Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology
Riding Unicorns is the go-to podcast for anyone interested in venture capital and high-growth startups. Hosted by VCs James Pringle and Hector Mason, the show explores what it takes to build and back successful tech unicorns.
Each episode features candid conversations with top founders, operators, and investors—unpacking the strategies, challenges, and insights behind scaling category-defining companies. From fundraising and product-market fit to hiring, growth, and beyond, no topic is off-limits. Whether you're a founder, VC, angel investor, or just curious about the world of startups, you’ll find valuable takeaways in every episode.
Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology
Building Europe’s Investment Rails with Martin Kassing, Founder & CEO @ Upvest
This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Martin Kassing, founder and CEO of Upvest, one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech infrastructure companies.
Martin’s journey spans private equity, Rocket Internet, multiple startups, and now leading a company that powers investment products for the likes of Revolut and N26. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore what it really takes to build an enduring infrastructure company in Europe.
🎧 Topics covered include:
- The founding journey of Upvest and its pivot from blockchain to API investment infrastructure
- Lessons from being a repeat founder (including early failures and a Klarna acquisition)
- Building a high-performance team and the hiring strategies that work
- The challenges of finding product-market fit in fintech
- Fundraising insights: raising from Bessemer, lessons from Series A and B
- How Martin keeps himself motivated and structured as a high-pressure founder
- Why he still does outbound hiring personally on LinkedIn
- His view on IPOs, partnerships, and what comes next for Upvest
Martin shares candid reflections, hard-earned wisdom, and a rare glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster of building something meaningful. A must-listen for fintech founders, investors, and operators.
