Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology

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. 

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.