August 28, 2024

"Make a problem a problem only when it is a problem." - Thom Elliot, Pizza Pilgrims

48 minutes

From Doubt to Drive - Entrepreneurs Only

This week, we feature Thom Elliot, Co-Founder of Pizza Pilgrims (https://www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk/), which he started with his brother in 2012 following a pilgrimage to Italy. They have grown the business organically, with a lot of fun, and with massive respect for bringing Neapolitan pizza to London. What began as a street food movement has now expanded to 22 pizzerias across the UK, employing 480 people, generating 30 million in sales, and 1 million in profit. The company is still growing at 20% per year. It was initially funded by 15 early-stage investors and Imbiba (https://imbiba.com/news/2021/3/24/imbiba-invests-in-pizza-pilgrims).

Thom talks with us about how COVID presented the ultimate roadblock but also created big opportunities, such as selling pizza ingredients in a box—up to 10,000 boxes a week—which saved the company. He also shares why, as a founder, he doesn't focus on numbers at all and how listening to Led Zeppelin exclusively for weeks helps him during crises.

Our key takeaways from our conversation are:

Make a problem a problem only when it is a problem.

We are not a family; we are a team.

Slow down—focus on one thing at a time.

Doubts grow as your company grows.

Hire people you trust.

Make decisions as a team.

If everyone follows big data, we all end up in the same place.

Trust your gut; believe in what you want to do.

Don’t let data lead you to places you don’t want to go.

Focus on developing people, but don’t overpromote them.

Happiness is a business goal.

Success is happiness.

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Recorded on 28. May 2024 via Zoom in London (Thom Elliot) – Kandy, Sri Lanka (Mario C. Bauer) – Hamburg, Deutschland (Florian Schneider).

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