The Hidden Industry. How To Get Into Venture Capital | Bread & Butter Podcast - Ep 98 FT Yvonne Bajela

This episode of the Bread & Butter Podcast features Yvonne Bajela, one of the most respected voices in UK venture capital. Yvonne shares an honest account of how she entered an industry many people struggle to access. Venture capital felt closed when she started in 2015. Few UK funds existed. Hiring relied on networks. Roles stayed off job boards. Cold messages led nowhere. Her entry point did not start with a title. It started with building. Yvonne built her own startup, learned how businesses operate under pressure, and used that experience to force credibility. Persistence mattered more than permission. She breaks down venture capital in clear terms. How funds raise money. Where capital comes from. How investors earn returns. Why founders matter more than ideas. Why obsession, resilience, and execution separate winners from noise. The conversation covers risk. Real risk. Pay cuts. Career pivots. Cultural pressure. Fear of failure. Yvonne explains why comfort slows progress, especially early in your career. She speaks on why long-term thinking beats lifestyle optics. You will also hear lessons from investing early in companies like Marshmallow, and how early-stage decisions shape billion-pound outcomes. She explains why some businesses scale fast, while others fail despite strong ideas. The episode goes deeper into Africa, emerging markets, and realistic expectations. Yvonne shares why timing, market context, and patience matter more than hype. She also addresses crowdfunding, Revolut, Monzo, and why everyday investors need caution. This is a conversation about access, mindset, and discipline. It is for founders, operators, investors, and anyone curious about how capital really moves. 🎧 Tap in now, and don’t forget to Like, Share & Subscribe! The Bread and Butter by Emmanuel Asuquo & Tayo Oguntonade is not your typical finance or business podcast, it explores real-life stories of how money plays a part in our day-to-day life - with no boundaries, no secrets and no censorship. In each episode we invite you to be a fly in the room when we discuss money taboos, key financial advice and some of the hottest money topics online, often with well-known guests from influencers, athletes to musicians. Together we discuss money in a super relatable way, talk about the impacts it's had on their journey and the role it plays today. Topics will revolve around how money plays a part in parenting, living and working abroad, entrepreneurship and content creation & more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices