Why Most VCs Don’t Actually Do Venture Capital | Symvan Capital on the State of Early-Stage Funding

What does hands-on VC actually look like? In this episode of Founders Unplugged, Greg sits down with Kealan Doyle and Michael Theodosiou from Symvan Capital, one of the UK’s most disciplined early-stage venture capital firms.

Kealan and Michael share what really goes into building a successful VC firm — from avoiding “spray and pray” investing to supporting founders through the toughest stages of growth.

They talk founder-led sales, the broken pre-seed market, the myth of the ‘gut feel’ VC, and why too many funds look the part but don’t do the work. If you're raising capital, running a startup, or building a fund, this episode is full of hard-earned insight you won’t get from the highlight reel.

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📍 CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome and intros

01:30 Michael’s route from barrister to venture capital

03:35 How Kealan and Nick started Symvan Capital

05:05 The EIS market and why Symvan bet on high-risk, high-return

07:50 What drew Michael to startups and why VC felt like the perfect fit

09:55 How Symvan supports pre-revenue founders

12:00 Transitioning from investment banking to startups

13:30 Why most VCs aren't really “venture” capitalists

15:00 Rigour vs gut feel — the myth of the instinct-led investor

18:00 Is due diligence killing early-stage innovation?

21:45 Why Symvan’s DD process focuses more on founders than forecasts

23:00 Founders as evangelists — why most early salespeople fail

26:35 The case for hard skills in early-stage investing

29:00 Why technical founders often can’t sell — and how to fix it

32:45 Building a startup is more like making a film than you think

35:10 Sales MVPs and the myth of the perfect pitch

37:50 Can founders grow with their startup — or do they need to be replaced?

40:05 Why most first hires fail and how founders can avoid it

42:00 Communication, clarity, and the founder’s real job

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🔗 Follow Kealan Doyle on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kealandoyle/

🔗 Follow Michael Theodosiou on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-theodosiou-4a9280a3/

🚀 Check out Symvan Capital:

https://www.symvancapital.com/

💬 Book a free 1-hour commercial advisory session with host Greg McCallum:

https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/meetings/gmccallum?uuid=c8f5cecd-0222-4c6e-92d1-ea9f224a60fd