Future Roots

Jim Stevenson (Founder & CEO, Bletchley Group) joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

After 25 years advising companies on growth, fundraising and exits, Jim explains why VCs now behave more like private equity and why buyers pay for how you fit their business, not just your revenue.

He also shares what a construction site taught him about unit economics, how his team brought agile to the UK, and the "forgot the basics" pattern behind every distressed company.

Chapters

0:00 How fast growth and exits move now

1:51 From first program to building companies

5:12 What construction taught him

9:35 The 40 million dollar crane story

11:16 From surveyor to tech consultant

15:19 Founding Bletchley Group

17:01 Bringing agile to the UK

19:44 Why VC now acts like private equity

26:07 What your company is really worth

30:30 Why companies end up distressed

Connect with Jim: linkedin.com/in/jimstevenson

Subscribe: youtube.com/@futurerootspodcast

Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4p1mksXI62GbTbEg82fTFD

More episodes: futurerootspodcast.com

Herb Zien (Vice Chair, LiquidCool Solutions) joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.Herb built Trigen into the largest district heating and cooling operator in the US. Now he's cooling computers with no air and no water. We get into why AI data centers are an energy problem, why waste heat is a resource, and the Maine data center built on an old Cold War air base.

Rory Triniman of Veirulence joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

Eduardo Amadeo of Overboost joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

Dave Anderson, CEO of EvenFlow, joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

Evan Szu, CEO of Gamma Prime, joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

Craig Aronoff, co-founder and past chairman of The Family Business Consulting Group, joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.The Family Business Consulting Group: thefbcg.com

Rebecca Brooks, founder and CEO of Alter Agents, joins Emiliano Gutiérrez on Future Roots: conversations with the people building what's next.

Giving first, abundant energy and quantum computing unlocking the future.