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
Growth Equity, VCTs and Exits with Rupert West, Managing Director @ Puma Growth Partners
Please note: The topics covered in this episode should not be taken as investment advice.
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Rupert West, the founder and Managing Director of Puma Growth Partners, a UK-based growth equity investor backing companies at Series A with cheque sizes of £4–10m. Puma invests across consumer brands, B2B SaaS, and scalable business services, with a hands-on approach to helping founders scale sustainably and successfully exit.
Rupert shares the story of building Puma from scratch, starting with the core mission: to deliver true value-add support to founders using his team’s operational and financial expertise. He also dives into the firm’s unique structure (including VCTs), investment thesis, and deep operational involvement with portfolio companies like Pockit and YASO.
🦄 In this episode, we discuss:
📊 Why Puma takes a multi-sector approach and how it helps reduce concentration risk
🧠 What makes a founder truly “venture-backable” and how Puma assesses founder psychology
🚀 Case study: Why Puma backed social commerce infra startup YASO to help brands scale in China
🧰 Exit readiness: How VCs should focus on DPI, not just deployment
📍 Why “next round ready” is as important as product-market fit
💥 Lessons from navigating crises from 2008 to COVID to today’s inflation squeeze
🏦 The power of VCTs and permanent capital in turbulent markets
🌱 Why every venture firm needs resilience and empathy to support founders in hard times
💬 Rupert’s take on customer obsession and why the best founders keep buyers front and centre
Whether you’re raising your Series A or building a growth fund yourself, this episode offers deep insight into what great VC support should look like and how fund managers can stay close to the action while scaling.
