SuperConnector Show | Business Interviews & Founder Stories

How do you build a business with an exit in mind from the outset? In this interview, Gavin Bell (ex-Founder & CEO, Yatter) shares how he built & sold a Pay Per Click & Paid Social agency in 3yrs by productising his services & implementing repeatable processes with strong recurring revenues. He also shares some tips & advice on how to find & attract people that will help you grow your business, the benefits & barriers of being based in Scotland & the importance of having a strong personal brand as a content creator. He also touches on the mindset shift he made when going from micro business built around himself to scaling enterprise with a team managing over £20m in client advertising spend annually at the time of the acquisition. If you enjoy this, you can watch more videos of Gavin on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@MrGavinBell & on Instagram at www.instagram.com/mrgavinbell

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this interview, Simon Raybould (Specialist Trainer in Voice & Presentation Skills) talks to Paul Lancaster (Founder & Event Producer, PLATFORM | UK Startup & Scaleup Week) about how to communicate effectively & deliver great presentations / talks. He also covers what clothing to wear, body language, movement, diction, accents, smiling & other ingredients that make a great presentation. Learn more at https://presentationgenius.info

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

Laurie Stirling is an award-winning Business Ops Strategist who helps business owners transform their business to no longer depend solely on them. With over 20 years experience as an entrepreneur, business analyst, CFO & COO in the creative & technology industries, she empowers founders to step into their CEO role & scale efficiently, delegate confidently & take real time off without the business suffering. Her ‘Step Back to Scale’ system & Group Accelerator programme combines clarity through data, delegation & distilling knowledge & IP, to create businesses that are profitable, growing & self-sustaining. Laurie is passionate about helping overworked entrepreneurs regain balance, increase impact & build the life they want. Find out more at https://www.lauriestirling.com

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this episode, Jeremy Lee (Founder & Host of the 'Just Between Us' podcast) shares some of his amazing experience of building JLA Speakers, the biggest UK speaker agency in the corporate & public sector & being agent to the 'great & good' which includes comedians, politicians, entrepreneurs & cultural figures...

After cutting his teeth booking talent into bingo halls & holiday camps, Jeremy founded the speaker agency JLA in 1990, flogging a new wave of stand-ups for recession-weary audiences.

The agency soon started signing up politicians & luminaries, turning into 'The UK's leading speaker bureau.' (Financial Times).

Aside from comedians he has represented pillars of the Establishment & anti-Establishment as well as experts in this, that & the other. The client list included Mark Carney, William Hague & Boris Johnson before he entered No.10; heads of the army, police & MI5, plus mainstays of the TV schedule from Ian Hislop & Steph McGovern to Brian Cox.

He’s flattered Hollywood legends, heard lots of secrets & been sworn at by a prominent (current) Ambassador. The explorer Ranulph Fiennes called him 'the doyen of the speaker circuit' in his autobiography.

Along the way he rocked the boat on the Agents' Association Council & the governing body of pool, for whom he had a brief stint as an ITV presenter. He also succeeded in losing money on a Gyles Brandreth stage musical & Tony Hawks' film of Round Ireland with a Fridge.

To fulfil a promise to himself he stood for Parliament in 2024 as an anti-extremist Independent. After a five week campaign combined with moving house (that's his excuse), the good people of Bury St Edmunds saw fit to give him a modest 819 votes.

Since then he’s launched the ‘Just Between Us’ podcast as an excuse to chat to his favourite talent & share a lorry load of behind-the-scenes stories. And to avoid being mistaken for the bestselling chef who shares the same name. (Find out more at https://www.jeremy-lee.co.uk)

Listen & enjoy!

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this interview, Sophie Tunnah (Founder & Director, Literally Marketing Ltd) shares key insights from her time as a senior marketer across various industries including travel, ecommerce & tech at both multinational & startup levels. She also discusses how digital marketing & social media has changed over the past 20yrs & what you need to do to be visible, build trust & demonstrate expertise online. Find out more about Sophie & her work at https://literallymarketing.co.uk

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this interview, award-winning personal trainer & fitness professional, Katie Bulmer-Cooke talks to Paul Lancaster about why it's important for busy business owners & leaders to stay (or get) fit & healthy if they want to be successful at work & in their personal life plus her own experience of starting & growing a business & appearing on BBC's The Apprentice.

If you'd like to work with Katie on a 1-2-1 basis or bring her into their business to work with your team, visit https://www.katiebulmer.com

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

Cheryl Burgess (Co-Founder & Director, Opexcell Limited) is a dynamic Operations Leader with 15+ years of cross-sector experience in aviation, telecommunications & energy from waste who helps businesses turn operational challenges into strategic opportunities. Find out more at https://opexcell.co.uk

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this episode, Mitali Deypurkaystha (Founder, Impact Icon AI) & Paul Lancaster discuss how you can use AI tools to be more productive & efficient without having a negative impact on your colleagues or the community you belong to! Find out more about Mitali & her work with Private, Public & Third Sector organisations at https://impacticon.ai

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this episode, Nicky Jolley (MD, HR2day Limited) talks about some of the common pitfalls & HR problems that business owners & leaders face, the UK Government’s incoming Employment Rights Bill, when & why you should bring in external HR expertise. She also shares how she started out in business & her experience working as an in-house HR manager before that. For more no-nonsense HR help & advice from Nicky & her team, visit https://hr2day.co.uk

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com

In this episode, Jane Fisher (Founder, Fresh Perspectives North East) & Paul Lancaster (PLATFORM | UK Startup & Scaleup Week) discuss the benefits of taking yourself, your leadership team or your staff outdoors in order to improve wellbeing, happiness & boost productivity too! Find out more at https://janefisherassociates.co.uk

In addition to being Host of the SuperConnector Show podcast, Paul Lancaster is Founder, Event Producer and Host of the popular, monthly PLATFORM events and 5-day UK Startup and Scaleup Week festivals. He is also Coach and Mentor for busy entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who want to focus and be more productive. Find out more at https://platformevents.ai & https://ukstartupweek.com