Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology

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.

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.