Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter & Chris Donnelly  cover image

Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter & Chris Donnelly

Latest episodes

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Sep 13, 2022 • 56min

The Newsette's Daniella Pierson on how to prove your haters wrong

Daniella Pierson is the CEO and Founder of the Newsette, a women-focused newsletter which she started when she was at university at just 19 years old. Now 27, she was recently named by Forbes as one of the wealthiest women of colour in the United States. The newsletter now has more than 500,000 subscribers, whilst revenue grew from $1million in 2019 to $40 million in 2021. Within the company she also started a creative agency, Newland, which works with Fortune 500 brands. According to Inc., the Newsette is the16th most successful company in America, based on its growth over the last three years of over 16,000%. Last year, Daniella, who has ADHD, OCD, and depression, co-founded mental health company Wondermind with Selena Gomez and Selena’s mother Mandy Teefey. It was recently valued at 100 million dollars. But Daniella did not grow up believing she could make it as an entrepreneur. She used all the ways people brought her down to fuel her desire to make her business a success but says there were many times she nearly didn’t make it. Find out how she did it. *This episode contains references to suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is affected by these or other issues Daniella speaks about you can get help in the UK by visiting samaritans.org*--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Sep 8, 2022 • 16min

How I failed: “When people try to take things off you, you gotta fight back!” with Natterjack Whisky Founder Aidan Mehigan

For this episode of ‘How I Failed’ we follow the story of Aidan Mehigan’s fight to save his business, as it happened. We first spoke to Aidan earlier this year when he was in the middle of a fundraise and court battle to keep control of his whisky business. When growing his company in 2018, Natterjack Whisky, Aidan had taken out a convertible loan note to fund his business. Then Covid hit, by the end of 2021, cash was low, their sales were almost non-existent on the international market and the Irish market just wasn’t big enough to support them. The convertible loan note holder wanted their money, and Aidan couldn’t pay it back…What happened? Listen to find out. If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com Sponsor links:quickbooks.co.uk/secretleaders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Sep 6, 2022 • 59min

THIS Co-Founder shares secret to making plant-based food that doesn’t suck - Andy Shovel

THIS is currently the fastest-growing meat alternative brand in the UK. After launching in 2019, it was recently valued at £150 million. But Co-Founders Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman didn’t always want to help people eat less meat. In fact, before THIS they ran a successful beef burger company. Andy knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur from a young age and sold his first business at 21. But far from feeling proud of himself, he really struggled. He hardly left his room for three weeks. Surrounded by friends in stable jobs, he felt lonely, scared that he didn’t know what to do next. A chance visit to a new restaurant startup gave him the direction he needed, he would go into the “rock and roll” world of food.THIS definitely pushes the boundaries. Their early traction, says Andy, came from their PR stunts. In 2021, they did a takeover of the town of Quorn, rumoured to be where the meat-free brand, their main competitor, got its name from. THIS sponsored the football team, the pubs, the bingo hall…even the branded paper in the fish and chip shop. They’ve done a deep-fake of the Queen’s speech and got an Ed Sheeran look-alike to hand out chicken nuggets. But not all campaigns have gone to plan…one stunt saw Special Branch raid their offices and Andy almost taken away!Find out why and what Andy has learnt as a people leader taking a business from £0 to £17 million in revenue in three years. --SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 30, 2022 • 1h 12min

What it was really like building Apple with Steve Jobs, with Founder & CEO of FNDR James Vincent

James Vincent has helped develop brands for some of the biggest companies in the world. For 11 years he met Steve Jobs every week to come up with some of the iconic campaigns for Apple’s products. And then to launch the very first iPhone, James started Media Arts Lab, Apple’s exclusive brand agency, along with Lee Clow and other co-founders, which he ran for over eight years.For someone who had a big part to play in constructing Apple’s narrative, James Vincent is a relatively unknown figure. Maybe because he hasn't ever really put himself in the spotlight. He can be pretty self-deprecating about his career but he’s helped some absolute icons. As well as Steve Jobs, he’s worked with Brian Chesky at AirBnB and in his most recent company FNDR he’s working with the next generation of unicorns. Clients have included Evan Spiegal at Snapchap and José Neves at Farfetch. Find out how a young boy from Sheffield ended up in the inner circle of some of the world's most iconic brands. --SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 23, 2022 • 52min

SumUp: how to stumble into building an €8b company, with Co-Founder Marc-Alexander Christ

How much of your success is down to luck? Marc-Alexander Christ is the Co-Founder of SumUp, which was recently valued at €8b. He says being in the right place at the right time was a big factor in him starting the company. SumUp is a fintech best known for supplying card readers to small businesses so they can take payments. You may have seen them, and have probably used them because they work with over four million merchants worldwide. It hasn’t always gone their way though. As well as some early mistakes that could have proved fatal, they were initially hit hard by the pandemic, which saw their revenue drop around 80% almost overnight.Find out how they managed to adapt and how Marc says you can make the most of the luck you get dealt in life. --SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 16, 2022 • 48min

Octopus Energy: how to run a massive company with no HR function, with Founder and CEO Greg Jackson

Greg Jackson started Octopus Energy, a green energy supplier, in 2015. Since then it has enjoyed huge growth. It is now the fourth largest energy retailer in the UK, supplying over 3 million homes in the country, as well as homes in Germany, the USA, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and New Zealand. They were valued at nearly 5 billion dollars at the end of 2021. Greg is clearly passionate about climate change and says he went into business to drive change. Octopus Energy is a fascinating business, not only because of its growth in a highly competitive industry but also because Greg has rejected traditional business structures. Despite having three and a half thousand staff, Octopus Energy has no HR department. Listen to find out why he wanted to create a completely new organisational structure; how that system coped when an unprecedented event like the pandemic happened; and what is it like being the CEO of an energy supplier during an energy crisis. --SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 9, 2022 • 49min

Little Moons: how to become an overnight success - in 12 years, with Co-Founder Vivien Wong

Going viral is something many businesses would kill for but having to scale up your business to meet rocketing demand is not easy. Little Moons makes mochi ice cream, a type of Japanese rice cake with an ice cream filling. Vivien Wong co-founded the business with her brother in 2010 after spending two years developing the product with her father in her parents' bakery. Over the next decade the company grew steadily and surely, until the company went viral on TikTok during the pandemic and sales suddenly rocketed. However, after being hit by supply chain woes and Brexit, they had hardly any stock left to meet the demand. Listen to find out how they got through it and grew their revenue from 7 to 27 million in just two years. --SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 4, 2022 • 13min

How I failed: Launching a website no one visited with Founder Chris Donnelly

Last year Chris sold a creative marketing agency he’d founded called Verb and he’s now the Co-Founder of Lottie, which just raised £6 million on a £45 million valuation.But before these successes, he experienced failure with his website the Real Uni Guide, which aimed to match students with the right universities for them. Along with his co-founder brother, he spent over a year building the website but when they launched, hardly anyone visited. Find out what happened and what Chris learnt from this failure that defined his career. If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com Sponsor links:yotpo.com/secret Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Aug 2, 2022 • 58min

Sweatcoin: how to turn your worst moments into your best, with Co-Founder Oleg Fomenko

What makes you want to exercise? Would you do it more if you were paid to do it?Oleg Fomenko thinks we aren’t naturally disposed to want to exercise, that we have evolved to preserve our store of calories rather than spend them. So, he built Sweatcoin, along with his Co-Founder Anton Derlyatka, an app that will literally pay you for taking steps outside. Specifically it will pay you a certain amount of ‘sweatcoin’ for every thousand steps you take. This digital currency can then be switched for products, as well as their new cryptocurrency, SWEAT.Oleg came up with Sweatcoin in 2015 when he was struggling to find the motivation to exercise after his startup, a music streaming service called Bloom.fm, suddenly went under. Recovering from the end of that company also led him to a key realisation that he says is important for every entrepreneur to know. And it must work, because Sweatcoin is growing fast. It currently has over 100 millions users, and has no signs of slowing down. Listen to find out: how the current war in Ukraine is affecting him as a Russian-born entrepreneur; why cryptocurrencies are going to change the face of Sweatcoin; and what advice he would give to other entrepreneurs that want to replicate his success.--SponsorsVorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jul 28, 2022 • 14min

How I failed: the gym business which went under, with Shares Co-Founder Benjamin Chemla

Benjamin Chemla has been an entrepreneur for over a decade. He co-founded the massive on-demand delivery service Stuart in 2015 and currently he is the Co-Founder and CEO of Shares, a just-launched app which makes investing a social experience. But between his successes, there was a high profile failure. Benjamin founded a group of gyms in New York City called Fithouse in 2017. Everything started great, classes running on everything from yoga to boxing. Investors had put up $10 million and he was turning a profit. But then came the pandemic…Find out what happened next and why Benjamin decided it was better to walk away than stay and fight. If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com Sponsor links:yotpo.com/secret Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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