Angel Insights takes you deep into the world of angel investing and what makes some of the most successful angel investors tick. Join host Tom Britton in conversations with the world's most successful investors, and some of their portfolio company entrepreneurs, to understand their investment strategy, approach to due diligence and tips that can dramatically improve your own approach to investing.

Future VCs and emerging angels can treat Angel Insights as a living syllabus. Early episodes cover the basics: building a personal deal‑pipeline, triangulating fair valuations and spotting coachable founders. Mid‑series shows shift to portfolio math, where Blakey and others outline how 10× exits compensate for the inevitable zeros and why 30‑plus bets beat concentration. Recent climate‑tech conversations walk through technology‑readiness levels, grant‑funding leverage and commercialisation timelines, providing a template for deeper technical diligence.

Britton frequently presses guests on post‑investment value‑add, revealing tactical advice like co‑selling into enterprise procurement teams or leveraging board‑observer rights to pre‑empt down‑rounds. Listeners therefore pick up soft‑skills around founder psychology and cap‑table diplomacy, not just cheque‑writing mechanics.

The show’s UK‑centric framing is particularly useful for non‑US investors: repeated discussions of SEIS and EIS illustrate how to stack income‑tax relief, loss relief and CGT deferral to de‑risk high‑volatility portfolios. Couple that with SyndicateRoom’s quantitative Access EIS lens and you get a rare mix of qualitative storytelling and data‑driven strategy.

Tom Britton played semi‑pro football before moving into product roles at The Trainline, then co‑founded SyndicateRoom in 2013 to open venture deals to a wider pool of investors.

Today he serves as Partner and podcast host, splitting time between portfolio support and microphone sessions recorded in SyndicateRoom’s Cambridge studio.

He launched Angel Insights in 2015 for two reasons: first, to scale education beyond the pricey angel‑course circuit; second, to spotlight the data‑validated strategies that underpin Access EIS. Britton’s interviewing style blends Californian candor (he grew up in Los Angeles) with British regulatory pragmatism, producing episodes that feel equal parts classroom and coffee‑chat.

Below are some standout voices who have joined the microphone:

• Angela Cretu, the ex‑CEO who steered Avon through COVID, discusses translating crisis leadership into founder‑resilience bets. Apple Podcasts
• Simon Blakey, Chair of Playfair Capital’s IC, distills 25 years across 100+ rounds into red‑flag pattern spotting. Apple Podcasts
• Jodie O’Keeffe, Angel Academe investor, explains closing the gender funding gap by “finding your tribe” of co‑evaluators. Apple Podcasts
• Mike Gammell, co‑founder of Days Brewing, details building a low‑alcohol beer brand during lockdowns and why angels led his seed. Apple Podcasts
• Kayleigh Kuptz, CEO of Deployed, recounts turning late‑night procurement pain into SaaS opportunity and how angel backing accelerated enterprise pilots. Apple Podcasts
• Tim Corcoran and Manuel Rios of Deep Blue Biotech discuss synthetic‑biology business models that eat CO₂ and generate cosmetics intermediates. Apple Podcasts
• Climate‑tech investors Hannah Leach and Matt Lerner share ESG diligence frameworks and capital‑efficient growth playbooks. SoundCloud

Collectively these guests showcase everything from B2B AI to consumer CPG, giving the archive breadth that mirrors a diversified angel portfolio.