🌱 Founder Friday with Rob Cossins: From Barclays to Building Scribe

What happens when a corporate risk analyst decides to reimagine how founders raise capital? You get Scribe—and one seriously thoughtful co-founder.

In this week’s Founder Friday, we sat down with Rob Cossins, co-founder of Scribe, the platform helping founders unlock angel investment with precision, data, and a bit less panic.

(Here's the Canopy affiliate link if you do consider signing up to Scribe https://scribelabs.ai/?via=stewart ) 

Rob’s startup journey didn’t begin with a pitch deck—it started with a late-night spreadsheet in a German office, a gut feeling that “there had to be a better way,” and eventually, the relentless pursuit of a technical co-founder.

“I spent six months wandering around London trying to find a developer. They don’t just turn up to networking events. Eventually, I found Antler—and Emmanuel.”

Antler, a global pre-team accelerator, became the turning point. Rob met his co-founder Emmanuel—a postdoc AI scientist—and together, they built a complementary founder dynamic: commercial meets technical. As Rob put it, “You don’t need to be best friends to be great co-founders—you just need alignment.”

💬 Key Lessons for First-Time Founders

1. Start Before You're Ready
   “You can listen to a thousand podcasts, but nothing beats just doing it,” Rob says. His advice? Test your idea, talk to people, and iterate—even if it's messy. Especially if it's messy.

2. Find the Right Co-Founder
   Compatibility is about shared vision, not shared playlists. Don’t look for a clone—look for a complement.

3. Professional ≠ Corporate
   Rob and his team at Scribe are decidedly not corporate. He wears shorts, plays jazz trumpet, and still replies to support tickets in minutes. The secret? Taking your customers seriously and showing up with care.

4. Take Care of the Human Behind the Founder
   Between the highs of Slack notifications and the lows of fundraising rejection, Rob finds his balance in music, running, and showing up consistently—not perfectly.

5. Demystifying Investment
   Scribe helps founders raise smarter. Gone are the days of artisanal angel lists. With data-driven insights, raising early-stage capital becomes a process, not just a pitch.

At Canopy, we’re proud to have founders like Rob in our orbit—people who give as much as they grow, and who genuinely show up for other founders. Whether you're still stuck on naming your startup or already talking term sheets, this episode is pure founder fuel.

Watch the full episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n4d2YEiFQY 

Sign up to Scribe https://scribelabs.ai/?via=stewart

Join Canopy www.canopy.community #FollowYourDreams