Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology

Carlos Eduardo Espinal is the Managing Partner at Seedcamp, a European seed fund investing in early stage startups. To date Seedcamp has backed over 400 companies, 6 of whom went on to become unicorns. Carlos is one of the most experienced investors in Europe having worked at numerous high profile companies before joining Seedcamp in 2010.Carlos dropped by to talk about how Seedcamp started, how and why they invested in Hopin before lockdown and what gives Europe the edge when it comes to FinTech and Privacy. 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.

Roisin Levine is the Head of Banks at one of the UK’s leading fintech companies, Flux. The online banking app provides fully itemised digital receipts into banking apps for the likes of Barclays, Monzo and Starling and many more. Roisin has experienced a meteoric ascension in the space which has seen her crowned winner of the Rising Star in Women in Fintech Award an incredible three times. In this episode Roisin stops by Riding Unicorns to tell her story, explain what it's like working for such a fast growing company and detail her 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.

David Wascha is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Zoopla and also a Product Adviser at Kindred Capital. David is, as he describes on his official website, “a product guy at heart.” In fact David has dedicated his entire career to becoming an expert in this field and his tremendous knowledge in the space has seen him work at numerous successful tech companies including Microsoft, Moo.com and Photobox. In this Riding Unicorn episode David discusses his career, what he is most excited about in PropTech at the moment and what makes the Kindred Capital model so unique.  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.

Jasper Martens is the Chief Marketing Officer at leading online pension provider, PensionBee. Jasper is an award winning marketing professional with over 15 years of client side experience. Prior to joining PensionBee, Jasper worked at Simply Business, bringing business insurance to SMEs online.James and Jasper came together to discuss his rise as a marketer, how he helped grow PensionBee from a team of 5 to being on the verge of an IPO and what his plans are 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.

Harry Hugo is the co-founder of award winning global influencer agency, The Goat Agency. Operating across international offices and with over 200 employees, The Goat Agency is the world’s fastest growing influencer marketing agency. Since its launch seven years ago the company has achieved great acclaim having worked on huge campaigns for the likes of Lidl, British Airways, New Look and Chelsea FC. Currently working as Chief Campaign Officer Harry oversees campaign success, ensuring that KPIs are met and that clients achieve their objectives. Harry was kind enough to share some of his time with us. Whilst in our company he gave us an update on how Covid is impacting the influencer space, opened up on his most remarkable achievement to date and explained the difficulty in measuring the effectiveness of content marketing. 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.

Rikke Rosenlund is the Founder and CEO of online platform Borrow My Doggy. Much of Rikke’s career was spent working in financial services and entrepreneurship. It was only in 2012, following her own experience of dog sitting for a friend, that she decided to launch the company to help connect dog owners with trusted local dog walkers and carers. 10 years on the brand has established a reputation as the premier dog sitting service in the UK. Rikke popped by to discuss how she went from studying an MBA with INSEAD to starting her own business. James also questions Rikke on her approach to talking to customers and how she views the process of ideation and scaling.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.

Natasha Thomas is the co-founder of premium blended cocktail company, Lockdown Liquor. Launched at the beginning of the pandemic by Natasha and her husband Jack Durling the brand has already been able to shift more than 10,000 units since April 2020. Natasha works on the brand alongside her other venture she founded, Total Management, a leading global event, travel and experiences group. In this episode Natasha tells us the story behind how she and her husband started Lockdown Liquor and how they have been able to grow it into a category leader in such a short space of time. 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.

Lucas London is the co-founder & CEO at the UK’s fastest-growing home decor startup, Lick London. The brand is revolutionising the interiors sector with their unique community-driven ethos, content-rich approach and high-touch quality support. Lucas started out in investment banking before going on to cut his teeth at a host of tech startups. In 2020 Lucas and his fellow co-founder Sam Bradley launched Lick Home and it has quickly grown to become one of the most desirable home decor brands. James invited Lucas on Riding Unicorns to find out more about the company's internal processes, the key hires they made in the early days and its future plans post pandemic. 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.

Mustafa Khanbhai is a Venture Partner at Seamlessly, a VC looking to help companies launch, source & scale sustainably. Mustafa for his part is an experienced corporate development and business leader. Prior to joining Seamlessly Mustafa worked at Uber and helped it grow to the business powerhouse we know it to be today. Elsewhere Mustafa spent 5 years at Virgin helping them launch businesses within the Health Care, Financial Services and Consumer Technical Support sectors.The LSE alumni stopped by Riding Unicorns to share some anecdotes from his illustrious and varied career. We go one to hear about Mustafas experiences whilst on the factory floor at a pet plant to the time he met the one and only Travis Kalanick.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.

Sam Hodges is the Growth Director at men's health company, Numan. Founded in 2018 Numan has quickly become the go-to place for men looking to treat all manner of health issues such as hair loss, gut and lung health and nutritional deficiencies. The company's honest and modern approach to healthcare, fuelled in part by Sam expertise in Performance & Multichannel Marketing, has seen it become one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK. In this episode James and Sam focus on the topic of growth, predominantly what it means, how to become a growth specialist and how to build out a successful growth team.  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.