consumables, hardware, software, App. Sign up page: http://partner.touchsurgery.com/biz-form/ Now onto the podcast: Andre Chow and Andy Davis join Ben to discuss the trials and tribulations with working with the healthcare industry, and explain why they are running a hackathon to bring two separate industries together. 0042 What is Touch Surgery all about? Creating a mobile accessible tool to help surgical training? 0220 How do you overcome the 'customer problem' in health-care? 0245 Andre explains that everyone knows that healthcare is a huge market, but with this size comes "immense slowness", that can be frustrating to entrepreneurs 0330 Potentially unlike many other industries, diligence is of paramount importance in medicine. 0548 On the conservatism of the healthcare industry, Andre explains that even though high levels of careful consideration are great when dealing with patients, that the mentality isn't helpful when applied to entrepreneurship. 0640 HACKATHON! In an attempt to remedy the industry's conservatism, Andre, Andy and the touch surgery team are running a hackathon to bring the medical, technology and entrepreneurial industries closer together. 0850 The TouchSurgery team share their top tips for doctors who are starting their first business... 1135 On non-disclosure agreements: The TS team tried to keep their idea under wraps in the early days, and quickly worked out that they need to talk openly about their business if they were to succeed! They advise fellow 'doctorpreneurs' to do the same. 1910 Andrew explains that, if he wasn't doing TouchSurgery, that he would take 2200 Keep your eye out for some original, medical research from TouchSurgery. As Andre explains, they want to use data to explain how they have a genuine effect on patient outcomes.

This week, we speak to Guy Levin, the Executive Director of Coadec. Guy heads up the UK's foremost digital think tank and trade association, and is also the Associate Editor of Policy at The Memo. He was formerly a special adviser to DFID (Department for International Development) and DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport). 0030 For those who haven't come across Coadec before, Guy gives a brief introduction to what they do. 0050 We have to talk about Brexit. 80%+ of Coadec's membership recently express a very definite interest in remaining in the EU. Guy explains what Coadec will do next in the light of this overwhelming response. 0255 Guy talks about some individual members of The UK"s entrepreneurial community who have come out in favour of remaining in the EU, such as Tom from Mondo, Taavet of TransferWise and Damian of Duedil. 0320 As many of us won't be 100% familiar with the workings of Whitehall: How does a think tank work? 0420 Guy explains that the job during Brexit is to influence the voting public, and reminds his fellow politicos that the day to day workings of politics doesn't really effect people's lives! 0535 Guy explains why entrepreneurs' stories are critical to the EU campaign. 0720 What UKIP got wrong with their isolantionist policy: USA and China can access a huge single market, whereas UK can't. 0800 If Britain leaves the EU, what will happen to passporting? We enter the unkown... ! 0930 The big question: Guy delves into the reasons why tech entrepreneurs should want to remain in the EU, and also considers the arguments put forward by pro-Brexit campaigners. 1330 The Budget was a fairly recent occurrence in UK policy. It's fair to say that the UK tech agenda wasn't at the front and centre of the budget, but Guy has teased out the most important parts for techies. 1420 The government has recognised the gig economy in an area tucked away in the recent budget. 1600 So what are the government doing? 1740 In areas such as fintech, UK legislation has been comparatively progressive. For example, equity crowdfunding has been able to flourish here. Is there something inherently progressive about UK legislation? 1916 Guy tips his hat to 'the people at the top of politics', who caught the tech bug early on, and have helped the industry to grow. 2000 According to Guy, the 'meritocracy of ideas' is powerful in Whitehall. In other words, if Coadec continue to feed in good ideas to policymakers, they stand a greater chance of implementation. 2110 The entrepreneurial part of Guy's journey is that he chose to breathe new life into Coadec after the organisation had been 'laying dormant' for some time. 2300 "I'm proud that we've been able to influence the debate" 2440 How does one think tank collaborate with another? 2540 What's next on the horizon for Coadec? Guys says we should keep our eyes peeled for the London Startup Manifesto, and also some work on the Snooper's Charter... NB: Please find the actual stats that I couldn't remember during the podcast here! http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/people-feel-left-dark-eu-referendum-debate

This week Ben Goldsmith talk to Luke Lang, who cofounded Crowdcube in 2011 alongside Darren Westlake. 0050 When Luke and Darren set up Crowdcube, there was no blueprint. Nobody has attempted to build an equity crowdfunding platform at such a scale before. We ask why they took such a risk on a new and untried idea, and what it was like to sail into uncharted waters. 0248 Luke explains how equity crowdfunding has increased the level of diversity amongst those who make investments, and shares some stats on the increased level of gender diversity compared to traditional angel investing. 0450 We ask whether the idea for Crowdcube came as a response to the success of reward-based crowdfunding platforms such as IndieGoGo and Kickstarter? Luke explains that it wasn't, and it was a direct response to frustrations with angel investing. 0655 In the early days, it was really difficult to get companies to list on the platform. Now - due to Crowdcube's understandably strict levels of due diligence and scrutiny - entrepreneurs have to beat 1 in 10 odds to even list on Crowdcube. 0930 Equity crowdfunding has created entirely new and original data - The LSE are working with Crowdcube to find out more about investor behaviour. 1000 We asked Luke about a relatively new phenomenon of VC investors pre-loading Crowdcube rounds, and he gives Balderton a pat on the back for trailblazing this phenomenon with our round into Crowdcube! 1115 A deserved hat-tip to record breakers Mondo (who appeared on the Balderton podcast only a few weeks ago), who raised £1m in 96 seconds! 1315 When Crowdcube were starting out, Luke explains how they had angel investors in their crosshairs. As they have grown, they have ended up disrupting VC too... 1420 Luke takes the opportunity to respond to a few misconceptions about crowdfunding. He explains that all investors on Crowdcube have to complete a risk assessment, and that Crowdcube are totally transparent about the level of risk involved. Also, the aforementioned LSE research has demonstrated that the crowd, as a whole, invest in a rational, stable and predictable manner. 1735 Something that interested a lot of people in Crowdcube's most recent investment round was the involvement of Numis, the investment bank. Luke explains that strategic thought that lies behind this relationship.

This week we catch up with Sebastiaan Heijne, the founder of Signkick, who takes us through the Dutch tech scene. 0045 The Dutch have a naturally world-wide approach due to the small home market, very high levels of spoken English, and huge network connectivity. 0335 Seb explains that the majority of the best Dutch tech leaders and entrepreneurs now work from overseas... is this good or bad? 0645 Is there anything particularly 'Dutch' about the Netherlands tech scene? 0730 There is more to the Dutch tech scene than just Amsterdam, and that Eindhoven and The Hague play important parts too. 0920 Seb explains how drug culture does indeed filter through into entrepreneurship and technology in the country. 1025 If you read the coverage of the European technology scene, it appears that London, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin and Copenhagen may be ahead of Amsterdam in the rankings... is this how people feel in The Netherlands? 1110 Shout out to James Wise (Balderton Partner) who is in Amsterdam as we record this podcast! 1250 What are the best accelerators and conferences? Shoutouts to TheNextWeb, Startup Fest, Uprise, StartupBootcamp, WeWork and more... 1540 Are there certain sectors that specialisms in Holland? - Seb's answer throws some light on cybersecurity, biotech and the Dutch dance scene! 1900 The big question: What's next for the tech scene in The Netherlands? 2150 Will raising money get easier in Holland? (Seb gives the Dutch government a few tips!

Ben catches up with Editor of The Memo Alex Wood, and talks about what entrepreneurs should do to maximise their chances of getting covered in the media. 0100 Alex explains how a newsroom actually works behind the scenes, and how entrepreneurs can use this knowledge to their advantage 0250 What's the best 'first point of contact' for a journalist? Is it email? Or are you guys way too busy? 0355 Where are you going to coverage? Should entrepreneurs shoot for the stars and go for national & international titles? Or should they focus on the tech and trade media? 0445 Alex advises entrepreneurs to make their intentions very clear... as journalists will thank you for doing so 0650 Does social media work? 0805 Alex advises entrepreneurs on how they should use 'off the record' and 'background calls', and explains why journalists aren't likely to betray your confidence. 1000 Is there a better medium to be covered on (online, print, tv, video?), and what are the key differences between them? 1145 If you have a contrarian viewpoint, Alex has some words of advice... 1305 Assuming it's all gone well, and a Founder is booked to go on telly: what are the most important golden rules for them to follow? 1430 When should a startup use a PR agency? 1650 Should an entrepreneur get media training? (and what should they wear on tv?) 1840 What should you expect in a tv studio? 2120 Quote of the day from Alex, "Founding a company has made me a better journalist" - you heard it here first. 2200 What's next for The Memo (and how can entrepreneurs get covered!?)

Neil Murray, Founder and Editor of TheNordicWeb, joins Ben Goldsmith to challenge a few outdated assumptions about the Scandinavian tech scene. 0030 Neil recently wrote a piece with the title, 'the state of the Nordic tech scene today'. It is a response to certain outdated assumptions about the ecosystem that Neil would like to dispel... 0330 Neil answers the question: will The Nordics overtake London as a venue for tech investment anytime soon? He explains how the stats & gut feeling provide a different answer. 0530 Neil explains how his colleagues in the media need to update and sharpen up their Nordic tech knowledge. 0810 Should be a Nordic web for every city? Here, Neil gives Tech.eu a massive pat on the back. 0920 In a recent article on Pando Daily, the Nordics was criticised for a lack of sector diversity... Neil explains why it is London, not The Nordics, that needs more variety! 1150 Neil lays out the top people and place to meet if you're new to Nordic Tech: CPHFTW, Sup46, Stockholm Tech Meetup, Slush and Arctic Startup all get Mr Murray's approval.

Tom Blomfield becomes the second of GoCardless' original cofounding team to join Ben for a podcast in the last couple of weeks. Tom is building Mondo, a bank that is challenging the high street incumbents. In this episode, Tom talks about the challenges of applying for a banking licence, shares some tips for first time entrepreneurs, and explains why opening banking APIS are - at the moment - rubbish. 0030 It's Mondo's first birthday next month! Feel free to send them a cake in the post. 0130 So far, the reaction to Mondo has been overwhelmingly positive. Why do you think this is? It used to be difficult to get people excited about banking! 0230 Tom explains why most high street current accounts are rubbish, and why Mondo is better. 0340 According to Tom, your current account should be a 'home screen app'; and users should feel as comfortable using it as they do on Google, Facebook or Twitter. 0415 How does Mondo attract consumers? 0612 Tom compares to cost of customer acquisition between high street banks and Mondo... 0700 Last year it was reported that Mondo were applying for a banking licence - when are you due to get your hands on one? 0825 Why are Mondo applying for a banking licence? Lots of so-called 'challenger banks' aren't actually banks... why is Mondo going through all of this effort? 1000 What is a 'bank in a box'? 1050 Tom tells the story of how and why he got involved with Hiroki and Matt at GoCardless 1350 Experience is very important, and Tom now has three businesses under his belt. In light of his previous successes, Tom shares some tips for first time founders... 1630 Why do Mondo run hackathons? And should more banks run hacks? 1800 Tom explains that most banking APIs lead to dummy data... he also explains why this is rubbish, and why Mondo's API provides access to real data. 2300 How can I get a Mondo card?

Matt Robinson, coFounder of GoCardless, talks about founding a business for a second time. As well as swapping stories about McKinsey, YCombinator and cold-calling; Matt gives some advice to entrepreneurs who are starting businesses for the first time...

Ed Cooke -Memory Champion and cofounder of language-learning app Memrise - talks about the struggles faced by ed-tech entrepreneurs, the Membus project, and how memory-techniques can help entrepreneurs hone their investment pitch-deck... 00:44 At the moment, all the talk at Memrise is about a certain project... Ed explains exactly what the Membus is, and what it hopes to achieve. 02:05 Ed explains why using a brightly coloured, vintage bus to collate video clips of native language speakers isn't just a bit of fun, but it's integral to the collation of good quality video of 100,000 native speakers. 03:40 For those of us who haven't had a go: How does Memrise help a user to learn a language? 04:40 Do old-school book-learning methods not work anymore? 05:51 Ed Cooke has trod an interesting path towards entrepreneurship: previously competing (with some success!) in the World Memory Championships. 08:21 TIPS: Ed shares a brilliant tip for entrepreneurs raising funds: how memory tactics can immeasurably improve the structure of an entrepreneur's pitch deck... 11:41 Ed explains that memory isn't just a storehouse, it's a key factor in how we perceive and understand the world. 13:50 Bumps on the road? Ed talks about entrepreneurship's more difficult moments. In particular: driving user-growth and achieving uniformity across platforms. 15:15 Another tip for entrepreneurs: 100 things are always wrong with your business... try and fix the top three, and forget the rest (for now!) The help priorities, Memrise implemented a management methodology called 'Objectives and Key Results', that was most famously used at Google. 17:20 EdTech, as an industry, can be difficult to penetrate for a few reasons, one of the most pertinent being that learning processes are genuinely difficult and complex, and can be longwinded. Therefore making them simple and approachable for users is a challenge. Secondly, schools are usually slow to adopt new technologies, so you need to find 'another' way in. For more podcasts, news and insight from Balderton Capital, please sign up to our newsletter: http://www.balderton.com/news/sign-up-for-our-monthly-newsletter

As PhD data scientist Ollie Glass puts it, data science is a lot like UX/UI was a few years ago: everyone wants a piece of it, but nobody really knows how to make it work for their business. Rentify have managed to overcome that challenge, and - as Founder & CEO George Spencer explains - data science is now integral to Rentify's business. 01:17 George explains how and why he realised that there was an opportunity for Rentify to be a lot smarter with data. 02:55 Was the first though that data could aid sales? Not necessarily! The first experiment was to create an extremely smart solution for landlords. 03:40 George explains what he did wrong with data science the first time around, and what they learned for the next attempt. 06:02 Ollie describes his first interactions with George, and about the process of discovering how a data scientist can best help an entrepreneur. As Ollie says, he also needs to demonstrate that he will help bring more money into the business than his day rate! 07:50 Experimenting with data can be extremely fun... but that shouldn't distract entrepreneurs from finding out a business-purpose for data science. 08:35 Ollie has a message to fellow data scientists: if a client is asking you to do work that doesn't necessarily require a data scientist to carry it out, tell them and help them make a smarter decision 08:53 What was the first project that you collaborated on? 10:40 A word to the wise: Make sure the output is clear, useable information - rather than data that needs another scientist to interpret it 13:01 Tips for entrepreneurs on how, when and why to engage a data scientist. 14:25 Is it a challenge for a data scientist to integrate with existing work-flows and jobs 16:55 A tip to other entrepreneurs from George: you need the rest of your team to understand the purpose of a data scientist, and that is a creative role. 19:40 If a data scientist is joining the team for the short or medium term, make sure someone sponsors them inside your business, otherwise they risk being accidentally shut out. 21:00 Olly explains the questions he really likes to hear when he first meets an entrepreneur 22:50 George explains how data science has transformed his business.

Former Surgeons Dr Jean Nehme and Dr Andre Chow took a great leap when they decided to start TouchSugery... they talk to Ben Goldsmith about saving lives, working with Stanford, and why young surgeons can't get into the operating theatre. 01:13 The Doctors explain the genesis of TouchSurgery, which was inspired by real experiences in hospitals. To quote John, "there are moments, as a physician, when you are trying to save someone's life" 02:50 Jean explains that the best surgeons, due to a lack of experience and training, simply can't get time in the operating room. 03:30 "We wanted to be the best surgeons that we could be... but the tools hadn't changed for hundreds of years" 03:52 Surgical training is an apprenticeship, you learn your trade by doing it. To illustrate this point, Andre explains that his first experience of taking out an appendix was on a young boy... 05:00 This 'apprenticeship' system used to work, but it's broken now. 06:20 Surgery has changed inexorably (for the better) thanks to innovation, now training needs to catch up. 07:25 Not only have surgical practices changes, but on-demand services such as Netflix have altered expectation en-masse: surgeons want to train easier and quicker, and patients want a swift way to understand potential procedures. 10:05 Was their ever much push back from the medical industry? "when we go to Stanford of Johns Hopkins, we are welcomed with open arms" 12:30 There is a social/community aspect to TouchSurgery - Jean explains that the ambition of this system isn't to rank one surgeon against the next, but more to help each individual surgeon get better. 15:41 Unbiased, independent research - published in the world's leading medical journals - is extremely important to TouchSurgery. Why? "When you're talking about patient lives... you need to provide levels of evidence that prove that your system works" 18:55 Leadership: The team at TouchSurgery is comprised of experts from many diverse fields - animation, health-care, data science... We ask the Doctors if this level of diversity makes it difficult to craft a company culture? 20:50 The big question: In a perfect world, how will surgery change over the next 5, 10, 15 years?

Roland Lamb talks to Balderton's Ben Goldsmith about how ROLI have fostered a unique company culture, and how this progressive approach to creating a strong identity and team has a positive effect on the business. You can watch a performance of their latest musical invention here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euoNphLUvxU 0:01 Roland kicks off by explaining exactly how and why ROLI have created an entirely new musical instrument. 2:31 The importance of self confidence and passion: Roland explains exactly how he took the ROLI seaboard from an ambitious idea to a saleable product. 5:17 Sketching: All inventor-entrepreneurs are designers somewhere at heart. If Roland had not repeatedly sketched and reimagined his original ideas, the Seaboard may never have come to life... 6:00 As a new inventor, the majority of people won't understand your idea. You need to be passionate and determined, while selecting which feedback is useful... 6:52 Cross-disciplinary: One of the toughest challenges that Roland has faced, is to help a team comprised of experts in different fields blend with each other, and to form a single unit. 9:53: The inner-conflict between the Inventor/Entrepreneur: Great entrepreneurs and business leaders need to normalise systems to optimise effectiveness... great investors have to be willing to fight the systems to which people usually subscribe. Roland explains how lean methodology, and how setting clear goals defined by time-horizons, can help remedy this internal battle. 12:15 Team ROLI: The team is extremely unique, with developers and engineers sitting next to musicians and product specialists. Roland delves into how his scholarly background in cultural and linguistic systems helped him recognise that daily rituals and processes help to create a beneficial and enjoyable culture. 14:40 The rituals: Every member of the ROLI team attends a stand-up meeting every morning, eats a vegetarian lunch each day at 1300, and can attend a friends and family dinner once a month. 18:10 With the creation of the Seaboard RISE, ROLI has now adopted production-line techniques. Roland talks about the transition from hand-made to mass-production. 20:15 "Quality is everything": Roland is very firm believer that every single thing a business does is part of its quality strategy: from greeting guests to deciding salaries. 23:30 Joy: Roland's big tip to future inventor/entrepreneurs is all about the importance of finding joy in what they are doing, and what they are trying to create.

Joe Steele, CEO of Bookatable, chats with Ben Goldsmith about how Bookatable have grown to put millions of diners in touch with 12,000+ restaurants in 19 European countries every single month... 0:00 Intro: How the Bookatable business evolved from Livebookings. 1:54 Why Bookatable's offering to restaurants is key to success. 3:00 Supply versus demand 4:40 It's a crowded market for both restaurants and customers... how does Bookatable achieve cut-through on such scale? 7:30 Bookable isn't just for good deals, you've got a deal with Michelin! How does that work behind the scenes? 9:05 Who are your customers? Does the Michelin deal help bring in more foodies? 10:30 Running a marketplace business with lower margins and/or purchase figures is hard: how you make the numbers work? how do you get the best LTV out of your customers? 13:00 Great advise from Joe Steele to future marketplace entrepreneurs: if you're running a marketplace business, your P&L needs to be built and structured entirely differently to other businesses, as success looks different to you. 15:10 Who is Bookatable's key demographics? 17:40 Is there a mobile versus desktop split in terms of experience or user behaviour? 19:30 Bookatable is huge now. Does the service differ from city to city, or country to country? 21:10 Stockholm v London v Munich: the differences in expectation for both restaurants and customers. 23:20 How should a marketplace business enter a new market? And why you shouldn't just try and 'copy/paste' your business model

Sam, our resident Swedish national, delves into exactly why the Nordic technology scene is so rich in investable right now. 0:50 Why are the Nordics so techy? Sam explains the area's roots in infrastructure & mobile. 2:13 Tech and politics: Sam poses the interesting idea that socialist politics and ideology have contributed to expertise in creating open-source & network-based technologies. 3:05 Size isn't everything: Sam questions how and why The Nordics have given the world a disproportionately large amount of billion dollar companies, given the relatively small population and market size. 5:28 Aesthetics and tech: how a strong heritage in traditional design industries has helped The Nordics excel in UX/UI design 7:20 Flying under the radar: Sam explains his theory on why Nordic tech companies have an instant competitive advantage against other startups born in other parts of the world. 9:15 Success breeds success: how the likes of Spotify, JustEast, Klarna, Skype are giving back to the tech community. 11:38 Why do Balderton keep looking at The Nordics? 12:50 What's next? Sam think health-tech and IoT will dominate the Nordic tech scene in the coming years. 14:00 Sam gives a big up to the Tech Bikers, who are raising money for a very good cause: More about Tech Bikers: https://techbikers.com/ Sam's page: https://www.justgiving.com/techbikers-paris-to-london-2015-271

Maja Kecman joins Ben Goldsmith to talk about both product and app innovation in healthcare. Maja currently leads Helix, a team of designers embedded in St. Mary's Hospital, and is currently spending the summer on a secondment at Balderton. Listed below are a few key questions in the podcast: 2:10 How do you get a product to market in healthcare? 4:30 How does a product innovation in healthtech evolve? 7:15 Can MVP-style thinking and procedures be applied to healthtech? 9:00 Due to the specialist nature of healthcare innovations and high up-front cost in product, does the funding procedure look different. 1130 Do VCs in healthtech need to be doctors or medical experts? 1430 What is your piece of advice to an inventor/entrepreneur in healthtech 1615 Is the NHS a good or a bad thing for healthtech? 1850 Due to the recent proliferation in healthcare apps, Maja forwards the idea for a system by which the NHS (or another qualified third party) offers a mark of approval to healthcare apps.

To accompany James' recent piece in CityAM, our Mr Wise shares his thoughts on crowdfunding. In addition to expanding on how the industry is encouraging diversity in business, he talks about how crowdfunding is changing the way that people think about ownership, and he responds to criticism that the industry may be a flash in the pan. Recorded during the week that Crowdcube raised £6m http://www.cityam.com/222021/ignore-snobs-why-crowdfunding-bringing-diversity-back-business

CEO and Founder of CarWow James Hind chats to Ben about running and growing a marketplace business. Amongst other things, James reveals how cold calling VCs and angel investors actually works; he advocates taking the plunge with TV advertising, so long as you keep your eye on the stats; and he offers some hints & tips for entrepreneurs trying to spearhead their own marketplace business.

TechWorld's Startups and Innovation Editor Sam Shead chats to Balderton's Ben Goldsmith about where he'd start a tech business in London, asks whether London can collaborate or if it's in competition with itself, and also offers some handy advice for Tessa Jowell and Lord Davies...

Sheng is currently in the middle of a deep dive research project into the world of virtual reality & augmented reality. Amongst other things, Sheng is sure that 2016 will be the year for VR. Not only the year that VR becomes accessible to a far larger market, with applications in healthcare, architecture, and film, but also the year that we'll see some large exits too...

The startups selected for the CyLon accelerator programme graduated this week. Balderton's Sam Myers has been a mentor on the challenge, and took the opportunity to take a deeper look at the hype surrounding global security industry. Sam lifts the lid on a few stats surrounding big bank security budgets, asks whether entrepreneurs need grey hair to be successful, and how you can make waves in cyber-security if you don't have a financial services posse.

Bram de Zwart & Brian Garret - the cofounders of 3DHubs, the world's leading 3D printing network - talk to Balderton investor James Wise. Bram & Brian talk about the process of raising investment, both the highs and lows. Their journey was doubly tricky, due to the comparative youth of the 3D printing industry. They also explain how the team's Dutch roots have enabled them to use their home market as a testing ground, before expanding to the rest of Europe.

In a London Tech Week themed podcast, Robin Wauters - cofounder and editor of Tech EU - talks to Balderton's Ben Goldsmith. Robin explains that even thought London is indeed leading the European tech scene, he would start his hypothetical-startup in Barcelona! Robin also speaks about his mission with Tech.EU, and how he wants European tech journalist to let other cities share the limelight with London. Mr Wauters also explains why he hates press releases...

Nick Hungerford - the Founder and CEO of Nutmeg, a Balderton portfolio company - talks to Balderton's Ben Goldsmith about a subject close to his heart: the state of play of financial literacy in the UK. Nick talks about why traditional financial services should start putting their customers at the centre of what they do, and argues that they haven't done so for years.

Our man Sam Myers and Simon Andrews, Founder of Addictive Mobile, analyse why leading mobile network operators and multinational tech companies are paying a lot of attention to ad-blocking technologies...

On his last day at Balderton Capital, Harry Briggs talks to Ben Goldsmith, and provides a unique and personal insight into the world of venture capital. Amongst many things, Harry talks about saying 'no' to good entrepreneurs, the seismic shift in London's tech scene, and how own experiences of being gay in the world of tech investment.