Episode Details

Entrepreneurs First has raised $200m in fresh capital to continue backing founders before they even have a team or an idea. The firm has built its model around identifying ambitious individuals early in their careers and helping them turn that potential into companies.

Jonny Clifford, Partner at Entrepreneurs First, explains why many of the world’s best potential founders never start companies in the first place and how EF tries to change that by investing in people first, a model that has already produced companies like Magic Pony, Cleo and PolyAI.

The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:

https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk

Sponsors:

SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/

Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/

Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show

1:47 - Entrepreneurs First raises $200 million

2:46 - Explanation of EF's investment model

5:09 - Impact of California trips on founders

7:27 - Unparalleled ambition in founders

8:15 - Founders returning to the UK after US

9:02 - Evolution of the EF model over time

12:20 - Supporting second companies of successful founders

14:37 - Importance of supporting founders' journeys

15:30 - Need for hands-on founder experience

17:01 - Plans for aggressive growth and funding

19:12 - Shift in founder profiles towards non-technical