# VC10X - Why the UK Fails to Produce Trillion-Dollar Companies - Duncan Johnson, CEO, Northern Gritstone

An episode of [VC10X - Investing, Venture Capital, Asset Management, Family Office, Wealth Management](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632806986), 16 Jun 2026, 42 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/a453ddd4/podcast/play/121547775/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-16%2F426233568-44100-2-a249cf6e1cc27.mp3

Duncan Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Northern Gritstone, joins VC10X to break down why the UK produces world-class science but struggles to turn it into globally significant companies. We dig into the £24 million vs. £980 million funding gap between the north of England and the Golden Triangle, why a US investor on your cap table can mean a 2x outperformance potential, and how Northern Gritstone's permanent capital structure lets it match the 15-year reality of deep-tech venture instead of forcing exits on a 10-year fund clock. Duncan also shares what UK institutional investors still get wrong about venture risk and portfolio construction, why concentrating capital in a handful of innovation clusters beats spreading it thin, where he believes the UK has a genuine right to win in applied and agentic AI, and the three qualities — ambition, aptitude, and attitude — that separate university spin-outs that become real businesses from the ones that stay great science projects. ⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com Timestamps: (00:00) - The Impact of US Investors on UK Startups (00:19) - Why the UK Fails to Create Tech Giants (00:29) - The UK's Commercial Talent Gap (00:50) - Why Talent is More Crucial Than Science (01:13) - Introduction to Duncan Johnson and Northern Gritstone (02:58) - The Problem Northern Gritstone Solves (03:08) - The North-South UK Funding Disparity (04:15) - Where the UK's Innovation Value Chain Breaks (05:59) - The Trend of UK Startups Seeking US Capital (06:14) - Data-Backed Benefits of Entering the US Ecosystem (08:05) - Defining the UK's Talent Shortage (08:27) - The Scarcity of Venture-Scale Experience (09:25) - Investor Perceptions of the UK's Future (09:41) - How Political Instability Affects UK Investment (11:28) - Northern Gritstone's Permanent Capital Model (11:48) - Pros and Cons of a Permanent Capital Structure (14:37) - Managing Shareholder Liquidity in a Permanent Capital Fund (14:58) - Strategies for Providing Investor Liquidity (17:17) - How New vs. Early Investors are Treated (20:00) - The Current Climate for Raising Venture Capital (22:11) - What Institutional Investors Misunderstand About Venture Capital (22:26) - The Key Misconceptions: Duration, Risk, and Portfolio Size (24:00) - The Case for Concentrated Innovation Clusters (26:07) - Spotlight on Northern Gritstone's Portfolio Companies (26:18) - The Story of Auxetic: A Breakthrough Material (28:40) - How Adsilico Uses AI for Medical Device Testing (30:13) - Uncomfortable Lessons from San Francisco (30:27) - What the UK Can Learn from Silicon Valley's Startup Culture (33:15) - Where the UK Has a Right to Win in AI (35:04) - How to Invest £10 Billion in the UK's AI Future (36:26) - From Science Project to Global Company (36:37) - The Three A's of Successful Founders: Ambition, Aptitude, and Attitude (37:42) - The 15-Year Vision for UK Tech (37:55) - Defining Success: A Trillion-Pound UK Tech Company (39:32) - A Common Misconception About UK Innovation (39:45) - Why Innovation is a Long-Term Game, Not a Quick Fix (40:56) - Where to Follow Duncan Johnson and Northern Gritstone Links: Northern Gritstone: https://northerngritstone.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/northern-gritstone Connect with Prashant: https://linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab Subscribe to VC10X newsletter - https://vc10x.beehiiv.com Subscribe on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@VC10X Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc10x-investing-venture-capital-asset-management-private/id1632806986 Subscribe on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7F7KEhXNhTx1bKTBFgzv3k?si=WgQ4ozMiQJ-6nowj6wBgqQ VC10X website - https://vc10x.com#VentureCapital #UKInnovation #DeepTech #UniversitySpinouts #PermanentCapital

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