Money Talks Nobody Else Wants to Have
Most startup advice skips the uncomfortable bits. We don't. Learn how to talk about burn rates, equity splits, and investor expectations without flinching—because avoiding these conversations costs founders everything.
See What We Actually TeachFixing the Advice Gap
There's too much startup content about vision boards and not enough about what happens when your co-founder wants out, your runway shrinks, or your revenue model isn't working.
Cash Flow Reality
You'll spend months learning that revenue and cash are different things. We teach you how to read bank statements before you need a rescue round.
Equity Conversations
Splitting ownership feels easy until someone wants to leave or contribute less. We help you structure agreements that survive real-world stress.
Investor Expectations
Angels and VCs use different languages and want different outcomes. Understanding this before you pitch changes everything about your approach.
How the Programme Actually Works
Six months starting September 2025. Evening sessions in Liverpool, because most founders can't quit their day jobs yet.
Financial Foundations
Build spreadsheets that tell you when you're running out of money. Learn to forecast scenarios where things go wrong, because they will. Understand what metrics actually matter to people who might fund you.
Structuring and Compliance
Company structures, shareholder agreements, and the legal stuff that seems boring until it isn't. We bring in accountants and solicitors who've seen founders make expensive mistakes.
Funding and Negotiation
How to approach investors, what terms mean in practice, and when to walk away. Real pitch practice with people who've sat on both sides of funding tables.
No Success Theatre
We don't pretend every startup makes it. Most don't, and that's fine—but you should understand why, and what you could have done differently.
Our instructors have started companies that succeeded and ones that failed. They'll tell you about both, because the failures teach more.
- Real financial models from actual UK startups that raised and spent money
- Case studies of funding rounds that went sideways and what the founders learned
- Direct access to advisors who remember what it's like not knowing this stuff
- Small cohorts where you can ask the questions you're too embarrassed to Google
Who This Actually Helps
You're probably building something while working another job. You understand your product but finance feels like a different language. That's exactly who we built this for.
Maybe you've already started—incorporated, got a few customers, wondering what comes next. Or you're still in planning mode but smart enough to know money decisions happen before you think they do.
Technical Founders
Built the product, now need to understand the business model and funding options available in the UK market.
Service Business Owners
Running an agency or consultancy that could scale, but unsure whether to bootstrap or raise, and what each path actually looks like.
Second-Time Builders
Did this before, learned things the expensive way, want to get the financial structure right this time from day one.
The Bit About Instructors
Marlow Kinsley ran a SaaS company through two funding rounds before an acquisition in 2023. She'll teach you about term sheets and why some investor money costs more than others.
Brixton Vale helped twelve UK startups with their seed rounds as a fractional CFO. He knows what makes investors say yes and, more importantly, what makes them walk away.
Both live in the northwest and remember what it's like trying to figure this stuff out from blog posts and Reddit threads. They'd rather you learned from their mistakes than made your own.
What You'll Actually Build
Forget theoretical exercises. You'll create real financial models for your actual business—or one you're seriously considering starting.
By the end, you'll have a 12-month cash flow forecast, understanding of your unit economics, and term sheet that doesn't give away the company. These aren't templates; they're working documents you'll use.
Past participants have used their programme work to secure funding, negotiate better terms with investors, and make smarter decisions about when to hire and when to wait.
Applications Open June 2025
We take twenty founders per cohort. Programme runs September through February. Liverpool location, evening sessions, with some weekend workshops for the detailed stuff.