James Wise: Why The World Needs More Entrepreneurs

Today’s guest is James Wise – a Partner at Balderton Capital and author of Start-Up Century: Why we're all becoming entrepreneurs - and how we can make it work for everyone, which we will discuss in today’s episode.

James grew up in Manchester among a community of business owners and inspired by them has spent his career surrounded by, helping and investing in entrepreneurs. 

Balderton Capital, where James is Partner, is a venture capital firm in London was one of the first to focus on investing in European startups and to date has raised over $4.5 billion and invested in over 250 European startups, many of which have gone on to do extremely well.

James’ focus as an investor is on artificial intelligence, sustainability and health tech and he is a board member and observer on multiple portfolio companies, including Sophia Genetics (which is listed on the Nasdaq), Depop which was acquired by Etsy for $1.6 billion, and many other including some which went on to be sold to Amazon and Epic Games.

Prior to joining Balderton, James also helped to launch and run one of the UK’s first social venture funds and he is also a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Development Advisory Board.

In this episode, we learn more about James’ background, how his future path was unknown and why he believes in the rise of entrepreneurship as a power for good. We discuss what he looks for in a founder and why Balderton set up its Founder Wellbeing and Performance Platform - treating its founders like elite athletes who benefit from keeping an eye on health and wellness whilst undertaking an often gruelling entrepreneurial life.

We also talk about his book Start-Up Century and thanks to our friends at Bloomsbury Publishing, we have a special discount for listeners - you can buy the book at a discount here by adding discount code DANIELLE30 at checkout.

Enjoy!

James on Twitter / Start-Up Century / Balderton

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