How to be a CEO

Every start-up has an origin story. Vishal Marria’s is pretty dramatic. It began when he was just nine years old, and was attacked by four men who held a knife to his neck in a raid on his father’s cash and carry store. That traumatic moment sparked an interest in crime that took him into data analytics, and eventually the founding of Quantexa – a tech firm that’s been used by major banks and international police to “find the bad guys”, rooting out fraud, money laundering and more. He’s built a company recently valued at 1 point 8 billion dollars, in just seven years.

In this episode we talk about: 

• How that violent incident led to his interest in crime 
• The problem he noticed working with financial companies’ data while working at EY  
• How data is used to tackle financial and organised crime 
• How he got an untested start-up into a room with a huge bank and won a major client against “some of the biggest tech companies on the planet” 
• The nerve-wracking moment the wifi on a plane went down just as he was emailed the result of his presentation to HSBC 
• How as an AI company they have to remember that “people buy from people” 
• How Quantexa has evolved from “catching the bad guy” to “finding the good one” 

For more interviews, news and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business or pick up the Evening Standard newspaper. How to be a CEO is back next Monday, we’d love to see you then.  

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Recorded live at the Evening Standard’s SME EXPO at ExCel London, Casyo ‘Krept’ Johnson - one half of the hip-hop duo Krept & Konan - and influencer, Sasha Ellese Gilbert, share the story of how they co-founded the sell-out brand Nala's Baby.

Originally devised in lockdown as a solution to their daughter's eczema, the company is skincare and haircare free from toxins, chemicals and parabens. It is also cruelty and tear free, vegan, eczema-friendly and fully recyclable.

Also in this episode, we discuss:

• Making their product accessible with a reasonable price point
• The process behind creating the products themselves
• How Krept juggles his career as a musician with his businesses
• Teething problems in the first year after launching
• Their approach to marketing, investment and networking
• How Krept’s rapping career was a hindrance to the brand at the start
• Why you shouldn’t be afraid to pitch your business to anyone
• Why getting as much advice as possible is invaluable

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Trevor Jones is one of the world's most successful cryptoartists, with works like Bitcoin Angel selling for around $3 million. To mark the coronation of Charles III, he's teamed up with the Evening Standard to give away an original work for free. In this episode we talk about:

Why NFTs are still a thing and he's 'busier than ever'

How the crypto crash of 2022, "cleared out the crap" and stabilised the market

How the people collecting NFTs has changed from 'bored ape mask-wearing' types 

Why he explored tech as a way of selling art and how he created a market for something no-one had heard of

His battle against depression when he was a struggling artists and what it's like to be one work is worth millions

Why he's giving away an original work, The Oath, for free to commemorate the coronation of Charles III

'The Oath' will be available on Nifty Gateway between May 4th and 7th. Unlike many other NFTs, which are typically purchased using crypto-currency, readers can own this one with only an email address.

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When you’re rushing to become a CEO, or have the job and are just trying to stay on top of it all, the idea of a day off may be laughable at times. But securing a fair work/life balance can be an achievement in itself. How’s this for an idea: A four-day week? Anne-Marie Lister is the chief people officer who led Atom Bank through a giant transformation in working practice. A trial at the end of 2021 was such a success they decided to make it permanent; following an increase in productivity, and a lot of talent wanting to join a bank with barely a decade’s history behind it. In this episode we talk about:

• Why they did it and the research they did before taking action
• How they did it in six months, but what challenges they had to overcome
• The surprising reaction of some staff 
• How they kept staff informed through a huge range of channels as the transformation happened 
• How the move is working to retain talent during 'The Great Resignation', and increased the number of applications by 500% 
• Why they didn’t announce the move to their customers 

Anne-Marie will be appearing at the Watercooler event which is taking place alongside our SME XPO at ExCel London on April 25th and 26th.

Tickets are free, go to www.watercoolerevent.com.

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When you’re going into business, it’s always good to bring someone along with you. How did What Not to Wear’s Trinny Woodall build a multi-million-pound business? She didn’t start with that number in 2017. In fact, the number some potential investors were more interested in was 51 - her age when her company, Trinny London, launched.

‘Trinny’s Tribe’ has also been a huge part of Woodall’s success building her makeup empire.

In this episode we talk about: 

• Her first business, selling bows as a 16-year-old 
• Age bias from potential investors 
• Why she stood by her plan to sell to 35+, not 20-year-olds 
• The value of slow retention and community engagement over rapid growth 
• Why being “Trinny off the Telly” didn’t help as much as you might think 
• The challenges faced by female entrepreneurs 
• Her admiration for Gen Z founders, and tips for getting global reach 
• The best way to get her attention. 

Trinny is one of the speakers at our SME XPO event. It’s being held on the 25th and 26th of April at ExCel London – tickets are free, and there’s loads of other speakers there too, like Deborah Meaden and Charlie Mullins. AND we’ll be recording a live edition of How to be a CEO with Krept and Sasha the founders of Nala’s Baby ,the kids cosmetics brand. Go to smexpo.co.uk for more details. 

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The boss of IBM’s trailblazing apprenticeship programme, Jenny Taylor MBE, joins us to talk about education and employment opportunities for the next generation.

As part of our new Step Up campaign, this episode was recorded ahead of the Evening Standard and WorldSkills forum with employers and education leaders.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• How Jenny got her own job with the company 37 years ago  
• Why you don’t need a university degree to work in tech  
• Is it possible to go from apprentice to CEO  
• How IBM has changed over the last four decades  
• How the company started its apprenticeship programme 
• The value of doing a variety of work experience when you’re young  
• Advice on improving CVs and the common mistake often made by young women – including Jenny
• Her own memories of her first ever job interview  

For more news, interviews and analysis go to standard.co.uk/business.

To learn more about our Step Up campaign go to standard.co.uk/stepup.

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Rob Kniaz co-founded Venture Capital firm Hoxton Ventures, specialising in early stage investment. With successes like Deliveroo and cyber defence firm Darktrace, the company’s become one of the most successful, and approached, VC firms in Europe.

In this episode we talk about:  

• Is generative AI, like ChatGPT, the next big thing… or are there others? 
• What a VC does, and doesn’t, do 
• The story behind their support for Deliveroo 
• Is it harder to get VC funding in the current economy? 
• How layoffs in the tech sector could create a new era of entrepreneurship 
• The reason he became a venture capitalist, and how difficult it was to start. 

Rob will be appearing at the Evening Standard’s SME XPO, which is being held at the ExCel London on April 25th and 26th. To find out more about the speakers, and get free tickets, go to smeexpo.co.uk .

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In this frank interview, Heathrow’s Chief Financial Officer Javier Echave talks about the addiction to exercise and his mobile phone that contributed to a breakdown in 2016. Since then, he’s been pioneering efforts not just at the airport but across companies in the UK to improve workplace wellbeing policies. He’s on the Business in the Community group which represents around 600 companies and employs around 5.5 million people, and is working on raising issues like dealing with stress in offices. In this episode we talk about: 

• The factors that led to “the darkest moments” of his mental health 
• Why 51 percent of BiC members don’t feel comfortable talking about mental health 
• 12 percent say they can be demoted or disciplined if they talk about mental health problems 
• Why everyone in the C-suite of a company should prioritise mental health wellbeing 
• The four things companies need to do when changing workplace culture 
• Why there shouldn’t be a “conflict between money and health” 
• What the “mood lift” scale is, and how Heathrow uses it to check-in with manager’s health 

Javier’s going to be appearing at the Watercooler event, which is taking place at the same time and the same location as our SME XPO – on the 25th and 26th of April at ExCel London. It’s going to feature more than 100 speakers on how to deliver a healthy workplace culture. For more info and free tickets go to watercoolevent.com 

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Levi Roots' success on Dragon’s Den is legendary, and he speaks about it like it’s a tale from mythical times. When he got home that night, he says he held the guitar he’d used in his pitch aloft and told his mum “I slayed the dragon". He's been on a real 'hero’s journey'; his breakthrough coming at 48 years old, when he had to borrow money just to get to the BBC’s studios. Now he's the head of a multi-million food empire, but for how much longer does he want to stay at the top?

In this episode we talk about:

• How fear is the biggest driver for him 
• His responsibility as a powerful brand in the Caribbean community 
• The origin of Reggae Reggae sauce 
• Why the music was so important to the brand’s success 
• Why he’s thinking of selling his company 
• The difficulties of balancing business and family 
• Why he ignored advice not to take his guitar in the Dragon's Den
• What does a Dragon really do with a business once the cameras stop running?
• The challenge of sustaining public interest in your brand after TV success 
• Levis Roots: The Movie – the Hollywood A-listers being lined up to play him in the biopic 

Levi will be appearing at the Evening Standard's SME XPO in April where he’ll be talking about the power of a great brand – you can get free tickets by popping over to smeexpo.co.uk 

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Clarke Carlisle is a former professional footballer who now uses his own battles with mental health to advise companies on office wellbeing. He’s joined by his wife Carrie to talk frankly about how his problems affected his career and family, and how getting help turned his life around. 

Please note, this episode contains discussion about the feelings around suicide.

We also talk about: 

• Clarke’s upbringing as a mixed-race child in a council estate 
• How his need to please managers and fans in football contributed to his loss of identity 
• How his mood swings and downward spiral affected Carrie during her pregnancy 
• The essential role of therapy in both his and Carrie’s lives 
• Their work helping businesses improve mental health provision 
• The one common factor all companies with good wellbeing culture have 

Clarke and Carrie Carlisle will be appearing at the Watercooler conference and exhibition being held at ExCel London on April 25th- 26th. There’ll be more than 100 speakers across the days talking about mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing, social and inclusive wellbeing, financial wellbeing and environmental wellbeing. For free tickets and the full line-up go to watercoolerevent.com 

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