Rupert Lyle brings a rare hands-on perspective to venture investing, having run an award-winning nursery and a top-ranked pizza restaurant before helping originate the West Midlands co-investment model after seeing a similar approach on London's Co-Investment Fund advisory committee. He's also known for pushing beyond typical pitch decks and numbers to focus on founder readiness and wellbeing, backing programs like the Fortuna Fellowship for female founders, and pointing out that the West Midlands has far fewer venture firms than similarly sized economies like Hungary.