Ventures

Zara Paul, CEO of Bigged and Dragons' Den alumna, is building a "performance marketing operating system" that combines human creativity with AI automation for paid social campaigns. After bootstrapping her first company, Choppity, to £150K ARR (currently in due diligence for sale), she pivoted to solve Meta's Andromeda algorithm changes that now favour creative variants over audience targeting. Working alongside her CTO/ husband, Aaron & CMO, Luke, she explains their "sales in public" strategy targeting brands like Huel while preparing for SF through The Residency's Delta Chapter One

Carolina Lopez (Caro), technical recruiter at Vercel, explains the complexities of hiring cloud infrastructure engineers for a 650-person company building the future of web development. Based in New York and recruiting globally across SF, NYC, Berlin, London, and Amsterdam, she breaks down Vercel's values-based interview process and the importance of understanding both technical depth and strategic impact. The conversation reveals how CEO Guillermo Rauch conducts weekly customer interviews visible to all employees, her philosophy on "thinking like an owner" for career development, and why she uses unconventional platforms like X and GitHub to source top-tier talent.

Kenneth Thomas, principal at Back Future VC and co-host of "The Mergers" podcast, dials in from New York to discuss early-stage B2B SaaS investing and the upcoming SaaStock Dublin conference featuring a £1M winner-take-all pitch competition. Having moved from banking to FinTech to venture capital, he explains his fund's solo GP structure advantages and thesis on founder-market fit, while criticising VCs who make commitments without capital backing. The conversation covers European versus American storytelling approaches, the role of domain expertise in early-stage investing, and his podcast's focus on unconventional routes into and out of finance.

Tim Zaal, Video Lead at VEED transitioning to Corum AI, reveals the "SaaS content mafia" playbook that built Veed Studio to 150K subscribers. In this breaking news segment, he announces his move to a hardware-software AI company focused on home security, bringing his content expertise to a new vertical. He breaks down the difference between YouTube's intentional viewing versus TikTok's algorithmic discovery, explains why authentic storytelling trumps generated content, and shares his philosophy on making tech videos emotionally resonant through real-world use cases rather than feature demonstrations.

Wenmiao Yu, Cofounder & Director of Business Development at Quantum Dice and host of "Low to Grow" podcast, discusses building quantum random number generation technology as one of five co-founders in this Oxford spinout. With a chemistry background and £2M pre-seed funding, she explains why their DISC (Device Independent Self Certification) protocol is crucial as quantum computing advances threaten current cryptographic systems. The conversation covers the UK's strong quantum ecosystem, the challenges of selling deep tech, and her philosophy on maintaining emotional boundaries between personal identity and startup success while building what she calls "the foundation" of future encryption systems.

Ash Turner, Influencer Marketing Manager at Synthesia, breaks down the company's creator strategy across LinkedIn's evolving B2B landscape. Having transitioned from LinkedIn's creator development team, he reveals how Synthesia builds long-term partnerships with niche creators rather than one-off campaigns, moving creators through funnel stages while leveraging their "Around the Globe" campaign that connected five creators across different languages to showcase AI dubbing capabilities. He emphasizes natural partnership alignment over forced collaborations and explains how Synthesia's approach differs from traditional platforms by focusing on creators who aren't full-time content makers but have built trusted audiences in specialized fields like L&D.

TODAY ON VENTURES5 hours of StreamingBringing you the latest on what is happening in the landscape of technology. Jump in the chatFeed us your thoughts & questions - It's LIVE. 12:00: Ash Turner, Influencer Marketing Manager - Synthesia12:30: Wenmiao Yu, Cofounder & Dir. Business Development - Quantum Dice, Host - Low to Grow13:00: David Spickett, Founder & Ceo - TheCarCrowd13:30: Tim Zaal, Video Lead - VEED.IO14:00: Kenneth Kashif Thomas, Principal - BackFuture, Host - The Mergers14:30: Carolina Lopez, Engineering Talent - Vercel15:00: Harry Moy - Labour Digital15:30: Zara Anita Paul, CEO - Bigged16:00: Martin Bielicki, CEO - BenchFollow us on YouTube & LinkedIn to watch DM - if you want to appear on the show or sponsor it Today 11:30LFG 🚀 🚀

Chris J Smith, director at Gold Studios, provides creator economy insights as YouTube surpasses traditional TV among under-25s per fresh Ofcom data. Managing talent while expanding into new WeWork office, he discusses format innovations like Bryson DeChambeau's "Break 50" with Adam Sandler, explains taking digital content to live events, and argues brands must develop entertainment channels over traditional advertising.

Moises Barbera, founder of Drill Surgeries and theoretical physicist, builds "Google Maps for the operating room" solving 80-year-old broken bone surgery problems. Growing up in OR lobbies while his father sold medical equipment, he used ML software & mixed reality for 87% drilling time reduction. He reveals the personal toll of 200+ doctor interviews while sleeping in train stations, explains US-focused strategy, and outlines his vision for foundational orthopedic surgery model impacting 60+ million patients annually.

Brian Da Silva - Head of Social & Influencer, VEED.IO, has revolutionised tech marketing by building authentic creator relationships and pioneering the "Clip Shop" campaign - a physical activation generating 115K video views and astronomical revenue impact. He's developed a three-pillar social thesis emphasising cut-through over volume and original content over hype-jacking. In the conversation, he breaks down how his cherry-picked creator family extends reach through personal and business brands, why authentic relationships outperform transactions, and how Clip Shop's success created ongoing audience demand for real experiences.