I’ve built and scaled companies in the UK. I’ve raised capital, sold a company to Adobe, invested in over 60 startups, and advised founders across sectors. I know the reality: we have world-class talent, exceptional ideas, and deep technical skill. But when it comes to scaling businesses, really scaling them into global, category-defining companies, the UK still lags behind.
The frustration is real.
We don’t lack ambition. We lack appetite. Appetite for risk. Appetite for scale.
Appetite for the planetary vision that Silicon Valley breathes like oxygen.
Spend time in the Valley, as I did during my earn-out years with Adobe, and the difference is stark. The mindset is global by default. The money flows with audacity. The failures are worn as stripes of experience, not scars of shame.
Back home in London, the pattern is different. Founders get hemmed in by cautious investors, by boards asking for predictable quarterly returns, by ecosystems that celebrate exits at £100m when the company could have been built for £10b.
This isn’t about copying America. It’s about unlocking ambition here, without losing what makes the UK strong, discipline, creativity, resilience.
Silicon Valley vs. UK: The Differences That Matter
Let’s break down the contrasts.
Mindset
Valley: “Why not build something that serves a billion people?”
UK: “What’s our exit plan at £80m?”
The Valley defaults to planetary scale. The UK defaults to short term financial outcomes.
Capital
Valley: Deep pools of venture capital that can tolerate years of losses in pursuit of dominance.
UK: Thinner capital markets, faster pressure for profitability, risk spread too thin.
Appetite
Valley: Risk is normal. You’re expected to swing for the fences.
UK: Conservatism. A preference for safe returns, measured bets, tidy stories.
Narrative
Valley: Founders tell stories about changing the world.
UK: Founders tell stories about how they’ll be a nice acquisition target.
Failure
Valley: Failure is tolerated, so long as you did everything you could.
UK: Failure is often seen as career-ending.
These cultural and financial differences cascade into outcomes. Which is why, despite our talent, the Valley produces more unicorns, IPOs, and category-defining platforms.
The Skills and Talent Are Already Here
Here’s the good news: we’re not short of capability.
Our universities are exceptional. Our talent base in AI, fintech, life sciences, and creative industries is world-class. UK founders punch above their weight in creativity, design, and execution. Our engineers, marketers, and operators are among the best globally.
But talent without capital is like an engine without fuel. It can roar, but it won’t go far.
And yet, the answer isn’t to complain. It’s to adopt the mindset of the Valley inside your business, even if the ecosystem around you isn’t there yet.
How to Adopt a Silicon Valley Mindset Inside Your Business
Here’s how I’ve seen founders bridge the gap:
Think Planetary, Not Local
Don’t build for the UK market. Don’t even build for Europe. Build with the question: how could this matter for millions globally?
Tell a Story Bigger Than Your Numbers
Investors buy narrative before they buy spreadsheets. Your deck should make the future feel inevitable, not just plausible.
Treat Capital as Leverage, Not as Validation
Don’t raise to prove you’re credible. Raise to build an engine that compounds.
Hire With Fire
Find leaders who don’t just do the job, but burn for the mission. Passion multiplies more than process alone.
Normalize Risk in Your Culture
Encourage bold experiments. Celebrate learnings, not just wins. Build a culture where fear of failure doesn’t kill ambition.
Move With Urgency, Think With Patience
Valley companies move fast on decisions but think slow on vision. Adopt both.
Raising Capital: Why You Need to Get to the US
If you’re serious about playing the long game, at some point you’ll need to raise in the US.
The capital markets are deeper. The risk appetite is wider. The investor mindset is closer to what you’ll need to scale.
That doesn’t mean abandoning the UK. It means using the UK as your base, but recognising that scaling without American capital and networks is often like climbing Everest without oxygen. Possible, but rare.
How to do it:
Build a strong UK base of traction first.
Start building US investor relationships early — well before you need the round.
Craft your narrative in the Valley’s language: inevitability, scale, planetary ambition.
Be ready to relocate senior hires or even yourself if it means unlocking networks.
The UK’s Path Forward
So how do we get there as a nation?
Celebrate Bigger Wins
Stop glorifying the £50m exit. Push towards the £10b IPO.
Change the Narrative Around Failure
Investors and founders alike need to reframe failure as learning, not shame.
Deepen Capital Pools
We need more late-stage capital in the UK that can fund true scale, not just safe returns.
Create Founder-Friendly Ecosystems
Advisors, boards, media — all need to reward ambition, not risk-aversion.
The UK can do this. We’ve done it in finance, in media, in culture. Tech is the next frontier.
Leading Like Yourself
But here’s the final piece.
Scaling like Silicon Valley doesn’t mean copying Silicon Valley. It means borrowing its audacity while leading like yourself.
Don’t fake the bombast if it’s not you. Don’t posture. Don’t adopt bravado as strategy. Lead with your own voice, your own principles, your own clarity.
Because what really scales isn’t imitation. It’s authenticity.
The Valley gives us a model of ambition. The UK gives us a model of discipline. Together, they can create companies that not only compete globally, but endure.
Final Thought
Scaling is mindset before it’s mechanics.
If you adopt the Valley’s boldness inside your business, raise smartly in the US, and blend it with the UK’s depth of talent and resilience, you give yourself a real shot.
Not just at being acquired. Not just at being “promising.”
But at building something that lasts decades.
That’s the long game. And it’s time we played it here.