Podcast
Associated Podcast
Monthly conversations that demystify venture‑capital careers and fundraising for first‑time founders and junior investors.
Monthly conversations that demystify venture‑capital careers and fundraising for first‑time founders and junior investors.
Associated is a London‑based podcast that sets out to “broaden access to venture capital, one conversation at a time,” a mantra repeated across its Apple, Spotify and Listen Notes profiles. Each episode runs 25‑45 minutes and pairs a junior VC or angel with the founders and limited‑partners they admire, turning informal coffee‑chats into a public syllabus on sourcing, diligence, portfolio math and career navigation. The format emerged in late 2019 when three industry newcomers—Francesca Baillieu, Tunde Adekeye and Danielle Bennett—realised that most venture podcasts were hosted by partners who had already “made it.” Their twist was to spotlight the associate perspective: how to break in, build a network and earn a voting seat at the investment committee.
Across nine seasons the trio have interviewed operators such as Entrepreneur First co‑founder Alice Bentinck, Syndicate protocol co‑founder Ian Lee and Übermorgen Ventures GP Adrian Bührer to dissect everything from social‑capital hacks to evergreen‑fund structures. Guests rarely get the glossy “origin‑story” treatment; instead they are pushed to share spreadsheets, term‑sheet templates and post‑mortems on failed bets. The result is a candid resource that universities, accelerator cohorts and Future VC fellows frequently assign as required listening.
Season 9 (October 2023) marked a soft rebrand to Associated, The Collective, signalling an intent to expand beyond audio into blog posts, events and a Substack community. The canonical Notion hub curates reading lists, job boards and COVID‑era emergency resources, reinforcing the show’s education mission. Although many episodes are UK‑centric, the audience is global—35 percent UK and 18 percent US according to Listen Notes analytics.
Broadening access to venture capital, one conversation at a time, from advice about careers to getting your business funded.
Future VCs will appreciate Associated for its tactile frameworks. Episodes like “Fundraising 101” break investor meetings into four core narratives—growth, love, acquisition economics and team edge—then supply call‑sheet checklists listeners can copy. The multi‑part “How to Raise a Venture Fund” series walks through LP outreach funnels, data‑room anatomy and pro‑rata reserve math, demystifying an area most podcasts gloss over.
Because the show is hosted by associates, career advice is unusually granular: how to survive partner meetings, evaluate carry packages and avoid “power‑point monkey” traps. Tunde’s own pivot into product‑building illustrates optionality beyond the partner track, while Francesca’s TechBio diligence stories expose scientific‑risk underwriting. Paired with the Notion library of glossaries and job boards, listeners emerge with both conceptual and practical toolkits.
The hosts created Associated after noticing that most guidance for aspiring investors was either pay‑walled or US‑centric. By publishing frank conversations—and the accompanying documents—under a Creative Commons spirit, they hope to lower the entry bar for diverse talent and, in turn, for underestimated founders.
Francesca Baillieu is an investor at impact‑focused fund Revent and angel in tech‑bio startups. Her LinkedIn profile credits her as “1/3 of Associated” since 2019, underscoring a passion for breaking down opaque VC jargon.
Tunde Adekeye, a former associate at Creandum and LocalGlobe, now builds Pitch Doctor, an AI tool that coaches founders on narrative craft—a theme he often revisits on‑air.
Danielle Bennett blends operating experience in deep‑tech manufacturing with an investor’s eye, bringing a technical lens to episodes on hard‑science ventures.
Recent seasons showcase a wide spectrum of capital allocators: Alice Bentinck explains how Entrepreneur First built a US $10 billion portfolio by backing talent pre‑idea; Ian Lee recounts raising a US $20 million seed for Syndicate from both VCs and celebrities to decentralise fund administration; and Adrian Bührer details structuring Übermorgen as an evergreen dividend‑paying company rather than a 10‑year closed‑end fund.
Earlier arcs focus on emerging‑manager journeys: Staffan Helgesson on scaling Creandum, Leila Zegna on building Kindred, and Julian Rowe on the Latitude/Phoenix Court platform. Deep‑tech founder Barry Bennett joins his daughter Danielle to debate whether equity is the right fuel for hardware‑heavy businesses, offering a rare parent‑child dialogue on financing science. Collectively, the episodes map out Europe’s venture landscape from pre‑seed to Series B, climate tech to crypto infrastructure.
What makes Associated different from other VC podcasts?
Instead of host‑partner monologues, it captures the associate viewpoint, turning early‑career anxieties into peer‑to‑peer playbooks.
Who is the core audience?
Aspiring VCs, angel operators and first‑time founders who need practical fund‑raising guidance rather than Silicon‑Valley war stories.
Is the show still releasing new episodes?
Yes, the feed was updated in May 2024 with a fresh Fundraising 101 instalment and continues on a monthly cadence.
How many episodes exist?
Listen Notes lists 92 published episodes since launch, averaging 40 minutes each.
Why the rebrand to The Collective?
Season 9 expanded the mission to include essays, toolkits and (future) live events, so the new name better reflects the multi‑format platform.
Where should newcomers start?
The three‑part “Fundraising 101” series offers a concise primer on investor psychology and narrative structuring.
Does the podcast cover non‑equity funding?
Yes, episodes compare venture capital with grants and revenue‑based finance, especially in deep‑tech contexts.
Are show notes or resources provided?
Every episode links back to a Notion page packed with recommended reading, glossaries and job boards.
Can listeners interact with the hosts?
The hosts invite questions via email and often weave them into AMA segments; they also engage on X via @associated_pod.
Is there a video version?
No dedicated YouTube channel exists at present, though occasional clips surface on social media.
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