Secret Leaders

Micha Kaufman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fiverr, the global online marketplace for freelancers. Let’s say you’re a designer. You can list your services and display your portfolio. And then companies who want stuff designed like a new website can find you and hire you to do the work. It's called Fiverr because at the beginning all the tasks cost 5 dollars. Though the pricing has changed, the name has stayed and the platform is currently used by 4.2 million customers in 160 countries worldwide. The company launched in 2010 but Micha was committed to growing it organically so spent nothing on marketing for the first five or six years.  And that is even more incredible when you think that Fiverr, which went public in 2019, has a current market cap of just under 1.4 billion dollars and revenue of over 160 million dollars this year so far. Micha says it’s three times larger than it was when it floated. But during the pandemic, they skyrocketed to a market cap of 11 billion dollars….yeah, we get into that period!

Would you go into business with a friend?  Jo Fisher is the Founder and CEO of Footlights, a performing arts company, which has 17 franchises and works with schools across the north of England.  She got into business at a ridiculously young age. As a young child she used to sit in the entrance to her house and sell items her neighbours no longer wanted to make money for sweets. She left school at 14 to work full-time and launched her first business, an underwear business, when she was just 18. When it started to grow she decided to bring in her best friend as a partner…and that’s when things started to go wrong.  What happened? Listen to find out.  If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com  Sponsor links: quickbooks.co.uk/secretleaders

Daniella Pierson is the CEO and Founder of the Newsette, a women-focused newsletter which she started when she was at university at just 19 years old. Now 27, she was recently named by Forbes as one of the wealthiest women of colour in the United States.  The newsletter now has more than 500,000 subscribers, whilst revenue grew from $1million in 2019 to $40 million in 2021. Within the company she also started a creative agency, Newland, which works with Fortune 500 brands. According to Inc., the Newsette is the16th most successful company in America, based on its growth over the last three years of over 16,000%.  Last year, Daniella, who has ADHD, OCD, and depression, co-founded mental health company Wondermind with Selena Gomez and Selena’s mother Mandy Teefey. It was recently valued at 100 million dollars.  But Daniella did not grow up believing she could make it as an entrepreneur. She used all the ways people brought her down to fuel her desire to make her business a success but says there were many times

For this episode of ‘How I Failed’ we follow the story of Aidan Mehigan’s fight to save his business, as it happened. We first spoke to Aidan earlier this year when he was in the middle of a fundraise and court battle to keep control of his whisky business. When growing his company in 2018, Natterjack Whisky, Aidan had taken out a convertible loan note to fund his business. Then Covid hit, by the end of 2021, cash was low, their sales were almost non-existent on the international market and the Irish market just wasn’t big enough to support them.  The convertible loan note holder wanted their money, and Aidan couldn’t pay it back… What happened? Listen to find out.  If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com  Sponsor links: quickbooks.co.uk/secretleaders

THIS is currently the fastest-growing meat alternative brand in the UK. After launching in 2019, it was recently valued at £150 million. But Co-Founders Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman didn’t always want to help people eat less meat. In fact, before THIS they ran a successful beef burger company.  Andy knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur from a young age and sold his first business at 21. But far from feeling proud of himself, he really struggled. He hardly left his room for three weeks. Surrounded by friends in stable jobs, he felt lonely, scared that he didn’t know what to do next. A chance visit to a new restaurant startup gave him the direction he needed, he would go into the “rock and roll” world of food. THIS definitely pushes the boundaries. Their early traction, says Andy, came from their PR stunts. In 2021, they did a takeover of the town of Quorn, rumoured to be where the meat-free brand, their main competitor, got its name from. THIS sponsored the football team, the pubs, the bingo hall…even the bran

James Vincent has helped develop brands for some of the biggest companies in the world. For 11 years he met Steve Jobs every week to come up with some of the iconic campaigns for Apple’s products. And then to launch the very first iPhone, James started Media Arts Lab, Apple’s exclusive brand agency, along with Lee Clow and other co-founders, which he ran for over eight years. For someone who had a big part to play in constructing Apple’s narrative, James Vincent is a relatively unknown figure. Maybe because he hasn't ever really put himself in the spotlight. He can be pretty self-deprecating about his career but he’s helped some absolute icons. As well as Steve Jobs, he’s worked with Brian Chesky at AirBnB and in his most recent company FNDR he’s working with the next generation of unicorns. Clients have included Evan Spiegal at Snapchap and José Neves at Farfetch.  Find out how a young boy from Sheffield ended up in the inner circle of some of the world's most iconic brands.  -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better

How much of your success is down to luck?  Marc-Alexander Christ is the Co-Founder of SumUp, which was recently valued at €8b. He says being in the right place at the right time was a big factor in him starting the company.  SumUp is a fintech best known for supplying card readers to small businesses so they can take payments. You may have seen them, and have probably used them because they work with over four million merchants worldwide.  It hasn’t always gone their way though. As well as some early mistakes that could have proved fatal, they were initially hit hard by the pandemic, which saw their revenue drop around 80% almost overnight. Find out how they managed to adapt and how Marc says you can make the most of the luck you get dealt in life.  -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code

Greg Jackson started Octopus Energy, a green energy supplier, in 2015. Since then it has enjoyed huge growth. It is now the fourth largest energy retailer in the UK, supplying over 3 million homes in the country, as well as homes in Germany, the USA, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and New Zealand. They were valued at nearly 5 billion dollars at the end of 2021.  Greg is clearly passionate about climate change and says he went into business to drive change. Octopus Energy is a fascinating business, not only because of its growth in a highly competitive industry but also because Greg has rejected traditional business structures. Despite having three and a half thousand staff, Octopus Energy has no HR department.  Listen to find out why he wanted to create a completely new organisational structure; how that system coped when an unprecedented event like the pandemic happened; and what is it like being the CEO of an energy supplier during an energy crisis.  -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.c

Going viral is something many businesses would kill for but having to scale up your business to meet rocketing demand is not easy.  Little Moons makes mochi ice cream, a type of Japanese rice cake with an ice cream filling. Vivien Wong co-founded the business with her brother in 2010 after spending two years developing the product with her father in her parents' bakery. Over the next decade the company grew steadily and surely, until the company went viral on TikTok during the pandemic and sales suddenly rocketed. However, after being hit by supply chain woes and Brexit, they had hardly any stock left to meet the demand.  Listen to find out how they got through it and grew their revenue from 7 to 27 million in just two years.  -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https:/

Last year Chris sold a creative marketing agency he’d founded called Verb and he’s now the Co-Founder of Lottie, which just raised £6 million on a £45 million valuation. But before these successes, he experienced failure with his website the Real Uni Guide, which aimed to match students with the right universities for them. Along with his co-founder brother, he spent over a year building the website but when they launched, hardly anyone visited.  Find out what happened and what Chris learnt from this failure that defined his career.  If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com  Sponsor links: yotpo.com/secret

What makes you want to exercise? Would you do it more if you were paid to do it? Oleg Fomenko thinks we aren’t naturally disposed to want to exercise, that we have evolved to preserve our store of calories rather than spend them. So, he built Sweatcoin, along with his Co-Founder Anton Derlyatka, an app that will literally pay you for taking steps outside. Specifically it will pay you a certain amount of ‘sweatcoin’ for every thousand steps you take. This digital currency can then be switched for products, as well as their new cryptocurrency, SWEAT. Oleg came up with Sweatcoin in 2015 when he was struggling to find the motivation to exercise after his startup, a music streaming service called Bloom.fm, suddenly went under. Recovering from the end of that company also led him to a key realisation that he says is important for every entrepreneur to know. And it must work, because Sweatcoin is growing fast. It currently has over 100 millions users, and has no signs of slowing down.  Listen to find out: how the cu

Benjamin Chemla has been an entrepreneur for over a decade. He co-founded the massive on-demand delivery service Stuart in 2015 and currently he is the Co-Founder and CEO of Shares, a just-launched app which makes investing a social experience.  But between his successes, there was a high profile failure. Benjamin founded a group of gyms in New York City called Fithouse in 2017. Everything started great, classes running on everything from yoga to boxing. Investors had put up $10 million and he was turning a profit. But then came the pandemic… Find out what happened next and why Benjamin decided it was better to walk away than stay and fight.  If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it. What would make the show better? hello@secretleaders.com  Sponsor links: yotpo.com/secret

What were you doing at 17? When he was that age, Timothy Armoo had already sold his first startup. Now 27, he has just sold his second startup, Fanbytes, a social media and influencer marketing agency, to digital advertising company, Brainlabs, for eight figures. Timothy, or Timo as he is known, grew up on a council estate in Hackney and it was the realisation that he was poor when he was a teenager that motivated him to become an entrepreneur. He started Fanbytes with his co-founders in 2017 and the company, which connects social media influencers to big brands, has gone on to employ 65 people.  Part of the work Fanbytes does, finding up-and-coming influencers, is done by its algorithm, built by Co-Founder Ambrose Cooke - meaning that Fanbytes can sign potential talent before anyone else.  We talked about: What happened after he lost almost half the money he got selling his first business in just three months What a lead gangster told him that helped him as an entrepreneur How the death of his father in h

Finding investment is a necessity for many entrepreneurs, but things don’t always work out the way they're supposed to.  Matt Jones started his business Rubix Advertising in 2009, with the help of an investor. It started well and the business, a full service media advertising company, grew quickly. But only two years later, Matt had to close his business down. What happened? And how did he turn that failure into a seven figure success story?  Listen to find out. If you have any feedback, we want to hear it. What would make the show better? Email us at hello@secretleaders.com  Sponsor links: yotpo.com/secret

Dom Smales is the exited Founder of Gleam Futures, which was one of the first social media talent agencies in the world - and the first in the UK.  When Gleam was founded back in 2010, influencers weren’t even a thing, but Dom saw the potential power bloggers could have. He went on to play a big part in the rise of the first Youtube stars, like Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella; Tanya Burr; and the Pixiwoo sisters, Sam and Nicola Chapman.  Dom exited in 2020 but it wasn't what he thought it would be. We talk about: What it was like being the agent for the UK’s biggest social media stars His tips on how to manage a successful exit, Dom left the company in 2021 Why selling your company might not be all you hope for What he really thinks of the influencer industry today -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free ben

Today, Amelia Sordell runs a booming personal branding agency called Klowt, but back in 2015, aged 21, she had just founded Eitherside, a fashion brand for women who wanted to dress up for a night out - but without the luxury price tag.  Only eight months after starting the company, Amelia was faced with taking out a loan she would have to personally guarantee, or shutting it down. She chose the latter.  Listen to find out what went wrong, and how she finally overcame that failure after nearly ten years.   ... We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com  Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - to grow your ecommerce business: yotpo.com/secret

You wouldn’t sign up for a terrible experience but they’re a breeding ground for the best stories, and the most personal growth. It’s no different for today’s guest and the usual host of Secret Leaders, Dan Murray-Serter, who opens up about his biggest traumas… which became the biggest turning points in his life. This is the third chapter in our semi-regular series with Dan. If you haven’t listened to the first or second it’s worth doing that now because you’ll understand the periods he’s talking about in this episode.  Dan today has become pretty synonymous with the mental health space. His VC backed startup Heights is trying to create a new category of braincare - but he wasn’t always like this. In fact, he didn’t even think he had mental health issues despite having had a shopping list of problems over the years. When the penny dropped for Dan, it dropped hard. Find out what Dan went through - and what he learnt about how to spend your time on this earth. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://

Touraj Parang today has multiple exits under his belt, has sat on both sides of the deal table - and has written a book literally called "Exit Path: How to Win the Startup End Game". But the reason he’s become such an authority on exits is what we’re discussing today - his failed startup Jaxtr. Jaxtr was a way to make phone calls over the internet in the period 2005 - 2009, before stuff like Whatsapp calling was really a thing. They’d done really well according to some metrics - they had 10 million users but then their world collapsed. Find out what happened and what Touraj learnt from it. ... We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com  Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - to grow your ecommerce business: yotpo.com/secret

Louise Hill is the Co-Founder and COO of GoHenry, a debit card and financial education app for children which has two million users. The starting point for Louise was noticing her kids buying stuff on iTunes without her permission. She then found out other children were spending money on all sorts of things without them or their parents realising it. So, after chatting with two dads whose kids went to the same school, they decided to do something about it.  This is the story of how Louise turned GoHenry into a category creator - and they’re now taking on the US. We talk about: The difference between an entrepreneur and not The problem with children and money The origin story of GoHenry What she learnt from her first startup failure  How she met her two co-founders The last woman standing Handling pressure -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your

Emma Gunavardhana, or Emma Guns as she’s often known started her career with a bang. She landed her dream job early doors - editing OK Magazine back when that was a really big deal. But when she left the comfort of that job to make it as a solopreneur, everything went to pot.  Wind forward four years and Emma was at her lowest ebb, considering selling her car and moving back in with her parents at the age of 38 - a has-been who couldn’t make it in London. Find out what happened and what she learnt is the key to pulling yourself out of the abyss. ... We'd love your feedback: hello@secretleaders.com  Check out Yotpo, our exclusive sponsor - to grow your ecommerce business: yotpo.com/secret