Tech Nation

What does it take to be a modern COO? At last night's Future Fifty COO Dinner, Rakesh Harji, COO of Lawhive joined us for a fireside chat on what it really means to scale a business - not just in size, but in structure, culture, and mindset. Drawing on six years of helping companies grow across four regions, Rakesh shared lessons that resonated with every person in the room: 💡 Culture is everything. If your company isn’t open to improving its processes, it can’t scale. Great people need great systems, ones that help them work smarter, not harder. 📊 Operations must show value. As you grow, boards want visibility and confidence that progress is backed by data. Metrics can be powerful tools to prove operational impact. 🌍 Scaling means staying connected. Whether you’re growing from 60 to 240 people or expanding across regions, alignment is key. Everyone should work from the same data set, one version of the truth. 🤝 The COO–Founder dynamic matters. The COO’s role isn’t to take control, but to turn a founder’s vision into systems and outcomes that scale - freeing founders to focus on what’s next. 📈 At Series B and beyond, discipline is non-negotiable. Growth must be tied to profitability and margin. Budgeting, payroll, and forecasting aren’t admin, they’re strategy. Rakesh’s advice to himself summed it up perfectly: “Don’t make decisions on assumption. Make them with data. Better data always leads to better decisions.” A huge thank you to Rakesh Harji, to all our Future Fifty COOs, HSBC Innovation Banking and EY for joining us to share experiences, challenges, and insights on scaling sustainably. #ItTakesATechNation Ellie Steel | Johnny M. | Charlotte Harris | Megha Malhotra

The London Stock Exchange is bringing together an inspiring lineup of CEOs and senior leaders for this year's IPO Forum. 📅 Join them on the 5th November to gain first-hand insights from leaders shaping growth, innovation and investor engagement across sectors. Featured speakers include:  ✅  Laurence Newman - Founder & CEO, The Beauty Tech Group (CurrentBody, ZIIP, Tria)  ✅  Catherine Graham -  Senior Finance Executive, Darktrace ✅  Andrew Belshaw - CEO, Gamma ✅  Michael Burt -  CFO, Unite Students Don’t miss your chance to connect with peers and industry experts driving the UK’s scaleup success story. 🔗 Register now:  https://lnkd.in/ekbKi--K #IPOForum #CapitalMarkets #UKTech #Scaleups

Life isn’t just about wellness; it’s about longevity. 🌱✨ Next summer The Longevity Show will be brought to London on the 26-27th June. A new global gathering brought to you by Founders Forum Group and Longevity.Technology. The show will bring together experts, consumers, and brands with a shared interest in longevity to showcase new products, share breakthroughs, and build connections. This two-day affair will include: 🌟Workshops: Take part in hands-on sessions in breathwork, stress management, cognitive resilience, and more - led by the experts behind the science. 🌟Exhibition Hall: Discover the latest in biohacking, nutrition, fitness, and weight management - products, therapies, and technologies designed to extend both lifespan and healthspan. 🌟Demo Stage: See live demonstrations, practical tools, and evidence-backed insights for living better, longer - today. 🌟Main Stage: Hear from the leading global voices driving today’s longevity movement - from research to real-world applications transforming health and wellbeing. 🌟Business Conference: Join a two-day forum for executives, clinicians, and investors exploring opportunities in the rapidly expanding longevity economy. (Professionals only) 🌟VIP Zone: Meet global thought leaders in intimate ‘Ask Me Anything’ conversations. Stay tuned for the speaker's announcement, full programme details and early access registration! 🔗 Pre-register here: https://longevityshow.com/  #TheLongevityShow #LiveLongerBetterNow #FutureOfWellness #LongevityRevolution #LongevityForEveryone

🌍🌱 On Monday, we welcomed corporate sustainability leaders, policy specialists, and some of the UK's leading Climate and Nature Founders to The Gherkin for the third #ClimateLeadersForum. From Harriet Lamb, CEO of the Green Party of England and Wales, exploring how emotional connection drives action on intersecting crises, to leader-focused discussions on carbon removal markets and forward financing mechanisms, the forum tackled the commercial and operational realities corporate leaders face when embedding climate solutions at scale. Key takeaways for corporate decision-makers: 👉 Strategic storytelling matters. Sustainability leaders need compelling narratives that connect climate action to business resilience and stakeholder value, not just risk mitigation. 👉 Proof of concept accelerates adoption. CFOs and CSOs are moving faster when they can benchmark against tangible case studies, whether renewable integration, carbon capture ROI, or supply chain decarbonisation. 👉 Forward financing unlocks scale. Robust business cases for carbon removal and nature-based solutions are essential for securing executive buy-in and moving beyond pilot projects. Huge thanks to our brilliant speakers for sharing their time and expertise: Baroness Lola Young, Stuart Jackson (Octopus Energy), Lubomila Jordanova (Plan A), Sil van der Woerd (Studio Birthplace), Gabrielle Walker (CUR8), Elizabeth Corse (DisCom Ltd), Ryan Kohn, and Grace Pengelly (The Climate Diplomat). And to our partners Octopus Energy, CUR8, and Plan A. Sammy Fry | Ellie Steel | Imogen Granger | Demi Crook | Charlotte Harris | Megha Malhotra

Our Upscale CEO Dinner brought together some of the UK's most ambitious scaleup leaders for an evening of frank discussions and valuable lessons. The discussion didn't hold back. We explored the realities of building at scale, from capitalising on market momentum and recruiting exceptional talent, to navigating the growth versus profitability trade-off that keeps every CEO awake at night. Key themes that resonated: 🌟 On seizing opportunity: Raise money when you can, always, and raise money when you don't need it, especially when markets are hot. The importance of maintaining an 18-month runway and moving decisively when windows open. 🌟 On building teams: Recruitment emerged as one of the highest-leverage activities for any leader. The filter that matters most? Ask yourself: would I want to work for this founder if I were 25? 🌟 On customer obsession: Constantly putting yourself in the customer's mind is what separates good companies from great ones. 🌟 On commitment: There was honest discussion about work-life balance and the intense periods of obsessive commitment that often unlock extraordinary outcomes, especially in the early stages of building something significant. The value of these dinners lies in the unfiltered exchange between leaders who understand the unique pressures of scaling. Thank you to everyone who contributed to such a rich conversation. HSBC Innovation Banking | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati | Cooper Parry | Brent Hoberman |  Yasmine Messaikeh | Ellie Steel | Charlotte Harris |

⭐️ Our recent Future Fifty events brought together some of the UK's most ambitious founders to tackle the real challenges of scaling high-growth companies. Tech & Product Breakfast with Martin Eriksson  We explored critical questions, including: How do you scale systems, teams, and processes together? When should you transition from a founder-led to a customer-led roadmap? This intimate session showcased exactly why our smaller, focused gatherings create such valuable conversations. CEO Dinner in partnership with Evelyn Partners featured a fireside chat with Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Calm Michael's fireside chat delivered insights that left us with plenty to think about, including: 👉 Burnout: building companies takes decades, you can't sprint the entire journey, so treat your mental and physical health like your business depends on it – because it does.  👉 Industry veterans don't always fit Scale-ups. Experienced senior execs may look impressive on paper, but they don't always thrive in fast-growing companies. Michael called this a "very expensive lesson". Thank you to everyone who joined us and to Martin Eriksson and Michael Acton Smith for sharing their wisdom so generously. #ItTakesATechNation Evelyn Partners | Brent Hoberman | Carolyn Dawson | Johnny M. | Ellie Steel | Charlotte Harris |

🌟 A successful exit is the ultimate goal for many founders, yet the path to achieving it is rarely discussed. Our latest Upscale US Exit Dinner with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, dived into the practical realities behind that journey. The discussion covered everything from building relationships with potential strategic acquirers early on, to the importance of strong financial hygiene and accounting systems from day one, and how board dynamics can ultimately shape an exit outcome. A huge thank you to Ross Davies and Michael Labriola (Partners at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and Husayn Kassai (Founder, Quench.ai and long-time ecosystem champion in the mentor to the UK tech ecosystem), for expertly unpacking the key considerations, challenges, and opportunities that help founders navigate their exit journeys. Yasmine Messaikeh | Ellie Steel | Charlotte Harris | #ItTakesaTechNation

📹 From the Future Fifty Forum to your feed: Here’s Ryan Edwards, founder of Audoo, on building, scaling, and his best founder advice. He’s part of the Future Fifty 2025. Read all their stories 👉 Download the Future Fifty Report: https://lnkd.in/eQPfrMqH #ItTakesaTechNation Ella Ross Russell | Demi Crook | Marco De Novellis | Imogen Granger | Johnny M. | Ellie Steel

The State of Asian Funding UK Report is here! Led by our friends at Bae HQ, this landmark report shines a light on an underdocumented part of the UK startup ecosystem - combining funding data with unique community insights to set a new baseline for progress. Packed with recommendations to help policymakers and the wider ecosystem drive real change. 📊 Dive into the findings: https://lnkd.in/ehh2NtwT

What makes a strong company culture, and how do you protect it while scaling fast? 🚀 From hiring at speed, to embedding values in distributed teams, to the pivotal role middle managers play in shaping culture… these were just some of the big questions explored at our #FutureFifty Chief People Officer dinner last week. A huge thank you to Adam DeSanges, Ben Tang-Watts, and Michael Convery from Emerald Technology for hosting and sparking such an insightful conversation. 🙌 #ItTakesATechNation Johnny M. | Ellie Steel | Ailsa Taylor Mealings | Imogen Granger | Demi Crook