Leon Founder: “Imprisoned” by big mistake & how to figure out your best role | John Vincent

Have you ever questioned what kind of leader you are and which roles truly suit you? 

Today’s interview is with Leon Co-Founder and Former CEO John Vincent. Named after John’s father, Leon was founded in 2004. John became CEO ten years later in 2014 after his co-founder Henry Dimbleby stepped down. In 2017, Leon was named on The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list, which ranks Britain's 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years. In 2021, the company was sold for a reported £100 million to the billionaire Issa brothers. 

But look behind this success, and you’ll find a lot of lessons along the way.

John talks about:

• How to identify your personality type and which roles might suit you best as a founder
• Why every business needs disruptors, scalers and executors
• What John did wrong as a disruptive CEO 
• Coming up with the idea for ‘healthy’ fast-food
• Their big mistake early on 
• Why wise investors keep Founders in the driving seat
• His relationship with his co-founder
• What to do if you give away too much equity early on 
• How much he actually made when they sold the business
• Why he wrote the book ‘Winning not Fighting’ which draws on the philosophy of Wing Tsun, an ancient Chinese martial art
• How identifying your fears can help you understand your desires
• Why he thinks it's unhealthy to have too many regrets

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