The Naked Founder

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The Naked Founder Podcast

  1. 1 day ago

    Tom Dunlop: Why founders should always be paranoid

    Tom Dunlop turned his back on an Olympic dream to launch LegalTech Summize and said a degree of paranoia is healthy in business. Earlier this year, Summize raised £40m in a Series B investment round and has just acquired the key assets and staff from Seattle consultancy InnoLaw Group. After swapping a successful badminton career for a legal one, he became an in-house lawyer at AppSense, where he met high-profile entrepreneur Charles Sharland. While working as a lawyer, Dunlop recognised how technology could speed up legal processes, so he launched Summize, and Sharland became an early investor. In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast, Tom discusses: Why paranoia can be good in business How he turned his back on an Olympic dream How he struggled when he lost at badminton Why he can never forget his children's names The lessons he took from elite sport into high-performance business Raising $50m The difference in mindset between the UK and the US The Naked Founder is a BusinessCloud podcast. It is sponsored by Financielle, the home of money for women, and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned.     Chapters 00:00 – Thinking Long-Term From Day One 02:45 – The Year or Two He Could Have Shaved Off Just by Planning Five Years Ahead 04:13 – Three Kids, Three Tattoos 04:29 – Europe's Number One Badminton Player  05:51 – Untouchable: The 15-Match Winning Run That Made Him "The Killer" 06:59 – Turning Down the Olympics for Law School: The Decision That Changed Everything 07:44 – Going From Invincible Junior to Getting Exposed by the Far East 09:13 – From Superstitious Socks to 1% Marginal Gains: What Sport Taught Him About Business 10:24 – ABCD: Codifying Culture So Every Employee Knows the Mission 11:55 – The Lesson in Being a Founder People Listen To 13:22 – Healthy Paranoia: Why You Should Never Feel Comfortable 13:55 – Office Tour 14:58 – The Elevator Pitch Booth (and the Original Pitch Line) 16:04 – One Team, One Board: Keeping Three Offices in Sync 17:00 – £1,000 a Month for the Best 1% Idea  17:37 – Meet the Nameless, Eyeless Office Giraffe 18:35 – The Gong, the Clocks & the Mural: Building Culture Through Physical Symbols 19:36 – Highlighting Contracts by Hand: How Summize Was Actually Born 21:45 – From Point Tool to Full Platform: What Summize Does Today 22:59 – Why San Diego Over LA or San Francisco: Choosing Offices on Culture, Not Just Cash 24:25 – 250 Pitches, Four Funding Rounds: What Investors Actually Back at Pre-Seed 27:06 – Hurt Money: Quitting His Job, Moving House & Having a Baby in the Same Month 29:08 – The Polish Badminton Players Who Had No Plan B — and Why That Stuck With Him 31:24 – Burn-and-Raise vs. Build It Right: The Philosophy Between Series A and B 33:52 – UK vs. US Founders: The Ceiling of Ambition Difference 35:42 – "Could You 10x?" — Why US and UK Investors Ask Completely Different Questions 37:00 – From Silicon Valley Podcasts to Trusting His Own Gut 39:24 – Letter to a Young Founder: Build Your Network, Raise Your Ceiling00:00 – Thinking Long-Term From Day One 02:45 – The Year or Two He Could Have Shaved Off Just by Planning Five Years Ahead 04:13 – Three Kids, Three Tattoos 04:29 – Europe's Number One Badminton Player  05:51 – Untouchable: The 15-Match Winning Run That Made Him "The Killer" 06:59 – Turning Down the Olympics for Law School: The Decision That Changed Everything 07:44 – Going From Invincible Junior to Getting Exposed by the Far East 09:13 – From Superstitious Socks to 1% Marginal Gains: What Sport Taught Him About Business 10:24 – ABCD: Codifying Culture So Every Employee Knows the Mission 11:55 – The Lesson in Being a Founder People Listen To 13:22 – Healthy Paranoia: Why You Should Never Feel Comfortable 13:55 – Office Tour 14:58 – The Elevator Pitch Booth (and the Original Pitch Line) 16:04 – One Team, One Board: Keeping Three Offices in Sync 17:00 – £1,000 a Month for the Best 1% Idea  17:37 – Meet the Nameless, Eyeless Office Giraffe 18:35 – The Gong, the Clocks & the Mural: Building Culture Through Physical Symbols 19:36 – Highlighting Contracts by Hand: How Summize Was Actually Born 21:45 – From Point Tool to Full Platform: What Summize Does Today 22:59 – Why San Diego Over LA or San Francisco: Choosing Offices on Culture, Not Just Cash 24:25 – 250 Pitches, Four Funding Rounds: What Investors Actually Back at Pre-Seed 27:06 – Hurt Money: Quitting His Job, Moving House & Having a Baby in the Same Month 29:08 – The Polish Badminton Players Who Had No Plan B — and Why That Stuck With Him 31:24 – Burn-and-Raise vs. Build It Right: The Philosophy Between Series A and B 33:52 – UK vs. US Founders: The Ceiling of Ambition Difference 35:42 – "Could You 10x?" — Why US and UK Investors Ask Completely Different Questions 37:00 – From Silicon Valley Podcasts to Trusting His Own Gut 39:24 – Letter to a Young Founder: Build Your Network, Raise Your Ceiling

    41 min

  2. 23 Jun

    Mark Stuart: Building a multi-million pound business with Dad

    Mark Stuart is on a mission to make Stuart Energy Europe’s leading power generation business. He founded Stuart Energy in 2017 alongside his father Fred and brother Lee, and the company has been named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list for three consecutive years. But following in the footsteps of a successful parent comes with its own pressures. “You see great footballers that have sons that go into football and you’re never as good as your father,” he said. “There’s a bit of stigma attached to that.” In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast, Mark discusses Launching Stuart Energy with his dad Fred and brother Lee and working alongside his sister Jane Why the company puts ‘family first, work second’ The importance of bootstrapping a business Growing up with a ‘work or want’ mentality Stuart Energy’s unusual three-stage recruitment process The Naked Founder is a BusinessCloud podcast. It is sponsored by Financielle, the home of money for women, and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned.

    45 min

  3. 15 Jun

    Episode 12: From Trauma to triumph: Sam White's founder journey

    From being raised by an alcoholic mother to fighting off a sex pest and coming out as gay at the age of 30, Sam White has faced more challenges than most. She is the award-winning CEO of female-focused motor insurance business Stella Insurance, which has offices in Manchester and Australia, and is the latest guest on The Naked Founder Podcast. No-nonsense White brings a new meaning to the phrase 'straight talking' and has appeared on BBC Morning Live, Wake Up To Money and Sky News. In this episode of The Naked Founder, White also discusses: • Living with an alcoholic mother • Launching her first business at the age of 24, only for it to go into administration • Dealing with crippling panic attacks • Kneeing a sex pest in the ‘balls’ • Turning Stella Insurance into a multi-million-pound business • Her dream of creating a fund for female founders This episode of The Naked Founder is a product of BusinessCloud. It is sponsored by Financielle, the home of money for women, and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned.   Chapters: 00:00 – What Nobody Told Her at 24 01:48 – Raised by No One: The Dysfunctional Childhood That Made Her Strong 03:28 – Why the Best Entrepreneurs Usually Have the Hardest Upbringings 04:22 – From Sister's Conservatory to Beverly Hills: The Rise and Fall of Action 365 06:27 – The Exit Plan Question She Used to Think Was Stupid 06:54 – Four or Five Panic Attacks a Day 09:49 – Coming Out at 30 11:44 – When She First Realised She Was Attracted to Women - and Why She Wasn't Shocked 13:33 – The CEO Who Asked "What Lights You Up?" - and Accidentally Started Stella 15:31 – How Big Is Stella Now?  16:52 – The Speaking Coach, the Keynotes & Getting Out of Her Own Way 19:10 – LinkedIn, Media Appearances & Why She Built Her Profile on Purpose 20:53 – "Your Friends Will Never Tell You the Truth" 23:31 – Size 24 to Six Stone Lighter: The Weight Loss Nobody Made Her Do 24:03 – Her Mum, Alcohol & the Nervous Relationship She Had With Drinking for Years 26:52 – Two Kids and a Clearer Head: Why She Finally Quit for Good in 2022 27:05 – The Investor Who Booked a Joining Hotel Room and Got Kneed in the Balls 29:26 – Misogyny in Business: Still There, Just Harder to Call Out 30:00 – The Hardest Part of Being a Founder: Feeling Like the Only Adult in the Room 31:32 – Exit in Two to Three Years, a Fund for Female Founders & a Bit More Balance 35:17 – Letter to Her Younger Self: Start With the End in Mind

    37 min

  4. 8 Jun

    Derry Green: I had no idea Dragons' Den would do this

    Derry Green knew his Dragons' Den appearance would transform the fortunes of his business, The Secret Garden Glamping, but even he underestimated its power. Green had become a social media sensation when he built a glamping pod for his kids in his back garden during Covid and turned it into a business. The success of The Secret Garden Glamping saved Green from financial ruin, but even he had no idea what would happen when he walked into TV's most famous Den in 2023. In this episode of The Naked Founder, Green also discusses: • The REAL reason he went on Dragons' Den • How appearing in the Den changed his life • Why The Secret Garden Glamping saved him from financial wipeout • How wanting to spend more time with his kids resulted in a multi-million-pound business • Overcoming his fear of public speaking • What he'd say on his deathbed This episode of The Naked Founder is a product of BusinessCloud. It is sponsored by Financielle, the home of money for women, and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned. Chapters: 00:00 – Welcome to The Secret Garden: Glamping on Location 01:04 – What He Wishes He'd Known Before Starting 01:59 – Building Dens in the Woods as a Kid 02:50 – When He Started Treating It Like a Business, He Stopped Enjoying It 04:23 – Before the Glamping: The Haulage Company 04:50 – Christmas Day, Sky News, Half a Million Gone: The Citilink Collapse 07:37 – Building the Den That Started Everything 08:44 – Lad Bible, 10 Million Views & 150 Airbnb Bookings Overnight 09:59 – Why He Went on Dragon's Den 10:49 – "I Want to Make Less Money" - The Pitch That Won Over Four Dragons 12:01 – One Site, Half a Million Turnover: The State of Play Before the Den 12:34 – What Deborah Meaden Actually Brought to the Business 13:25 – Five Sites, 47 Staff, Nearly £2M Turnover - and Six More in the Pipeline 14:26 – Why He Doesn't Think of It as a Glamping Business 14:48 – Competing With Everyone Making Content, Not Other Glamping Sites 16:09 – Never Spent a Penny on Advertising: UGC Methodology 18:10 – The Site Tour: Treehouse, Tiki Bar & Why Units Cost What They Do 19:50 – Inside the Retreat: Hot Tubs, Outdoor TVs & What Guests Actually Share 22:21 – Boot Fair Décor, Three-Quid Props & When to Actually Spend Money 23:45 – The Guest Who Couldn't Get In - and Became His Partner 24:59 – The Hardest Part: Letting Go of Control 26:17 – How AI Fits In (and Where It Doesn't) 27:15 – Why Mums on School Hours Make the Perfect Workforce 28:14 – Public Speaking Terrifies Him - So He Keeps Doing It 29:10 – Letter to His Younger Self: Chase Passion, Not Money 30:25 – The Netflix Series 31:18 – 47 Guests on Site, Haven't Seen One: Why He'll Never Overcrowd It 31:50 – Wrap-Up

    32 min

  5. 2 Jun

    Laura Earnshaw's mission to rethink mental health

    Vicar's daughter. Accidental entrepreneur. Published author. Founder. Award winner. Disruptor. There are plenty of ways to describe myHappymind CEO Laura Earnshaw. Another would be: in demand. Last year, 16 investors wanted to back myHappymind before Earnshaw eventually chose LDC.  She has also spoken out about the lack of women in the investment world and her mission to equip every child with the mental health skills they need to thrive. In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast, Earnshaw also discusses: • Why she walked away from a successful corporate career to launch myHappymind • Why founders should ignore advice from people who haven't done what they're trying to do • How she secured investment in just four months • Going from a kitchen table startup to a multi-million-pound business • Why assumptions about female founders still persist This episode of  The Naked Founder is a product of BusinessCloud. It is sponsored by Financielle - The Home of Money for Women - and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned. To sponsor the show, email news@businesscloud.co.uk. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction – Laura Earneshaw, founder of My Happy Mind (and Max, Head of Happiness) 0:30 What didn't they tell you about founding a business? 0:46 Working every weekend for 10 years and never switching off 1:12 The M25 moment: visiting a loved one in a mental health hospital and deciding to act 2:09 Career before My Happy Mind - Accenture, AstraZeneca, PwC, and meeting her husband in Swindon 3:53 Quitting a six-figure salary at 35 to fix a problem nobody was preventing 4:31 Prevention over cure: why all the money goes to fixing mental health, not stopping it 5:28 From kitchen table to Alderley Edge offices - the early days of winging it 6:16 Purpose before profit: led by passion, and the profit followed 7:36 'My Happy Mind' cards 8:33 The science behind the cards 9:38 From 2 pilot schools to over 2,000 10:05 Resilience and focus: never take advice from someone who hasn't done what you're trying to do 10:46 Was there ever a moment she wanted to quit? 11:05 Female founder, mother of two, no nanny - and bootstrapping by choice 12:22 How she'd describe herself 13:49 NHS endorsement  15:45 The My Happy Mind book published by Penguin - and why they came to her 17:00 Husband Tim joining as COO - rules, balance, and making it work 18:14 The King's Award - Windsor Castle, a scroll, and 100 schools celebrating together 19:52 Raising investment: 16 offers, exclusivity to LDC on 1st December, deal closed the 23rd 21:16 No one will ever drive her harder than she drives herself 21:21 How LDC have been as an investor - and why terms matter more than promises 22:45 Assumptions made about female founders - and how she squashed them quickly 24:21 The gender investment gap and the shortage of female investors in the room 25:51 Vision for My Happy Mind: every child, every school in the UK - and going global 26:50 Letter to a younger Laura 26:59 Wrap-up

    27 min

  6. 26 May

    Jen Atkinson: The self-belief gap holding female founders back

    Jen Atkinson is a legend in the travel industry and has grown her business, Travel Seen, to nearly £60m turnover. She told The Naked Founder podcast that female founders need more self-belief if they want to scale their business. “One of the reasons that women particularly struggle in the world of scaling a business is investment and that self-belief that they can ask for £10m and get £15m, as opposed to asking for £5m and getting £1m,” she said. “Women tend to struggle with asking in a way that men don’t.” Atkinson made her name at ITC Travel Group, where she grew turnover from £40m to £90m. 2020 marked Atkinson’s professional and personal ‘annus horribilis’, which saw her split from her husband and take a huge financial hit from Covid. In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast, she also discusses: • Going from marketing manager to CEO at ITC Travel • Having to make 40 redundancies to turn around ITC’s fortunes • Why so many female founders get divorced • Becoming a first-time founder at 48 • Why founders should always ask for more investment than they need • Dealing with imposter syndrome, ADHD and the menopause This episode is a product of BusinessCloud. It was sponsored by ‘Financielle – The Home of Money for Women’ and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned. To sponsor the show, email news@businesscloud.co.uk     Chapters 00:00 Introduction: Jen Atkinson & Travel Scene 00:36 What They Don't Tell You About Founding a Business 01:03 Would You Do It All Over Again? 01:33 Founding a Business vs. Running Someone Else's 01:56 Having a Dog Is Like Starting a Business 03:40 Are You Impulsive? The Entrepreneurial Trait 04:15 A Million Reasons Not to Launch — Why She Did It Anyway 05:07 The Idea: A Social-Led Community in Travel 06:42 The USP: Building Travel Scene on Instagram 08:43 From Zero to £20M Turnover: The Buy & Build Model 09:11 Growing Up in Leeds: Mum, Dad & Where It All Came From 10:18 The Mentor Who Changed Everything: Drew Foster at ITC 11:30 Women, Self-Belief & Asking for More Money 12:02 Starting at ITC as Marketing Manager, Becoming CEO 12:24 Making 40 People Redundant as a First-Time CEO 12:42 Making Tough Decisions: It's in Her DNA 13:26 Always Choosing the Hard Option 14:08 Living Without Regrets: Lessons from Dad 15:44 Growing ITC from £40M to £90M — Then COVID Hit 16:24 Losing Millions in COVID & a Marriage Falling Apart 17:51 Why So Many Successful Female Entrepreneurs Are Divorced 19:02 Hiding Under a Stone or Launching a Business? 19:46 Why She Was Unemployable & Had to Go Again 21:16 ADHD as a Superpower 22:48 Imposter Syndrome, the Menopause & Being Open About It 23:35 Are Female Founders More Emotionally Open Than Men? 24:55 Being a Role Model to Her Son and Daughter 26:12 How Do You Deal With Failure? 27:20 Failure Is Just a Signpost on the Way to Success 28:41 Targeting £100M in Two Years: Weight or Ambition? 30:16 Key Lessons for Founders: Funding, Your Why & Your Team 32:09 Pick People You'd Go Over the Top With 33:06 Letter to a Founder: Back Yourself Above All Else

    34 min

  7. 19 May

    Matthew Scullion: AI is coming for £100m companies

    Matthew Scullion is the founder of British unicorn Matillion and told The Naked Founder about the ‘crazy’ world of AI. His business joined an exclusive club of only 41 UK unicorns in 2021 when a $150m Series E funding round took its valuation beyond the magical $1bn mark. He estimates Matillion has invested ‘many, many tens of millions into Maia’, which is its AI data automation platform. Scullion predicted that AI could mean multi-million turnover companies could have only one or two members of staff, and that established hundred million pound companies could disappear because AI makes their business model irrelevant. In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast, he discusses: • Starting his first business aged 17 • Proving his GCSE French teacher wrong • Why AI will change businesses forever • Why achieving unicorn status was just ‘a moment in time’ • The relentless nature of being a founder • Why his wife is behind his success This episode is a product of BusinessCloud. It was sponsored by ‘Financielle – The Home of Money for Women’ and produced by Dan Brown of Renowned. To sponsor the show, email news@businesscloud.co.uk   Chapters: 0:00 Introduction – Matthew Scullion, co-founder of Matillion, Manchester's last unicorn 0:49 Opening question: what didn't they tell you about founding a business? 1:59 15 years of overnight success – and a career in software entrepreneurialism since age 17 2:41 What is Maia? The AI data automation platform that Matillion has reinvented itself around 6:14 Why AI agents need data and context – and how Maia provides it at machine scale 7:00 Will we say "Maia that" instead of "Google it"? 7:37 Mrs Scullion's physiotherapy website: built from scratch in two hours using AI tools 16:25 Multi-million pound companies with one staff member – and the macro impact of AI 21:24 Jack Dorsey halving Block's workforce and where AI disruption is really heading 22:25 The French GCSE story: E forecast, 24 hours of cramming, A grade 24:50 Founding his first software business at 17 – and how he thinks about risk 27:13 Pivoting vs staying relevant – and the corporate graveyard of companies that didn't 28:41 Inside the Matillion Manchester office: a 2026 Victorian factory for software 29:31 Giving up a six-figure salary in 2011 to launch Matillion with co-founder Ed Thompson 30:32 What you're really signing up for: all in, every ounce of energy, for as long as it takes 34:13 The real risk isn't failure – it's living to regret not doing it at all 35:29 What drives him: building something beautiful that makes a dent in the universe 37:09 Nine digits of recurring revenue and 400-500 staff – how Matillion got here 37:40 The three acts of Matillion: managed services, then ISV software, now Maia 40:42 Fewer unicorn CEOs than people who've been to space – and what the moment really felt like 44:36 Do UK founders sell too early? The cultural and structural reasons Britain doesn't build big 48:34 "There are two types of problems in business – people problems, and people problems you haven't spotted yet" 52:14 Letter to a founder: make sure you really want this, then start – and don't stop 55:19 Roger Federer only wins 54% of points – and what that means for building a business 56:22 Wrap-up

    57 min

  8. 11 May

    Russell Teale: The 'heart attack' that was actually a panic attack

    Russell Teale was juggling the pressures of business and family life when he thought he was having a heart attack. Tests later revealed he was having a panic attack but the near-miss changed his life and his outlook. He’s the founder and CEO of Vivify, which today employs 500 people and is set to grow turnover from £8m to £12m this year. At the same time, the startup has given more than £10m back to schools and raised £2m in investment. In this episode of The Naked Founder podcast he discusses: • Living with panic attacks • Having former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy as an investor • Coping with the death of his mum while building Vivify • Giving £10m back to schools • Why your network is your net worth   Chapters: 0:00 Introduction – Russell Teale, founder & CEO of Vivify 0:43 Opening question: what didn't they tell you about founding a business? 1:42 The highest of highs and lowest of lows – what founding really feels like 2:04 Fitter: the Uber-style fitness app, hockey stick projections, and the brutal reality of traction 3:54 Money running out, wife pregnant, and a terrifying thud in the chest 4:22 Panic attacks in his early thirties – and learning they never fully go away 5:33 How panic attacks manifest and how he manages them now 6:02 School Letting Solutions: landing on his feet, then made redundant when it went into liquidation 6:46 What he learned from failure and why there's no point looking backwards 7:39 Founding Vivify in 2020 – the problem: 27,000 schools full of empty facilities 9:48 Where the name Vivify came from – meaning "to breathe life into" 10:12 Mum Janice: single parent, two jobs, rehoming stray cats, and a lesson in resilience 11:58 Janice dies of blood cancer on New Year's Day 2022, aged just 56 12:25 How do you manage personal trauma, COVID, a startup, and a young family? You just get on with it 13:04 Co-founders leaving, bootstrapping, and raising £1m from Arete in 2022 13:44 Choosing the right investor and the full-circle moment of pitching to the former Tesco CEO 15:26 Founder vs CEO – two very different skill sets 16:47 Total Fitness, rising through the ranks, and how far Vivify has still to go 17:43 The global opportunity: 27,000 schools in the UK, and the same problem everywhere 18:30 Do's and don'ts for scaling: never lose sight of cash 19:16 The importance of a commercially-minded CFO 20:02 Hiring for passion and pride over skill set – and why attitude always wins 21:19 Building a network from scratch and the power of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme 22:53 Founders he admires and why ego-led founders put him off 24:21 Letter to a younger Russell: go easy on yourself 24:56 Wrap-up

    25 min
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