Startup Secrets

Who doesn’t love ice cream!? If you answered ‘me’, you’re only lying to yourself and don’t need to read any further :) well, it’s up to you whether you read further, but you really should get some more frozen goodness down you!   In this episode I speak with Douh Bouton, co-founder of Halo Top ice cream. For those of you not familiar with the brand, Halo Top is a light ice cream with fewer calories, less sugar, and more protein than traditional ice cream. And it’s delicious!   In August 2017, Halo Top became the #1 selling pint of ice cream in the U.S. beating out long-term industry giants including Hagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's. In November 2017, Time Magazine named Halo Top one of its top inventions of the year, and their sales are in excess of $350million!   In this episode we discuss: Being “lean by design” Customer feedback and product design International expansion Marketing a premium product What does and exit look like And as always, plenty more...

Quorso exists to provide companies and management teams with the information they need to make smarter decisions, ensuring their business run more effectively and more economically.    5 years in the making, Quorso now works with the likes of National Express, Radisson Blu Hotels, Chiquito, and Marks & Spencers, to name but a few. The client base of Quorso turns over in excess of $20bn!   We talk at length about how they validated their initial idea, grew the team (not just in the UK but internationally), raised funding, and continued to improve and develop their software.     In this episode we discuss:   Idea validation Collaborative and remote working  Team culture Fundraising Branding and messaging Measuring customer satisfaction And as always, plenty more…

I’m lucky enough to chat with plenty of companies and entrepreneurs, the majority of which have had great success, but there’s always a little something extra when they’ve done it without funding, which is exactly what Jennifer and her team at Digital Voices have done!   We cover a whole load of topics in this chat, but particularly focus on doing it without funding, some of the challenges, and how those have been overcome.   We also touch on the importance of building an ethically aware company, and how social impact is becoming an increasing part of a company’s strategy.   In this episode we discuss:   The first 6 months and biggest challenges YouTube and other content channels Time management and balancing workload Lean startup methodology Creating and ethically driven company And as always, plenty more...

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Jos Majic, Founder and CEO of Tacit. We jump straight into how their company is capturing data you never even knew you were sharing, to help companies make smarter decisions. Before you panic, Tacit work within controlled environments and utilise apps and wearables to catch a whole load of data points around consumer happiness or stress!   If it sounds pretty futuristic, it’s because it is. Tacit actually started our by capturing data for parents to better understand their children, and have since pivoted to a model that depends less on hardware, and better services universities and companies, including a number of Fortune 500 companies!    Happy listening :)  

In this episode I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Shahzad Younas the founder and CEO of Muzmatch. Shazad is a fellow northerner so we hit it off straight away and had a great conversation about his Muslim dating site. Shazad got the idea for Muzmatch whilst in a career of trading and has since grown the company exponentially into millions of users and tens of thousands of successful relationships and marriages all around the globe.    Shazad talks us through his fundraising and recruitment as well as what it’s like to run a Technology company and gaining an absolutely huge user base.   I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did recording it.

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Jan Amstutz, Founder and CEO of Halo.me.    Jan has had a life full of extremes so far, starting life with no TV and a hippy upbringing, through to earning crazy money as a commodities trader, and then on to running his own Augmented Reality startup in London… and plenty in between.   We managed to chat about what it’s like to approach such a vast market, and build a business where the demand may not yet exist. We also talk about finding your own happiness and purpose, which Jan understood only too well after some pretty tough life events!   Finally, we chat about Jan’s experience as a consultant to a VC, and why you should avoid VC money if you can!   In this episode we discuss: Augmented and virtual reality Creating and finding demand VC funding Focusing on your own priorities Making a different And as always, plenty more...

The first thing you notice about Sam Browne is his energy. I like to think I’m quite a big character but I felt like a tornado had entered the room when Sam stepped in! Once I’d managed to calm (just about) the positivity storm, we sat down and had a good gnatter for an hour or so.   Sam is Co-founder of Let’s Do This, a company on a mission to help more people discover epic experiences than any other community on the planet, whether that be a 5k fun run or a double Ironman triathlon.   They’re also one of the very few to be selected from tens of thousands to be part of the Y-combinator cohort, a huge achievement in itself. They’ve raised in excess of $6million, including a chunk from a certain Serena Williams and Usain Bolt!   We focus a lot on the team Sam and his Co-founders have built and how they start right from the point of recruitment to make sure they have a team of absolute winners. And this is not just in the work sense, their team includes Team GB gold medallists and European champions.   I really

“A leap into the unknown” with James McAulay   James McAulay is the Co-founder of Encore: an online marketplace helping events planners find their perfect musical accompaniment. Encore were founded in 2014, and now work with over 25,000 musicians and groups. The platform has provided musical accompaniment to over 6,000 events since 2015 including The X-Factor and a launch party for Game of Thrones. What’s more it’s paid out over £3m to the musicians in its orbit.   In the episode we talk plenty about the accelerator that James and his co-founder went through. We also touch on James’ personal background and how he’s found that surrounding himself by the best talent has allowed him to reach his own potential.    In this episode we discuss: Accelerators and incubators Surrounding yourself with the best talent How to improve as a manager/leader and get feedback from your team Organic customer growth Ads vs SEO And as always, plenty more…

Where do I begin? MIT and Harvard Business School Alumni… Member of Founders Pledge… Chair of REAch2… or last (but certainly not least) CEO and Founder of Attest! Whichever angle you come from, it’s hard not to be impressed by Jeremy King’s story to date, and even more so by his longer term plans!   I had the pleasure of chatting Jeremy about how he’s built Attest, a platform enabling companies to engage directly with 100+ million consumers worldwide.   Jeremy and the team have raised a hugh $20million to date, with solid plans and forecasts to invest that wisely to secure further growth and funding!   We also talk about the “giving back” element of Jeremy’s story, and how that same culture is fed into Attest’s day-to-day practices.   Please share away and let me know what you think :)     In this episode we discuss:   MVP’s and customer feedback Tackling the hardest part of your plans first Hiring well (and then leaving them to it!) Preparing early on for longer term scaling plans Fundraising and s

A couple of years back I had the pleasure of chatting with Aldo De Pape, CEO and Founder of TeachPitch. If you haven’t yet heard that episode I’ve very much suggest checking it out before listening to this one!   I try my best to keep in touch with guests after the show and Aldo has had a very busy couple of years business-wise, managed to squeeze his first baby in there as well, and has a slightly different outlook in terms of well-being and efficiency as an entrepreneur. As such, I thought it would be a great chance to check back in with him and see how he’s getting on.   As mentioned, check out the first episode if you’ve not already, and hope you enjoy them both :)   In this episode we discuss: International growth Journalling and task setting Fitness and wellbeing Fasting and how it impacts physical and mental performance And as always, plenty more

In this episode I had the pleasure of speaking with Matt De La Hey, CEO and Co-founder of Inploi. Inploi was launched in 2016, and more than 25,000 candidates were registered as of 2018, with applications growing month-on-month. Over 1,000 employers including the likes of Gaucho, Young’s Pubs, Hilton Hotels, the Hurlingham Club, and Polpo use the Inploi system to fill vacancies every single day!   Matt has come off the back of an MBA to build Inploi alongside his co-founders, and they’ve already seen some amazing traction after a well timed and planned pivot. They took a really innovative approach to bringing potential investors along the journey with them, and that resulted in a quick and successful round.   Let me know what you think :)   In this episode we discuss: Building investor relations before asking for funding Understanding when and how to pivot The impact of brexit Avoiding burnout And as always, plenty more...

“Take a step back” with Victoria Lee   In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Victoria Lee, Co-founder and CEO of 100 Pound Social. Victoria’s company was actually mentioned by another of our guests on their recording (George Lambert, Lambert Labs - Listen here) and so I reached out to find out more. I really liked what they were about and their business model and so thought we’d get them on the show to share their story!   Victoria and her sister, Louise, started 100 Pound Social just over 3 years ago when they spotted a gap for affordable social media services to companies. They grew the company organically, and eventually got it a point where they were able to leave their jobs and pursue it full time. Since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength, recruiting a team, signing clients, and ensuring they’ve got the systems in place to support their future growth.   If you’re interested in growing a company organically, getting the most out of your social media, or even running a remote team,

In June, podcast host Seb Francis featured on the Venturi Podcast speaking about the '3 things I’ve learned from starting a business'.    Venturi are an incredibly innovative company that help with tech recruitment. You can find out more about Venturi here.    Here is what they wrote about the episode -      Sebastian is the co-founder and director of Titus Learning.   As the co-founder of Titus Learning Sebastian has always championed e-learning and alternate educational routes. After a brief stint at university, he found he worked best when engaging in ‘non-traditional’ educational avenues. This realisation saw him set up Titus Learning to bring the advantages of e-learning courses to as many people as possible.           Key points covered in this show include:   How e-learning is disrupting the ‘traditional’ education sectors How can we create a tech curriculum that can adapt to the pace of change of technology     Seb's three lessons    These are the three key lessons Seb learned when running his o

“I wanna do it fast” with Rachel Carrell   In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Rachel Carrell - Founder and CEO of Koru Kids. Rachel’s career before founding Koru Kids is impressive enough on its own, and after being the CEO of other companies previously, Rachel was well set to build Koru Kids to the brilliant business it has already come to be.   The team of 30 based in London now support over 17,000 families to support their childcare needs, and their vision is to become the “World’s best childcare service”. Rachel has raised £4.1m to date, with other rounds in the pipeline, and amazingly she ‘accidentally’ raised the second round of £3.5m whilst pregnant and gave birth halfway through the process!   This episode is a great example of how to take on a large issue within a very large sector, and Koru Kids seems to be growing from strength to strength!   In this episode we discuss:   Fundraising - how to do it, and when is it right to do it? Understanding how to negotiate with investors

“Understand why people will say no, and eliminate as many of those as possible” with Timo Armoo   In this episode I’m delighted to be joined by Timo Armoo, Co-founder of FanBytes, the social media marketing company who support the likes of Universal, Warner, Sony, and Apple!   MusicFanbytes own and operate a network of Snapchat communities entertaining millions of teens every day. They create Snapchat optimized content for brands and distribute organically through their influencer networks, and also grow Snapchat accounts for brands and individuals.   FanBytes growth has been brilliant so far, and it is showing no signs of stopping with Timo soon moving out to LA to continue their growth!   We talk in detail about the different marketing routes, which ones are best suited to which sector and market, and how the market may change over the coming years.   Let me know what you think :)   In this episode we discuss: Social media market and the most suited platforms How to market to a GenZ audience How to si

“Change, change, change” with Alexandra Isenegger   Alex Isenegger is the founder and CEO of Linkilaw, a legal platform for startups that provides quality legal services, including contract writing, and other legal advice to businesses at an affordable cost. Alex has been listed on Forbes 30 under 30, is a mentor and coach to other startups, and regularly writes on the topic of wellbeing within entrepreneurship.   Further to graduating from her Law degree, Alex was ready to head into the world of work and immediately saw issues in regards to the cost, efficiencies, and quality of legal practices that already existed. As opposed to accepting the status quo and going to work for one of the ‘big boys’, Alex decided to set out on her own and build LinkiLaw into a business that would rival the standard practices. In the time since she’s started, the team has an international presence and a team of around 40 people support startups, scale-ups, and SMEs. We talk about the LegalTech sector and how Alex pivoted a num

“Manufacturers are your first investor” with Ilana Lever   In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Ilana Lever, the co-founder of Motley London. After working for many years as a Management Consultant, Ilana grew increasingly frustrated by the limited choices available for women who wanted stylish jewelry of good quality that didn’t break the bank.   With that frustration, Ilana teamed up with Cecily Motley who spent her early career working for an art jewelry dealer. The two have created a brilliant brand in Motley, where they find the best jewellery designers and makers in the world to create unique jewellery collections. Motley have since been featured in The New York Times, The Sunday Times and Vogue!   Ilana gives a great insight into building and running a product based company, and some of the pitfalls you can avoid. We also talk about ‘Female Founders’ and some of the challenges they can face in comparison with their male counterparts, particularly when it comes to raising funds. We really

In this episode, we chat with Charlie Pool, Co-founder of Stowga, a platform for finding warehouse space on demand that’s revolutionising the sector. Stowga is regularly described as a WeWork / AirBnB for warehousing, and has the potential to have just as much impact!   Featured on both the BBC and in the Financial Times, the team from London have 650 warehouses in over 10 countries around the world. They are backed by Seedcamp, Speed Invest and CBRE, amongst others.   Their customers include BT, KFC, Nike and Unilever, in addition to plenty of other worldwide brands and multinationals.   This is a great introduction to the sharing economy and building a marketplace, and we also talk about the passion of Charlie, and that not necessarily being warehouses, but building a brilliant company!   Let me know what you think!   In this episode we discuss: The sharing economy Assessing the size of a market Funding and whether it’s the right route for everyone The potential impact of Brexit Content marketing and becom

Who doesn’t love a bunch of flowers? Exactly. And that’s just the market Aron and his team wanted to disrupt. Have you ever tried sending flowers but unsure whether the person would be in, or to what location, and it ends up more of a hassle than it is a nice gesture? Well if not, it really is. Enter Bloom & Wild, famous for their ‘letterbox flowers’ to be sent anywhere, anytime.   This isn’t only a quite nice idea solving a very really problem, it’s also a business idea to be reckoned with. The team of 70 now ship tens of thousands of boxes a week across the UK, Ireland, Germany and France, and have raised a whopping £21m+ in funding! Bloom and Wild are also recognised by Deloitte as the second fastest growing company in the UK, and the second fastest growing company in Europe with a growth rate of 13,818%!   Prior to Bloom & Wild, Aron worked as a management consultant, advising technology, retail and consumer products companies at Bain & Company, having previously worked at Google and OC&C

David Feinman had various business ideas growing up, and plenty of those he ran with. It’s no surprise that years on he’s running his own company with his entrepreneur buddy Zach!   David explained that Zach and he ‘accidentally’ started their company, but they’ve certainly turned that ‘accident’ into a force to be reckoned with. Based out of Philadelphia, United States, David and Zach run Viral Ideas Marketing. With what started out as a consulting business, they have moved into the content creation space, and have since ‘productised’ their offering with Flixation, a video editing service.   If you’re looking at how to scale, and how to use video to better support your company and marketing then give this a listen!   In this episode we discuss: The power of video How to use video across social media Evolving your company to scale Customer retention and happiness And as always, plenty more...