Kevin Smith, CEO at Venture Comet: Helping founders unlock equity earlier in their startup journey

Founders can spend years building valuable companies while paying themselves almost nothing, with all of the upside locked away until an exit that may still be years off.Kevin Smith, CEO at Venture Comet, is building a platform that helps founders release a small amount of equity earlier in the journey instead of waiting for a single make-or-break outcome at the end. One of the biggest shifts he points to is how much investor attitudes around founder secondaries have changed, with far more acceptance that giving founders some financial breathing room can actually help companies last longer and build bigger outcomes.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europeChargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeuropeTimestamps:0:00 - Introduction1:07 - What Venture Comet does2:20 - Why founders struggle in years 3-54:52 - When founders should consider secondaries6:24 - Why Kevin started the company8:36 - The rise of founder secondaries11:17 - How Venture Comet works with investors13:48 - The future of Venture Comet16:38 - Building differently the second time around19:23 - Staying focused as a second-time founder