The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding

The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding

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The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding episodes

  • Memory Champion to EdTech Entrepreneur | Ed Cooke, CoFounder of Memrise
    Ed Cooke -Memory Champion and cofounder of language-learning app Memrise - talks about the struggles faced by ed-tech entrepreneurs, the Membus project, and how memory-techniques can help entrepreneurs hone their investment pitch-deck...
    00:44 At the moment, all the talk at Memrise is about a certain project... Ed explains exactly what the Membus is, and what it hopes to achieve.
    02:05 Ed explains why using a brightly coloured, vintage bus to collate video clips of native language speakers isn't just a bit of fun, but it's integral to the collation of good quality video of 100,000 native speakers.
    03:40 For those of us who haven't had a go: How does Memrise help a user to learn a language?
    04:40 Do old-school book-learning methods not work anymore?
    05:51 Ed Cooke has trod an interesting path towards entrepreneurship: previously competing (with some success!) in the World Memory Championships.
    08:21 TIPS: Ed shares a brilliant tip for entrepreneurs raising funds: how memory tactics can immeasurably improve the structure of an entrepreneur's pitch deck...
    11:41 Ed explains that memory isn't just a storehouse, it's a key factor in how we perceive and understand the world.
    13:50 Bumps on the road? Ed talks about entrepreneurship's more difficult moments. In particular: driving user-growth and achieving uniformity across platforms.
    15:15 Another tip for entrepreneurs: 100 things are always wrong with your business... try and fix the top three, and forget the rest (for now!) The help priorities, Memrise implemented a management methodology called 'Objectives and Key Results', that was most famously used at Google.
    17:20 EdTech, as an industry, can be difficult to penetrate for a few reasons, one of the most pertinent being that learning processes are genuinely difficult and complex, and can be longwinded. Therefore making them simple and approachable for users is a challenge. Secondly, schools are usually slow to adopt new technologies, so you need to find 'another' way in.
    For more podcasts, news and insight from Balderton Capital, please sign up to our newsletter: http://www.balderton.com/news/sign-up-for-our-monthly-newsletter
    21 min
  • How Data Science Transformed our business | Rentify founder George Spencer & Ollie Glass
    As PhD data scientist Ollie Glass puts it, data science is a lot like UX/UI was a few years ago: everyone wants a piece of it, but nobody really knows how to make it work for their business. Rentify have managed to overcome that challenge, and - as Founder & CEO George Spencer explains - data science is now integral to Rentify's business.
    01:17 George explains how and why he realised that there was an opportunity for Rentify to be a lot smarter with data.
    02:55 Was the first though that data could aid sales? Not necessarily! The first experiment was to create an extremely smart solution for landlords.
    03:40 George explains what he did wrong with data science the first time around, and what they learned for the next attempt.
    06:02 Ollie describes his first interactions with George, and about the process of discovering how a data scientist can best help an entrepreneur. As Ollie says, he also needs to demonstrate that he will help bring more money into the business than his day rate!
    07:50 Experimenting with data can be extremely fun... but that shouldn't distract entrepreneurs from finding out a business-purpose for data science.
    08:35 Ollie has a message to fellow data scientists: if a client is asking you to do work that doesn't necessarily require a data scientist to carry it out, tell them and help them make a smarter decision
    08:53 What was the first project that you collaborated on?
    10:40 A word to the wise: Make sure the output is clear, useable information - rather than data that needs another scientist to interpret it
    13:01 Tips for entrepreneurs on how, when and why to engage a data scientist.
    14:25 Is it a challenge for a data scientist to integrate with existing work-flows and jobs
    16:55 A tip to other entrepreneurs from George: you need the rest of your team to understand the purpose of a data scientist, and that is a creative role.
    19:40 If a data scientist is joining the team for the short or medium term, make sure someone sponsors them inside your business, otherwise they risk being accidentally shut out.
    21:00 Olly explains the questions he really likes to hear when he first meets an entrepreneur
    22:50 George explains how data science has transformed his business.
    26 min
  • Why we quit our jobs as Surgeons to start TouchSurgery | Dr Jean Nehme & Dr Andre Chow
    Former Surgeons Dr Jean Nehme and Dr Andre Chow took a great leap when they decided to start TouchSugery... they talk to Ben Goldsmith about saving lives, working with Stanford, and why young surgeons can't get into the operating theatre.
    01:13 The Doctors explain the genesis of TouchSurgery, which was inspired by real experiences in hospitals. To quote John, "there are moments, as a physician, when you are trying to save someone's life"
    02:50 Jean explains that the best surgeons, due to a lack of experience and training, simply can't get time in the operating room.
    03:30 "We wanted to be the best surgeons that we could be... but the tools hadn't changed for hundreds of years"
    03:52 Surgical training is an apprenticeship, you learn your trade by doing it. To illustrate this point, Andre explains that his first experience of taking out an appendix was on a young boy...
    05:00 This 'apprenticeship' system used to work, but it's broken now.
    06:20 Surgery has changed inexorably (for the better) thanks to innovation, now training needs to catch up.
    07:25 Not only have surgical practices changes, but on-demand services such as Netflix have altered expectation en-masse: surgeons want to train easier and quicker, and patients want a swift way to understand potential procedures.
    10:05 Was their ever much push back from the medical industry? "when we go to Stanford of Johns Hopkins, we are welcomed with open arms"
    12:30 There is a social/community aspect to TouchSurgery - Jean explains that the ambition of this system isn't to rank one surgeon against the next, but more to help each individual surgeon get better.
    15:41 Unbiased, independent research - published in the world's leading medical journals - is extremely important to TouchSurgery. Why? "When you're talking about patient lives... you need to provide levels of evidence that prove that your system works"
    18:55 Leadership: The team at TouchSurgery is comprised of experts from many diverse fields - animation, health-care, data science... We ask the Doctors if this level of diversity makes it difficult to craft a company culture?
    20:50 The big question: In a perfect world, how will surgery change over the next 5, 10, 15 years?
    24 min
  • "Quality is everything" | Roland Lamb of ROLI on company culture & building a unique team
    Roland Lamb talks to Balderton's Ben Goldsmith about how ROLI have fostered a unique company culture, and how this progressive approach to creating a strong identity and team has a positive effect on the business.
    You can watch a performance of their latest musical invention here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euoNphLUvxU
    0:01 Roland kicks off by explaining exactly how and why ROLI have created an entirely new musical instrument.
    2:31 The importance of self confidence and passion: Roland explains exactly how he took the ROLI seaboard from an ambitious idea to a saleable product.
    5:17 Sketching: All inventor-entrepreneurs are designers somewhere at heart. If Roland had not repeatedly sketched and reimagined his original ideas, the Seaboard may never have come to life...
    6:00 As a new inventor, the majority of people won't understand your idea. You need to be passionate and determined, while selecting which feedback is useful...
    6:52 Cross-disciplinary: One of the toughest challenges that Roland has faced, is to help a team comprised of experts in different fields blend with each other, and to form a single unit.
    9:53: The inner-conflict between the Inventor/Entrepreneur: Great entrepreneurs and business leaders need to normalise systems to optimise effectiveness... great investors have to be willing to fight the systems to which people usually subscribe. Roland explains how lean methodology, and how setting clear goals defined by time-horizons, can help remedy this internal battle.
    12:15 Team ROLI: The team is extremely unique, with developers and engineers sitting next to musicians and product specialists. Roland delves into how his scholarly background in cultural and linguistic systems helped him recognise that daily rituals and processes help to create a beneficial and enjoyable culture.
    14:40 The rituals: Every member of the ROLI team attends a stand-up meeting every morning, eats a vegetarian lunch each day at 1300, and can attend a friends and family dinner once a month.
    18:10 With the creation of the Seaboard RISE, ROLI has now adopted production-line techniques. Roland talks about the transition from hand-made to mass-production.
    20:15 "Quality is everything": Roland is very firm believer that every single thing a business does is part of its quality strategy: from greeting guests to deciding salaries.
    23:30 Joy: Roland's big tip to future inventor/entrepreneurs is all about the importance of finding joy in what they are doing, and what they are trying to create.
    26 min
  • Becoming a dominant Marketplace | Joe Steele, CEO of Bookatable
    Joe Steele, CEO of Bookatable, chats with Ben Goldsmith about how Bookatable have grown to put millions of diners in touch with 12,000+ restaurants in 19 European countries every single month...
    0:00 Intro: How the Bookatable business evolved from Livebookings.
    1:54 Why Bookatable's offering to restaurants is key to success.
    3:00 Supply versus demand
    4:40 It's a crowded market for both restaurants and customers... how does Bookatable achieve cut-through on such scale?
    7:30 Bookable isn't just for good deals, you've got a deal with Michelin! How does that work behind the scenes?
    9:05 Who are your customers? Does the Michelin deal help bring in more foodies?
    10:30 Running a marketplace business with lower margins and/or purchase figures is hard: how you make the numbers work? how do you get the best LTV out of your customers?
    13:00 Great advise from Joe Steele to future marketplace entrepreneurs: if you're running a marketplace business, your P&L needs to be built and structured entirely differently to other businesses, as success looks different to you.
    15:10 Who is Bookatable's key demographics?
    17:40 Is there a mobile versus desktop split in terms of experience or user behaviour?
    19:30 Bookatable is huge now. Does the service differ from city to city, or country to country?
    21:10 Stockholm v London v Munich: the differences in expectation for both restaurants and customers.
    23:20 How should a marketplace business enter a new market? And why you shouldn't just try and 'copy/paste' your business model
    25 min
  • Why Nordic Tech is so investable | Sam Myers on the Scandinavian tech scene
    Sam, our resident Swedish national, delves into exactly why the Nordic technology scene is so rich in investable right now.
    0:50 Why are the Nordics so techy? Sam explains the area's roots in infrastructure & mobile.
    2:13 Tech and politics: Sam poses the interesting idea that socialist politics and ideology have contributed to expertise in creating open-source & network-based technologies.
    3:05 Size isn't everything: Sam questions how and why The Nordics have given the world a disproportionately large amount of billion dollar companies, given the relatively small population and market size.
    5:28 Aesthetics and tech: how a strong heritage in traditional design industries has helped The Nordics excel in UX/UI design
    7:20 Flying under the radar: Sam explains his theory on why Nordic tech companies have an instant competitive advantage against other startups born in other parts of the world.
    9:15 Success breeds success: how the likes of Spotify, JustEast, Klarna, Skype are giving back to the tech community.
    11:38 Why do Balderton keep looking at The Nordics?
    12:50 What's next? Sam think health-tech and IoT will dominate the Nordic tech scene in the coming years.
    14:00 Sam gives a big up to the Tech Bikers, who are raising money for a very good cause:
    More about Tech Bikers: https://techbikers.com/
    Sam's page: https://www.justgiving.com/techbikers-paris-to-london-2015-271
    15 min
  • Where the NHS can improve & product innovation | Maja Kecman on Health Tech
    Maja Kecman joins Ben Goldsmith to talk about both product and app innovation in healthcare.
    Maja currently leads Helix, a team of designers embedded in St. Mary's Hospital, and is currently spending the summer on a secondment at Balderton.
    Listed below are a few key questions in the podcast:
    2:10 How do you get a product to market in healthcare?
    4:30 How does a product innovation in healthtech evolve?
    7:15 Can MVP-style thinking and procedures be applied to healthtech?
    9:00 Due to the specialist nature of healthcare innovations and high up-front cost in product, does the funding procedure look different.
    1130 Do VCs in healthtech need to be doctors or medical experts?
    1430 What is your piece of advice to an inventor/entrepreneur in healthtech
    1615 Is the NHS a good or a bad thing for healthtech?
    1850 Due to the recent proliferation in healthcare apps, Maja forwards the idea for a system by which the NHS (or another qualified third party) offers a mark of approval to healthcare apps.
    22 min
  • James Wise on Crowdfunding: Diversity, Ownership, and Genuine Returns for Investors
    To accompany James' recent piece in CityAM, our Mr Wise shares his thoughts on crowdfunding. In addition to expanding on how the industry is encouraging diversity in business, he talks about how crowdfunding is changing the way that people think about ownership, and he responds to criticism that the industry may be a flash in the pan. Recorded during the week that Crowdcube raised £6m
    http://www.cityam.com/222021/ignore-snobs-why-crowdfunding-bringing-diversity-back-business
    24 min
  • Growing a marketplace company | Carwow founder James Hind on raising VC Investment
    CEO and Founder of CarWow James Hind chats to Ben about running and growing a marketplace business. Amongst other things, James reveals how cold calling VCs and angel investors actually works; he advocates taking the plunge with TV advertising, so long as you keep your eye on the stats; and he offers some hints & tips for entrepreneurs trying to spearhead their own marketplace business.
    19 min

About The Balderton Podcast: Tech Investment | Venture Capital | Startup Funding

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Balderton Capital are one of Europe's largest tech VCs, investing the best breakthrough technology companies in the continent. This podcast will share weekly insights for those at the forefront of the…