Three Founders, Three Markets, One Truth: Why Scale Remains the Ultimate Challenge

In the elegant setting of London’s Greenwich Economic Forum, three entrepreneurs sat down to discuss what it really takes to build a company in today’s global landscape. What emerged wasn’t just another panel about startup success stories — it was a candid exploration of the fundamental challenges that define entrepreneurship across different markets, stages, and sectors.

The conversation, moderated by Ron Levin, Managing Partner of Alumni Ventures’ Seed Fund, brought together voices from three distinct corners of the innovation economy: Ann O’Neill, founder of UK-based seed-stage startup Adora Digital Health; Todd Latham, CEO of consumer research platform Attest with offices in London and New York; and Philipp Buschmann, CEO of AAZZUR, Germany’s embedded finance platform which he reports is profitable and growing. As one of the most active venture capital firms globally and ranked among the top 50 unicorn investors, Alumni Ventures has witnessed firsthand how these challenges play out across thousands of portfolio companies worldwide.

The Paradox of Modern Entrepreneurship

Perhaps the most striking insight came from Buschmann’s observation that while it’s never been easier to start a company, it’s simultaneously never been harder to scale one successfully. This paradox captures the essence of today’s entrepreneurial landscape — where democratized access to tools, cloud infrastructure, and initial funding has lowered barriers to entry, but where breaking through to meaningful scale requires navigating increasingly complex regulatory, competitive, and capital environments.

“The tools are there, the infrastructure is there,” Buschmann reflected, “but the path to sustainable, scalable success has become more treacherous.” This rings particularly true for international entrepreneurs who must navigate not just one market’s complexities, but multiple regulatory frameworks, cultural expectations, and competitive dynamics simultaneously.

Gender, Geography, and Capital Access

Ann O’Neill’s perspective added a crucial dimension to the scaling challenge. As founder of Adora Digital Health — a platform addressing women’s health management through conversational AI — she highlighted how certain entrepreneurs face compounded barriers. The statistics she shared were sobering: a 28% reduction in workplace roles for women during menopause, representing a massive talent drain that her platform aims to address through employer partnerships.

But O’Neill’s challenges extend beyond her mission’s importance to the fundamental structure of venture capital itself. “Raising funds as a female founder in health tech,” she noted, “requires not just proving your business model, but often educating investors about markets they haven’t traditionally focused on.” This observation underscores a broader truth about international venture capital: the most innovative solutions often emerge from underserved markets and underrepresented founders, yet these same entrepreneurs face the steepest funding challenges.

The panel revealed how Alumni Ventures’ diversified, thesis-driven approach to global investing helps address this gap, providing capital to founders who might struggle to access traditional venture pathways while building portfolios that reflect the true diversity of innovation worldwide.

The AI Native Transformation

Todd Latham’s insights from Attest illuminated another critical shift shaping the international startup landscape. As CEO of a consumer research platform serving giants like Microsoft and Disney, Latham has witnessed the transition from “cloud-native” to “AI-native” companies — organizations built from the ground up to leverage artificial intelligence as a core competitive advantage.

“Large organizations struggle to keep pace with market trends,” Latham explained. “Our role is to use AI not just to collect data, but to create automated insights and storytelling that help these companies make better decisions faster.” This evolution reflects a broader theme: successful international companies increasingly differentiate themselves not through geography or market access, but through their ability to harness AI for sustainable competitive advantages.

The implications for international investors are significant. Companies that can demonstrate AI-native capabilities — whether in health tech like Adora, financial services like AAZUR, or market research like Attest — are positioning themselves for global scale regardless of their geographic origins.

Regulatory Realities and Political Pressures

The conversation took a sobering turn when discussing geopolitical impacts on business building. Buschmann, having navigated AAZUR through various economic cycles including the recent banking sector turbulence, emphasized how political stability directly impacts entrepreneurial success. “Politics affects everything we do,” he observed, referencing experiences during the Ukraine conflict and broader European regulatory shifts.

This reality is particularly acute for international entrepreneurs operating across multiple jurisdictions. The panel highlighted how regulatory differences between markets can either accelerate or severely constrain growth trajectories. O’Neill’s work with the UK’s NHS pilot programs, for instance, demonstrates how forward-thinking regulatory approaches can enable innovation, while overly restrictive environments can stifle it.

For sophisticated international investors, this underscores the importance of thesis-driven investing that accounts for regulatory tailwinds and headwinds across different markets — exactly the kind of nuanced, global perspective that Alumni Ventures brings to its investment decisions.

The Long View on Healthcare and Financial Services

Despite the challenges, all three founders expressed measured optimism about their respective sectors’ futures. O’Neill sees massive potential in digital health solutions, particularly as demographic shifts create urgent needs for scalable healthcare interventions. “The aging population isn’t slowing down,” she noted, “and the technology to serve them is finally catching up.”

Similarly, Buschmann’s perspective on embedded finance reflects broader trends toward financial democratization. AAZUR’s platform enables traditional and innovative banks to offer sophisticated financial tools, potentially reaching underserved markets that traditional banking has struggled to address profitably.

These sectors — healthcare and financial services — represent exactly the kind of massive, regulation-heavy industries where AI-native approaches can create sustainable competitive advantages for international companies willing to navigate complex market dynamics.

What This Means for International Investors

The Greenwich panel revealed several key insights for sophisticated international investors:

The Alumni Ventures Approach

As one of the most active global venture investors in recent years, Alumni Ventures has built its international strategy around exactly these insights. By maintaining a diversified, thesis-driven approach that spans geographies, sectors, and founder backgrounds, the firm positions itself to capitalize on the full spectrum of global innovation — from AI-native startups to regulatory-advantaged healthcare solutions to embedded finance platforms.

The Greenwich panel reinforced why this approach matters: the most compelling investment opportunities increasingly transcend traditional geographic and sector boundaries, requiring investors who can recognize and support excellence wherever it emerges.

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