Upside
This week's happenings in startup and investing land. Getting underneath VC, and discussing how to better support the European startup eco-system.
Every week we share what's been on our mind and get under the skin of VC, investing, startups and founder psychology.
From the team behind SuperSeed who invest in technical teams solving difficult business problems.
The network is run on LinkedIn so join me there - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbowyer/
With full interview audio and video uploaded to all major outlets.
Love to hear from you - dan@superseed.com
Episodes
49 episodes
Upside #46 - Is Big Tech Britain On Track? Bubble or Boom?
🎙️ Episode Highlights00:00 – Market Pulse: We’re So Back Baby! US IPOs are red-hot (CoreWeave, Circle), S&P nearly at ATH, and Q2 GDP forecasts hit 3.5%. The resurgence in AI and crypto-led optimism despite fisc...
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53:12
Upside #45 - Proxy Wars, Booming IPOs, & Defence Saves Europe
🎙️ Upside 45 Podcast – “Defence, Dirty Deals, and Disruption”This week EU defence spend motors - will it save us?European Space Agency military satellites US-China competition - Europ...
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53:45
Upside #44 - Cybercrime Up, UK Govt Investments Up, Nuclear Up, War... Down.
Upside - The *real* stories affecting European Venture.This week Mads, Lomax and I discuss: AI cybercrime, UK govt investing in tech/AI, cheap energy (nuclear isn't), Tesla’s RoboFail, 996 and founder work-life balance, AI growth but is ...
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56:10
Upside #43 - EU Rate Advantage, Naughty Lawyers, AI Copy…right? A UK Defence Reviewer Says What?
Hosts: Dan Bowyer, Lomax Ward, Mads Jensen.The real news behind the headlines affecting European Venture.ECB interest rate cuts, IPO market divergence, AI copyright tension, UK Strategic Defence Review, and the NHS starts liquid ...
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49:48
Upside #42 - Worlds Biggest Trade + EU Scale-err-up Strategy + The Jony & Sam Love-in
Trade Wars, Tariffs, and Tech Shifts – The Big Picture Shaping European StartupsWith Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen & Lomax Ward00:00 – Intro: The Need to Talk TariffsDan kicks off the episode with a reminde...
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45:21
Upside Special - The Inside Track Of European Venture in 2025
The real stories behind the headlines affecting European Venture.This week Mads, Lomax, Andrew and I are all out and about at various conferences and events speaking with European LPs and GPs about our ecosystem - themes and trends for 2...
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35:00
Upside Special - Poker Power For Founders & Investors
🎙️ Upside: Special Edition with Jo Living — Poker, Pressure & Performance in Business, Startups and InvestingHost: Dan Bowyer Guest: Jo Living, Founder of ACES HighJo Living joins Dan to explore the hi...
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27:44
Upside #41 - Publics Meets Privates – What It Means for Venture
Upside: Public Meets Private – What It Means for VentureIn this episode of Upside, Dan is joined by Lomax from Outsized, Andrew from 7%, and Mads from SuperSeed to explore how public markets intersect with private markets...
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1:01:52
Upside #40 - Pension Cash *Will* Unlock UK VC - But when, how & so what?
🎙️ Upside #40 Podcast — For The Real Stories Behind The European Venture HeadlinesIf you're into startups, VC investing, European Venture, or anything startup-ecosystem and business - this podcast is for you.Host: Da...
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1:02:09
Upside #39 - Lab Grown Meat Back On? Euro-Funds Swim In Cash & Why Anti-Trust Wins
🎙️ Upside Podcast: The Real Stories Behind The Headlines Affecting European VentureHosts: Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed), Andrew J Scott (7Percent), Mads Jensen (SuperSeed) 🔥 Episode HighlightsThis week, Da...
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31:55
Upside #38 - Turkish Tech, Tough Love & Trends for '25
🎙 Upside: The Real Stories Behind European VentureHosts: Dan (SuperSeed), Lomax (Outsized), Andrew (7%), Guest: Dilek Dayinlarli (Scalex Ventures)⏪ In This EpisodeThis week on Upside...
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58:37
Upside #37 – Q1 2025 in Review + Tariffs & European Venture + Heads Down & Build
🎙️ Featuring: Dan (SuperSeed VC) Lomax (Outsized) Andrew (7%)00:30 – Klarna’s IPO Pulled & BNPL Under Pressure Lomax reflects on Klarna pulling its IPO, amid turbulent markets and declining peers like Af...
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47:47
Upside #36 - Tariffs - Liberating Europe - Pension Cha-Ching - “Peace” Tech
The shifting sands of geopolitics, defence tech, and AI — and what it all means for European startups, investors, and the broader ecosystem. From Germany’s defence splurge to Trump’s tariff theatrics and the commoditisation of LLMs, this one sp...
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48:58
Upside #35 - Spring Non-Statement, Project EurHope, Power of Brand
🎙️ Upside: The Real Stories Behind European Venture🎧 In This EpisodeJoin Dan, Lomax, and Mads, with special guest Alex Macdonald (founder of Sequel and investor), for an opinion-packed episode explori...
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1:00:23
Upside #34 - Filthy Food, AI Jesus, 7pm Bryan and Startup Spies.
Hosts: Dan, Lomax (Outsized), Andrew J Scott (7%), Mads (SuperSeed VC) Runtime: ~48 minutes Topic: Markets, M&A, AI mayhem, longevity hype, startup espionage — and a little bit of Bryan Johnson's bedtime routine...
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48:45
Upside #33 - UK DOGE, Project Europe, Trump's Real Tariff Tactics
The UK’s Cost-Cutting Drive – DOGE'esque?UK government’s plan to cut civil service costs using AI-driven efficiencies. Public sector pensions estimated between £2.5-5 trillion – is cost-cutting enough? Will AI and startups play a rol...
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42:18
Upside #32 - Tech to kill, tech to heal.
Upside Podcast: Defence, Health Tech & The Future of European VentureThis week on Upside, Dan Bowyer (SuperSeed VC) is joined by Lomax (Outsized) and Peter Ward (Humanity) to dive into two major themes dominating European ven...
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47:33
Upside #31 - The Grind is Back
Euro Grind, Google Grind, and Startup Hustle.As normal we dig behind the headlines to discuss the real stories affecting European venture. With Dan Bowyer, Mads Jensen, Andrew Scott and Karin Nielsen.The State of European Tech ...
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53:33
Upside #30 - Can Europe win AI, Fusion & Quantum?
In this episode of Upside, hosts Dan and Mads from SuperSeed are joined by Ben Prade, Partner at GP Bullhound. Topics covered:State of European Venture Capital Geopolitics & VC - the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance, Eu...
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44:02
Upside #29 - Le Summit, Le Chat, Le $100bn
Upside #29 - Le Summit, Le Chat, Le $100bnLP Blind SpotsLP in Asia with 3000 managers but only 3 in Europe—why?European VC viewed as a "blind spot" by many investors in Asia and the US.The need for European investors to brid...
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37:08
Upside #28 - Inside no.10, Going Nuclear, UK merely a startup incubator? European (lack of) sovereign wealth?
In this episode, Dan, Lomax, and Mads dive into a packed agenda spanning tech earnings, European venture dynamics, government policies on AI and nuclear energy, and the debate over whether Europe—or the UK—could (or should) define its own versi...
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1:01:16
Upside #27 - You say to NATO, EU defence up in arms, UK growth rhetoric vs reality, Deepseek deep dive.
Hosts: Dan, Andrew, Mads and LomaxThe Future of Defence in Europe - Show tRump the monnaayyyy- NATO defence spending push: Lithuania and Estonia commit to Trump's 5% target.- Europe's over-reliance on US defence in...
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1:00:43
Upside #26 - Operator operates, AI workforces launch, More runways = what? Trumps first days and Stargate.
This week Dan, Lomax, and Ferdinand discuss European startup investing, focusing on the impact of AI, job cuts at Meta and what that really means, commercial changes at the head of the UK competition regulator, airport expansions mean what and ...
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51:58
Upside #25 - UK IPOs Rise, AI Opportunities Action Plan, A Jurassic Lark & White Hydrogen
In this episode, we dive into the future of London's IPO pipeline, the UK's ambitious AI opportunities action plan, and Colossal Biosciences' fascinating mission to resurrect extinct species like the woolly mammoth. We also explore the role of ...
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43:42
Upside #24 - Fact Check This, European Unicorns, Should Govt Invest in Startups? Digits For Who?
In this insightful episode, Dan, Mads, and Lomax tackle some of the most pressing topics in tech, venture capital, and global business, diving into issues like Europe's chip dependency, the evolving role of AI in VC, the future of social media ...
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1:02:08