Track Record by Tramlines

Tramlines
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Track Record by Tramlines explores how AI is reshaping investment, finance, and business. Each episode brings financial leaders, investors, founders, economists, and policymakers into conversation about what is changing now and where money and opportunity are moving as a result. Made for investors, founders, and business owners, it offers a practical view of the AI economy from the people doing the work. Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 15h ago

    Tony Langham | Always Leave Something for Someone Else

    Tony Langham co-founded the communications firm Lansons in the late 1980s with his wife, Clare Parsons. Out of it came the research company Opinium, an office building in Smithfield Market, and a stake in the PR agency Hope and Glory. Lansons was sold three years ago and still carries his name. In this episode of Track Record, Albert asks Tony what makes an entrepreneur, why he believes in sharing ownership, and what AI means for reputation, creativity and the next generation. Tony is an investor in Tramlines and works with the team. Key moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:04 Who Tony is: Lansons, Opinium and Hope and Glory 03:43 Why Tony fits Tramlines 05:20 Art, culture and what we're fighting for 07:52 What being an entrepreneur means 08:12 His father, and never being good enough 09:23 Going into business with Clare 10:39 Magic and logic 11:41 Credibility, not performance 13:10 Ownership and responsible capitalism 14:53 Always leave something for someone else 17:00 Why British founders sell 17:51 Uber and who will win 21:10 PR: what's died and what's thrived 23:01 What PR actually is 25:05 Ideas that research badly 25:52 Love, humour, music and connections 27:10 Em dashes and the sameness of AI design 28:14 AI does average brilliantly 29:09 The future of reputation businesses 32:00 Who trains the next generation 33:16 Long-term thinking in short-term cycles 36:48 Are entrepreneurs good for society? 38:17 Hope instead of dread 40:06 No side hustles 42:56 The £100m question 44:43 Pride and self-worth 45:51 Advice for Albert 47:44 Close Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Tony Langham | Always Leave Something for Someone Else

  2. Oct 21

    Costi Perricos | The Era of the AI Workforce

    Costi Perricos, Deloitte's Global Generative AI Business Leader, joins Albert Azis-Clauson to discuss how AI is changing the way businesses are organised, how people work and develop their expertise, and the economics of professional services. Drawing on his journey from rehabilitation engineering and academia into consulting, Costi explains why human judgement remains central as AI becomes more capable. They explore what leaders need to understand themselves, how junior people can gain experience alongside agents, and who takes responsibility for managing a digital workforce. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:18 Engineering, academia and the route into consulting 09:32 Leading GenAI at Deloitte 11:44 AI education, fearers and reverers 15:39 Why human judgement still matters 19:36 Developing the next generation of experts 24:47 Leadership and managing a digital workforce 28:04 Human creativity and the limits of AI 30:41 Thinking of AI agents as teammates 32:24 What small and large businesses can learn from each other 37:24 The changing economics of professional services 41:39 Ownership, agent architecture and the agentic harness 48:53 Startups, large firms and business transformation 53:33 Practical advice for leaders adopting AI 55:06 Honest conversations about failure 58:33 Where Costi would invest £100 million 1:00:50 Costi’s advice to Albert Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Costi Perricos | The Era of the AI Workforce

  3. Oct 6

    Craig Donaldson | Create Fans: Why Business is About People

    Craig Donaldson grew up during the miners' strike, ran 84 bank branches in East Africa at 25, and went on to be the founding CEO of Metro Bank. Now he is the Executive Chairman of Tramlines. He tells Albert what pubs taught him about people, why he started a bank when everyone else was cutting costs, and why domain experts with the right support deserve a chance even if they never become unicorns. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:44 A background to Craig's early life 03:10 From technologist to banker 04:13 Pubs, tills and "business is people" 05:08 84 branches in East Africa at 25 06:14 Why people took a chance on him 07:37 RBS and the global financial crisis 08:08 Learning from the hard times 09:08 Intellect, interpersonal skills and hard work 10:15 Resilience and boss watching 11:56 From doing to leading 13:50 Dave Craggs and the curve on the graph 16:24 Energy from someone else closing the deal 17:29 Why start a bank? 18:17 The zig and the zag 19:38 A call from Vernon Hill 20:52 The first new high street bank in over 100 years 22:23 Printing cards in store 24:04 Create fans 24:51 Fail fast 25:31 Seven years to IPO 27:17 Proof points and stage gates 28:48 Statements, post boxes and mirrors 30:41 What Metro taught him 32:21 Human-led businesses in an AI world 34:24 Leaving Metro Bank 38:37 Meeting Albert and telling him everything 41:37 How Tramlines started 44:33 Discipline, and AI as a tool 46:17 What excites Craig now 48:54 Why experienced people come to Tramlines 51:44 The £100m question 52:52 Advice for Albert 54:52 Close Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Craig Donaldson | Create Fans: Why Business is About People

  4. Sep 30

    Daniel Lanyon | The Journalist Who Became an Investor

    Daniel Lanyon started out as a journalist in Istanbul in 2010, joined The Times' foreign desk as a freelancer, and followed the money into financial journalism. He went on to help build AltFi, a publication covering fintech, from around 2016 until it was bought by a family office. Along the way he met the early teams at Revolut and Monzo, when Revolut had just one product and a team of 10 or 20. He is now Managing Director of Funds at Tramlines. In this episode of Track Record, Albert asks how that career shaped the way Daniel now thinks about founders, investing and AI. They cover how his years as a reporter taught Daniel to judge founders, why he thinks domain experts could overtake the 'Stanford dropout', and how to keep a clear head about AI. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:43 Daniel's role at Tramlines 02:40 Istanbul, Tintin and becoming a journalist 05:28 The Times, The Grocer and following the money 06:31 From financial markets to fintech 08:19 Why UK Fintech took off 09:15 Branches: from moat to millstone 10:08 Revolut, Monzo and Starling in the early days 11:50 Three tracks: a business, a cycle and investors 13:28 A football hedge fund and a buoy on a beach 14:17 AltFi and learning to sell 16:49 Inside versus outside 17:18 The 2021 boom and the downturn 18:49 Deciding to become an investor 20:12 Meeting Albert 21:23 VC as a five-year-old's football match 22:24 Where the value lies now 23:31 Why the best founders are domain experts 25:12 When the big names caught on 25:53 "I will never have an app-only bank" 27:25 Scaling domain expertise with AI 28:52 Going earlier: meeting founders before they quit 31:10 Consultancy as a way in 32:59 What AI changes for investors 35:09 Everyone at Tramlines was at the front 36:19 Keeping two sets of books 38:29 Analog in an AI world 39:13 How to get to the front of AI 40:40 Think, plan, do 41:40 Three ways to use two sets of books 43:06 The £100m question 45:21 Advice for Albert 46:24 Closing remarks Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Daniel Lanyon | The Journalist Who Became an Investor

  5. Sep 22

    Francesca Hodgson | Start With the Problem, Not the Idea

    Francesca Hodgson has built a venture-backed fintech, coached hundreds of founders in the last few months alone, and runs the SPARK incubator at King's College, Cambridge. She talks to Albert about why founders should start with the problem rather than the idea, what raising money really cost her, and why AI makes it more important, not less, to know what you are looking for. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Francesca's background 02:57 Relationships, trust and discovering your purpose 05:43 How Fran coaches: starting with the problem 07:56 The trouble with the big idea 10:31 Vision, the minimum viable business and the beachhead 11:25 Build with, not for 12:55 The seven validation gateways 15:11 Raising 15 million with 5% of the equity 16:32 Revenue, the funding people overlook 17:58 There's always a cost 19:27 Women founders and the funding gap 24:40 Why venture capital is a hammer 25:58 The loneliness of a venture-backed founder 27:45 Separating governance from management 29:01 Psychological safety and leadership styles 31:03 Shared ownership and collaboration 33:41 AI amplifies what you put in 36:15 The false sense of security 39:02 Domain expertise plus AI expertise 40:32 Thought processing, AI slop and checking the output 42:43 Where the opportunity is for founders 44:13 The barrier to innovation is now the ability to speak 45:38 Where Francesca would invest £100m 47:31 Closing remarks Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Francesca Hodgson | Start With the Problem, Not the Idea

  6. Sep 15

    Edward Keelan | AI, Growth and the future of VC

    As AI is makes software faster and cheaper to build, it changes what investors should look for, how companies sell, how enterprises adopt technology and where defensibility comes from. In this episode of Track Record, Albert Azis-Clauson talks to Edward Keelan, a partner at Octopus Ventures, about the shift from traditional SaaS metrics to a world where pricing, retention and outcomes are still being worked out. They discuss why revenue and the speed of revenue growth matter earlier than many founders expect, why enterprise AI adoption is closer to workflow transformation than buying software off the shelf, and why customer relationships are becoming more consulting-like. Ed also shares his experience of moving from Rolls-Royce and a startup into venture, and they discuss socio-economic access to capital, education, personal relationships and the risk of relationship-led investing reproducing existing networks. The conversation ends with a shared challenge to early-stage VC: as technology becomes easier to build, domain expertise, customer knowledge and the ability to deliver in a specific vertical may become the more durable advantage. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction: Ed Keelan on AI and investment 02:29 From Rolls-Royce and startups to Octopus 05:24 Why entrepreneurs and small companies matter 09:39 AI outreach and the return of personal relationships 12:53 Socio-economic access, education and aspiration 20:29 How AI is changing growth-stage investing 23:54 Pricing, product-market fit and unsettled metrics 27:04 Enterprise adoption and transformation 30:16 Where AI creates value and changes work 33:57 Customer relationships, services and workflow design 36:54 Domain expertise and the changing sales team 41:09 Vertical software, defensibility and scale 44:28 What investors should measure now 46:58 The future of VC and the role of operating partners 49:03 Octopus Ventures and closing thoughts Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Edward Keelan | AI, Growth and the future of VC

  7. Sep 8

    Erica Young | How to Build a Network

    In this conversation, Albert Azis-Clauson speaks with network scientist and Director of Networks at Tramlines, Erica Young. Erica explains how a personal project to map the people she met after moving to London led her into network science, and why relationships create value that compounds over time. We examine how AI could change relationship management, why trust becomes more important as products become easier to build and online content harder to verify, and why traditional networking events do not work for everyone. The conversation explores how to approach new relationships without making them transactional, how a case of a junior job offer led to a board seat, and how different network shapes support discovery, coordination, and resilience. Erica closes by explaining why she would invest £100m in social capital and why one relationship-building habit, sustained for 10 years, can have an extraordinary effect. Key moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:25 From a personal project to network science 05:33 Why network value compounds 07:39 How VC incentives weaken collective networks 12:11 How AI can transform relationship management 15:49 Why relationships become more defensible with AI 18:25 Networking beyond extrovert-designed events 19:47 Why investment-or-nothing is too narrow 21:31 How a junior job opportunity led to a board seat 22:48 Explore versus exploit 27:43 The daisy and the ball of yarn 32:29 How to assess your network 34:34 How a chance Airbnb encounter changed Erica's career 39:38 Why the teenagers were the AI experts in the room 41:14 How to cultivate and maintain relationships 45:39 Why some work friendships disappear 48:42 Where Erica would invest £100m 50:03 One habit sustained for 10 years Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Erica Young | How to Build a Network

  8. Sep 1

    Glen Robinson | AI isn't coming for your experts. It needs them.

    In this episode of Track Record, Albert Azis-Clauson speaks with Glen Robinson, Managing Director of C4VC, the Centre for Value Creation at Tramlines. Glen explains why people are now the source code of technology. As AI infrastructure, models, and tools become increasingly commoditised, he argues that the most durable advantage sits with domain experts and the tacit knowledge they have built over years inside an industry. We trace Glen’s unconventional route into technology and his early experience at Amazon Web Services, before examining why Netflix’s transition from DVDs to streaming took eight years and what that teaches leaders about AI adoption. The conversation explores how enterprises can apply venture-building methods to innovation, let 1,000 flowers bloom without losing control, and turn internal expertise into intellectual property that changes the value of the business. Key moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:36 Glen’s unconventional route into technology 04:23 Discovering cloud and joining AWS 08:25 Why adaptability matters more than strength 09:29 Why Glen left Microsoft for Tramlines 13:19 Why Netflix beat Blockbuster 16:57 Peace, war, and wonder in technological change 18:44 How enterprises should balance delivery and innovation 19:49 How generative AI changes value creation 23:33 Scaling domain expertise inside enterprise 28:35 The transformation cliff and enterprise inertia 29:56 Applying venture-building methods inside enterprise 32:52 Why people are now the source code of technology 33:19 How to govern bottom-up innovation 35:27 How AI changes enterprise value 38:29 Why cost reduction is too narrow a goal 43:47 Where Glen would invest £100m 47:01 Next on Track Record Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Glen Robinson | AI isn't coming for your experts. It needs them.

  9. Aug 25

    Emily Turner | The Five Things Every Founder Must Build

    In this episode of Track Record, Albert Azis-Clauson speaks with Emily Turner, CEO of HSBC Innovation Banking UK.   Emily explains why every founder needs to develop five areas of their company: the product, customer, team, investor, and business model. As each develops at a different speed, founders should focus their attention on whichever is moving most slowly.   The conversation explores how AI could give service businesses software-like economics, and why Emily is looking at companies outside London.   Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:42 The state of venture and innovation 04:44 Why global investors are backing UK companies 08:01 AI, deep tech, and commercialisation 11:14 The five areas every founder must develop 15:00 Founder factories and the value of experience 20:04 How venture economics are changing 27:02 How venture funds create returns 29:29 Choosing the right investors 32:24 Pensions, debt, and secondary liquidity 34:11 Where capital has yet to reach 37:06 How AI helps companies focus 38:31 Can service businesses achieve software economics? 42:58 Why early-stage investing comes down to people 44:22 Problem obsession and complementary founders 47:13 Equity, incentives, and employee liquidity 48:41 Why Emily would invest outside London 50:09 Next on Track Record . Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Emily Turner | The Five Things Every Founder Must Build

  10. Aug 18

    Lionel Barber | From Disruption to Growth: Britain's AI Opportunity

    In this episode, Albert Azis-Clauson sits down with Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times, to explore Britain’s economic future and whether AI could help the country rediscover its confidence, productivity and appetite for growth. They discuss why Britain’s decline may be overstated, what prevents promising companies from reaching scale, and how AI is changing the relationship between talent, capital and value creation. Lionel also reflects on the leadership lessons he learned at the Financial Times: setting a clear destination, adapting the business model, building closer customer relationships and knowing when to delegate. Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction 01:18 The agony of the entrepreneur 04:03 Britain's AI Opportunity 09:33 The Barriers and challenges to innovation in the UK 11:42 Masayoshi Son: Game Maker 13:44 The golden age for entrepreneurs 15:37 How will government adapt to AI? 20:10 The Changing Value Equation in an AI Economy 21:08 What does leadership look like? 25:40 Trust, Authority and the Human Factor 27:53 Where would Lionel invest £100m? 30:55 Lionel's advice for Albert 32:43 Closing remarks Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Lionel Barber | From Disruption to Growth: Britain's AI Opportunity

  11. Trailer

    Introducing Track Record

    Track Record by Tramlines is a new podcast; exploring how AI is reshaping investment, finance, and business. Each episode brings financial leaders, investors, founders, economists, and policymakers into conversation about what is changing now, and where money and opportunity are moving as a result. Made for investors, founders, and business owners, it offers a practical view of the AI economy from the people doing the work. Full episodes available from 19 August. Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Learn more at https://www.tramlines.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • 1 Trailer
    10 Episodes

Trailer

About

Track Record by Tramlines explores how AI is reshaping investment, finance, and business. Each episode brings financial leaders, investors, founders, economists, and policymakers into conversation about what is changing now and where money and opportunity are moving as a result. Made for investors, founders, and business owners, it offers a practical view of the AI economy from the people doing the work. Track Record is produced by Tramlines. We are industrialising AI through domain expert led startups, mid-market acquisitions, and enterprise partnership. If you'd like to learn more about how we're transforming industries, get in touch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Tramlines
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Tramlines Ventures Ltd, 2026
  • Show Website
    Track Record by Tramlines