Uncork Capital's Andy McLoughlin: Silicon Valley's British Invasion and Building a Great Seed-Stage Venture Firm

Episode notes

Andy McLoughlin is Managing Partner at Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC). We discuss Andy's journey from co-founding Huddle - racking servers in the Docklands and building their own payment system before Stripe - to Silicon Valley. He was an early angel investor in companies like Postmates, eventually joining Jeff Clavier's venture firm SoftTech, now Uncork Capital. We dive into the golden era of "super angels," collaborative seed rounds, and famous near-misses like Uber and Twilio. Other topics include how seed funds like Uncork stay relevant in a world dominated by mega-funds, why specialized early-stage investors often serve founders better than big brand names, and how to find those non-obvious deals before they become consensus. Andy also shares what it felt like to step away from operating a company, the power of "knowing thyself," and how he's helping build Uncork into a firm that stays sharp through founder empathy and relentless context-switching.

• Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures: Los Angeles' VC Powerhouse on Why LA is Dominating Space, Hard Tech, and National Defense72 / 100
• Will a "Billionaires Tax" Destroy California?
• HotelTonight Founder: How Sam Shank Built & Sold a $400M Travel App (And What He's Building Next)
• Lee Edwards of Root VC: "Let's get Technical!" - An Engineer Becomes a VC
• 1517 Fund: The Maverick VC Betting on Teens to Outbuild Ivy Leaguers