The Startup Van Podcast - Founders Fuel - Inspiring and Educating Entrepreneurs: Recent Episodes
The Startup Van
9 in 10 companies fail in the first few years of business, we're on a mission to help change those stats. The Startup Van travelled the world in a vintage VW Bus interviewing great entrepreneurs before opening a permanent studio in London Shoreditch. We've interviewed well over 3,000 guests at this stage and we want to educate and inspire as many entrepreneurs as possible by interviewing the biggest and most successful names in business on our show. If you're an entrepreneur this podcast is for you as we find out from the best how to run and build a successful business. Start NOW!
On todays show we talk to Joe Perkins the founder of Landscape which has been called the Glassdoor for VC's and accelerators. Landscape is a community project aimed at raising transparency in the startup funding ecosystem.
We Talk to Joe about.......
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Why this is needed
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His experience with a VC which lead to Landscape
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Some of the shocking stories he's heard
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His future plans for Landscape and much more
Really excited to have the founder of online conference platform Hopin - Johnny Boufarhat on the show today. We speak to Johnny about...
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Growing a business from 8 employees to 180 in a year.
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Raising $40M+ from key investors.
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How investors differ with the value they add.
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Knowing if you're the right person to be CEO and more.
Emma Joy Obanye from OneTech joins us on the show today, they're proudly committed to challenging inequity and the lack of diversity in Tech. If you’re a female founder or consider yourself from a Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority background, OneTech is here to support you on every step of your journey.
On todays show we talk about...
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Supporting unrepresented founders in London
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What it's like to be a female founder raising money
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Why the system is unfair
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Working with sponsors and much more
Really excited to have Morten Toft Bech the founder of Meatless Farm on the podcast today. Their mission is to make a difference without tasting the difference.
On todays show we talk about...
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Starting the business with zero background in food
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Building a strong team
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Closing a deal whit US giant Whole Foods
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Taking on billion dollar competitors like, Beyond Meat and Impossible foods
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Raising 30 Million during lockdown and much more
It was great to have Romanie Thomas on the show today. Romanie is the founder and CEO of Juggle which is a digital platform for companies to find, onboard, pay and manage, experienced flexible professionals
On todays show we talk about.....
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The differences between US and UK investors
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The mistakes Romanie made when pitching
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Downsizing the business
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The importance of hiring the right people
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How fundraising as a sole founder negatively impact the growth of Juggle
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And much more
Guests like todays is the reason Startup Van was founded, an incredibly driven founder with a background you might not expect. Founder and CEO of Habito Daniel Hegarty speaks with us about
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His time in a punk band being similar to a startup.
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How his time in Wonga helped him raise a seed round.
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Finding the right investors.
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Raising $82M.
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And much more!
This weeks guest is one of the few founders who has been aggressively hiring since the pandemic hit, and he's in the proptech business. We chat with Asaf Novat founder of Home Made about....
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Keeping employees safe during this time
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Choosing to raise a larger amount of funding
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Property trends for the rest of the year
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Advice for hiring people the right way
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And much more!
We have a guest on the show this week we've been dying to chat with, Car Throttle founder Adnan Ebrahim.
On this show he tells us about
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His hustling days at 16 (and getting scammed)
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Starting CarThrottle as a business from the outset
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Raising money from Passion Capital from a cold email
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Taking on the biggest names in the car industry
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The loss of identity after the exit and how he got it back
Hope you enjoy the chat, link below
We love interviewing people that embody the true meaning of being an entrepreneur, this week we have GreenPal CEO Bryan Clayton on the show. Bryan has grown GreenPal to over $20 million a year in revenue with zero outside funding and we wanted to find out how.
Bryan tells us how he...
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Started and grew a business at 16
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The mistakes around culture and how he fixed them
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Getting his first business to $10M a year turnover and exiting a few years later
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learning from his previous business and how this benefited GreenPal
...And much more!
On todays Podcast we talk to Design My Night co-founder Nick Telson and he tells us about
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Bootstrapping and free food in Google
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What changed after their first seed round
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The fantastic story about the stressful day the business sold for £25M
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Why he still loves being involved in startups and angel investing
Tim Jackson is the founder of Walking Ventures. We speak to Tim about his transition from journalist to the founder of QXL.com which later sold for $2BN. Tim speaks very candidly about seeing both sides of the fence when it comes to founders and investors, He is also known for taking founders on a walk instead of sitting in a board room, but his reasoning for this might surprise you!
Given the relatively short careers in sport, the next step in life is crucial. We talk to ex-Irish international rugby star Jamie Heaslip on todays podcast.
Jamie talks very openly about
- His time in rugby
- His future after the sport
- How his first investment in a restaurant in Dublin ended up closing
- The massive exit he had with Pointy for $160 million
- And how founders can have a winning mindset
Jamie also talks to us about the importance of building a team and how keeping mentally and physically fit is crucial to a successful future in business
This week we chat with Sam O'Connor Co-founder and CEO of Coconut.
Sam tells us,
Why Coconut delayed this round of funding
Why now is the right time to do it
How they nearly hit the crowdfunding goal before going public
How they are breaking down borders and hiring talent outside London
His thoughts on remote working
And his take on the Wirecard scandal
On todays show we have both Eleanor Herrin and Ben Pugh join us for a very open conversation about:
Ben stepping aside as CEO
How he came to this decision
Eleanor taking the lead
Keeping company culture
How Farmdrop coped with increased demand
Staying focused when new potential opportunities arise
And how the company is scaling up
It's always important as a founder to step back to try and see what's best for the future of the business, this podcast will help you as a founder answer some of those questions
How Have Huel Grown So Fast Julian explains the marketing behind the company and how:
Making the perfect product so you don't have to spend as much on marketing Getting the packaging right How the Huel T-Shirts works so well (Let's admit we've all seen it) What you can measure and what you can't Every penny must count And what worked and failed for Huel
This is such an insightful interview if you're looking to build your brand
We talk to Peter about opening the 12 different bank accounts
What it was like
How he documented everything
What bank came out on top
The reaction he got from the banks
And what’s happening next
If you have a bank account in the UK this is a must listen
Michelle is the CEO of Peanut who are on a mission to build a community of women, who happen to be mothers.
We talk to Michelle about
- Closing a round of funding right before lockdown
- Following your gut while raising a round
- Running a business while looking after kids
- Making investment go further these days
- And Michelle explains your competitors aren't always obvious
We chat to Steve O'Hear about
People holding off funding announcements
Monzo's lates valuation
Steve's time filming in Silicon Valley
Why he hated The Startup Van
And how tech media is too soft
After exiting a business in Australia Pip Jamieson returned to London to launch a LinkedIn killer for creatives called The-Dots. We speak to Pip about rebelling against her creative family, her time at MTV and her thoughts on raising money.
Michael is a purebred entrepreneur, from a turbulent childhood he rose up in the business world using methods alien to most founders. Including fake interrogations and shark tanks (Literally shark tanks, not the TV show)
eToro founder Yoni Assia joins Graham and Mark on the show to talk about:
How his staff in China are currently working
How he’s been dealing with lockdown
His previous business was rollercoaster related
How every investor said eToro could not succeed in Tel Aviv
What it’s like raising money now verses his first raise
And much more...
Influencer marketing is widely discussed these days. Has it been hit hard or is it stronger than ever! Also, what it's like getting a funding round closed of 8.5 million right before a pandemic, good timing or does it bring its own challenges? We have the ever cheerful Aaron Brooks cofounder of Vamp join us on the podcast.
The ex-global brand manager of Red Bull and founder of startup Gener8 Ads - Sam Jones, joins us to discuss marketing strategies during this pandemic and the recession that will follow. We talk about what he learned about people, marketing and brand when he was with Red Bull and some tactics to get ahead in business right now!
David finished up as CMO right before Covid-19 ravaged businesses throughout the UK. We hear his thoughts on the current situation, how businesses will get through this and his experience with challenger banks throughout his time at RBS. David started in RBS and took them through one of the biggest rebrands in British business history, so this is a must-listen!
We talk to Lucozade’s former head of marketing Lesley Stonier about marketing in the current climate and creating opportunity from adversity. Lesley tells us how marketing has increased tenfold in some industries due to the Coronavirus where others have ceased completely. We also cover the affects marketing has in a recession and how best you can prepare your business should we find ourself in another massive downturn.
In this episode we talk to David McCourt who is the founder of Granahan McCourt Capital who invest in Tech, Media and Telecommunications companies. He is also the Chairman of National Broadband Ireland who have recently signed a €5 billion euro deal with the Irish Government to connect all of rural Ireland. Davis is the author of the book "Total Rethink" Why Entrepreneurs Should Act Like Revolutionaries. We talk to David about how business might look in the future once we come out of the pandemic, how entrepreneurs should be acting and thinking right now and we have David answer some really important questions from our listeners. If you are like the rest of us and a little puzzled as to how best work through this pandemic, this is a must listen as David has survived five recessions to date.
We talk to Ex-CMO of Belkin International Kieran Hannon about the affects the Coronavirus is having on business today. Kieran talks us through the 7 stages people and a company will go through when entering lockdown which are, Shock, Denial, Frustration, Depression, Experiment, Decision and Integration. We also talk about the importance of cashflow and how CMO's and Marketers should be acting for the foreseeable future.
In this episode we're joined by Anthony Rose Co-Founder and CEO of SeedLegals. We will be talking about funding in this current climate and best business practices for the next three to six months. SeedLegals is the number one closer of funding rounds, with over £200 million invested through their platform. Anthonys advice is to close now, close fast and close whatever you can. This is a must listen if you in the middle of a funding round or going for funding in the next three to six months.