Behind the Balance Sheet

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. You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips.For show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠website⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

In this fascinating interview, Stuart Roden, former Chairman of Lansdowne Partners, explains the 5 keys to a successful fund, how his 25 year partnership with Pete Davies produced one of the most successful hedge funds in the UK and how now managing venture capital is a different, yet similar, game.I have known Stuart for over 25 years but I learned more in this hour about his philosophy than I had previously. He has a winning combination of a razor sharp intellect, a love of markets, a wealth of experience and a nose for a winning idea.In this interview, we hear how he was tempted to fire a client, the 5 key factors to run a successful fund, why you are either an analyst or a portfolio manager, how handwriting can reveal whether you will be a good employee, and how he and Pete Davies ran an incredibly successful $10bn hedge fund. I know you will enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed recording it.Full show notes hereBehind 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.  You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips. For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our ⁠website⁠. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

Two investors who went to the same school, then to Oxbridge, and have been awarded the CBE (*). They are both titans in their fields but through very different routes. One has run his hedge fund firm for 27 years, has been incredibly successful as evidenced by $28bn AUM, yet is so under the radar that few have heard of him. The other has started multiple companies, is a business celebrity and is recognised as one of the most successful people in UK tech.Full show notes hereBehind 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.  You’ll hear frameworks for analysing industries, understanding business models, and thinking about risk, behaviour and incentives, so you can refine your own process rather than copy stock tips. For full show notes, transcripts and additional resources, visit our website. If you value thoughtful, process-driven investing discussions, follow the show and consider leaving a short review, or just a 5* rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please help spread the word.

Our new podcast is focused on equity investing. We shall meet leading investors and commentators and educate ourselves about the world of investing and the world. Our mission is to remove some of the mystique around investing and improve our understanding of what makes a successful investment, or indeed an unsuccessful one. We shall look in particular at the conjunction of venture and quoted stocks investing and interview practitioners, current and retired. Our goal is to inform, educate and entertain – we hope you every episode.