What Does It Take To Win?

What drives us to endure pain, to wake up before dawn, or to keep working toward our goals when progress feels painstakingly slow?

In this conversation with Alistair Brownlee and Ben Marrel, we explore the heartbeat of high performance - motivation. We'll explore how ingrained habits of hard work and embracing discomfort are not just the bedrock of athletic achievement but also entrepreneurial success.

BIOS

Ben's experience as a founder and his passion for entrepreneurship led him to co-found Breega, a pan-European founder-led VC backing tech startups from PreSeed to Series B stage.

Ben has built Breega to provide founders with the help he wished he had when he launched his own ventures. He debuted his entrepreneurial journey by launching Rugby Division, a disruptive rugbywear brand, and FiftyFor, the first financial rating platform for SMEs in Africa.

Ben began his career in M&A, working on large cross-border deals and Series D+ in Tech for Macquarie Bank in London and Sydney.

Ben is also a referenced thought leader and invited speaker on venture capital, digital transformation, emerging market investment, climate tech, the future of fintech...

Today, Ben sits at the Board and advises major tech scaleups such as Moneybox, 011h, Cuvva, GoJob to propel them to global success.

Alistair Brownlee MBE is a triathlete. He has achieved great success in his career and is the only male athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals in the individual triathlon event. He won the gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Alistair was introduced to triathlon at a young age by his uncle Simon Hearnshaw, who regularly competed in the sport. As a junior, he was a successful fell and cross country runner, coming second in the Junior English Cross Country Championships and winning the Yorkshire County title on several occasions.

The leap from a secure job to the rollercoaster world of startups might seem daunting, but it was a challenge worth taking for Sandrine and Monika. With a shared spirit of resilience, they recount the personal hurdles that sparked their entrepreneurial flames.

Sandrine unveils her transformation from finance to founder of a vintage furniture marketplace, while Monika discusses her pivot from advertising to creating an app that revolutionises mental health access. 

Navigating the startup ecosystem requires a blend of intuition and expertise. Sandrine and Monika reveal that trusting your gut isn't just about internal hunches; it's about weighing those instincts against the advice of seasoned investors and advisors.

Embrace the uncomfortable as we explore why conflict can catalyse innovation and the mindset shifts founders face as their companies scale.

BIOS

Monika is the Founder of OMA Mind, a platform for instant access to mental health support focused on the startup ecosystem. Before Oma, Monika led global brand teams at BlaBlaCar, OYO and Ankorstore, living between London, Paris and India. Back in Poland she worked with Saatchi & Saatchi and Isobar in the early days of social media.

Sandrine founded Vinterior in 2016, coding the marketplace's first version herself. Seedcamp funding in 2016 supported growth, and sales of £1m were achieved in 2017 with 500 sellers. Fast forward to 2021 and a series A funding round of £8 million was secured to further invest in the platform and make Vinterior the UK's market leader. In 2023 the platform was opened up to non-professional sellers and now has 400K listings from over 5,000 sellers, consolidating its position as largest supplier of pre-owned premium furniture and homeware in Europe. Prior to founding Vinterior, Sandrine worked in financial services - latterly 3 years in the investment team of fa family office. In her earlier career she worked in structured products at TFS and audit at Ernst & Young. Sandrine holds a masters degree in Finance from the ESSEC Business School.

What Does It Take To Win is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

We sit down with Kelly Grier and William McNabb to discover how to blend personal ambition with team success. They share how competitive spirit and team synergy can propel organisations forward.

This episode is a masterclass in cultivating a robust team culture. We explore the strategies that turn individual stars into team players who champion the collective objective. We discuss the terrain of leadership development, from hands-on contributions to the finesse of mentoring up-and-coming talent.

BIOS

Kelly J. Grier, 53, retired US Chair and Managing Partner (CEO) of Ernst & Young LLP (EY), a global professional services firm, in July 2022, having served in this capacity since 2018. Ms. Grier is a Certified Public Accountant and has over 30 years of service at EY serving in various roles with increasing levels of responsibility. During her career at EY, Ms. Grier gained significant broad-based experience working with the boards of many of the largest companies worldwide. She has served as a director of ITW since September 2022, CDW since August 2023, Booking Holdings since 2024 and serves as a director of many not-for-profit organizations.

F. William McNabb III is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Vanguard. He joined Vanguard in 1986. In 2008, he became chief executive officer; in 2010, he became chairman of the board of directors and the board of trustees. He stepped down as chief executive officer at the end of 2017 and as chairman at the end of 2018. Earlier in his career, he led each of Vanguard’s client-facing business divisions.

Mr. McNabb is active in the investment management industry and served as the chairman of the Investment Company Institute’s board of governors from 2013 to 2016. A board member of UnitedHealth Group, IBM, Axiom, Vanilla, and Altruist, he is also vice chair of the board of Nexii. He also serves as a senior advisor to Permira and Venrock.

Mr. McNabb is active in the nonprofit world. He is a board member and co-chair of CECP: The CEO Force for Good, former co-chair of the NACD Future of the American Boardroom Commission, a board member of Elevate 215 and the Philadelphia Zoo, and chair of the US Rowing Foundation.

In addition, Mr. McNabb is the executive in residence at the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute at the LeBow College of Business, a member of the Advisory Board of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School, and a senior fellow of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management.

Mr. McNabb earned an A.B. at Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

What Does It Take To Win is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Patrick Harding and George Hadjigeorgiou, our esteemed guests and leading figures in their respective domains, share narratives that decode the essence of high performance. They contend that it's about surpassing self-imposed milestones and the silent benchmarks instilled in our early years. With riveting anecdotes, they elucidate how consistency in action and behaviour is paramount, regardless of the situation at hand.

This episode explores the art of bouncing back from failures and the importance of detaching one's sense of self from performance outcomes. Together, we examine the strategies akin to those used in elite sports coaching that can be seamlessly integrated into career development. We showcase how individuals can steer their professional journey toward sustained success by championing personal values. Patrick and George vividly illustrate this approach with stories from the front lines of athletic and entrepreneurial endeavours.

About Patrick Harding

Patrick Harding is a Performance Coach with 14 years’ experience in Elite Sport. He is a Chartered Physiotherapist, Strength & Conditioning Coach as well as a Mental Performance Coach and utilises this skillset in creating the optimal environment for athletes to reach their personal and professional potential His experience spans multiple Olympic Games, Premier League Football, Professional Boxing and the PGA Tour to name a few. More recently he’s been using the same methods to support CEO’s, CFO’s and corporate sector workers through their own journeys of growth and self discovery.

About George Hadjigeorgiou

George Hadjigeorgiou co-founded ZOE to help millions gain an extra decade of healthy years by offering personalized health insights and advice so that people can be proactive about their health decades before diseases arise.

He was previously CEO of HouseTrip (acquired by TripAdvisor) and co-founder of efood (acquired by Delivery Hero), one of the leading food delivery platforms in Europe. George studied Mechanical Engineering at Tufts & MIT.

What Does It Take To Win is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

How do you tackle fear and find resilience and purpose in your career? In this episode, we explore these topics with Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go, and Craig Morris, an Olympic and high-performance coach.

We look at balancing purpose and performance in business. With the unique perspectives of Jamie and Craig, we explore the challenges of meeting the expectations of stakeholders and coaches and discuss the crucial need to move away from a system solely focused on rewards and recognition. 

Jamie and Craig also share their views on creating an environment for others to flourish. This is not just about understanding the people and environment around us; it's about building a narrative-driven culture and focusing on individual values.

What Does It Take To Win is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

In this episode we talk to Chris Pitt, CEO of First Direct and Chris Spice, Performance Director of British Swimming. This conversation highlights the importance of resilience, being comfortable with managing uncertainty and how to develop talent under pressure.

In this episode we are joined by Danny Kerry, Head Coach for Team GB Men's Hockey Team, and Julie Deane, CEO of Cambridge Satchel Company.

We talk to them about the importance of self awareness in leadership which recognises when you don’t always get it right and being able to use setbacks and feedback to redefine your identity and create momentum. The honesty of these two guests and the experiences they share highlight how courage to face into the truth can unlock your real potential.

In this episode we are joined by Etienne Stott, London 2012 Canoe Slalom Olympic Gold medalist & Damian Soong, CEO and Co-Founder of Plant based nutrition brand, Form. We explore the power of aligning your heart and mind to create your purpose and how this allows you to forge your own path.

We also talk about how remodelling this creates followership and opportunities to empower others around a desired future state.

In this episode we speak with Martin Gilbert, Co-founder & retired CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, listed on Harvard Business School's world’s top performing CEOs, Martin is now Chairman of Revolut Limited and Toscafund.

We talk about how even good individual players play better in a team, the importance of using every day to achieve something, and the need to stop applauding failure and celebrate successes.

In this episode with Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer at Starling Bank and Serena Guthrie, English Netball Captain, we talk about how striving to be the best version of yourself, driven by passion and curiosity, can be an incredibly powerful source of confidence and motivation.

We also discuss how understanding your strengths can enable you to develop your leadership skills and make space for those around you to develop theirs.