Cosmic Conversations
B2B tech startup growth insights from the UK’s top VCs.
Join Matthew Codd, an experienced SaaS sales expert, as he interviews the UK's leading VC's to discover the state of the current investment landscape and to give startup founders they insights they need to scale successfully. From how to pitch to knowing if VC or Angel is right for you, we give you the inside track from those leading startup investment.
This is Cosmic Conversations.
Cosmic Conversations
What makes a pre-seed startup fundable? Insights from Ollie at Concept Ventures
In this episode, I sit down with Oliver Kicks, Partner at Concept Ventures, to explore what it really takes for early-stage B2B tech startups to raise their first institutional round.
We unpack why Concept backs founders before traction, the three founder archetypes they look for, and why a strong go-to-market isn’t about slick decks, it’s about actually knowing how to sell.
Oliver explains why some teams break through and others stall, what separates founders who find product-market fit from those who build in isolation, and why adaptability is a more powerful predictor than experience.
We also get into the commercial traits that make a team investable, what’s changed in the UK early-stage ecosystem, and why hiring too early, especially in sales, is often a bigger risk than founders realise.
If you're an early-stage founder trying to figure out when to hire, how to scale sales, or what VCs are really looking for, this is the episode to listen to before you go out to raise.
Find out more:
Oliver Kicks (guest)
Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn
Find out more about the Concept Ventures
Matthew Codd (host)
Find out more about my business, Cosmic Partners
