The Founders Lounge

Sam G. Winsbury is the founder of Kurogo, the UK’s leading personal branding agency. He works closely with some of the best founders in the UK to build massive audiences with millions of views.

In this episode of The Founders Lounge, we talk about:

- What helped Sam start a successful business straight out of uni

- The biggest lesson from working with 7, 8 and 9-figure founders

- Building your network in a new city

- Why the sudden personal brand phenomenon (and why you should care)

- What you can do today to start building your personal brand

- How to not feel awkward about posting online

- How busy founders produce a week's worth of content in 1 hour

- Building an empire of companies off the back of a personal brand

- Two most powerful principles that Sam lives by

Links:

- Sam’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-g-winsbury/ 

- Sam’s agency - Kurogo: https://www.kurogo.co.uk/

🌟 WORK FOR AN INSPIRING UK STARTUP:

The best way to learn about business is by working for a successful company with an ambitious founder. This episode is brought to you by Judge.me - the #1 e-commerce product reviews solution, founded by PJ Cellis (Episode 54). If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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📣 Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

🚀 Follow me for business ideas & insights: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

🦄 Join my UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

💰 Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

🎥 Watch on YouYube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

Matthew Stafford is an angel investor with several successful exits. He is a co-founder of 9others, a monthly problem-solving dinner event for entrepreneurs, which has been attended by thousands of founders. He’s also a co-author of the book Find Your 9 Others - The Questions To Ask Yourself As You Start Up And Scale Up.

In this episode of The Founders Lounge, we talk about:

- Matthew’s recent 3 startup exits

- The 10 questions you need to ask yourself as a founder

- The importance of your “why” behind starting a startup

- How to gain visibility as a founder

- The importance of trusting your gut

- How to improve your intuition

- What does it take to succeed

- How to train yourself to be more disciplined

- The ‘65% rule’

- What you learn in school is not a good parallel for life

- The importance of surrounding yourself with ambitious people

Links:

- Matthew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mstafford

- Matthew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staffordvc

- “Find Your 9others” book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1788604466

- Matthew’s investment portfolio: https://www.stafford.vc

- 9others events: https://9others.com

🌟 WORK FOR AN INSPIRING UK STARTUP:

The best way to learn about business is by working for a successful company with an ambitious founder. This episode is brought to you by Judge.me - the #1 e-commerce product reviews solution, founded by PJ Cellis (Episode 54). If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me

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📣 Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

🚀 Follow me for business ideas & insights: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

🦄 Join my UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

💰 Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

🎥 Watch on YouYube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

James Church is the co-founder and COO of Robot Mascot, the UKs leading pitch agency. He's a #1 Amazon best selling author with his book, “Investable Entrepreneur”, where he shares his unique methodology for creating a pitch that convinces investors. James has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, on numerous industry blogs and podcasts, run mentoring sessions at Tech Hub, Google Campus and Runway East, and deliver mastermind sessions for The Chartered Institute of Marketing, University College London and the University of East Anglia. 

Show notes:

- From a branding agency to the UK's leading pitch agency and startup consultancy

- Three key traits of an Investable Entrepreneur

- Why only 1% of startups manage to raise funding

- How anyone can become more resourceful

- The craziest fundraising strategy that James has ever witnessed

- What happens when you give £900k to an unprepared 18-year-old

- Strategies to build trust with investors

- Building a personal brand while building a business

- Best London networking tips

- One person that changed James’ life

- Where are the biggest business opportunities today

Links:

- Get the Investable Entrepreneur book for free: https://pitchready.co.uk/

- Follow James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescchurch/

- James’ business, Robot Mascot: https://www.robotmascot.co.uk/

- Silicon Roundabout: https://www.meetup.com/SiliconRoundabout/ 
- Daniel Priestley: https://danielpriestley.com/

🌟 WORK FOR AN INSPIRING UK STARTUP:

The best way to learn about business is by working for a successful company with an ambitious founder. This episode is brought to you by Judge.me - the #1 e-commerce product reviews solution, founded by PJ Cellis (Episode 54). If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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📣 Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

🚀 Follow me for business ideas & insights: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

🦄 Join my UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

💰 Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

🎥 VIDEO version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

Alexej Pikovsky is the CEO and founder of Alphawell Brands, a holding company under which he currently operates a 7-figure growth agency and a fast-growing wellness ecommerce brand. Early in his career he spent two years at a $3 billion private equity fund, gained board-level experience and led a EUR 226 million sale of a portfolio business. Then he went on to start the UK’s largest CBD marketplace, which he then led through an award-winnign pivot (yes, apparently that’s a thing!) into what’s now a profitable agency and a growing ecommerce brand. Alexej was previously featured in Fortune, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and now finally also The Founders Lounge!

Show notes:

- Investment banking and 100-hour workweeks

- How to do an award-winning pivot

- Scaling an agency to 7 figures

- Buying businesses

- Tech business vs agency vs e-commerce

- Gameplan for successfully selling candles on Amazon

- Networking for 7-figure entrepreneurs

- Building a personal brand

- Performance habits for successful entrepreneurs

- The book that changed Alexej’s perspective on life

Links:

- Follow Alexej on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexejpikovsky

- Follow Alexej on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexej-pikovsky-9743701

- Follow Alexej on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexejPikovsky/

🌟 WORK FOR AN INSPIRING UK STARTUP:

The best way to learn about business is by working for a successful company with an ambitious founder. This episode is brought to you by Judge.me - the #1 e-commerce product reviews solution, founded by PJ Cellis (Episode 54). If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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📣 Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

🚀 Follow me for business ideas & insights: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

🦄 Join my UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

💰 Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

🎥 VIDEO version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

Olly Richards is an entrepreneur, investor and author of 50+ books. He runs his £10M online education business, StoryLearning, working only 6 days a month. He started his career as a jazz musician and a teacher, and then step by step started building what’s now a massive audience and an 8-figure business.

Show notes:

- From a jazz musician to an online entrepreneur

- The secret to 50% profit margins

- Find competent and motivated team members

- The best way to solve any problem in your business

- Why you should never go for longer than 12 months without a coach or mentor

- How to optimize and automate your personal fiannces

- There are no business problems, only mindset problems

- The power of personal brand

- #1 book that most impacted Olly’s career

Links:

- Case Study: Blueprint Of A $10M Online Education Business: https://ollyrichards.co/

- Follow Olly on X: https://twitter.com/mrollyrichards 

- Follow onlly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollyrichards/ 

- The Great CEO Within: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-CEO-Within-Tactical-Building-ebook/dp/B07ZLGQZYC 

- The $100 Startup: https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Startup-Reinvent-Living-Create/dp/0307951529

🌟 WORK FOR AN INSPIRING UK STARTUP:

The best way to learn about business is by working for a successful company with an ambitious founder. This episode is brought to you by Judge.me - the #1 e-commerce product reviews solution, founded by PJ Cellis (Episode 54). If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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📣 Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

🚀 Follow me for business ideas & insights: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

🦄 Join my UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

💰 Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

🎥 VIDEO version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

End of year special episode is a mix of the best moments from our podcast in 2022. I thank all of you for taking the time and watching, and I hope you are getting massive value out of it. In this episode, we talk about warrior mentality, relationships, building businesses to be sold, and scaling an e-commerce store from 0 to 1.

Brought to you by Judge.me - the ultimate e-commerce product reviews solution. If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable, and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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➤ Please leave a comment if you liked the episode ❤

➤ Follow for business ideas & stories: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

➤ Matic’s UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

➤ Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

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VIDEO (Youtube): http://foundrs.vi

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Marketing and postproduction: Matevž Semprimožnik (https://www.linkedin.com/in/matevz-semprimoznik/)

Paul Blair is a military veteran turned entrepreneur. Over 20 years of experience in leadership and high-pressure situations in the military served as a great and unique background to start a business. As an entrepreneur, he has launched, grown, and sold businesses in the property, financial services, and pet product sectors. Today he’s still involved in several businesses, but his main focus is on ArcX, a SportTech and Digital Health startup that's developing a game-changing smart ring for sports enthusiasts.

In this episode, we talk about:

- Lessons learned from 20 years in the military

- Military vs entrepreneurship

- The most difficult moments in Afghanistan

- Starting a pet product brand

- Paul’s funny experience with Dragon’s Den

- The challenges of building a hardware startup

- Hardware startup financing

- How to effectively handle being involved in multiple businesses

- The #1 course that most impacted Paul’s career

- Paul’s strategies for constantly improving himself

Brought to you by Judge.me - the ultimate e-commerce product reviews solution. If you’re looking for a job in an inspiring, profitable and fast-growing UK-based startup, check out https://careers.judge.me.

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➤ Please subscribe & share if you liked the episode ❤

➤ Follow for business ideas & stories: https://twitter.com/MaticJ

➤ Matic’s UK product founders community: http://joinpmf.com

➤ Looking for funding? Get a VC intro: http://vc.foundrs.vip

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RESOURCES

- ArcX: https://arcx.fit/

- Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-blair-dso-6446a315/

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFoundersLounge

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Marketing and postproduction: Tom Zorman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-zorman/)