The Scaling Startups Podcast

On episode 9 I talk to Anthony Rose founder and Chief Executive Officer of Seed Legals the company reinventing how founders raise capital. Anthony has founded & co-founded multiple companies including; Beamly, Zeebox, 6Tribes, Brilliant Digital and Kazaa.Rose is known for his work managing the launch of the BBC's iPlayer, for which Wired UK named him "the man who saved the BBC".

On this episode we talk about how to achieve product market fit, the dangers of unsustainable scale and his biggest lesson learned as a founder.

We also explore a range of topics from how to raise seed capital, the rise of salami rounds and the potential of ICO’s as a funding method.

Finally we also explore a range of topics from Anthony’s role in digitizing the BBC, billion dollar law suits disrupting the music industry and his lessons learned in founding and exiting multiple companies from Zeebox, Beamly, Brilliant Digital and Kazaa.

On episode 8 I talk to Pip Jamieson founder and CEO of The Dots a rapidly growing scale-up in London. Pip is on a mission to build a billion dollar company and connect creatives the world over and it appears she is on her way with Forbes calling Dots the next Linkedin for creatives.

Pip was recently named as one of the UK’s top disruptive entrepreneurs by the Sunday Times and originally started her career in government as an economic advisor to David Blunkett. Pip has spent the majority of her career in creative industries holding executive roles at MTV and founded The Dots in 2014.

On this episode we talk about :

Pip’s mission to build a billion dollar company that will stand the test of time

Management best with the OKR framework popularized by John Doerr and Andy Grove

The future of work, happiness and diversity

Finally we touch on a range of insights from raising venture capital as a female founder, the war on talent, how she achieved product market fit, the worst advice she ever heard as a founder and her next challenge in taking the Dots global!

On episode 7 I talk to Joanna Hubbard COO and cofounder of Electron new platform developed by a group of blockchain and energy experts aiming to disrupt the 10 trillion dollar energy market. Joanna is an expert in blockchain and energy previously leading this sector at McKinsey. She is a frequent keynote speaker on blockchain and energy sitting on advisory boards for several UK utilities and writes for national publications on these topics.

On today’s episode we explore:

The potential that blockchain has for transforming the global energy market.

How to think about scaling as an early stage blockchain company

The traditional path of venture financing vs ICO’s and the lessons Joanna has learned in leadership and developing super powers to be productive

On episode 6 I have a conversation with Nicolas Colin. Nicolas is co-founder and Director at The Family a pan-European venture and acceleration firm focused on backing Europe’s most ambitious founders and startups. Nicolas is also a respected policy maker and a professor in policy at Sciences Po in Paris. Nicolas has also launched a new book Hedge A Greater Safety Net for the Entrepreneurial Age which is generating rave reviews from Azheem Azhar to Tim O’Reilly to Kim-Mai Cutler`

On this episode I discuss a range of topics with Nicolas, we peek behind the komono of the decision making process of venture capitalists, how venture capital will evolve in the future and how big tech companies risk being displaced by startups. We also discuss best practices for startups accelerating their growth as they graduate through company stages and finally Nicolas’s thesis in how society should protect itself during this technological revolution.

Hello listeners you’re listening to The Scaling Startups Podcast I am your host Ross Sheil. Over the next season and number of weeks I’ll be talking to founders and leaders of the world’s fastest growing technology companies to learn more about their secret sauce and lessons learned in company building. We’ll touch on topics from culture to product market fit to scaling to, venture capital, hiring leadership and more. The common thread across all of these podcasts will be teasing out the lessons learned in scaling and building, you’ll get a sense for how they are scaling their companies, what makes them tick and and all of the perspective and insights they’ve accumulated along the way. If you’re interested in the art and science of going from startup to scaleup this podcast is for you.

This is just a snapshot of some of the folks I’ll be speaking with, there are 15 episodes recorded to be released weekly with five episodes going live immediately. First up is Peter Vesterbacka serial entrepreneur and former CMO at Rovio the company behind Angry Birds, we’ll then talk to repeat founder and CEO of Kinzen Mark Little. We’ll have a conversation with Sharmadean Reid founder and CEO of Beauty Stack. We’ll then chat to Roberta Lucca of scale up Bossa Studios and finally to Michelle Kennedy of Peanut.

We have 10 more episodes to come in the series enjoy the first episodes in the season launch and check us out on scalingstartups.io, @scalingstartups and subscribe on all podcast stores.

Today on episode 5 I talk to former operator and now entrepreneur Michelle Kennedy CEO and founder of Peanut App, the social networking app for mothers to chat, team up with and learn from like minded women cited in the media as Tinder for Moms.

Michelle is a qualified international general counsel and former CEO of Badoo one of the world’s top social consumer apps with over 400M users. Michelle also served on the board of Bumble as a director working closely with CEO Whitney Wolfe on scaling the application globally.

On today’s episode we talk about :

The founding moment and mission of Peanut, how Michelle built a team to bring her vision to life and invoked her relationships and network to successfully launch Peanut

The lessons Michelle learned in leadership, marketing, operational excellence and product at Badoo and how she brings these forward to Peanut

We also talk about the impact of machine learning on Peanut, how Michelle navigated the world of venture capital as first time founder and her plans for developing her own leadership as the company scales.

You can follow us on Twitter on @ScalingStartups and check out our episodes on the web at ScalingStartups.io

Today on episode 4 I talk to serial entrepreneur Roberta Lucca of wildy popular games company Bossa Studios. Bossa Studios produces games like Worlds Adrift, Surgeon Simulator and I am Bread being amongst the top games studios monetising globally.

Roberta describes herself as an unconventional entrepreneur and obsessive learner previously launching 3 startups Wonderluk, Bossa and her third venture Boldr the AI powered coaching app. Roberta was previously named Top 35 under 35 by Management Today and Top 30 Women in Games and has also won a BAFTA.

On today’s episode we talk about:

Founder motivation, Roberta’s journey to founding multiple ventures and how she took a leap of faith with her first startups

The lessons Roberta has learned about company scaling in growing Bossa from 0 - 100, the future of games monetisation and the promise and threat of Artificial Intelligence

We also talk about how to build and manage a board of directors as a scale-up, build communities and brand and how to manage time and energy as a founder to be more productive.

You can follow us on Twitter on @ScalingStartups and check out our episodes on the web at ScalingStartups.io.

Today on episode 3 I talk to serial entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid CEO of Beautystack. Beautystack is a consumer and business facing beauty platform for professionals aiming to economically empower women and professionals in the beauty industry. Sharmadean is a veteran of the beauty and fashion industry with a career in high fashion, hip-hop magazines finishing her corporate career at Nike before going on to launch and scale a cult consumer product and business Wah Nails. Sharmadean has also been awarded an MBE for services to the industry.

In addition to hosting a popular column in the Guardian Sharmadean is founder of Future Girl Corporation which aims to empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs around the globe.

On today’s episode we talk about:

Sharmadean’s new venture Beautystack and her mission to economically women and the beauty industry in building an instagram for beauty

How Sharmadean brought her vision to life in working with venture capital investors, building an MVP and building a diverse team of engineers and business facing teams

We also talk about Sharmadean’s view on the value of a board of directors, the future of the beauty industry, her lessons learned in business and what diversity means to her in building a unique culture at Beautystack.

You can follow us on Twitter on @ScalingStartups and check out our episodes on the web at ScalingStartups.io.

Today on episode 2 I talk to Mark Little co-founder and CEO of Kinzen, the news platform with ambitions to reinvent news the consumer news experience, what’s broken and how they plan to fix it. Mark is a seasoned operator and entrepreneur with successful million dollar exits and Managing Director experience in public companies like Twitter. In another life Mark was a career TV and news man as a war correspondent and prime time tv anchor for the state broadcaster.

On today’s episode we talk about:

Mark’s new venture Kinzen and his mission to redefine the news experience to put users in control of their news experiences.

The challenges in how we are consuming news today powered by ad-driven algorithms, the mis-alignment this creates in user reward and psychology along with the promise of blockchain and machine learning have for reinventing this experience

We also talk about the leadership lessons learned by Mark as MD of Twitter Europe, exiting his first startup to Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp for 25 million and the steep learning curve in Mark’s first entrepreneurial leap in leaving the state broadcaster as prime time tv anchor to build and launch his first startup Storyful.

Since the recording of this episode Mark’s venture has emerged from stealth mode and you can learn more about them on Kinzen.com.

On today’s inaugural episode I have a conversation with Peter Vesterbacka. Peter is former Chief Marketing Officer at Rovio, the billion dollar games company behind Angry Birds and has previously appeared on Time 100’s most influential list. Peter is now a serial investor and founder in multiple gaming, education and commerce companies with a lot of depth to his career having founded multiple global communities such as global startup event Slush and the wildly popular Mobile Monday with the goal of enabling the next generation of entrepreneurs.

On today’s episode we talk about :

Peter’s new mission to transform the 3 Trillion dollar global education market, his role as founder of education company Lightneer and the portfolio approach he is taking to fulfil this mission.

We also talk about the founding moment of Angry Birds, how the company scaled and Peter’s ambitious new project to build a super startup ecosystem connecting Finland and Estonia through the world longest tunnel and building a startup island.

Finally we dive into all of the lessons Peter has learned about product-market fit, scaling, brand building and how to stand out in a crowded market. Tune in now to learn more about the episode and the perspective of a serial entrepreneur and brand builder.