A different way to think about building
We spend a lot of time in venture talking about starting companies. Raising capital, building from zero, and scaling as fast as possible. It is the default narrative, the one most people absorb without ever really questioning.
But there is another path that far fewer people consider.
Buying an existing business and running it.
What Unsung is about
That is what Unsung is about. It is a new community and podcast focused on entrepreneurship through acquisition — on small businesses, and on the people choosing to build their lives by taking over companies that already exist.
These are businesses that are often profitable, often overlooked, and often full of untapped potential.
We are launching Unsung together with Will Maunder-Taylor because we believe this is one of the most important and most underexplored opportunities in Europe today. Not everyone should start from scratch. For many people, this path is not just viable. It is better aligned with how they want to build their careers and their lives.
Episode 1: Peppa Wise, Multiverse on Meritocracy in Action: How Great Sales Leaders Are Made
Why this episode matters
This first episode is a good example of why these worlds overlap more than you might expect.
Whether you are building a startup or taking over an existing company, the fundamentals remain the same. You are still solving for talent, for sales, and for how to build teams that perform at a high level over time.
In this conversation, Will Maunder-Taylor sits down with Peppa Wise, a sales leader at Multiverse and one of the most experienced operators in high-performance sales environments in Europe.
Her career challenges many of the assumptions people hold about experience and progression. She was leading teams in her early twenties, not because she followed a traditional path, but because she operated in environments that recognised and rewarded talent early.
What comes through clearly is a different way of thinking about potential. The most effective organisations are not those that simply hire for experience, but those that understand how to identify and develop the underlying traits that actually drive performance — intelligence, coachability, and above all, drive.
What the episode covers
00:00 — What Unsung is about
Careers, small business ownership, and the overlooked path of buying and growing existing companies
01:00 — Peppa Wise’s early career & rapid progression
Peppa Wise’s career from joining Darktrace as a graduate to leading teams early in high-performance environments
03:00 — Talent vs experience
Why the best companies prioritise potential, drive, and coachability over traditional CVs
10:00 — Building a career that compounds
Balancing short-term earnings with long-term learning, development, and trajectory
13:00 — Hiring great people
Defining your ideal candidate profile and how to assess real talent beyond experience
24:00 — Building high-performance teams
Creating meritocratic environments where people are pushed, supported, and rewarded
31:00 — Pipeline & execution
Why outbound, consistency, and pipeline generation are the foundation of great sales teams
36:00 — Operating rhythm & forecasting
How top teams run cadence, manage deals, and build predictable performance
43:00 — Advice for founders & operators
How to hire better, take smart risks on talent, and avoid common mistakes
47:00 — Closing thoughts
Reflections on careers, opportunity, and choosing a different path
What you’ll take away
This is not a theoretical discussion. It is grounded in practical insight.
The episode explores:
How to define what great talent actually looks like
How to build systems that allow people to succeed
How to create environments where performance compounds over time
Why sales remains one of the clearest meritocracies available
It also highlights something often overlooked: careers, like businesses, do not need to follow a single, predefined path.
The third path
Most people think their options are to climb the corporate ladder or to start something from zero.
But there is a third way.
You can buy something that already works and make it better.
That is the lens Unsung is built around.
Listen & follow
If it resonates, make sure to follow Unsung and start thinking about what your own path could look like if you stepped outside the default options.
