

Secret Leaders
Leaders Media
Dan Murray-Serter and Chris Donnelly are two serial entrepreneurs who've built, sold, scaled & failed companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In Secret Leaders we get inside the greatest minds and greatest moments in business, because we believe the best way to learn about business is to hear from the people who make it happen.Sponsored by Wise Business and Vanta.Contact: hello@secretleaders.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 8, 2024 • 11min
My Favourite Failure: Build in private, fail in public -Faisal Abid
Faisal Abid, The Co-Founder of Eirene Cremations, spent two years developing the product for his first business. He thought after all of his planning and developing his company would be a hit, once it finally launched.He soon realised; building a product isn’t the same as building a company. --To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

32 snips
Feb 6, 2024 • 1h 8min
How to grow your startup - Ex PayPal growth strategist Matt Lerner
Ex PayPal growth strategist Matt Lerner shares insights on how to grow your startup, including finding the 10% that generates 90% of results, prioritizing growth experiments, and hiring the right people. The podcast also covers the importance of a North Star metric, improving internet connection, building the right team, achieving security frameworks, and the role of AI in startups.

Feb 1, 2024 • 12min
My Favourite Failure: Losing £500k on an event that should’ve been the start of my new career - Amanda Brock
Amanda Brock, the CEO of Open UK, took a decade too long to jump from her legal career to what she really craved - the frenzy of entrepreneurship. She stayed in law too long because she’d experienced a sobering failure years ago - running an event which lost half a million pounds. What happened?--To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Jan 30, 2024 • 1h 4min
Numan Founder: One exit, one failure and one tbc - Sokratis Papafloratos
Sokratis Papafloratos is the Founder of Numan who are tackling a lot of male healthcare problems like erectile dysfunction, hair loss, sleep and weight issues. This isn't his first rodeo. Sokratis exited with his first startup, albeit at great personal cost. His second one failed. And now he's leading Numan. What's going to be his fate this time?--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleadersPersonio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleadersVanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleadersVertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders--NewsletterSign up here: https://secretleaders.email/.You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Jan 25, 2024 • 13min
My Favourite Failure: Disasters with hiring and being hired - and I’m a recruiter - Ken Schmitt
Ken Schmitt is the Founder and CEO of a high end executive search firm, which is ironic because we’re going through his biggest career failures and they all revolve around hiring. Well, hiring or being hired because Ken went through a period where he kept being fired.--To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Jan 23, 2024 • 49min
SpareRoom Founder - I turned down an offer I couldn't refuse, plus how we fix rental market crisis | Rupert Hunt
SpareRoom is a business you've probably heard of - bringing together strangers and putting roofs over their heads. It's a bootstrapped business and its Founder Rupert Hunt still finds his housemates through it today. Rupert could've sold up years ago - he turned down an offer he says he couldn't refuse. Why on earth did he do that?--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleadersPersonio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleadersVanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleadersVertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders--NewsletterSign up here: https://secretleaders.email/.You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

4 snips
Jan 18, 2024 • 12min
My Favourite Failure: Collapse of my business left me unable to pay for my daughter’s open heart surgery - Brian Will
Brian Will, a seasoned entrepreneur with a resilient spirit, shares his harrowing journey through failure and personal struggle. He recounts the collapse of his first business at a critical time, leaving him unable to afford his daughter's heart surgery. With lessons learned from this dark chapter, he emphasizes financial preparedness and the pitfalls of relying on a single client. Brian’s experiences highlight the power of resilience, as he transformed adversity into purpose by becoming a volunteer pilot to support families in crisis.

Jan 16, 2024 • 52min
How Fanfix Founders exited for £52m in 10 months whilst graduating
Can you imagine graduating university and exiting for tens of millions at the same time? Cue Harry Gestetner and Simon Pompan, the Founders of Fanfix, a platform that helps creators better monetise their content. They built the business for mobile-first, multi-channel Gen-Z creators and their audiences (a bit like Patreon for Gen Z) - and their traction was so strong that SuperOrdinary bought them just 10 months after launch. Here's how.--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleadersPersonio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleadersVanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleadersVertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders--NewsletterSign up here: https://secretleaders.email/.You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.

Jan 11, 2024 • 13min
My Favourite Failure: In 24 hours I went from leading the rocketship to the gig being over, in my own company - Adam Weber
Adam Weber is a multi exited Founder, podcaster and the SVP of Community for 15Five, a performance management software company. What’s fascinating is he ended up making it in a very different role to what he thought he was good at. Adam had been a salesman until the biggest deal of his life collapsed, along with the plan for his future. --To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Jan 9, 2024 • 1h 2min
Farmers to Founders: Tyrrells crisps, Chase spirits, Willy's apple cider vinegar and BAZ & CO all in one family
Clarkson's Farm taught us that being a farmer is tough, and from this podcast we've learnt how tough it is to become a successful Founder. James Chase's family has done both. His father was up against it as a farmer so started Tyrrells crisps before launching Chase spirits followed by Willy's apple cider vinegar (all consumed by Dan). Now James is building his own thing, a skincare for men brand called BAZ & CO. How do you build multiple well known B2C brands?--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleadersPersonio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleadersVanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleadersVertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders--NewsletterSign up here: https://secretleaders.email/.You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes.