We were delighted to host a fireside chat at Balderton HQ about disrupting capital markets with Murray Roos, Group Head of Capital Markets at LSEG, Enrico Bruni Managing Director at Tradeweb, and Rana Yared, General Partner at Balderton.

John Cole is the CCO of Ezoic. Ezoic is a Google award-winning artificial intelligence platform designed to automatically test ads, website layouts, mediation, and more to increase ad revenue and optimize user experiences at the same time. John is the Chief Customer Officer of Ezoic. Formerly an officer in the British Royal Navy, John was a founding Director of Media Run Group – which started several online businesses in the mid 2000’s (Media Run Search, Media Run Ad Network, and Blowfish Digital Ad Agency). Following the acquisition of Media Run Ad Network by Adknowledge Inc in Oct 2007, John managed Adknowledge in Europe, which included the Super Rewards virtual currency platform (which monetized Facebook, MMO & Mobile Games) & Cubics – the first Social display advertising platform inside Facebook. After a brief and successful foray into the world of independent online publishing (he was founder of UK website operator ‘Epirical’), John sold his online interests to Ezoic in Dec 2011 and joined as CCO. John moved his family from London UK to live in San Diego in August 2013. 0034 John explains that Ezoic combines ad-testing, CMS and UX; and dives into some of the complexities of multivariate testing 0205 Why did Ezoic stay in stealth for three years? 0400 Even though the company has pivoted, the central idea has remained the same: where and how an ad appears on a page is as important as retargeting and context. 0500 John explains that Ezoic bought 500 websites, and used them to test and hone their theories 0715 The secret sauce is achieving the balance between UX and monetisation - the assumption is that one usually compromises the other. 1055 John talks about the human cost of staying in stealth for three years, and resisting the urge to shout about Ezoic from the rooftops 1400 Does staying in stealth for three years to undertake a long period of testing and re-testing mean that you guys are anti-'lean startup'? 1540 John explains the strategic rationale behind the choice of the name 'Ezoic' 2300 What's next? Times are exciting at Ezoic - making acquisitions and winning awards!

Mårten Mickos is a rare European founder. He has led 3 global software companies, including the Balderton-backed MySQL, and is now opening the London office of HackerOne, a new company which is used by Uber, Twitter and Github to protect their critical systems. Mårten joined open-source database company MySQL as CEO early in the company's journey. He remained in charge until the $1 billion acquisition by Sun Microsystems in 2011. Mårten's next role was again as a software CEO, at cloud software company Eucalyptus. Hewlett-Packard acquired the business in 2014. In this video, Mårten is interviewed by Balderton's Managing Partner, Bernard Liautaud. Like Mårten, Bernard spent the majority of his professional life as a software CEO at the very highest level. As CEO and Founder of Business Objects, Bernard become the first European to IPO a software company on Nasdaq in 1994, and continued in the role of CEO until the company was acquired by SAP in January 2008, for $6.8bn. For further reading, see Mårten's blog, which is intended help startup CEOs with questions around leadership and company-building here: http://schoolofherring.com/

All three coFounders of Lovecrafts - Cherry Freeman, Nigel Whiteoak and Edward Griffith - joined Ben Goldsmith for the latest episode of the Balderton podcast. Lovecrafts create online marketplaces such as LoveKnitting and LoveCrochet that bring traditional crafts to the digital age. Balderton first invested in the company in 2015, leading a $7.5m round. LoveCrafts have since raised a further $20m. 0030 You have three cofounders: is that better or worse than one, single CEO figure? 0100 Edward started the business and brought in Cherry and Nigel. How did that process work? Did they need convincing? 0230 How did the founders first meet? 0300 Nigel, how did Edward coax you to leave your job and join him at Lovecrafts? 0405 Is Lovecrafts an inherently difficult idea - getting a potentially older demographic online can be tricky. 0550 Edward has previously spoken about a craft renaissance - what is driving that? 0655 As leaders of the 'making' company, What do the Lovecrafts cofounders make? 0740 How does fundraising work with three founders? Does one take the lead? 0845 How do you divide responsibilities within the business. 0940 Hiring: is the hiring process at all complicated due to the 'three founder system'? 1210 Cherry explains why their hiring process won't drastically change as they scale. 1350 The trio share some advice for early-stage cofounding teams.

The Tab's CEO and Founder Jack Rivlin talks to Ben Goldsmith about all of the 'first-times' he's encountered since founding student media company The Tab with a group of friends at Cambridge University. The first time Jack hired people outside of the founding team, the first fund-raise, the first time that The Tab decided that they were going to launch in New York... 0014 Without pausing for breath, Jack starts the episode by sharing the news that The Tab recently smashed one of their own traffic records. 0135 Jack talks about Babe, The Tab's very recently launched new title for a female readership. 0200 Why launch Babe? Jack discusses how a lot of media aimed at women is patronising, and heavily product and celebrity focuses. The 'Babe' team want to change that. 0240 The subject of 'firsts' - as a 19 year old founder, Jack has had to go through a lot of complex, important and often high profile experiences at a comparatively early age. 0325 What was the first story published on The Tab? 0450 When did The Tab first gain the attention of the national media? 0550 When was the firs time that The Tab got into hot water? 0640 Jack talks us through the first apology issues by The Tab... which is now taught on journalism courses. 0710 What was the mission of the business when you first launched The Tab? As I'd imagine it wasn't "we want to build a media company that gets funded by VCs in 7 years time!" 0830 When was the first time you did something wrong? 1040 Jack talks about achieving a blend of serious journalism and more frivolous stories 1220 Why do you do 'the fun stuff'? 1350 Jack explains how what The Tab is doing is different, and why it is good for young people to have a publication like The Tab 1430 How did you make your first hires outside the original team? 1600 Jack talks about finding their first sales person... at Glastonbury. 1745 When did The Tab stop being the fun publications that a group of friends set up at Cambridge, and become a business? 1950 When did you decide to take The Tab to the USA? 2250 What's next for The Tab?

Steve O’Hear is best known as a technology journalist, currently at TechCrunch where he focuses on European startups, companies and products. Steve joined TechCrunch in November 2009 as Contributing Editor for TechCrunch Europe, where he worked alongside Editor Mike Butcher to help build TechCrunch’s coverage in the continent. In June 2011, Steve took a break from journalism to co-found the London and Prague-based startup Beepl. In his role as CEO, he helped the company raise its first VC round, along with seeing the Question & Answer site through development, private alpha and a high profile public launch. Steve joins Ben Goldsmith to talk about the future of journalism, and whether being an entrepreneur helped Steve to be a better journalist. 0055 Steve talks about why he left journalism in 2009 in order to become the cofounder of a startup… 0300 Steve talks about what it was about Beepl that was so tempting it lured him away from journalism 0430 Did Beepl fail? 0735 The big question: has being an entrepreneur helped Steve to become a better journo 0940 Steve explains why the VC fundraising process necessities a conflict of interest on part of the entrepreneurs raising the money 1230 In the modern age of journalism, will the strict line between church and state (editorial and money-making) move? 1630 Would Steve work for a publication that pays a journalist based on how many clicks they receive? 1855 Steve talks about the kind of journalism that the internet is killing 2030 Clickbait is overhyped: it has always existed; just it used to be only available in print. 2130 So called ‘content creators’ are everywhere. Will this deluge of content ever render the journalist extinct? 2320 Steve talks about how he covers news 2600 Even though social media allows journalists to build personal profiles, they are rarely bigger than the publication they write for. 2830 White, male, middle class… the internet has democratised journalism at the entry level. 2900 Big shoutout for Harry Stebbings and the 20VC!

In the latest Balderton Capital podcast, James Cook talks to Ben Goldsmith about how technology entrepreneurs (and their PRs) can get newsjacking right, and avoid falling foul of a journalist's 'delete' button. James Cook is Technology Editor at Business Insider UK. He was formerly Contributing Editor at The Daily Dot, and the Deputy Editor of The Kernel. He also runs @LedZepNews. 0100 James explains why he currently deletes most of your emails. 0125 “We’ve done this to ourselves” – James admit that journalists do ask for this kind of stuff, but he urges his peers to take caution. 0225 James explains what happens to his inbox when a big news story breaks, and why it is (at present) very difficult to sift through the heft of messages to find the really useful emails. 0400 How can we fix comment fatigue? James tells entrepreneurs not to stop emailing, but warns against sending emails just to check the box that says ‘do some PR’. 0525 A big question: How do you, as a tech entrepreneur or a PR, work your way into a journalists’ good books? 0830 Entrepreneurs need to consider what they can tell a journalist that no one else can. James reminds us that startup founders do usually have incredibly useful knowledge of something very specific, by virtue of them dedicating their lives to one industry. 1130 Journalists have gaps in their knowledge – if you’re sharing a comment, aim to fill those gaps; don’t just repeat obvious sentiment or well-reported facts. 1345 What questions should an entrepreneur ask themselves to ‘sanity check’ whether they should email you? 1520 Entrepreneurs should feel encouraged to give journalists more than just comment: don’t be shy about sharing data, case studies, reports etc. 1720 If you’ve just started out, how do you get to know journalists? 1830 It helps if entrepreneurs demonstrate an understanding of how news works. Understand that journalists are on deadlines, that breaking news need to be fast, and that they appreciate things like imagery and data.

The latest Balderton Capital podcast is a recording of the panel session from the latest Doctorpreneurs Meetup, which was held at Balderton HQ. Doctorpreneurs is the ‘global community for doctors, medical students, and individuals interested in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship’. The panellists were: Dr Andre Chow, TouchSurgery Dr Jean Nehme, TouchSurgery Melissa Morris, Network Locum Dr Jamie Wilson, My Home Touch Daniel Nathrath, MedX Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, Patients Know Best Moderator: Ben Goldsmith, Balderton Capital. Special thanks go to Vishal and the Doctorpreneurs team. 0100 Question: How do you hire the first person that isn’t you? And, for the doctors-turned-entrepreneurs, how do you hire the first non-medical person? Dr Jamie Wilson shares his experiences on the answer. 0240 Melissa Morris of Network Locum, explains her own tactics on how to poach key players from other companies. She also goes through the questions that she asks candidates. 0510 Question: How do you hire individuals with highly specifics skills who are not in a different field of expertise to yourself? Jean and Andre answer this question, as they are both surgeon who have perfected their skill of hiring animators. 0700 Andre reminds the audience that the ‘mission’ of a healthcare technology company can be key in helping to persuade employees to join a company at an early stage. 0745 Daniel Nathrath talks about helping early employees adapt as the business grows, and what to do if they can’t. Daniel also explains why bringing in ‘senior people’ from big companies doesn’t always work for startups. 0955 Mohammad Al-Ubaydli shares his experiences regarding how employees adapt as companies grow 1100 Question: When did you then that is was the ‘right time’ to raise money from external investors? 1310 Question: Do your investors need to have knowledge of the healthcare industry? 1515 Jamie Wilson explains that investors should be treated as members of the tea, who have skills that can supplement that of the ‘core team’. 1520 Melissa talks about why she turned down a term-sheet from a healthcare-specific investor, and also advocates the importance of having a board of medical advisors. Daniel Nathrath seconds this point. 1730 John and Andre talk about ‘the very, very long learning curve’ that they encountered when they were looking for investment. They talk about their first ever VC deck, which was way too long and cryptic; and about exactly how much money you should ask your VC for… 2000 The TouchSurgery founders also talk about why you need to share exactly what your company does, and its monetisation strategy, if you’re looking for investment. To paraphrase Andre: if you’re worried that someone else is going to steal your idea, you need to get over yourselves, as ideas are cheap – execution is the important part. 2340 Audience Question: What gives entrepreneurs conviction an the earliest stages, when nothing is proven? 2700 Melissa ventures the opinion that, even thought conviction is great, it is very useful to remain flexible and to not confuse conviction with arrogance. 2800 Audience Question: If you’re building a marketplace company, is it best to build out the supply or demand side first? Melissa recommends focusing on the supply side, and that you can accelerate this process by offering the supply side something they need (other than custom). 3045 Audience Question: What should you look for in investment term sheets? Mohammed comes in on this question, recommending that it is better to have no investors, rather than to have a bad investor. 3215 Final Audience Question to the Drs: What made you feel like it was the right time top step back from your medical career in favour of entrepreneurship?

Chris Morton is the CEO and founder of Lyst, a fashion aggregation and discovery app, and universal checkout cart. Before launching Lyst, Morton was part of our investment team here at Balderton Capital. Chris talks to Ben Goldsmith about building a team from 3-150 people, and about the decision he made to take the business through a massive pivot. 0020 Chris has taken Lyst from 3 cofounders in London, to a team of 150 spread across continents. 0100 Chris explains that fluidity and informality were key to hiring at an early stage. Of course, this has changed over time and now Lyst have recruited a Head of Talent to bring order to the proceedings. But Chris is proud that they can still hire at speed. 0305 Question: Do early entrepreneurs need to have a 1/2/5/10 year plan for hiring? Chris advocates hiring for today, not tomorrow; as the concept of what 'tomorrow' is going to be can change. 0450 Sometimes the earliest hires that an entrepreneur makes can't scale with the team, because these people are best at launching companies. This isn't a black mark, it's just the way scaling works. But Chris does advocate managing changes to your business actively, rather than being passively pushed about by them. 0700 Question: What is the effect of raising large sums of money on team growth? Chris explains that he advocates a process of SCALING RAPIDLY and then 'FIXING' any feathers that may have been ruffled during this process. 0930 A piece of advice Chris has for other entrepreneurs: don't use the size of your team as a measurement of success. 1200 50% of Chris' team at Lyst are engineers or data scientists. Chris explains how, as a non-technical founder, he maintains and grows such a specialised team. 1600 Question: How important is a technical cofounder? 1800 Chris is a rare thing: an investor turned entrepreneur. Chris dives into how his experience at Balderton helped when it came to raising money. 2110 Lyst went through a huge pivot - Chris explains how he convinced his team, his investors, and other stakeholders that this huge change was the right thing to do. 2535 Another big tip from Chris: When you make a huge 'bet the business'-type decision, such as a large pivot, you can't always be as data-driven as you would like. Of course, use all of the data around you, but don't be afraid to listen to your gut: finding a mix of conviction and data is key. 2830 Chris talks about why it's useful for entrepreneurs to be challenged by their investors.

Graham Cooke is the Founder and CEO of Qubit. Graham set up Qubit alongside three former colleagues from Google, and has piloted the business through its Balderton-led Series A, it's Accel-led Series B, and its most recent funding from Goldman Sachs, Salesforce Ventures and others. Ben caught up with Graham on the subject of how building a team scales throughout a period of rapid growth. 0100 Qubit have a founding team of four, which Graham is comparatively large. This has great benefits due to the range of skills within the founding team, but also a few negatives. Graham explains why multiple founders should not look to constantly achieve consensus. 0230 Larger founding teams need to be like a band: you need vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. Not vocals, vocals, vocals, and vocals. 0520 A piece of advice from Graham to larger founding teams: multiple founders should not work towards a single, consensus-driven nirvana; instead, they should each have their own goals which are inexorably linked to their particular skills. That will drive the business forward. 0620 Graham talks about the difficulties and challenges faced when making his first hires 0725 Allowing your early hires to 'scale as the company scales' is a fine art - Graham shares how needed all of his early hires to be able to reinvent themselves. 0830 Graham talks about the importance of getting your CFO hire right 1005 Compromise is very important when making hires. Graham explains that Qubit used to look for the 'bionic man' or 'bionic woman'... and that is just doesn't work. 1150 Specialists vs. Great Generalists 1240 Graham zeroes into how and why a company's hiring strategies will change after raising Series A, B and C. 1610 How did Qubit you scale the hiring process while maintain a constant company culture? 1820 Graham talks about something that is often forgotten: the review processes that happen after a hire. How does it work? What does that process actually look like for Qubit? 2030 How has growing from 10+, 50+, 100+ people changes Graham's role as CEO? 2230 Offices are intrinsically important when it comes to company culture.