Startup Secrets

We had the pleasure of being introduced to Tej through a mutual friend of the show, and how glad we are that the intro was made!   Tej is an entrepreneur through and through, and isn't shy about talking about the personal and emotional side of entrepreneurship. After quitting the 'dream job' with ESPN in 2007, Tej wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do, but he was fed up with being told 'no' and knew he needed to be in charge of his own destiny.   After a period of consulting for multiple firms, Tej founded his first startup, however, it wasn't without a number of pivots, rounds of funding, and rebrands that they eventually landed on the company that came to be acquired: Kaptur. After Kaptur, Tej moved on to his second startup which he says 'failed', but he undoubtedly learnt a lot of lessons both in a business and personal sense. With years of entrepreneurial experience in his pocket, Tej moved on to Citi Ventures as an Entrepreneur in Residence, and then to Google where he works within there sta

In this episode we speak with Will Lewis, Co-founder and Director of the Manchester-based boutique real estate firm, OBI Property.   "It was a stupid time to set up" admits Will, but nonetheless, 8 years on, OBI is doing better than ever, and part of their success could well be down to never having "that easy patch"!   OBI was the first company Will started, and after time within the corporate sector, he was ready to create a disruptive and innovative company that he could put his own stamp on. OBI now work with a range of national and international clients including; The Hut Group, NCC and The Lad Bible.   In this episode we discuss:   Disruption, innovation, and keeping ahead of the competition Staff values and incentives Picking your co-founders Raising finance Growing a business in a volatile market And as always, plenty more...   Links mentioned in this episode:   OBI Property Instagram OBI Property Twitter OBI Property Website

David McQueen is a professional speaker. Some would describe him as a Motivational speaker, others a host/facilitator, and others will recognise him from his podcast or previous TV shows. However you'd describe him, he's an absolute expert when it comes to all things 'communication'!   David started his working life as an accountant, and, as a self-proclaimed 'proper geek', then transitioned to a second career in technology. In both of those careers he spawned a love for effective presenting and communications.   After leaving the corporate world, he went on to start his own company where he predominantly taught public speaking and coaching. He realised most presentations were pretty terrible and instead of complaining about them he thought he'd do something about it!   He really put in his 10,000 hours to hone his craft, and has since gone on to present shows on Channel4, has hosted events for Virgin Media alongside Sir Richard Branson, and has even spoken at

In this episode we're very excited to chat with an amazing guest, Peter Roberts, founder of Britain's largest gym chain, PureGym.    Peter himself states that he's come from a family of entrepreneurs and his entrepreneurial ventures have always been borne out of frustration that others were not doing things, or were not doing it right.   Peter started his business in the leisure sector, which he launched in the 70's after becoming a qualified chartered surveyor, he then moved onto Langdale Estate where he built 120 holiday lodges and from there, moved onto Nightclubs. In 2009 he founded PureGym, which quickly grew into Britain's largest gym chain with a membership of around 900,000 and plans to open 300 locations by 2020.    After years of planning, hard work and growth, Pure Gym was acquired in November 2017, at a valuation of £600 million!   This is an absolute must listen for all entrepreneurs, no matter where you are on your journey!   In this episode we discuss:

In this episode we speak with Sydney native Tim Fung, Founder and CEO of AirTasker - the online community for with over 1.5 million users!   Airtasker was borne out of a very real frustration Tim had when moving house. He needed assistance with smaller jobs but no marketplace existed - so he did what any natural entrepreneur should do and built one!   Tim has gained a mass of experience over the years, including working in Finance, being involved with other startups, and even "looking after Victoria's Secret's models"!   Tim and Airtasker have raised a huge $32million in funding and are now expanding into the UK after great success in Australia.   In the ever expanding market of the "gig economy" apps like AirTasker play an important role in allowing people to outsource small tasks, and allow people to find quick jobs.   In this episode we talk about: Fundraising The gig economy PR and marketing Virality and user acquisition The Network effect Working with a co-founder And as always,

In this episode I speak with Claire Mitchell - the brutally honest Founder and CEO of Mimi and Mago (formerly Chillipeeps)!   I had the pleasure of meeting Claire at an event in Leeds where we were both sharing our entrepreneurial story. What blew me away with Claire's presentation is how openly she spoke about the challenges she'd faced, the amount of time it took to get her product to market, the huge costs involved, and all the other hurdles along the way.    Now about 10 years into the journey, Claire has overcome a huge amount to get Mimi and Mago where it is. She recalls the time she sobbed all the way through her first major presentation, missed out on an order for 1million units, and battling with Trading Standards (only later to get them on her side.   This podcast goes into all the above and more and is an absolute must listen for anyone looking to start a business in the product sector.   In this episode we discuss: Patenting, prototyping, and testing your product Under

In this episode I speak with a dragon... in the TV sense at least! I had the pleasure of chatting with Nick Jenkins; founder of Moonpig.com, Dragon on the BBC's Dragon's Den, Philanthropist, and Angel Investor.   Nick has an amazing backstory, starting with him reading Russian at university, before going on to live in the Soviet Union (as it then was) and surviving its downfall. Further to starting and successfully exiting a business in Russia, Nick went on to do an MBA in the UK during which time he came up with the idea for Moonpig.com.   After years of planning, hard work, and very impressive growth, Nick sold Moonpig for a cool £120,000,000 (<< I just wanted to write all the zeros!).   Nick then went on to appear as one of the Dragons on Dragon's Den where he invested in a number of companies. We get into how he found the process of the show, behind the scenes edits you don't get to see, and how some of his investments are progressing.   More recently, Nick has been focussing on

George Burgess... where to start? Founder of revision app company that raised $3million, Venture Partner for InMotion (Jaguar Land Rover),  Stanford Uni dropout, Co-founder of EdTech Exchange, public speaker, and part-time 'tinkerer'!   Further to meeting George at The BETT Show earlier this year, we stayed in contact via the EdTech Exchange network he co-founded. After finding out more about his story it was one I just had to share.   George founded the revision app company Gojimo which is used by 1/3 of GCSE and A level students in the UK, and over the past couple of years has achieved a successful exit to the Telegraph. This however wasn't without its challenges... they achieved huge user acquisition, constantly developed the platform, but did struggle to monetise!   Alongside Gojimo, George founded EdTech Exchange which is a network for EdTech founders (of which Titus Learning are a part of!). This started off as a way to speak with peers in the sector, but soon grew into a l

Ron Carucci is the co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, working with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for their organisations, leaders, and industries. With a 30-year track record helping execs around the globe, Ron has worked with startups to Fortune 10s. He has worked in more than 25 countries and is the bestselling author of eight books. Ron's work has been featured in Fortune, CEO Magazine, HBR, BusinessInsider, MSNBC, Business Week, Smart Business and thoughtleaders.   What's really great about this episode is we get to chat to Ron both as a business leader and founder, but also delve into the world of consultancy and how he assists startups and large companies alike to reach their potential. We talk a lot about implementing the processes needed to scale successfully, and how you can do this whilst retaining the company culture that you've created.   Having worked with the likes of Accenture, GSK, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pepsi Co

Luke Massie started his business journey at the age of just 17 when he launched a call centre in the cut throat world of insurance. After 12 successful months of trading, Luke sold the business to start the next chapter of his entrepreneurial journey – a student discount and benefits website.   With a real taste for business, and an understanding of the commercials, Luke founded Vibe Tickets in 2013 to address a very common issue that he experienced himself - the hyper inflated ticket resale market. Luke is aiming for Vibe Tickets to become one of the most disruptive presences in the secondary ticket market.    Amongst other achievements, Luke is the youngest person to ever make Business Insider's 42 under 42 list – an exclusive list which tips up and coming entrepreneurs under the age of 42 for success. Luke is also a proud ambassador for Lancashire county councils Boost programme.    In this episode we discuss:   Starting young - the challenges and benefit

Founding partner of one of the world's largest digital marketing agencies, angel investor, and father of 4 just in case he's not busy enough! In this episode we chat with Matt Isaacs, Chairman of Essence … and it's a beauty!   Matt co-founded Essence with his two friends and colleagues in 2005. After some seriously explosive growth (at one point growing tenfold within 3 years), and with turnover into the 100s of £millions, Essence were eventually acquired by WPP, the world's largest marketing group. Essence focus on the paid media component of advertising, and across their 11 offices and 750 staff, they manage $1bn of digital media. Their customers (spanning 70 countries) include Google, The Financial Times, Universal Pictures, and eBay, just to name a few. What's more impressive, they never received any external funding and managed this growth organically. We cover a whole heap of topics in this episode which I've listed below, and I personally found it very inspiring to see how a company can reach

"We all want to be an overnight success… but that takes a long time"   In this episode with Michael Wilkinson, we take our first look at an entrepreneur who has successfully started, grown and exited from their company. After 7 years hard graft, Michael Wilkinson and his co-founder Steve Holt, sold their company 'i-Education' for very healthy sum, but also realised their dream of seeing the product being used by even more students than they ever could have imagined - over 12 million worldwide!   As a fellow Yorkshireman it was great to chat with Mike about his journey from founding the company, through to the sale, and how he's stayed involved thereafter.    In this episode we discuss: Challenges of growing a company organically How to let people know you exist When to bring in a non-exec for outside advice How to structure your business for a sale Intrapreneur vs Entrepreneur Should you plan to sell from the outset When is the right time to sell How to find

John Auckland is the founder and CEO of Tribefirst, a published author, and a Virgin StartUp Ambassador. He's an expert on all things crowdfunding, and with the increasing interest in this area for businesses, I couldn't wait to get him on the podcast and chat further!   In their very own words "TribeFirst helps you build a loyal tribe of customers through crowdfunding, via recognised global platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdcube and Seedrs.".   Crowdfunding is a seriously hot topic amongst startups and established businesses alike, and there were plenty of questions I had for John (as well as few from listeners!) to go cover in our discussion.   Interested in running your own crowdfunding campaign, or perhaps investing? Then you need to give this one a listen :)   In this episode we discuss:   What is crowdfunding 'political campaign' vs 'marketing campaign' What are the different types of crowdfunding Which type of crowdfunding is suitable for your business

Aldo De Pape is the Founder and CEO of TeachPitch, a technology that helps teachers identify the best online teaching resources. After founding in 2014, TeachPitch is already been utilised in over 125 countries (yes, 125!!) and they've received investment from China as well as the UK. Last year they completed a £300,000 investment round via Crowdcube, and they have just launched their latest round on Crowdcube which you can view via the link below.   Aldo and I have had many a discussion about 'blagging it', and doing what needs to be done in order to get the company out there. He starts off in great form by saying "I'm an absolute hustler" which is so true!   In this podcast we talk about:   Hustling and making the business your life Validating your idea How to increase your PR and publicity  Key lessons to increase your chances of success as a first time founder Working within an area you're familiar with Founder envy Managing and building remote teams The

So this episode is a little different :) A while back I was contacted by Lisimba Pink who hosts his very own podcast. I was super excited to hear that he wanted to feature me, and chat about what I've achieved with Titus, and my own entrepreneurial journey to date. I really enjoyed chatting with Lisimba, and felt there were some useful pointers in my own story to share with everyone. I've kindly 'borrowed' Lisimba's show notes and details below for you to refer to. Hope you enjoy!   In the episode we discuss: An introduction to Seb Francis Seb's motivations for becoming an entrepreneur We hear a story about one of Seb's first money making ventures Seb explains if you need to reinvent the wheel in creating a new business? What is a lifestyle business? We find out if sacrifices helped get Seb to where he is today Seb shares how his company grew internationally We learn how to deal with the cultural challenges of doing busin

Lucy Stonehill is the Founder and CEO of Bridge-U, has been selected as one of Forbes' 30 under 30, and is responsible for raising a huge $2.5million investment.   After working in the legal and consultancy sectors, Lucy had the idea of Bridge-U, a platform that harnesses big data and machine learning to enable schools and students to make smarter and more efficient decisions about their university/college placements.   In the podcast we talk about:   Lucy's background and key influences Validating your business idea Finding the ideal co-founder Accelerators and incubators Investment - when to do it, how much you need, and what steps to follow Breaking the entrepreneurial stereotype And much more…   Want to find out more about Lucy and Bridge-U? Check out the details below:   Lucy Stonehill Twitter Bridge-U Website Bridge-U Twitter   Useful links from the podcast:   Preparing Today's Teenagers for the 4th Industrial Revolution - Lucy's LinkedIn Post The

Having grown up in a family of entrepreneurs, you could say that Oliver Page was always destined to start his own companies - however, it's his drive and passion for finding and fixing very real problems that has led him to where he is today.   Having started his first company, Nutkase Accessories, at 17, he has since gone on to attend Draper University, talk on the TedX stage, travel the world, and start up business no.2, Scooterino. He's had some amazing success with fundraising and has recently closed a round for €500k.   In this episode we discuss: Being a lifetime learner Starting young University - to go or not to go How and when to get investment Recruitment Involving family in your venture (and/or creating a family ethos) The benefits of having a co-founder Giving equity to your starting team Motivations for starting a company How to find your focus    Links mentioned in the podcast:   The Lean Startup - Eric Ries Zero to One - Peter Thiel

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A VITAE LONDON WATCH!!   Before I tell you more about Will, I have to mention the amazing chance you have to get your hands on one of the unbelievable watches by Vitae London! Will and Vitae have kindly agreed to giveaway a watch to one lucky listener!! All you have to do is share this podcast with the hashtag #startupsecrets on Twitter, or tag the Startup Secrets Facebook page on FB. We'll the pick one lucky listener at random and announce the winner on 20th May 2017! Good luck :)    Now on to Will... I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Will Adoasi in Richard Branson's home after we'd both been selected as Virgin StartUp Ambassadors. His charisma and charm is immediately evident, and you quickly understand how he's been able to create such an amazing brand around his company, Vitae London.   As a fan of watches myself, and obviously being in the education sector, it was brilliant to hear his story of not only creating awesome timepieces, but

Jacob Hill is first and foremost an entrepreneur. He caught the business bug as a teenager running a sweet selling enterprise, followed by local music events. During his enterprise degree he founded his first 'proper company', The Lazy Camper. His entrepreneurial antics led to him winning a string of awards, including the Yorkshire Post's Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Duke of York's Young Entrepreneur Award.   However, after some challenging times, Jacob's personal and business life took a shocking turn for the worse when he was arrested for possession with intent to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Immediately remorseful, and keen to repay his social debt, Jacob spent his time 'inside' helping others to see a future after time behind bars.   Jacob has since embarked on a new business venture, Offploy, a recruitment agency developed solely to support companies who are looking to hire ex-offenders as part of an ongoing commitment to reducing re-o