The Entrepreneurs

This is the story of PJ Harrison, an Englishman in Los Angeles who left behind a career in the creative industries to launch a football club, City of Angels FC, with his friend: the musician and entrepreneur Joe Sumner. Harrison explains how he got inspired and the lessons he’s learnt along the way.

The global watch industry is going through tough times but amid the hand-wringing and alarmism you may have missed a more optimistic story: small independent brands are actually going through a renaissance. This week we focus on the journey of four London friends who pushed aside their day jobs to create a UK-designed Swiss-made watch company from scratch. Two founders of Farer, Ben Lewin and Jono Holt, share their story.

This week we hear the story of Emma Wingfield, a Brooklyn-based researcher, expert on West African art and co-founder of textile brand Five | Six. Along with her co-founder Laine Henry, the two collaborate with the weaving collective in Waraniéné, Côte d’Ivoire, to produce gorgeous ethically-made home-goods and bags. Wingfield explains how they turned a research passion into a company.

Imagine founding and running a company for 30 years before losing it to forces largely out of your control. After licking your wounds, what do you do next? We ask Roger Saul, founder of iconic UK luxury brand Mulberry. His career move involved a luxury hotel, an electric-car project, an organic-food brand and a designer outlet village that’s attempting to reinvent the retail business model.

‘Eureka' is a spotlight on business origins brought to you by Daniel Giacopelli and the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. This week photographer Phil James and creative director James Cowdale explain how they brainstormed, designed, crowdfunded and launched the UK-based workwear brand &Sons.

Jonas Almgren is a Swedish entrepreneur and the CEO of London-based start-up ArtFinder, one of the world’s largest online art marketplaces. The company’s goal is lofty: create a world where everyone owns art and where independent artists can make a living doing what they love. To pull it off they’re investing in algorithm-heavy technology such as advanced image recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Jonas shares his journey from Stockholm to Silicon Valley and New York to London.

‘Eureka’ is a spotlight on business origins brought to you by Daniel Giacopelli and the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. This week Bruno Haid shares his entrepreneurial journey from Austrian village to New York City and how he’s hoping to revolutionise the co-living industry with his new start-up Roam.

We profile two entrepreneurs who are keeping things local. US entrepreneur Steven Novick is the founder of Farmstand, a new London restaurant that does one thing: sustainably sourced and delicious food inspired by the roadside stalls of America’s Midwest. Mandeep Singh, co-founder and CEO of Trouva, tells us how he built the London-based start-up into a global shopfront through which small independent retailers can sell their products to an international customer base.

Highlights from the past year, from a legendary Detroit record label and a beloved British chocolatier to the secrets of a Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

What's the future of driving in the era of the sharing economy? We ask Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andre Haddad, CEO of Turo.