Ben Dixon

Non-technical co-founders have always been pretty useless at the core aspect of a software startup: Development That is until Claude came along. I still leave the actual development to my amazing technical co-founder Marissa Bond and our brilliant first hire Thomas Ranieri… But as we’ve been building out new features for Thinking Mode, often there is something in my head I’d like to be able to describe in detail. This time last year, I was sketching crappy paper diagrams to attempt to show my thinking. Today, here’s my workflow with Claude: 1. Screenshot our current UI 2. Get Claude to reverse engineer the interface 3. Ask Claude to build what’s in my head until I’m happy. 4. Send to Marissa 5. She chucks out 95% of what I thought was good and ends up building something even better. 5% is still better than useless… 💪 Anyone else using AI to add value towards something you’ve always felt ill-equipped to support?

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The Founder’s Paradox: Why the harder you work, the slower you scale. 🛑 Huge congratulations to the 25 scaleups recently chosen for Tech Nation’s Future Fifty. It’s a massive milestone for the UK tech scene. But for every founder on that list, there are thousands of brilliant SMEs currently stuck in the "Owner-Operator Trap." You know the feeling: * You are the primary salesperson. * You are the chief problem solver. * You are the bottleneck for every major decision. In the startup phase, being the "everything person" is a badge of honour. But in the scaling phase, it’s a death sentence for growth. As Warwick Business School recently highlighted, the transition from "owner-operator" to "strategic manager" is where most small businesses become "vulnerable and fragile." You can’t build a £10m company with a £1m infrastructure—and you certainly can’t do it if you’re still horizontal in the day-to-day weeds. Scaling isn't just about doing more; it’s about doing less of the wrong things. Whether you were selected for a national cohort or not, the challenge remains: how do you build a business that can breathe, grow, and innovate without you in every meeting? At Business Growth Support Services, we specialise in helping founders break the cycle. We provide the strategic framework and operational support to move you from the engine room to the captain’s bridge. You don't need a prestigious title to scale. You need a system that works when you aren't there. Stop working in your business and start working on it. Let’s build your exit strategy from the day-to-day. 👉 Start your scaling journey by booking a Clarity Call: link in the comments #ScaleupStrategy #FounderLife #SMEGrowth #TechNation #BusinessSupport #LeadershipTransition #OwnerOperator Mathew Boyle Belinda Boyle Simon Drake Roland Emmans Dirk Schaefer ------------------------------

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Idea: The Judoscale Platform Tour... We deploy our 3,000+ RPS Rails app across each of the fully-managed hosting platforms and write up our experience in detail. Things I'd want to cover: - cost - performance - DX/vibes - review apps - release phase/migrations - setup - env/secrets - scaling What else would you want to see?

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How to get the most out of “vibe coding” with Y Combinator partner, Monzo Bank CEO and GoCardless founder, Tom Blomfield. 👨 https://lnkd.in/eF3cAKQu “Vibe Coding” - named by Andrej Karpathy - is the use of large language models to generate code. 🧑‍💻 The engineer is writing code through the model, rather than themselves. Some engineers are now building software where 90%+ of the code is generated by LLMs. 🤖 The last few weekends, I’ve been vibe coding some side projects and ideas for our FONT platform: ✅ My recent article on “em dash” frequency in CVs/resumes. ✅ A wrapper of the Office of National Statistics Nomis project for labour market statistics. ✅ A ChatGPT wrapper which converts a CV/Resume into a cartoon using the Pixar Animation Studios Story Spine. ✅ And this weekend: text classifiers using OpenAI embeddings and logistic regression or centroid-based similarity. AI is making it much easier to rapidly prototype ideas. And at HRGO Recruitment, where innovation is a core value, we’re working at the cutting edge of our industry (recruiting). ⏩ Tools like Cursor are helping us build products faster and ultimately help us on our mission: To leave everyone better than we find them 🚀 We’ve been doing amazing things, like giving feedback to every applicant, pulling back the curtain on recruiting with unprecedented levels of transparency, and building and training our own AI Betty 👵. Join us. 🤝

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“£250K under SEIS isn’t enough.” That’s the quiet frustration I hear from UK deep-tech founders trying to build world-changing companies-on pocket change. Meanwhile: 💸 Silicon Valley deep-tech rounds often start at $3M 🔬 R&D heavy startups burn through £250K in 3–6 months 🏦 Investors want higher stakes, not tighter caps So why are we still asking founders to build fusion reactors, biotech platforms, and quantum systems under a £250K ceiling? This month, Empirical Ventures and others proposed a bold fix: Raise the SEIS limit to £1M, and increase the investor cap from £200K → £500K This could: ✅ Supercharge first rounds for science-heavy startups ✅ Attract bigger angel cheques earlier ✅ Keep UK innovation in the UK And it sends a bigger message: That the UK backs the ambitious—not just the bootstrapped. Curious to hear from other founders & angels: 👉 Would a £1M SEIS limit change how you build or invest? 🚀🧠🇬🇧💬📈 #venturecapital #angelinvestors #techstartups #biotechinnovation #quantumtechnology #fundraising #investmentopportunities #ukentrepreneurship

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We’ve put together a free Pre-Raise Checklist for UK startup founders 🗣️ It’s designed so you can make sure you’re actually ready to raise before you start talking to investors. This guide will help you: → Pressure-test raise readiness → Sense-check your round size and structure → Avoid chasing investors who will never invest → Enter fundraising with a plan, not hope This is based on what I've learnt along the way, and the patterns we see across hundreds of UK raises. 👉 Comment “checklist” below and I’ll send it over. 👈 Remember to make sure we're connected so you can receive my DM. Big thanks to Matt Thomas, Jonathan Day, Emmi Nicholl, Harrison F. and Jason Druker, MBA for your valued contributions to this guide 💪 #earlystage #ukfounder #startup

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Big news for UK startups Innovate UK’s Investor Partnerships competition is now LIVE - where private investment gets matched with grant funding to effectively double your raise… with half of it equity-free. 🤩 Here’s what most founders don’t realise: - You must be invited by an approved investor - The grant amount is tied to your aligned investment - Innovation alone isn’t enough; you also need investor traction - Up to 70% of project costs can be funded depending on research stage If you’re raising for R&D in AI, clean energy, life sciences, creative industries, defence, advanced manufacturing (and more), this programme can massively reduce dilution and accelerate your roadmap. Over the coming weeks, I’ll share: 🔹 A simple eligibility checklist 🔹 The biggest misconceptions 🔹 A complete database of approved Investor Partnerships investors (CSV exportable) If you want a fast eligibility check, DM me “Investor Partnerships”. #grants #innovateuk #founders #startups #funding There are over 180 investors taking part - tagging a few that I know personally: SFC Capital, Twin Path Ventures, Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Future Tech, Henley Business Angels

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Make was literally the reason a pre-revenue startup raised £200,000 in VC funding. 💸 I’m talking about AUDITSU, a UK-based startup tackling accessibility compliance for non-technical individuals. As part of our Make Startup Program, they didn't have to pay a penny to build their automated systems. 💥 Instead, they funneled that energy into building a GTM engine that was so tight, PXN Group couldn't say no. They automated their outreach and lead gen so effectively that they landed their pre-seed round while staying part of our startup program. With 18 interconnected systems, Make helps the team: 💨 Monitor job boards for buying signals 💨 Enrich and qualify leads for the product 💨 Personalize outreach and manage entire campaign workflows ...all without Jason Crispin lifting a finger. Huge congrats to the Auditsu team for showing everyone how it’s done. 💪 Make sure to read the whole story here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dNSWh7t4 PS: Auditsu is now officially live, so make sure to check it out!

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Faze2 Ltd has just been accepted onto Barclays Eagle Labs 12-week startup programme “Funding Readiness” - this should be very helpful in building…exactly what it says on the tin. Look forward to meeting the cohort and making new connections.

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The one thing I need you to know before you scale... Scaling exposes a problem most founders don’t talk about. You want to grow. More revenue, more headcount, more momentum. But you know the foundations aren't quite there yet. Processes need mapping Reporting needs standardising Systems need integrating So what happens? You try to do both at once. There’s nothing wrong with ambition. Scaling on unstable systems doesn't just slow you down, it amplifies every crack that was already there. They do it with a solid plan The businesses that scale effectively don’t just do it faster. They do it with a solid plan! If your systems aren't ready for where you're taking the business, let's talk about fixing that before you scale. DM me!

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"You need a warm intro to raise."That's US advice. Here's what actually works for UK pre-seed and seed: 1. Angel syndicates and SEIS funds have open applications. SFC Capital, Ascension, and many SEIS funds run inbound processes. You don't need to know someone. You need a clear deck and SEIS eligibility. 2. Accelerators accept cold applications. Techstars, Entrepreneur First, Seedcamp. All have public application windows. No warm intro required. 3. Crowdfunding is a real path. Seedrs Europe Limited and Crowdcube have funded thousands of UK startups combined. No network required. Your pitch is public. Investors come to you. 4. LinkedIn cold outreach can work. UK angels are more accessible than US VCs. A short, specific message with a one-liner and deck link can get responses. Don't pitch. Start a conversation. 5. Events still help. London Tech Week, founder meetups, demo days. The UK investor scene is smaller than you think. Showing up matters. Warm intros open doors faster. But if your company is SEIS-eligible and your deck is clear, you have other ways in. The hard part isn't access. It's knowing which doors to knock on first.

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Startups, Let’s Talk A11y 👀 (“Accessibility”)   Working with JavaScript teams at VC-backed startups across London, I see it all the time: accessibility gets filed under “we’ll do that later” 📁   But "later" is arriving sooner than you think.   With new accessibility laws coming into play across Europe building inclusive digital products isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s becoming a must-have.   The good news? Getting accessibility right makes your product better for everyone. 🎯   It also helps you attract engineers who care about clean, inclusive code!!   So, whether you’re launching your MVP or scaling post-Series A, now’s the time to ask: Can everyone use what we're building?   Let’s make the web a little friendlier and a lot more usable 💡   #JavaScript #A11y #Accessibility #Startups #TechHiring #Frontend #InclusiveDesign #LondonTech

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Having spent quite a bit of time at developer events in the last few weeks I am absolutely amazed that the majority actively engaged in these communities seem to be so sceptical and dismissive of the effect AI is likely to have on the industry. On the the flip side LinkedIn is full of stories from vibe coding founders who built their SaaS product, are AI-hacking their marketing and should be able to exit in a fortnight. The reality is somewhere in-between, is messy and is moving so fast it is hard to keep up. Social networks obviously favour extreme views but the middle ground is where the really interesting stuff is happening and both groups would benefit from listening more closely to the other.

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Over the years, I’ve noticed many hours of my week are spent with early-stage founders — conversations that are both energising and a reminder of the decisions we made at Codeyoung. Some of those choices turned out to be game-changing, even if we didn’t fully grasp their importance at the time. Looking back, we were fortunate to adopt certain key principles very early — despite having no prior experience in leading teams. And this is where investors play a pivotal role. The best investors don’t just bring capital; they bring perspective, pattern-recognition, and guidance you can’t always see in the moment. For us, Guild Capital played that role. Their frequent conversations helped us build Codeyoung into a data-driven, outcome-focused organisation. What made the journey even more meaningful was how their mentorship aligned with our own traits of empathy and curiosity. A few lessons stand out: - Building a data infrastructure early: Scaling without quality analytics is near impossible. And analytics is only as good as the systems you put in place. Our early bet in tech was not just on the product, but on digitising operations. This gave us process control and, more importantly, high-quality data to make sharper decisions and deeply understand learner experience. - Hiring leaders early: As first-time founders, there’s always a temptation to hold on to control. But to truly scale, you need to hire leaders, trust them, and embrace diverse working styles. I see this as one of the biggest bottlenecks for many young startups, especially after their initial traction. - Prioritising outcomes over working styles: Early founders often over-index on “people doing things the way they would.” That’s a mistake. Culture is essential, but culture should not mean cloning yourself. Different personalities and working styles bring different strengths. What matters most is consistent outcomes. These lessons feel obvious in hindsight, but at the time, they were hard-won What early decisions turned out to be game-changers in your founder journey?

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It's not common knowledge that Querio raised one the largest pre-seed rounds in the UK last year. I've had a lot of people ask for help around fundraising because of this. As I've promised to be very upfront here, let's talk fundraising. To be very blunt let's start off with a few key points: 1. Fundraising is an obligation not an accomplishment 2. Fundraising as a first time-founder is hard 3. Fundraising, like anything in startups, requires some luck. 4. It's not the UK, luck, or investors fault you can't raise. 5. If you can't fundraise, it's probably your fault. Fundraising is going to be a very hard thing for you to do as a first-time founder. Because you have a mix of 3 problems usually. You lack a network, you lack a viable business, and you lack the interpersonal /story skills. Pre-seed / seed is largely a question of: Do you make people trust that you can build this company successfully, do you make people believe that this company can be successful, and do you know the people that can invest in this business to begin with. To make people trust you can build this successfully, then you need to either have a good pedigree, or have godo experience (THAT RELATES TO YOUR STARTUP). Otherwise? You need to prove you can do it by doing it and come with traction. To make people believe that this company can be successful, you need either have a very good story that clicks for the investor, or grow at a pace that proves market pull. Also remember: Two investors can hear the same pitch and only one will invest. You need to balance when your story is bad, or the person just wasn't a fit. If you lack a network than you cannot complain, you need to make it work. You need to ask your network for introductions, cold email, and build in public. This can take months. It took me 6 months to raise. We almost died last year, now we're thriving. And yes, the more people commit to your round the easier it is to raise because if an investor feels derisked if another investor (ideally they view as better than them) already committed. Its how people work, just accept it and move on. Do not pay anyone to help you raise, do not hire advisors to help you raise, and do not go to focus on pitch competitions. If you want help from me or other founders, ideally ask for specific investors you'd like introductions to, prepare a blurb + deck I can simply forward for you. Make it easy for the introducer. For full transparency, we had 100+ outreaches, 66 rejections, 9 term sheets, and 6 closed deals. Last tid-bit on this suddenly long post: The one thing that will make your fundraise easier is revenue and traction. "But I need money" bla bla bla. Figure out traction, and people will trust you more.

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It's pure grifting. You know the types... "Ex-VCs" typically, but also "exited" founders (small scale) who have fled the UK and sing the praises of [insert tax-free jurisdiction] They tell you "UK is going downhill, startup ecosystem in these markets is 🔥" This infuriates me because it's deeply misleading Yes, the UK has its issues but next to the US, its still one of the leading venture ecosystems globally - access to financing, talent and community TL;DR 1️⃣ If you're a big shot lawyer, PE or IB person, tax-free jurisdictions are perfect for you 2️⃣ If you're a founder working on an ambitious idea, you need to be in an established ecosystem Enjoy and like their images of a beautiful lifestyle but don't fall for the grift

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Threads new dear algo feature lands in the UK. Users can now coax the feed for preferred content. Amusing to see professionals sweet talking algorithms for visibility. Social platforms falter for genuine B2B networking. RealTime Network offers 36 million leads and precise investor matching. No guesswork just meaningful connections. UK founders thrive with disciplined tools like this.

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I chatted with a VC last night who's had 18,000 investment pitches uploaded to his website since 2022. How many has he invested in? One. Not because they don't invest. This is one of London's most active seed funds, with 70+ companies backed since 2022. But their online Submit a Pitch form isn’t there to boost deal flow .. .. it’s to LOOK inclusive, so they can’t be accused of only backing the old boys’ network. Founders, a word to the wise: Don’t bother cold-pitching venture capital funds! This investor went on to share that one of the key founder traits they look for is tenacity. And if you can’t find a way to a warm intro to the fund, or even connect with the investor on LinkedIn, then it’s unlikely you’re going to hustle your first sales. You’re not tenacious enough. The ideal signal the VC is watching for is that people who know you and your market well have already invested. Ideally you've already got small angel investments from: ✅️ Your early customers' founders ✅️ Your suppliers ✅️ Your former boss ✅️ Your friends I’ve been guilty in the past of filling in the 'Apply for Funding' form on a VC website, but it’s never come to anything. Don’t be tempted.

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The UK Startup ecosystem has a major problem.⁣ ⁣ We’re encouraged to act like we have Product-Market Fit before we do. To raise money, we have to pitch as if our model already works. ⁣ ⁣ Then we’re pushed to execute - hiring teams, building departments, shipping features - without first proving our model is scalable.⁣ ⁣ But 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 isn’t the same as 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.⁣ ⁣ Most things won’t work, yet the system rewards activity over learning.⁣ ⁣ The result? Startups that look successful on the surface but are fundamentally broken underneath.⁣ ⁣ The fix? Stop building like a business before we’ve proven we have one. -- 👋 I’m Andrew Crump founder of Unkillable I post daily at 9:30am GMT about the secrets behind the best Startups. The magic I learned as an Investor, Founder and by helping 1000’s of them grow 🪩. Follow me for more!

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