

Kickoff Sessions
Darren Lee
Weekly podcast episodes with the sharpest minds in the world to help you live a richer & more fulfilling life. Previous guests include Luke Belmar, Justin Waller, Sahil Bloom, Gad Saad, Peter Schiff, Stirling Cooper, Jack Hopkins, Sadia Khan, Matt Gray, Daniel Priestley, Richard Cooper, Justin Welsh, Arlin Moore and more.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 3, 2022 • 1h 28min
#82 Simon Dingle & Steven Boykey Sidley – Beyond Bitcoin
Simon Dingle is an author, broadcaster and entrepreneur with extensive experience in cryptocurrency, including being on the founding teams of several fintech firms, including cryptocurrency exchange Luno and open banking provider Curve. Steven Boykey Sidley has worked extensively in technology and finance and is an award-winning novelist, playwright and columnist. Buy Beyond Bitcoin: Decentralised Finance and the End of Banks:https://amzn.to/3K98EXB⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(03:32) The use of bitcoin in the Ukraine/Russia war (07:37) The narrative of crypto from central banks & financial institutions(10:29) Bad actors operating in TradFi and DeFi (12:57) What caught your interest in bitcoin and decentralised finance? (17:00) Trust in the bitcoin network versus traditional payment providers (21:02) Gaining layers of trust in financial institutions vs. DeFi(25:15) Use cases of DeFI: decentralised exchanges (32:42) What are the market abuse risks of decentralised exchanges? (37:13) Poor user experience & user interface in DeFi use cases (39:43) How do you solve the scalability issues of ethereum? (42:10) The scalability trilemma by Vitalik Buterin(46:32) Ethereum's roadmap and meeting its 2022 deadlines (52:04) Will bitcoin & ethereum continue to dominate market share?(56:05) Gold & bitcoin's decoupling from equity markets (59:34) Will NFTs survive during a bear market? (01:02:33) The principles of NFTs and DAOs (01:04:40) What is the outcome of the metaverse? (01:10:33) The hype of the metaverse and long term view (01:12:20) Central banks policy and CBDC's Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Feb 23, 2022 • 1h
#81 Somil Goyal – Monetize Your Skills & Gain Experience
Somil Goyal is the founder of Project Brains. Somil has deep experience in finance and consulting with skills honed at Deutsche Bank and the Big Four. He runs an alumni angel network in the UK focused on digital industries and climate change. He has also managed and worked at start-up companies especially in fintech. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(03:06) What have you been up to since we last recorded? (07:17) The shift in mindset of freelancers & remote working(10:45) The benefits of starting a side business (15:10) How to get more experience as a young professional (19:50) Social capital and building an international network (22:26) What are the risks of offering your skills to multiple companies? (26:53) The challenges for businesses to hire new employees (28:40) What's the advantage for companies hiring temporary employees? (34:50) Understanding the problem statement & finding a logical solution (38:15) Measuring success on business outcomes(40:55) How do you determine your price point for your services? (48:15) What have been the biggest challenge building a startup? (54:25) How do you get your first customers on a marketplace? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Feb 16, 2022 • 60min
#80 James McGann – The Mental Effect & Impact of Careers
James McGann is cofounder of Frankie Health and previously the cofounder of Floe. Frankie uses machine learning to connect employees with a network of mental health providers and personalised wellness content. Frankie aims to be the future of employee mental healthcare. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(03:00) What was your background in tech & startups? (06:03) Travelling, career development & opportunity cost(09:06) The effects of partying on work-life balance(11:55) Creativity, growth and ideas from travelling (14:13) Tim Ferriss & the experimental mindset(17:35) How did stress and overworking impact your health? (23:20) Is burnout a failure on an individual level? (25:28) Self-care routine to improve productivity (31:00) When did you realise you had to start meditation? (35:12) What's your thoughts on psychedelics for meditations? (38:50) Medical psychedelic prescriptions for PTSD(42:25) How did you get introduced to therapy? (46:32) The statistics of therapy and client-therapist relationships (50:10) How did you manage the risk of Frankie Health? (55:05) How are the research papers compared for individuals? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Feb 9, 2022 • 52min
#79 Mark Coles – How to Maximise Your Potential
Mark Coles teaches fitness professionals how to turn their passion and purpose into a successful business. Mark is the owner of M10 Coaching, host of the Mastery Podcast and author of the Level Up book. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(02:20) What have you observed in the fitness industry recently? (06:52) Why do people struggle to get started in life? (09:35) Finding both your purpose and meaning(13:11) Discovering your 'why' and creating a roadmap (16:00) Why do we blame our past for future events? (20:25) Leading with confidence and certainty (21:23) Learning to focus on micro & incremental wins (28:00) Focusing on both long and short term objectives (31:45) Creating outcome-based plans and details (34:20) How do you measure progress effectively? (38:30) Using data to direct your vision & mission (43:57) How important is being a role model to clients? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Feb 2, 2022 • 50min
#78 Linas Beliūnas – The Evolution of The Fintech Industry
Linas Beliūnas is country manager of Flutterwave and reinventing finance 1% at a time. Linas is currently scaling Flutterwave and leading the company's expansion into Europe. He documents all things financial technology: fintech, blockchain, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in his newsletter linas.substack.com. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(03:26) How did you grow so quickly on social media? (06:00) What was your background in startups and tech? (09:35) What has been the evolution of finance and tech firms? (12:18) Trust in traditional banking versus fintech firms(14:23) The challenges that comes with building neobanks (17:11) Is the amount of capital raised in fintech justified? (21:21) Is the fintech industry too overcrowded? (23:40) What did Uber get wrong in their business model? (25:45) Can startups be profitable if they stop growing? (29:10) IPOs & valuations of Robinhood, Coinbase & Grab (33:11) What excites you in the crypto & blockchain space? (37:52) What is the advantage of DAOs over crowdfunding? (38:56) What are the concerns of full decentralization? (42:07) What are your thoughts on the metaverse? (45:28) Social status and validation in the metaverse (48:03) What are the investment opportunities in the metaverse? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Jan 26, 2022 • 1h 2min
#77 Thibault Launay – NFTs, Metaverse & Digital Real Estate
Thibault Launay is founder & CEO of Exclusible, an NFT platform for luxury brands. Thibault was previously the co-founder of Alliance Minière Responsable and Afrimalin Group. He was also named Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2019. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(03:10) Why did you get involved in the metaverse? (05:26) Why did you decide to create NFTs for luxury brands?(11:50) The different categories of NFTs (15:07) Biggest challenges for brands moving into NFTs (18:00) The importance of creating roadmaps for NFTs (21:09) Why are you building villas, malls & islands in the metaverse? (25:15) What Snoop Dogg is doing in the Sandbox metaverse(25:50) How do you value land in the metaverse? (29:09) How do you build property in the metaverse? (33:10) How do you make the experience realistic? (38:28) The correlation between cryptocurrency markets & NFTs (42:21) What will happen to NFTs & the metaverse in a bear market? (48:00) How can retail investors invest in the metaverse? (51:00) The future price valuation & utility of NFTs (55:15) What are the career opportunities in the metaverse & NFTs? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Jan 19, 2022 • 58min
#76 Johnny Walker – Deep Dive Into Building The Best CV
Johnny Walker is an award winning digital marketer and former executive search consultant from London’s square mile. Johnny is founder of The Executive Edge program, specifically aimed at senior and executive job seekers, with one objective to help them get their ideal job, faster, for more money, without having to sell themselves. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(02:49) Johnny's work tailored to young professionals(05:40) What do people get wrong with building CVs? (06:55) What is the purpose of a CV? (08:05) Three biggest problems of CVs(11:23) How important is including relevant information? (16:20) Should you find consistent themes in job descriptions? (20:47) Adding purpose and performance to your CV (21:55) Google's hiring process and research study (23:10) The "Five P Formula" for CV writing (27:40) Your CV can not have assumptions (31:03) How should you structure & organise your CV? (33:20) The buyer's journey for the hiring manager (38:20) What's relevant to your personal details? (42:11) What should you capture in the introduction? (46:16) How should you create a CV for international applications? (52:40) How does side projects effect your job application? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Jan 12, 2022 • 1h 4min
#75 Mark Ross – How to Build a Career You Love
Mark Ross is a career coach for young professionals with a heavy focus on finance and tech. Mark teaches you how to develop a new resume from scratch that sells you in the most convincing way possible as well as improving your interviewing and networking skills. During Mark’s career he’s worked at firms such as Morgan Stanley, State Street and Numerix.⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(02:43) What got you so interested in career mentoring?(04:20) The statistics of getting hired by a tier one firm (08:05) How do you build a career you love? (11:01) Working hard versus being a bad employee(15:38) Performance appraisals and positive feedback (21:58) How do you build a relationship with your manager? (23:10) What are the biggest challenges in being hired? (28:30) How do you apply to multiple jobs at once? (32:20) What do you do if you have no experience? (37:00) Confidence is the most important interviewing skill (39:50) When does money not become an important factor? (43:15) Does moving company limit your ability long term? (45:40) How do you approach salary & contract negotiations? (50:14) Leaving with grace is extremely underrated (53:15) How to answer difficult interview questions (55:30) How do you accelerate your career growth? (01:00:53) How important is finding fulfilment in your job? Please leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show

Jan 6, 2022 • 1h 4min
#74 Johann Hari – Stolen Focus & Why You Can’t Pay Attention
Johann Hari, bestselling author, explores the reasons behind our inability to pay attention in the digital age. He discusses factors like technology, design choices, and diet that contribute to the decline in focus. The impact of social media on our attention and the addictive nature of processed food are also highlighted. The importance of setting boundaries in the workplace and the benefits of a shorter workweek for improved productivity are addressed. The podcast offers insights into reclaiming attention and focus in a world filled with distractions.

Dec 29, 2021 • 9min
#73 How to Move Industry With No Experience
Here’s exactly how to move industry with NO experience. I didn’t have a flashy masters degree. In fact, I didn’t have the money or patience to do it either. You don’t need to make dramatic changes, this process took me exactly 3 months and cost less than €100. ⏺️ Voics: https://www.voics.co/🎙️ Podcast University: https://bit.ly/3Dqip2S🎤 Podcast Accelerator: https://bit.ly/3f1ir81📞 Schedule Free Call: https://bit.ly/3GsNyTU(00:00) Introduction(01:06) Role mapping(02:32) Transferable skills (03:43) Gap analysis (04:46) Industry updates(06:08) Ongoing learning(06:55) Interview executionPlease leave a review:- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36RrL9Y- Apple: https://apple.co/3uCwViFSocials:- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3HleVy2- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EE3FuG- Apple: https://apple.co/32ArW7D- LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- TikTok: https://bit.ly/314iZD6Services:- Career mentoring: https://bit.ly/3FCS3JA- Podcast consulting: https://bit.ly/3aYzm5w- Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3JqwkXASupport the show


