S8E16 - Adam Norris, Founder & CEO @ Pure Electric

Happy Wednesday from James Pringle, Hector Mason and the Riding Unicorns team!

This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Adam Norris, Founder & CEO of Pure Electric, one of the leading premium electric scooter brands. Adam is also well known for playing a key role in managing the career of his son, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 driver.

From building the UK’s largest pension business at Hargreaves Lansdown to investing in 30+ startups through Horatio Investments, Adam has a fascinating entrepreneurial journey that has spanned multiple industries. Now, he’s on a mission to revolutionise urban mobility with Pure Electric, creating world-class electric scooters designed for global markets.

In this episode, we discuss:

🔹 Early struggles & drive – How Adam overcame dyslexia, academic setbacks & early career challenges
🔹 Building Hargreaves Lansdown’s pensions empire – Spotting trends early & scaling a market-defining business
🔹 Angel investing & lessons learned – Why he backed 30+ startups & how it shaped his entrepreneurial approach
🔹 Scaling Pure Electric – The global opportunity in micro-mobility & how he’s competing with industry giants
🔹 Lando Norris’s journey to F1 – The untold story of the dedication, investment & sacrifices behind his success
🔹 Big ambitions – Why Adam believes Pure Electric could become the “Apple of scooters”

Adam also shares his unique approach to work ethic, his zero-distraction mindset, and how he thinks about long-term, category-defining businesses.

Listen here:

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Have a great Wednesday,

The Riding Unicorns team