What VCs Get Wrong About Building Durable Startups with Tim Levene

Couchonomics with Arjun

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we sit down with Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech, the UK’s only publicly listed fintech venture capital firm.
From going public to backing infrastructure instead of hype, Tim shares what permanent capital allows that traditional VC structures don’t and why he believes the next decade of fintech will be won with discipline, not just disruption.
What we cover:
🛋️ Why Augmentum chose public markets over LP cycles
🛋️ The real story behind growth-at-all-costs and its fallout
🛋️ Why the GCC is becoming central to Augmentum’s investment strategy
🛋️ What it takes to stay relevant when the hype fades
🎧 Now streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
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Chapters:
00:00 – Episode Highlights
02:45 – Why Augmentum chose to go public
06:10 – Permanent capital vs traditional VC fundraising
10:25 – What LPs and public shareholders want in today’s market
13:55 – How Augmentum balances patient capital with fintech agility
17:20 – The post-2021 correction: resetting the fintech ecosystem
21:40 – Fintech infrastructure or B2C buzz: where the real value is now
25:00 – Operator-led investing and what it means for founders
29:15 – What makes a good VC-founder relationship
33:40 – Augmentum’s evolving interest in the Middle East
37:00 – Dubai and GCC as emerging fintech investment hubs
41:30 – Tim’s take on profitability vs scale in VC
45:05 – Outlook for fintech in the next 3–5 years
48:50 – Closing reflections and final takeaways

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