Secret Leaders

In the midst of the dot-com bubble, Sharath Jeevan OBE, Founder of Intrinsic Labs, was convinced by investors to pursue rapid growth and prioritise the consumer market. However, after the dot-com bubble popped; he realised that as a leader, he had to learn to follow his internal compass not just the funding market -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Founders have a lot on their plates - how do they navigate it all without losing track of what’s important? In this episode, we chat with Sophie Scott - a Founder and psychotherapist who’s on a mission to help Founders discover their purpose, cultivate sustainable self-care practices, and answer the question, “why do Founders need therapy?" Just as a disclaimer; Sophie mentions some of her clients' experiences. These accounts are composite and anonymous. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Faisal Abid, The Co-Founder of Eirene Cremations, spent two years developing the product for his first business. He thought after all of his planning and developing his company would be a hit, once it finally launched. He soon realised; building a product isn’t the same as building a company.  -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Is there anything harder in business than growing your company? Probably not and that's why we're speaking to one of the best in the growth game - Matt Lerner. He explains how to find the 10% of things that will actually grow your startup, how to hire growth people, how to prioritise growth experiments (it's not the usual way) and lots of other things that can change your company's future. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Amanda Brock, the CEO of Open UK, took a decade too long to jump from her legal career to what she really craved - the frenzy of entrepreneurship. She stayed in law too long because she’d experienced a sobering failure years ago - running an event which lost half a million pounds. What happened? -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Sokratis Papafloratos is the Founder of Numan who are tackling a lot of male healthcare problems like erectile dysfunction, hair loss, sleep and weight issues. This isn't his first rodeo. Sokratis exited with his first startup, albeit at great personal cost. His second one failed. And now he's leading Numan. What's going to be his fate this time? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Ken Schmitt is the Founder and CEO of a high end executive search firm, which is ironic because we’re going through his biggest career failures and they all revolve around hiring. Well, hiring or being hired because Ken went through a period where he kept being fired. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

SpareRoom is a business you've probably heard of - bringing together strangers and putting roofs over their heads. It's a bootstrapped business and its Founder Rupert Hunt still finds his housemates through it today. Rupert could've sold up years ago - he turned down an offer he says he couldn't refuse. Why on earth did he do that? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Brian Will is a seasoned entrepreneur who’s sold several businesses, but his first one was a baptism of fire. Brian had a difficult childhood. He was a D student who failed high school, got kicked out of home at 18 and joined the military. He had a chip on his shoulder and struggled with discipline - he lost rank twice. And then his first business went under at the worst possible time for him and his family. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Can you imagine graduating university and exiting for tens of millions at the same time? Cue Harry Gestetner and Simon Pompan, the Founders of Fanfix, a platform that helps creators better monetise their content. They built the business for mobile-first, multi-channel Gen-Z creators and their audiences (a bit like Patreon for Gen Z) - and their traction was so strong that SuperOrdinary bought them just 10 months after launch. Here's how. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Adam Weber is a multi exited Founder, podcaster and the SVP of Community for 15Five, a performance management software company. What’s fascinating is he ended up making it in a very different role to what he thought he was good at. Adam had been a salesman until the biggest deal of his life collapsed, along with the plan for his future. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Clarkson's Farm taught us that being a farmer is tough, and from this podcast we've learnt how tough it is to become a successful Founder. James Chase's family has done both. His father was up against it as a farmer so started Tyrrells crisps before launching Chase spirits followed by Willy's apple cider vinegar (all consumed by Dan). Now James is building his own thing, a skincare for men brand called BAZ & CO. How do you build multiple well known B2C brands? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Joel Gandara sold his businesses a few months ago, is retired, doing what he enjoys - so he’s feeling pretty good about his life choices. But a few years ago, it was a very different story. It seemed more likely that Joel would find himself back where he’d begun - and Joel didn't have the easiest start to life. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Doctor Driando Ahnan-Winarno is the CTO at Better Nature Tempeh, but he’s not just any CTO - he is a Chief Tempeh Officer. Tempeh is a type of food that's really popular in Indonesia, where Dr Driando grew up, so he tried bringing it to the UK. He got early validation but had to give up on his original vision. Here's how it went wrong - and what he learnt from it. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Jessica Rolph is the Co-Founder and CEO or Lovevery which makes play kit subscription boxes for kids - and is one of Dan's favourite kids brands. It's also massive, valued at $800 million at the last count - and it came pretty quickly off the back of a challenging earnout she experienced with Danone having sold her previous company Happy Family for about $300 million. How has she done it? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders. Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders. Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Neil Ambikar says you can't rely on the UK legal system. Neil is the Founder of B2Bpay and Narvi Payments - and B2Bpay is lucky to still be here. The company was taken to the brink by a sequence of events that led to Neil questioning the legal system in the UK. He says he did everything right but ended up losing. This is how the game is really played. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Vlad Magdalin is the Founder of Webflow, a no-code platform which allows people who aren't software engineers to build complex websites. They were valued at $4b at the last count but amazingly he tried doing the business three times before getting it right. He wouldn't advise a friend to take the same risks he did - despite the enormous pay off. Here's why. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders. Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders. Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Molly Johnson-Jones is the Founder of Flexa, a global directory of flexible companies. The idea was born out of the worst moment in Molly’s career, which left her doubting her worth and ability to be in a workplace. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Anna Gudmundson is the Co-Founder of Sensate: a pebble like device you can put on your chest which tones (vibrates) the vagus nerve, which helps control your stress response. Anna is fascinated by stress and how we can handle it (75% of the world are anxious - go figure). She explains some some of the science and tactics to manage your stress response, and of course it's a subject Dan love being Mr Vagus Nerve. Sensate: https://www.getsensate.com/ -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders. Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders. Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/. You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Tay Sweat is retired today having put a lot of the earnings from his fitness and supplement business into the stock market. But that was actually his second attempt at that business. He failed on his first go, and that knocked him back decades - back to an even worse position than he'd been in when he was a teenager. It would’ve broken a lot of people but Tay, well, he likes to sweat.  -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.