Giles Harrison, the Co-Founder of Sculpd, is riding high now but his first startup ground to a painful halt. Having quit his job in a bullish mood to found a matcha tea business, he soon found out how difficult startups are - and how much more difficult physical goods businesses are compared to digital ones.Find out how he failed - what went wrong - and what he learnt from it. ...We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - if you want to grow your ecommerce business:yotpo.com/secret

So you’ve heard people talking about the metaverse and have been wondering what they’re on about? You think you get it one minute but then someone else says something and you’re none the wiser? Yeah, sounds about right.This is why we’re pumped to be interviewing Sebastien Borger, the Co-Founder and COO of The Sandbox, who are a market leader in the metaverse. The Sandbox is the place where brands like Starbucks, Gucci and Nike have been buying virtual land so they can deliver experiences to their fans. Sebastien is a serial entrepreneur who’s always been obsessed with the idea of making his own games and turning players into owners. After three successful startups, he’s on the brink of greatness with The Sandbox, but the chances of them ending up one of the ultimate winners of the metaverse is still very small.How many of the early internet businesses are around today? It didn’t work out for the likes of Napster, Yahoo and MySpace. Will it work out for The Sandbox? We talk about: What you learn as a serial Founder Why meta isn’t a threat Why don’t we take digital ownership seriously Turning players into owners When will The Sandbox go mainstream? --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

Amanda Perry tells us what it’s like to go bankrupt after flying high with her baking business. She’d been featured in Vogue; her cupcakes were flying off the shelves - she thought business was easy. Until it wasn’t, and it was her who was personally on the hook…How do you even go bankrupt from starting a company? What impact does it have on you? And how do you recover from something like that? Amanda’s now the successful Founder of Soup Agency but this is a cautionary tale for anyone thinking about starting a business....We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - if you want to grow your ecommerce business:yotpo.com/secret

It’s pretty rare that investors have to ask the Founder they’re speaking to if they’re in a warzone, or insist they have to leave their country for somewhere a little more ‘peaceful’ but that’s exactly what happened to Yaron Galai, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Outbrain. Yaron was a captain in the Israeli Navy before smashing it out the park with a few startups he founded. Yaron’s latest company Outbrain (founded in 2006) is one you may not have heard of but you’ve probably used - they power recommended articles on loads of the world’s top news sites. They nearly merged with their biggest competitor (Taboola) a year ago only for that deal to not work out and float instead on the Nasdaq for $1.25 billion. As Yaron says, an exit is a great outcome but a terrible plan, so what was his plan? How has he got multiple exits under his belt? What are the secrets to his success? We talk about: The struggle for funding Israeli military/life/work balance Parents investing to make sure their children got paid Exiting for $400m  Why it’s easier to make acquisitions when you’re public --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

Steve Witt knows what it’s like to make a lot of money… and lose it all. He knows what it’s like to go from sipping mai tais on the proverbial Caribbean island to sleeping on your mate’s sofa because you’ve got nowhere else to go. And he’s gone through that twice.Find out what happened and how he picked himself up again....We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - if you want to grow your ecommerce business:yotpo.com/secret

BorrowMyDoggy is the kind of brand that just sticks in your brain. Once you’ve heard it you can’t unhear it. Today we’re talking with its Founder and CEO Rikke Rosenlund who had an idyllic Danish childhood but still doesn’t own a dog.Find out how she built the company bit by bit - and how they're helping the 25% of dogs who are depressed.We talk about: What your parents say behind your back The issues with dog care in the UK People finding love through pet sitting Real reason women founders get less funding --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

This is the first episode in our new bitesize series (10/15-minute episodes) dedicated to failure.Trinny Woodall’s an A-lister now, and the Founder of Trinny London, but before all the success she experienced a soul-crushing failure around the dotcom boom.Find out what happened, what she learnt from it - and how you should think about failure....We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor:yotpo.com/secret

What we’re taught at schools is a real pet peeve here at Secret Leaders. Why are we mucking about learning Latin when we could be learning about stuff like nutrition and personal finance - genuinely useful subjects that will help us lead happier, more fulfilling lives?That’s what Max Rofagha thought when, after exiting his previous startup, he didn’t know what to do with his new found wealth. The content on the internet, the advice he was getting, just didn’t cut it - so he founded Finimize.Their idea is to help more ‘ordinary people’, i.e. retail investors (not professional investors) do more with their money, and the company has done pretty well. They were bought last year by Aberdeen (abrdn), making Max the youngest Exec of a FTSE 100 company. How has he done it? What has he learnt about business building that’s delivered two exits from two companies? Let’s dive in…We talk about: What Berlin used to be like Why you should grow up with computers What you should do with your savings Why people don’t understand finance Considering VC funding or bootstrapping How they exited - like, really --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

If you’ve been on holiday - if you’ve been anywhere you’ve Googled - you’ve probably used Tripadvisor. It’s just one of those names synonymous with the internet, and it’s not just because their SEO has been amazing - they’ve been going for 22 years. Extraordinarily it’s had the same person leading it all this time - Steve Kaufer, who’s finally stepping down this year. Tripadvisor has been through a variety of management changes along the way, which have forced Steve to adapt but he’s still here, although not for much longer. Find out why now’s the time he’s leaving.We talk about: The unlikely birth of Tripadvisor The difference between hindsight and wisdom How to handle a business which loses 90% of its revenue  The most renewed thing on Tripadvisor How to manage change in company ownership  --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

David Rogier, CEO of MasterClass, shares his journey of starting the platform which attracts A-list celebrities like Anna Wintour and Martin Scorsese as teachers. Topics include getting over his stutter, starting MasterClass, the art of storytelling, and the hardest things he's ever done.