Founder Playbook: What Investors Really Look For | Luke Smith, Molten Ventures

Adam Stott left school with one GCSE. He was told, repeatedly, that he was never going to achieve anything. His dad lost everything when Adam was ten, and they moved from a six-bedroom house and private school to living behind a transport café, with his mum getting up at 4:30am every day to keep it running.He had ambition. He had desire. He had absolutely no idea how to close the gap.Then he walked into a sales job at Powerhouse, discovered commission for the first time, sold a cooker to a stranger without knowing anything about it, and found the thing that would change his life.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Adam tells the full story. The transport café. The burger van he bought and never opened. The £50,000 he pulled from his house at 25 and nearly lost entirely. The friend who helped him fix his messaging and get in the right rooms. And why, if he could go back, the one thing he would tell his younger self is simply: build your skills.Adam now runs Big Business Events, a £15 million a year business coaching company. He has generated £186 million in revenue across all his businesses. But the episode is not about that. It is about what came before all of it, and why confidence can only ever come from competence.Key Takeaways- Why losing everything as a child created the frame of reference that drove everything after- How discovering commission for the first time at a Powerhouse cooker counter changed Adam's life- Why motivation without skills is just noise — and how to fix that- The two skills Adam tells everyone to learn first: sales and marketing🎧 This episode is powered by Molten Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm backing ambitious founders from seed through growth. 👉 Find out more at moltenventures.com🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3-4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Most founders never get told what investors are actually looking for.In the first episode of the Screw It Just DO It Founder Playbook, Luke Smith from Molten Ventures answers the question founders actually want answered.What separates someone with a great idea from someone who builds something real? When is the right time to raise? What do investors look for at Series A? What are the biggest misconceptions about fundraising?Luke has backed founders from pre-seed through to growth, invested in 76-plus businesses with Molten, and brings a scientist’s rigour to evaluating what actually works and what does not.This is not an investor being diplomatic. This is a direct, practical breakdown of how the best founders think, build, and raise.Key Takeaways• The single trait that separates founders who build from founders who talk• What Molten looks for at Series A: product market fit, go-to-market, and evidence• The biggest myth about fundraising and why survivorship bias is misleading founders• How to prepare before you approach investors, and who to approach first🎧 This episode is powered by Molten Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm backing ambitious founders from seed through growth. 👉 Find out more at https://www.moltenventures.com🎧 Don’t miss a moment of entrepreneurial insight. Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It wherever you get your podcasts.🏟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 https://www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Gyve Safavi spent years building brands inside some of the world’s biggest companies before convincing himself he had missed his opportunity to become an entrepreneur.Then everything changed.This episode is not simply about building a toothbrush company.It is about leaving corporate, overcoming self-doubt, starting later than planned and finally backing yourself.In this conversation, we discuss:Being told he was overpaid and overqualified.Thinking his opportunity had passed.Leaving corporate.Building SURI.Validating the idea through pre-sales.Selling 5,000 brushes in weeks.Scaling from 15 to 35 people.Why sustainability should never mean compromise.Why it is never too late to build something meaningful.This episode is powered by Molten Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm backing ambitious founders from seed through growth.Find out more at moltenventures.comJoin us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, 3 and 4 November at the NEC Birmingham.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Most people never start because they want something.Simon Squibb says that is the problem. Wanting is not enough. You have to need it.In this Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, Simon explains the single mindset shift that has driven every successful business he has built, invested in, or watched succeed. Turn your want into a need. And once you have done that, learn the three things that will multiply your luck: take more risk, know your destination, and never stop.Simon went from homeless at 15 to building and selling his agency Fluid to PwC. He has invested in 76 businesses. He has 23 million followers. And he believes that entrepreneurs, not politicians, are the ones who will fix the world.This is a tight, single-lesson episode. One idea. Applied properly, it changes everything.Key Takeaways• How to turn a want into a need and why it changes your behaviour immediately• The three-part formula for luck: risk, destination, and persistence• Why leaning into fear is a superpower, not a weakness• Why the harder I work, the luckier I get is actually not true🎧 Don’t miss a moment of entrepreneurial insight. Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It wherever you get your podcasts.🏟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉https://www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Steven Mendel built ManyPets from an idea into one of Europe's leading pet insurance businesses. But this episode isn't about insurance. It's about finally backing yourself. After years building successful businesses inside large organisations, one conversation with his wife changed everything. She gave him one year.In this episode, Steven discusses:Why he left corporate.The conversation that changed everything.The three times ManyPets nearly failed.Why becoming a unicorn didn't matter.Building an irresistible employer.Starting again with Lateral.Why it's never too late to reinvent yourself.🎧 This episode is powered by Molten Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm backing ambitious founders from seed through growth. 👉 Find out more at moltenventures.com🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham 👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Jim Cregan was a labourer. He was hosting festival stages dressed as a mermaid. He had no idea what he was doing or where he was going.Then he went to Australia, walked into a petrol station hungover, and found a ready-to-drink iced coffee.That was the moment.In this Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, Jim tells the complete story of how a single product in a petrol station in Australia changed everything. From writing a delusional email to Farmers Union from his hotmail account, to returning to the UK with Suze and launching Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, to the moment he nearly crashed his car watching a stranger choose Jimmy’s off a supermarket shelf.This is the real SIJDI moment. Not a strategy, not a business plan. Just a feeling that grabbed him by the horns and would not let go.Key Takeaways• How a hangover in Australia became the seed of a £10M+ business• Why Jim and Suze started without a plan and built it anyway• What kept them going when nothing was working• The power of seeing someone choose your product over everyone else’s🎧 Don’t miss a moment of entrepreneurial insight. Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It wherever you get your podcasts.🏟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Alla Ouvarova didn't have experience in food.She didn't have investors lining up.She didn't even have an existing category to enter.Alongside co-founder Anna, she launched Two Chicks and created the liquid egg white category in the UK from scratch.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Alla shares:- Why everyone rejected their idea- Starting with £25k instead of £250k- Creating a category nobody understood- Nearly losing everything overnight- Building confidence through action- Selling a majority stake after 20 yearsA brilliant conversation about resilience, confidence and backing yourself before everyone else does.🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3-4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Tommy Kelly spent years in the Royal Marines operating in some of the harshest environments on earth.But one lesson carried into business: Do hard things.This became a conversation around discomfort, resilience, burnout and learning to keep moving when life gets difficult.In this Bite-Sized episode of Screw It Just DO It, Tommy talks about the Arctic exercise that nearly broke his unit, the moment he artificially created chaos to force himself out of the Marines, and the Monday morning he walked into the office and told his co-founder he was done.Key Takeaways• Why doing hard things is the most practical form of resilience training• What the Arctic night from hell taught Tommy about keeping going• The screw it just do it moment — artificially creating chaos by leaving the Marines• The burnout no one talks about: 12 years of compounding pressure• Why being on the right path matters more than being at the destination🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, specialists in international business payments. If your business pays overseas suppliers or receives payments from abroad, those transaction fees can quickly add up. As a Screw It Just DO It listener, you can get 50 international transactions completely fee free for 60 days.👉 Create a free account and claim the offer at worldfirst.com/screwit🎧 Don't miss a moment of entrepreneurial insight. Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It wherever you get your podcasts.🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham. Two days of real conversations, practical insight, and founder-led growth.👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Simon Woodroffe left school at 16. He got arrested at 19. He built stages for rock bands, sold TV rights, and spent decades figuring out how the world worked.Then at 47, with no restaurant experience, he put his entire life savings on the line and opened Yo! Sushi.It changed everything.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Simon and Alex talk about what it actually means to risk it all, why he believes it is never too late to start, how he negotiated a 1% royalty that made him more than everything else combined, and what 50 years of doing things differently has actually taught him.We also get into his new autobiography, Yo, Man!, Dragons’ Den, Yotel, and why the unconventional path is often the only one worth taking.Key Takeaways• Why starting later in life can be an advantage, not a limitation• How Simon built a £1 million opening using £200k and a lot of pulled favours• The 1% royalty he negotiated that outlasted everything else• Why megalomaniac control at the start is the right strategy🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, specialists in international business payments. If your business pays overseas suppliers or receives payments from abroad, those transaction fees can quickly add up.As a Screw It Just DO It listener, you can get 50 international transactions completely fee free for 60 days.👉 Create a free account and claim the offer at worldfirst.com/screwit🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

This episode was recorded when Huel was four years old and doing £14 million in revenue.You are listening to it knowing what it eventually became.Julian Hearn started Huel with a simple goal: find 1,000 people willing to pay £45 a month for a nutritionally complete food. Half a million pounds a year. A lifestyle business he could run three days a week.When they hit £750,000 in year one, he knew that plan was gone.In this Bite-Sized episode of Screw It Just DO It, Julian talks about the early Huel story: the initial product order of £5,000 of stock, the PR that arrived in the first month without asking for it, the customers who started defending the brand online before Julian even had a team, and why he never wrote a proper business plan for any of it.He also talks about hiring, culture, direct-to-consumer, and why the biggest risk in any product business is manufacturing — not the market.Key Takeaways- Why Huel started as a lifestyle business and when Julian realised it was not going to be one- The 1,000 fans model and why it is the right way to start anything- Why execution beats business plans, and what Julian did instead- How building direct-to-consumer gave Huel a weapon that retail-first competitors never had🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, specialists in international business payments. If your business pays overseas suppliers or receives payments from abroad, those transaction fees can quickly add up. As a Screw It Just DO It listener, you can get 50 international transactions completely fee free for 60 days.👉 Create a free account and claim the offer at worldfirst.com/screwit🎧 Don't miss a moment of entrepreneurial insight. Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It wherever you get your podcasts.🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3-4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk