Host: Stuart Hall, Managing Director, Sustainable Media Group
Guest: Robin Grenfell Cowan, High-Net-Worth Investor

Episode Overview

In the first episode of the Sustainable Times Investor Series, Stuart sits down with HNW investor Robin Grenfell Cowan to explore how early-stage investment decisions are really made in private markets. Robin has backed multiple pre-seed and seed-stage companies and brings a candid view on founders, deal flow, due diligence and sustainability-led innovation.

This episode focuses on what makes an opportunity stand out, what makes investors walk away, and how honesty, humility and long-term thinking shape investment outcomes.

• Why people matter more than anything

• Due diligence beyond the numbers

• The biggest red flags

• Pitch decks: what works and what doesn’t

• Why he doesn’t require revenue

• EIS/SEIS and the awareness gap

• Where the next wave of innovation will come from

• Advice for founders

This conversation cuts through the noise. It’s a grounded look at how investors actually think, something both founders and early-stage investors will find useful as the market resets for 2026.