#3 Two UK Venture Leaders - Pete Davies & Spencer Crawley on Long‑Term VC, Academia Spin‑Outs & the New Tech Cycle

Pete Davies has long been widely considered one of the greatest long term thinkers in the hedge fund world. He was early to recognise the opportunities to provide venture capital to UK academia and his firm, Lansdowne Partners, was instrumental in setting up Oxford Science Innovation.

Spencer Crawley is the co-founder of FirstMinute Capital, a UK seed investor which boasts an astonishing 111 unicorn founders as investors.

In this interview we discuss the UK venture scene, why early stage investing is truly a long term activity, and how this cycle compares to the late 1990s tech boom.

Full show notes here.

Behind the Balance Sheet is a forensic accounting and fundamental investing podcast for serious investors. Each episode dives into how real‑world investors source ideas, build conviction and manage their portfolios.

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