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Here's a fact we didn't expect: that coffee you're holding cuts blood flow to your brain by around 30%. Today's guest has built technology that can see it happening, and the bigger prize is using it to show whether the new wave of Alzheimer's drugs is working for each patient.On today's episode, we're joined by Thomas Kirk, co-founder and CEO of Quantified Imaging. Thomas went from building ventilators with Oxford and Smith & Nephew at the start of COVID, to a free vaccination-planning tool used by around half of UK GPs, to founding a company around ASL MRI: a scan that measures blood flow in the brain and costs a fraction of a PET scan. We get into why dementia drugs that only slow decline by 30% on average need a better way of tracking who's responding, why data rather than regulation is the biggest barrier to growth, the role of the University of Nottingham, and where the technology goes next, from GLP-1 obesity drugs to psychiatry.If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and leave us a comment. To learn more about what we're doing at SyndicateRoom, head to syndicateroom.com or follow Tom Britton on LinkedIn.

Could the first wave of AI turn out to be a capital destruction event? On today's episode we're joined by Oli Hammond, Partner at Fuel Ventures, where he leads seed rounds of £1–2 million into B2B companies — and, full disclosure, a SyndicateRoom alumnus who started his career with us before going on to bigger things.Oli believes AI will create enormous value — for a very small number of firms — while most startups in the application layer get swallowed by the very platforms they're built on. We dig into why he thinks 99% of the money chasing AI will lose, why regulated markets may be the last place software can still build a moat, and why founder–market fit misses the thing that matters most: whether a founder can deliver bad news early. Plus how a lead investor sells his money to the best founders, what Fuel's 1,800-strong investor network does for a portfolio company, and the top rule on Oli's list of eight — "mediocre people with unique ideas don't work."Enjoy the episode? Please like, subscribe and tell your friends, and leave a comment or question; we'll do our best to reply. Follow Oli on LinkedIn, find Fuel Ventures at fuel.ventures, and see what we're doing at SyndicateRoom at syndicateroom.comLearn about the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

The UK is set to spend ~£15bn upgrading 5 million homes by 2030 — but much of the insulation we've already paid for is failing, and the way we survey buildings hasn't really changed in 30 years.Lucy Lyons is fixing that. Her company, Kestrix, flies thermal imaging drones over buildings to map exactly where heat is escaping — and has already covered around 12,000 homes.In this episode, Tom and Lucy get into:Why finding the right co-founder matters more than the ideaWhat's actually broken about EPCs — and what replaces themHow £15bn of government retrofit money could be spent far betterWhy Kestrix's thermal dataset is a moat that compounds in the age of AIThe vision: becoming the building-surveying company of the futureA must-listen for anyone interested in climate tech, the built environment, and early-stage EIS investing.Follow Lucy on LinkedInFollow Tom on LinkedInTo see more about the Google of heat loss, visit the Kestrix websiteTo explore early-stage investing, visit SyndicateRoom.

How does someone go from Pig Farmer, to Actuary, to successfully exited Entrepreneur, and now top 1% Angel Investor? I sat down with Alister Esam to find out and to unpack the hard-won investing framework behind his success and the portfolio companies he backs. Tune in as Alister explains why he ignores the hype, which metrics matter at the seed stage, and how he's now opening his deal flow to co-investors through his new venture, Angel6. Whether you're writing your first angel cheque or your fiftieth, this conversation is packed with actionable signals. In This Episode We Cover: Why Alister refuses to back pre-revenue startups — and the failed first investment that taught him that lessonThe exact metrics sweet spot he targets: £100–400K ARR, sub-£7M valuation, and explosive growthHow bootstrapping eShare to a 50% EBITDA margin shaped his empathy (and bluntness) as an investorThe "head in the sand" problem founders face — and what a good shake actually looks likeWhy a billion-pound TAM can be a red flag, not a green lightDefensibility beyond IP: domain knowledge moats and niche advantagesHow Angel6 lets everyday investors co-invest alongside a proven angel at zero cost About Alister EsamAlister Esam grew up on a pig farm in the UK, where he learned the value of hard work and iterative process improvement — themes he later explored in his book The Dirty Word. After a career as an actuary, he co-founded eShare, a SaaS governance portal he bootstrapped to profitability and ran for 14 years before exiting in 2018. He has since built a portfolio of 30+ angel investments and is now ranked in the top 1% of UK angel investors. His latest venture, Angel6, allows other investors to co-invest alongside him at no cost.

While the last decade of FinTech made accessing credit as easy as a single swipe, the technology behind repaying that debt remained stuck in the dark ages of rigid direct debits and impersonal collections. With UK unsecured consumer debt hitting a staggering £237 billion—averaging £4,400 per adult—the "repayment gap" represents one of the largest untapped opportunities in financial services.In this episode, Tom Britton sits down with Hannah Baynham, CEO and Co-founder of HaBO Money. A veteran of the early "Starling Bank" revolution, Hannah is now applying that same obsessive focus on UX and digital innovation to the debt sector.We dive into why "bad debt" is often a failure of design rather than affordability, and how HaBO’s "save-as-you-repay" model aligns perfectly with the FCA’s rigorous new Consumer Duty standards.Key insights from this episode:The Design Failure: Why 60% of people seeking debt support are actually employed and have positive budgets, but lack the digital tools to manage fluctuating income.The Business Case for Empathy: How HaBO creates a win-win by charging lenders for successful repayments while building borrower resilience.Regulatory Tailwinds: Why the shift toward Consumer Duty is making HaBO’s infrastructure a "must-have" for modern lenders.The Million-Person Mission: Hannah’s five-year vision to move a million people from debt into sustainable savings.Featured Quote:"All of this effort has gone into making the access to credit so easy, digital, and on your phone, but the repayment experience has been totally neglected. It's still the same as it was 10 years ago. We are changing that." — Hannah BaynhamAbout the Guest:Hannah Baynham is the CEO of haboo money. Her career spans the forefront of the UK FinTech revolution at Starling Bank to management consulting for global financial institutions. She is now focused on building the infrastructure for a more resilient financial future.Connect with Angel Insights:Learn more about the SyndicateRoom portfolio: syndicateroom.comFollow Tom Britton on LinkedIn: Tom BrittonExplore HaBO Money: haboomoney.com