The Unlock with Oliver Bruce

Co-founder of Misfits Henry hasn't always been an entrepreneur, in fact in a previous life he worked for Aston Martin, so why the jump into entrepreneurship?

From a passion for fitness Henry and his co-founder forged a career in the indulgent protein market but nearly lost it all when focusing exclusively on female only nutrition. A quick pivot in 2020 saw Misfits re-strategi​s​e and refocus and in 2021 sold over 7 million protein bars with the vision "to create indulgent, plant-based snacks that EVERYONE can enjoy"

​With annual revenues in excess of £10m and an untapped Misfits market in America, what's on the horizon for scale-up brand Misfits in 2023?

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Marietta Hickman recently founded Cheeky Nibbl​e whilsy working out of a disused RAF hanger​. UK Young Innovator of the year winner, Marietta​ produc​es​ her delicious​ handmade cereal with little more than an idea, a big bowl and spoonfuls of passion! ​Marietta admits "this is ​the first time in my life I have not been bored​!​"

So, how difficult is it as a solo, female entrepreneur with autism and a passion ​for ​baking to bring a product to market​?​ With Cheeky Nibble's striking packaging and the generous portions that come in a box, the flavour development through to the illustration and branding was all the brainchild of Marietta's.

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From being able to focus on tasks that matter through to benefiting from a good night's sleep, Damien Bryne and his co-founders at Hux Health have developed and brought to market one of the 'coolest' and most accessible superfoods, nootropics, sleep and beauty supplements around.

From undergoing investment rounds through to developing a product that not only works but is designed to also look great when sat on your kitchen shelf to boys at Hux Health spanned varying walks of life before coming together to go into business.

With varying personalities at the top but a shared goal and vision, Damien shares how best to manage the differing skill sets when striving for the same end goal which, ultimately is inspiring people to find their daily edge by making complex nutrition simple...​ ​

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The behemoth that is Huel started off as a convenience idea and fast became a necessity for so many. James Collier a former NHS Dietitian was wholly responsible for the formulas and nutritious benefits of Huel in the early days.

A nutritionist by trade James joined Oliver to discuss how Huel was once just an idea around his co-founder Julian Hearn's  kitchen table before becoming the recognised 'go to' brand it is today. James also reveals the title, background and context of his new book 'Thought for food' which is available to buy late 2023 early 2024.

In an episode that delves into the nuances of health and wellbeing as well as growing and scaling a succesful business it would be remiss of you to skip this one...

Huel products are nutritionally complete foods, formulated to include all the protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals, along with phytonutrients, that your body needs. Huel provides optimal amounts of recommended requirements for all nutrients.

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Co-founder of Mixtons, Xav struggled with Dyslexia from an early age, ultimately discovering music as his form of expression as a teenager. With Dyslexia forming Xav's unique outlook on life he tried, and sometimes failed in business, that was, until the 3 co-founders of Mixtons came together...

One third of Mixtons, Ranj, trained as an engineer before becoming a cocktail mixer in a local bar ultimately finding his love for hospitality and the perfect pour.

It wasn't until the 2019 pandemic that Mixtons took off. From making the perfect cocktail in their co-founder Sim's kitchen, Ranj and Xav managed to scale in little under 2 years the brand from zero to hero bringing on investors spanning the world of food, drink and influencer from Calfreezy through to the founders of Goat and dare we say it, even Oliver's invested in Mixtons on their latest round which values the business well into severn figures.

So, how do 3 friends come together to work so seamlessly on scaling a business in a world only one third of them had ever experienced? When is the right time to raise outside money? And when is the right time to move out of your mates kitchen and into something a little more professional...?

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From Africa to Spain and everywhere in between, co-founder of UniTaskr Joe Black has had a varied life from an early age. Part of an entrepreneurial family, Joe found himself at a young age plotting the line of lost golf balls from a Spanish golf resort, cleaning and re-selling those same balls to the players. 

Realising that students and peer-to-peer work stems innovation, gives experience but is an often overlooked resource by business and individuals alike, UniTaskr launched and recently became a Startup 100 business in 2023. The model of UniTaskr is simple. Enable students with no money to monetize their free time and undertake small, simple tasks for those willing to pay. From building an Ikea wardrobe to populating lines of data on a spreadsheet, UniTaskr is empowering the students of today. 

Not only does this innovative model enable students to keep the wolf from the door and earn some cash on the side but UniTaskr recently launched Shout the world's largest nano-influencer platform harnessing the breadth of it's student resource through social. 

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Beer But Better, it's true! Oliver Bruce sits down with Harvy Armstrong and Sam Holmes to discuss why Harv left his highflying job in the city and Sam decided to give up working with private jets with a clear vision to bring caffeine infused and low calorie lager to the UK. 

First time founders but with entrepreneurial backgrounds, Harvy and Sam who notably have appeared on reality TV show Made In Chelsea have, off their own backs, raised capital, built a brand and become listed in some of Londons most loved venues, but how?   

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From over 100 staff with Design My Night and an 8 figure exit to building what could be a unicorn Oliver speaks with Nick Telson now of Trumpet.app 

Exiting a business and starting again takes some doing, however, Nick and his 2 co-founders have been on a warpath of funding, development and scaling since late 2022 for their new vision and venture Trumpet, the sales app. 

Nick a serial investor himself talks to Oliver about what he looks for when investing his own money in others, what he suggest founders look for from their co-founders and how he managed to scale for sale his first business and why he's decided to go at it again, this time with a larger price tag at the end of the tunnel. 

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From living in America as a child and shovelling show to earn some extra pocket money Jesse had very little entrepreneurial heritage but that doesn't seem to have stopped him growing a brand that can now be found in pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK.

With Jesse's Dad being a Vicar and his mum a French teacher, how did Jesse build such a strong beer brand with such little knowledge.

Jesse graduated from University and ended up working for Mars, this however wasn't for him. An idea he baked up on his Uni ski trip for an 'Apres Beer' kept nibbling away at him, so much so, Jesse was developing the concept of Jubel Beer, the apres beer, alongside his job at Mars.

Once Jesse could see that his brand and flavour would take off, Jesse left his life in the corporate world and started to scale the brand and business.

With Jesse's background of Mars and PWC, albeit brief, Oliver asks him what the perfect investment deck looks like, and with a recent funding round in 2022 of £2.7million Jesse clearly knows what he's doing!

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Founder of GRIND Coffee David Abrahamovitch grew up watching his dad build multiple businesses as a child ultimately inspiring him to go it alone. It didn't however start with coffee! 

Having turned his Dad's business around and pivoted it into new sectors, David speaks to Oliver about how there's a seismic culture shift in today's world about what being an 'entrepreneur' actually is. 

David started his first 'proper' business at University at aged 22 whilst studying UCL. David and his co-founders found themselves pitching for seed capital around a boardroom table before even graduating, the business he was pitching for capital still trades today.

GRIND took on the giants of Costa Coffee and Starbucks and, in time, started to win. Having arranged external investment for GRIND it was still just a side hustle. David ended up jumping ship from his University founded business to go into GRIND full time.  

It was during the start of the 2019 pandemic that everything changed for David and the GRIND team. 

GRIND, a business that was turning over c£10m at the time, had no choice but to close it's high street coffee shops overnight, ultimately leading to David exploring new avenues for revenue. It was this world first, D2C compostable pod offering that doubled GRIND’s turnover in less than 12 months to over £20m. 

Still going strong, GRIND and David are looking to take on the US.