If you don’t know Matt Seaman, you’ve definitely seen something created by one of his companies.

Matt is the CEO of GoMedia, who provides on-board entertainment for the rail industry. Before that, he was one of the founders of Freeview, which of course anyone in the UK would know.

Matt has a strong background in building out TV platforms, and his story will be interesting for anyone starting or growing a business. What I found especially interesting was GoMedia’s initial phase, where Matt and his team were balancing building out the platform and striking partnerships with both train companies and content partners.

We talked about:

* Matt’s background in TV platforms;

* How Matt spotted the opportunity for rail entertainment;

* Dealing with content partners and studios;

* Keeping content secure, especially in the early days;

* How Matt and his team built trust with both content and train partners;

* Meeting the quality demands of the consumer;

* The need to continually innovate and provide new content;

* The challenges of providing WiFi to large numbers of train travellers;

* How GoMedia makes money;

* Raising money to get the company off the ground;

* The importance of good partners and a good team in a startup;

* Bulding business in the UK vs. going international;

* Making bets on the future of mobility;

* Why huge companies like to work with SMEs;

* Using data now and in the future;

* How train companies can make the customer experience better through small steps;

* And Matt’s vision for GoMedia in five years.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 54

Matt Seaman, CEO, GoMedia

On this show I’ve spoken to a few people whose remit is to innovate from within big established brands. Sebastian Peck is one such person – he’s the MD of InMotion Ventures, the innovation arm of Jaguar Land Rover.

InMotion is split into two very distinct parts; a traditional incubator, where his team have free reign to be creative problem solvers; and an investment arm which operates much like a traditional VC on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover. It’s a fascinating operation and a huge opportunity for Sebastian, who’s been in the role a little over a year.

We talked about:

* The way our cities are built around cars, and how that’s starting to change;

* InMotion Ventures’ two distinct parts;

* What Sebastian sees as Jaguar Land Rover’s 3 pillars of innovation;

* The challenges and benefits of being associated with such a huge brand;

* How to keep the right amount of distance as an investor;

* A particularly exciting InMotion investment and a top-secret original project;

* Allowing for serendipity with investments and partnerships;

* What’s holding back the concept car-sharing in western countries;

* Is it less attractive to own a car for millennials? Or is it just more difficult?

* The top things Sebastian looks for in a pitch;

* Navigating the politics of a big company like JLR;

* The impact of Tesla on the industry and public perception;

* And some big bets for the future of mobility.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 53

Sebastian Peck, Managing Director, InMotion Ventures

My latest chat was with Rob Weston, global brand and marketing director at M&S. Rob and I spoke about all the things that keep his job exciting, from the changing customer in retail, to the power of data and AI.

Rob’s role at M&S is broader than most in retail, covering food, fashion and banking, and has recently expanded to include ownership of the customer – giving him an interesting perspective on the overall customer experience.

Keeping up with the pace of change in retail is a fascinating topic. Bringing the customer experience back to when your local shopkeeper could easily figure out with a conversation what was most important to you. Rob shared his thoughts on how technology can be leveraged to get to that level of personalisation across digital channels as well as in-store.

We talked about:

* Keeping up with the pace of change;

* Focusing on the trends your customers actually care about;

* Picking which few things to do really well;

* Keeping an eye on growing markets, like the ageing population;

* Beyond just mobile, what it means to have the world in your pocket;

* Personalisation as a balancing act;

* How a rental retail model is emerging;

* Personal recommendations as the most powerful form of advertising;

* Offline analytics becoming as good as online;

* The concept of ‘one basket’;

* Loyalty propositions;

* The future of efficient bricks and mortar;

* And remembering the questions you’re trying to answers.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 52

Rob Weston, Global Brand & Marketing Director, M&S

Super excited to add to the list of podcast guests who make me look uncool – Rand Fishkin joins me on the show this week.

Rand goes by the weird and wonderful title, Wizard of Moz.

He’s founder and former CEO of SEO software startup Moz, host of Whiteboard Friday, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, co-founder of Inbound.org, and serves on the board of the presentation software firm, Haiku Deck. Rand’s currently writing a book for Penguin/Random House on the ups and downs of startup culture, due out this year.

Rand is also planning another big move this year, which he talks about – and gives the one piece of advice he thinks is crucial for startups starting today.

We talked about:

* A brief overview of Moz, and its journey from consultancy to product company;

* The business move that transformed Moz;

* Why Moz was successful in the early days;

* What should come first – audience or product;

* The only thing that can kill SEO;

* Rand’s thoughts on Google becoming a ‘suggestion engine’;

* Facebook’s ‘algorithmic radicalisation’;

* What SEOs can learn from Google’s intent;

* How to get in front of people before they have a need for your product;

* What net neutrality will mean for brands;

* Influencer marketing and disclosing endorsements;

* Regulation like GDPR in the EU;

* How SEO should be handled internally,

* And how to handle things like voice search.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 51

Rand Fishkin, founder, Moz

Thanks for listening in 2017 – we’ve had a great time doing People Tell Richard Stuff.

As an end of year treat, I’ve put together a 45min compilation of a few of my favourite bits from this year. Here’s what I’ve picked:

Brian Solis, digital analyst, speaker and author

We talk about a few huge acquisitions that took place in 2017 – Amazon/Whole Foods and Wal-Mart/Bonobos – and what that means for each. We also discuss how hard it can be to effect culture change in these big companies, especially when it comes to digital innovation.

Justine Roberts, co-founder & CEO, Mumsnet

Justine is quite candid about the early days of Mumsnet, where she would ask and answer her own questions to drive activity on the site. I ask her about how the site has grown and how the strategy has evolved, especially with Google and Facebook rocking the boat.

Edward Griffith, co-founder & CEO, LoveCrafts

Edward grew LoveCrafts as a multisided platform – ecommerce plus social marketplace. That’s a tricky thing to balance, so I asked him about why he started with the ecommerce and grew from there. We also talk about international expansion and how LoveCrafts is managing growth.

Jonathan Wall, group ecommerce director, Shop Direct

Jonathan is really excited about how AI and chat bots can help with customer service. We talk about that, and all the different components that come together to create a sleek, delightful customer experience.

David Walmsley, chief customer officer, House of Fraser

David represents the ‘conscience of the customer’ within House of Fraser, so we talk about listening to customers and bringing all departments of the business together around a common aim – meeting customer expectations at every touchpoint.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 50

The best of 2017

Nicholas Lovell, author of best-selling book The Curve, welcomed me into his London home for this episode of the podcast.

The Curve emerged from Nicholas’ work in video games, where so much is given away for free. He developed a business model that allows different types of fans to engage with (and pay) your brand in different ways.

Now, Nicholas advises creative businesses on strategy and has been working on a really cool book series called ‘The World of Supersaurs’ which comes with an incredible AR app.

It’s not just games companies that will enjoy this episode – The Curve model and Nicholas’ thoughts on “earning the right to talk to people” will chime with content marketers as well.

We talked about:

• ‘Free’ as a tool for competition;

• How the concept of ‘free’ should be used in a long-term plan;

• The concept of the ‘superfan’ and how to create them;

• How Nespresso transcended the supermarket to go direct-to-consumer;

• How content can contribute to identity and remove buyer’s remorse;

• Why you need to start by considering what your customers want;

• How content marketing is a good starting point;

• The ‘content trap’;

• The different types of risk;

• ‘The World of Supersaurs’;

• On the content and completion of his next project ‘The pyramid of game design’;

• And the difference between free-to-play and freemium.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 49

Nicholas Lovell, author and advisor to creative businesses

James Brocket joins me on this episode of the podcast – we’re talking about putting together great boards and executive teams.

James is a co-founder and managing partner of the global executive search firm Calibre One. His focus is on recruiting at board and C-level, so I thought I’d ask him about how those roles are changing – especially in James’ work with startups and newer businesses.

As a founder and previous CEO myself, I found this a fascinating chat. It’s great to get a perspective on leadership from someone who lives and breathes it.

We talked about:

• The changing expectations of a board;

• What a really good board can do for a business;

• How innovation is reflected at board level;

• Good qualities of a board member – is it strategy, experience or a Rolodex?

• How to keep board members from becoming bored members;

• The role of advisory boards;

• Why most boards aren’t as current as they need to be;

• Support for founding CEOs and assembling a ‘support team’;

• Where to find good mentors;

• Diversity around board tables and on management teams (and whether businesses are doing enough);

• And how to bring diversity into the search process.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 48

James Brocket, international headhunter & executive recruiter

For this week’s episode we’re off to Durham in the north of England to talk to Mark Mullen, CEO of new digital-only ‘upstart’ Atom bank.

Mark was previously CEO of First Direct, so he’s had extensive experience in the banking system – now he’s trying to change it.

You might have heard my chats with a few of London’s new startup banks and FinTech ventures before – but Atom’s a different story. For one, they’re not based in London, which makes a nice change. But it’s Atom’s proposition that’s truly different. Rather than try and dazzle people, Atom is using its technology advantage to provide a cheaper, more efficient banking service.

Watch the video here or skip to the bottom for audio:

We talked about:

• How Atom started, and why it started in Durham;

• The advantages of existing outside the London bubble;

• Finding the right talent, especially in engineering;

• Regulation’s effect on innovation in banking (both for and against);

• Educating the regulators;

• How Open Banking will affect the industry and its customers;

• The universal banking model, and the problem with a ‘one-stop shop’;

• Atom’s target market (which might surprise you);

• Mark’s philosophy on developing Atom and its products;

• How Atom plans to acquire customers and battle inertia;

• The importance of a human face or ‘beating heart’;

• How vital trust is for a new bank;

• And Atom’s most high-profile employee – strategic advisor Will.i.am.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 47

Mark Mullen, CEO, Atom bank

After a lovely summer break I’m back with new podcast episodes – first up I’m talking to Brian Solis, digital analyst, speaker and author.

In his day job, Brian is a principal analyst studying disruptive technology and its impact on business at Altimeter Group, a research firm acquired by global brand management consultancy Prophet in 2015.

He also publishes a ton of his own research about digital transformation – Brian’s helped countless businesses, leaders and founders (including myself).

We talked about:

• Online/offline mergers and acquisitions (like Amazon/Whole Foods) and the strategy behind them;

• Why removing beers from the office can be a fatal move;

• Digital transformation done right – and wrong;

• The right mindset for effective disruption;

• The difference between startups and older businesses;

• ‘Digital Darwinism’ – the evolution of tech, society and everything in between;

• Examples of businesses that have revolutionised without losing revenue;

• Where most businesses fail to evolve (with Kodak as an example);

• Why we need a new breed of company leadership;

• How innovations by tech companies change consumer expectations in all industries;

• And what Brian thinks is the right approach to change.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 46

Brian Solis, digital analyst, speaker and author

Today I’m sitting down with a founding partner of one of the hottest ad agencies in London – Andy Nairn from Lucky Generals.

Andy co-founded Lucky Generals in 2013. The agency is responsible for almost all the good creative that’s going around at the moment, including my recent favourite: the Yorkshire Tea ‘Where Everything’s Done Proper’ campaign featuring Parky and the Kaiser Chiefs.

Before starting the agency, Andy’s pedigree was impressive too. He’s won 24 major effectiveness awards, including the 2005, 2007 and 2010 Grand Prix at the IPA Effectiveness Awards. Campaign magazine named him as the UK’s top planner and one of the top ten planners in the world.

We talked about:

• The essence of good planning;

• What the modern consumer expects;

• Why good advertising can kill bad products;

• What Andy thinks about the old analogue/digital thinking;

• The creative process, and the role of metrics and measurement;

• How tracking and accountability have changed;

• Brands scoring own goals on social media (and how to avoid it);

• A big Paddy Power stunt that got a little out of hand;

• Programmatic and algorithm-driven advertising;

• How AI will change the industry (or not change it);

• Andy’s view of the next five years;

• And the rationale behind Lucky Generals’ recent sale to TBWA.

People Tell Richard Stuff: Episode 45

Andy Nairn, Founding Partner, Lucky Generals