This week, Mike talks to Ryan Mendy.

Growing up in East London, Ryan Mendy went on to become an entrepreneur, investor and business ecosystem builder who has spent more than two decades at the intersection of capital markets, technology and high-growth companies.

Having held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and across the public markets, advising on IPOs, corporate transactions and growth companies in London and New York, Ryan later helped the founders of Zilch build the business from concept to the UK and EMEA's fastest-growing fintech unicorn. He also co-founded and co-chairs the Unicorn Council for UK Fintech, the market-first coalition of leading fintech founders and CEOs working to help make Britain the best place in the world to start, scale and list a fintech company.

In a wide-ranging and philosophical conversation, Mike and Ryan explore what really drives growth, why technology changes rapidly while human behaviour changes slowly, and what separates companies that ignite from those that genuinely scale. Drawing on lessons from capital markets, entrepreneurship and fintech, they discuss product-market fit, trust, incentives, fundraising, leadership and the enduring importance of removing friction from customers' lives.

Drawing on decades spent advising founders, CEOs and investors, Ryan also shares his perspective on why the UK consistently produces world-class entrepreneurs but retains too little of the long-term economic upside, the role of capital in building global champions, and why trust may be the most undervalued form of capital in modern business. From Amazon and NVIDIA to Zilch and the next generation of British technology companies, this is a conversation about growth, resilience, human behaviour and building businesses that endure.

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