Peer Effect

Today I'm joined by Manny Cohen who is the founder of Armadillo Group which might be the next British unicorn in RegTech! They’ve been in the RegTech100 in 2021 and 2022 and are entirely self-funded over their 25 years so far.

We speak about believing in yourself and having a life out of work

Key Takeaways

• Once you’ve made a decision, emotionally commit to it
• Pivoting can mean (deliberately) losing some major clients
• You can’t always believe in yourself. Sometimes you need help reconnecting with that belief

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Pablo A. Ruz Salmones who is the founder of X Eleva Group in Mexico which combines business consulting and tech development. They’ve grown internationally, won lots of awards and are entirely self-funded

We speak about being true to yourself and building something people will fall in love with

Key Learnings:

• Patience is a necessary virtue for an entrepreneur. Build what you truly want to build.
• Doing the right thing will lead to greater long term success
• Be true to yourself and bring your personal self into business
• A successful tech project considers both business objectives and cultural values

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Kenneth Kutyn who is the co-founder of Deckbuildr.io which gives you a customised pitch deck in 30 seconds. He was previously part of the founding team of Rightly on their £100m journey.

We speak about how to always tackle the biggest problem first and get your first real customers

Key Learnings:

• Get your first customer to test on as soon as possible. Internal discussions are only guessing.
• You can be doing things the right way, but be fundamentally doing the wrong thing!
• The difference between a real customer and a connection masquerading as an early adopter
• Piggyback your way to traction, there are big hidden communities in places like slack

Quotes:

1. "Ask questions your mother would give you an honest answer to"
2. "Get your first customer to test on as soon as possible"

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Gillian Harrison, who is the CEO of Whitefox Technologies. They are a multi-award winning business who focus on reducing energy and water waste in industrial processes while increasing productivity.

We speak about how to understand your target market and what is the problem you're trying to address. Plus a bit around how to achieve net-zero!

Key Learnings:

• You'll need a multi-billion addressable market if you're looking to build a £100m business. Have you checked in enough detail?
• Customers will tell you what they want and then you can build that. Is there a real need?
• Market research is also a good way of identifying your likely early customers
• Use the data to avoid going head to head with big incumbents on launch

Quotes

1. "Don't spend time and money developing a technology that nobody wants"
2. "If I could solve this for you, would that be meaningful?"

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Steve Coulson, who co-founded Kitt which enables tenants to get a bespoke managed office in any building anywhere. They are growing fast and one to watch!

We speak about what the journey is really like as an entrepreneur and the importance of support at work and at home.

Key Learnings:

• The evolution of the workplace away from cubicles, via astroturf and free beer, into true employee-centric spaces
• Ignore the Instagram hype, it's not just one moment of ingenuity. There's a lot of execution!
• Don't do it on your own - surround yourself with either a co-founder or support system
• Having a co-founder with different but complementary ways of thinking more important than skillset

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Logan Naidu, who founded Kernel Global which is one of the FT1000 fastest growing businesses in Europe. They're almost at the £100m.

We speak about what culture really is and how to practically deliver an environment of kindness and excellence.

Key Learnings:

• Kindness can be symbiotic with excellence, not at the expense of
• Importance of removing bad actors, even if they're top performers
• Be known for being the best - externally and internally
• Build a business you're proud of and want to spend time in

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Simon Barbato, who founded Mr B & Friends a leading brand agency who's created awesome brands for companies on the £100m journey.

We speak about what is a brand and how to use it to achieve your business vision.

Key Learnings:

• Accelerate your growth by being a brand leader in your category
• Can you distil your brand into one organising thought?
• The 4 stages of brand evolution - identity, product proposition, experience and content
• 2 speed strategy: some budget on brand building, some to brand activation

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Nektarios Liolios, who not only founded Startup Bootcamp Fintech but now runs The Future Farm which is a community focused on healthy entrepreneurship

We speak about some of the pressures and misconceptions around entrepreneurship and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people

Key Learnings:

• Becoming an entrepreneur doesn't mean changing who you are.
• Having someone you can talk to is really important - whether that's a mentor, coach or peer
• Have an awareness that you need to scan yourself to catch any issues early
• External investment can really increase the pressure and mental health impact

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Michael Mellinghoff, the Managing Director of TechFluence UK. He also launched the FinTech Germany award in 2016. Michael has helped hundreds of FinTech startups to scale and fundraise.

We speak about the power of focusing and how best to make those hard decisions on what ideas and opinions to pursue and what to ignore

Key Learnings:

• If you believe you've found your business model stick to it. Or pivot wholeheartedly. Don't dual track
• Stealth competition is out there working on the same idea and waiting to access the marketing pool of money once product / market fit is right
• Know who to listen to - smart founders seem to take the right advice from the right people

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 

Today I'm joined by Shelby Austin, the CEO of Arteria AI, a business spun out of Deloitte in 2020 simplifying contract lifecycle management which recently raised $11 million in series A funding. Shelby has also been recognised in the top 25 women leaders in tech services and consulting.

We speak about how to be customer obsessed while still making your own people spectacularly happy

Key Learnings:

• Don't focus on scaling but treat every person like they're your last client or last employee
• Instill a culture of urgency, a culture of excellence, a culture of speed, a culture of obsession, but also a culture of kindness
• The power of listening to inspire performance

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com