The Unfinished Product: Recent Episodes
Liam Gray
The Unfinished Product is a podcast about the personal - and often untold - moments that influence founders' and operators' journeys. They may have raised millions or nothing at all, but they’re all doing incredible things that we can all learn from today. We have as much to learn from those who are on the journey as those who have finished it, but most people aren’t telling those stories. I'm here to tell those stories.
In this episode I'm joined by Harry Davies, Chief of Staff @ Grey Parrot. Though Harry started his journey in the corporate world, he quickly found his calling in startupland, building some of the UKs leading accelerator programmes. After helping hundreds of companies scale and raise capital, Harry decided to take his skills to Grey Parrot as their Chief of Staff. In this episode we talk, getting into the world of accelerators, having incredible mentors and the benefits of generalism vs specialism.
- Trailer: Graduate @ Telefonica > Head of Investments @ Wayra > Applied AI Lead @ Tech Nation > Chief of Staff @ Grey Parrot
- Outtakes:
- Entering the world of accelerators as a graduate
- The skills you develop when running an accelerator
- Embracing the ultimate generalist role, being a Chief of Staff
- The pros and cons of being a generalist
- Why AI is so important to society
- Edits:
- Listen to find out!
In this episode I’m joined by Asha Haji, co-founder of Framework. Asha’s journey takes us through her educational experiences at some of the world’s leading universities to building venture backed companies that are educating the next wave of leaders ranging from students to startup operators. In our conversation we talk; taking life-changing opportunities when they arise; getting into Harvard and working on things you’re truly passionate about and much more.
- Trailer: Developer @ McMaster > MBA @ Harvard > Director @ Education First > Co-Founder @ Framework
- Outtakes:
- Becoming a scholar and the responsibility that comes with it
- The business school experience at Harvard
- A life-changing conversation with a reverend and another in the hairdressers
- Test driving becoming a entrepreneur before taking the leap
- Taking opportunities when they present themselves, even when you have other plans
- Edits:
- Listen to find out!
In this episode I'm joined by Mary Agbesanwa. Over the years Mary has become an expert in building networks, starting in University, and continuing to do so throughout her consulting, and now tech, career. Her journey takes us from the intense world management consulting to leading the growth function of an early stage fintech.
Trailer (The high level journey): Consultant@ PWC > Founder @ Now You're Talking (Ongoing Side Hustle) > Growth Lead @ Seccl
Outtakes (the moments few people saw, but shaped everything):
- The drivers behind creating strong networks for women in business and finance
- Facing resistance when trying to build new communities for people who might be otherwise unheard
- Walking across the room and saying you are the woman for the job
- the huge influence doing business internationally can have on both your personal and professional life
Edits (the things you might have done differently, if you could go back):
- Listen to find out!
In this episode I'm joined by William Lorenz. Having founded two fintech startups and been an exec at a number of others, it’s easy to think that William has successfully achieved all of his startup ambitions. In many he has, but he’s still far from finished. His journey takes us from building his first fintech after the dot com bubble burst, all the way to now, where he is COO for yet another early stage payments company.
Trailer (The high level journey): Consultant > Co-Founder/COO @ Ixaris > Co-Founder/COO @ Kwanji > Director @ Modular > COO @ Dapio
Outtakes (the moments few people saw, but shaped everything):
- Starting a company following the dot com boom and bust
- Building multiple high growth startups in the fintech space
- Knowing when a startup idea just isn’t going to work
- The importance of developing EQ
- Embracing the Joy of Missing Out
- Curating your mentee network to add maximum value
Edits (the things you might have done differently, if you could go back):
- Listen to find out!
In this episode I'm joined by Karan Shanmugarajah. Karan’s journey has taken him from Sri Lanka to Canada and finally to the UK. His passion for finance started when he was a kid and it never really stopped! He’s gone from managing the wealth of some of the UK's wealthiest individuals, to creating the tech to manage the digital wealth management revolution.
Trailer (The high level journey): Wealth Manager @ Barclays > Founder @ WealthKernel
Outtakes (the moments few people saw, but shaped everything):
- The influence of high school teachers
- Navigating the job market in a financial crisis
- Making your unique background your edge
- Moving away from home and everything you know
- Being told you’re overqualified for the role
- Scaling a WealthTech to Series A
Edits (the things you might have done differently, if you could go back):
- Listen to find out!
Today I’m delighted to be joined by Jannat Shah Rajan. Jannat’s career has taken her from the world of banking and venture capital to a number of roles building early stage startups, including at one Europe’s fastest ever Unicorns.
Trailer (The high level journey): Analyst @ Deutsche Bank > Investor @ AXA Venture Partners > Head of Strategic Finance @ Hopin > Head of Finance @ Lean
Outtakes (the moments few people saw, but shaped everything):
- Taking risks and knowing when the time is right to switch roles
- Figuring out how to pivot into a new industry and building your network
- Making speculative applications (turns out they can actually work!)
- Building business units from scratch at a high growth unicorn
Edits (the things you might have done differently, if you could go back):
- Listen to find out!
In this episode I'm joined by Anna Tsyupko, Founder @ Expansion Zone. Anna’s startup journey epitomizes the idea of being thrown in at the deep end. After just a few years working at a family office, Anna was brought into a portfolio company as their CEO to turn things around. Following that, Anna moved on to become COO at another high-growth fintech and has now started a new coaching venture.
Trailer (The high level journey): Investor @ Family Office > CEO @ Paybase (Acquired) > COO Tomato pay > Founder @ Expansion Zone
Outtakes (the moments few people saw, but shaped everything):
- The feeling of walking into an organisation of 20 as the new CEO
- Pivoting and growing a company towards an exit
- Actually listening to customers and building products that scale
- Understanding what you love about your role and focusing on those elements in future roles
- Knowing when you’re nearing burnout and doing something about it
Edits (the things you might have done differently, if you could go back):
- Listen to find out!