In this episode of Founder Diaries, host Nitin Sharma sits down with the brilliant and brutally honest Rich Evans — entrepreneur, investor, advisor, and the man with more pies than fingers.

Rich’s journey is anything but typical. From wanting to be a PE teacher… to knocking doors selling TV packages… to running recruitment teams… to building and exiting Bold Identities… and now advising and investing across B2B service businesses. His story is a masterclass in resilience, timing, people, and the real traits that matter in entrepreneurship.

🔥 In this episode, we dive into:

• How Rich accidentally fell into sales, recruitment, entrepreneurship — and why “no master plan” can still win
• The reality of building and exiting a service-led business (including when early offers aren’t enough)
• How he used his exit to create long-term generational wealth
• Why Rich backs founders, not products — and what traits he looks for before investing his own money and time
• The importance of bias for action, resilience, resourcefulness, and “doing the basics well”
• Why B2B service businesses win when they communicate better than everyone else
• The future of recruitment tech, human vs. automated touchpoints, and why candidate care still sucks
• Rich’s prediction for 2026 and the real impact of AI on business and employment
• Founders’ psychology: mindset, positivity, ownership, controlling the controllables
• His biggest lessons, biggest failures, and why showing up as a parent is his proudest achievement

This is one of the most honest deep-dives into what real founders actually experience — the pivots, the hits to the face, the doubts, the wins, the mindset shifts, and the relentless work behind the scenes.

🎧 Who This Episode Is For

• Founders and early-stage entrepreneurs
• Recruitment agency owners and service-based business leaders
• Investors/advisors who want to understand founder psychology
• Anyone navigating AI, market uncertainty, or big strategic decisions
• People who need a mindset reset and some raw, real talk from someone who’s lived it

🔗 Connect with the guest

Rich Evans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarde1/

🔗 Connect with the host

Nitin Sharma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/

Discover recruitment tools and services: https://www.rectools.io/

New episodes of RecTalk, plus Founder Diaries and Talking Talent, drop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

New episodes of The Mixed Grill — the official podcast of the Recruitment Curry Club — dropping every Thursday.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-recruitment-curry-club/

Listen on another platform: https://rectalk.co.uk/

🔗 Get in touch with these recommended suppliers

Ross Thompson — Infinity Staff Global: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossnthompson/

Matt Fox — Exitus Advisory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-fox-50b10311/

SourceFlow: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourceflow/

Robert Woodford — The Marketing Junction: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing4recs/

Carl Jones — Konquest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-jones-66093722/

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