Simon Says

In episode 21 of Pep Talk, Simon interviews Evgeny Shadchnev. Evgeny is an executive coach helping entrepreneurs to achieve transformational growth. As the founder and former CEO of a VC-backed startup, he worked with some of the world’s leading executive coaches before training with The Academy of Executive Coaching and launching his practice. In 2013, Evgeny started Makers, Europe’s first coding bootcamp, which has changed the lives of thousands of people by training them to become software developers and placing them in companies such as Deloitte, Google, and the BBC. He grew Makers through business philosophies that he still applies today around choosing trust over fear and always doing the right thing. Meditation has always been a big part of his life; he learned some of the most important leadership lessons while meditating.

In episode 20 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Joe Taylor. Joe is the Co-Founders of snacking start up Real Handful, which create delicious, innovative trail mixes, craft baked nuts and protein bars.First launched in 2016, Real Handful is run by husband and wife team Joe and Carly Taylor.  It aims to shake up the healthy snacking sector with products that are packed with naturally nutritious ingredients like fruits, nuts, seeds and grains and with its innovative, tasty flavour combinations.

In episode 19 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Jack Tang. Jack is the co-founder and CEO of Urban (formerly known as Urban Massage), the on-demand app on a mission to empower people through wellness. Founded in 2014, it is now the leading at-home massage, fitness and wellness platform. They have built a network of over 2,500 wellness professionals offering at-home massage, physiotherapy, osteopathy and beauty treatments. What started as a way to book wellness online become much more. Jack and co-founder Giles Williams discovered an industry that was broken: practitioners typically took home only 20% of booking revenue and worked long hours to make ends meet. Meanwhile, customers had little other than a salon’s reputation to go off of before making a booking with a specific practitioner. Since then, the duo envisioned a platform that would benefit practitioners and customers alike. On Urban, practitioners take home 72% of bookings. And customers are able to choose between trusted, pre-vetted practitioners, thanks to detailed profiles with personal bios, ratings and reviews. To date, Urban has enabled the delivery of 300,000+ treatments generating economic value of more than £25M. Urban currently operates in London, Paris, Birmingham and Manchester, and is backed by London's leading VC funds including Felix Capital, Passion Capital and LCIF. Jack is a Forbes 30 under 30 honouree and co-founded Urban in 2014 following the successful sale of his first start-up which became the UK’s largest student job portal.

In episode 18 of Pep Talk, Simon interviews Will Chew. Will is the founder of Mak Tok, a small Malaysian artisan chili paste company based in the heart of Sheffield. This idea was stemmed from the feeling of homesickness when he was in university and after spotting a gap in the market, Will set on a journey to bring his chili paste (also known as sambal) into every kitchen across the country. He was previously featured in the popular TV series, Dragons' Den, where he managed to secure an investment with one of the dragons.

In this special edition podcast, Simon speaks to Rob Moore. Rob Moore is a self-made property investor, businessman, entrepreneur, best-selling author, world record holder, speaker, pilot & proud dad, who co-owns 7 companies in property, lettings & finance. Rob has partnered with many of the biggest business and household names, featured in prime time TV shows for Living as a business mentor, on Channel 4, the BBC, The Independent and The Business Channel, as well as mentoring success-hungry people who want to achieve more money & recognition in business & life. He is the bestselling author of LIFE LEVERAGE and MONEY and the host of the DISRUPTIVE ENTREPRENEUR podcast.

In episode 17 of Pep Talk, Simon talks to Davin Hunt. Devin is a multi-disciplinary designer, engineer, and educator. His work focuses on the intersection of product design and entrepreneurship, often applied while building a startup. His latest venture, Useful Books, is an independent publishing platform focused on making better non-fiction. Devin is also a Venture Partner at Seedcamp, where he focuses on tech and product-centric startups. Previously, he co-founded a few companies: Founder Centric (exited), Lyst (going strong), and Fuzzwich (a spectacular failure). Devin is also the co-author of The Workshop Survival Guide, a practical guide to workshop design.

In episode 16 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Markus Stripf. Spoon Guru co-founder, Markus, is passionate about understanding and bringing to market digital technologies that can empower consumers and provide a meaningful service to people around the globe. Spoon Guru’s overarching ambition is to build the world’s leading dietary management solution. Based on a pioneering food classification platform, Spoon Guru is capable of supporting endless combinations of unique consumer dietary preferences and needs. Before co-founding Spoon Guru, Markus held a variety of executive positions in the music business. As a Warner Music Group MD, he was responsible for setting up and running Warner’s international direct to consumer business. Markus has more than 15 years’ digital experience and was at the forefront of the music business’ transition into digital. Markus holds an MA in Composition and a BA in Commercial Music.

In episode 15 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Lucy Cohen. Lucy is the Co-founder of Mazuma Accountants. Founded Mazuma in 2006 with the objective of providing a low cost, hassle-free accountancy solution for micro-businesses through our subscription-based accountancy service. Using a killer combination of technology and humans we are at the forefront of the new age of accountancy.

In season 2, episode 30 Simon interviews Michael Krayenhoff. Michael is the Co-Founder of Inner Circle, the dating app that's focussed on quality so you only see rich profiles from people you'd actually want to go on a date with. The company started bootstrapped in 2012 and is now bringing over 3.5 million singles together in over 27 countries.

In episode 14 of PEP Talk, Simon interviews Daniel Priestley. Daniel is a successful entrepreneur who's built and sold businesses in Australia, Singapore, and the UK. He's the co-founder of Dent Global, one of the world's top business accelerators for entrepreneurs and leaders to stand out and scale up. With offices in London, Sydney, Singapore and Tampa, the program is endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Over 500 entrepreneurs and leaders, each year participate globally in developing their businesses with the support of high-net-worth mentors. Daniel is the author of four best-selling books Key Person of Influence, Entrepreneur Revolution, Oversubscribed and 24Assets. He's named as one of the top 25 entrepreneurs in London (Smith & Williamson Power 100) and awarded as being in the Top 10 Business Advisors (Enterprise Nation).