Most founders walk into an investor meeting thinking they’re there to sell their business.
Jamie Roberts walks in knowing something colder, and strangely more useful: the default is no.
Jamie is the Managing Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee at YFM Equity Partners, and he’s spent 12 years watching roughly 1,500 opportunities a year flow past his desk, while backing ONLY THE TOP 1%.
In this conversation, we strip the theatre away from “Dragons’ Den energy” and talk about what funding decisions really come down to: people over products, honesty over hype, and whether you’re building a business… or quietly building yourself a job.
We also go somewhere most business interviews don’t. "Money Culture" Why in some countries (like the UK) there is a culture of hating success headlines. The danger of pretending you “have it all”. And the one red flag that kills deals faster than bad numbers ever could.
🎯 What You’ll Learn:
How professional investors actually think when they hear your pitch
Why “people” beat product and market almost every time
The real difference between confidence and delusion, and how to spot it early
What founders misunderstand about “opening doors” and investor networks
How to talk about money without flinching, especially in British culture
Why lying or “massaging the truth” destroys trust instantly
The investor analogy that makes everything click: funding is basically a marriage
What success really looks like, and why most people can’t answer that question
🔎 Topics in This Episode:
Private equity UK, growth capital, venture investing, raising funding, pitch deck mistakes, how investors decide, founder traits, commercial terms, risk and reward, scaling from £1m to £50m revenue, hiring and org design, culture as you scale, UK attitudes to success, SEIS EIS VCT, money mindset, giving and receiving feedback, perfectionism and ambition.
💬 Question for you:
If you could get brutally honest feedback on one thing holding you back in business, would you actually want to hear it… or would it sting too much?
👤 About the Guest:
Jamie Roberts is Managing Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee at YFM Equity Partners, reviewing hundreds of founder-led opportunities and investing in a small percentage that fit YFM’s criteria and long-term growth approach.
📢 Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the guest are their own and do not reflect those of Aleksandra, the podcast, or its producers. This content is for entertainment and general discussion only.
🔖 TAGS:
#Podcast #BeyondTheBoardroom #videopodcast #aleksandra #youtubepodcast