Podcasts by Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter
This is the entrepreneurial education I wish I’d had. A few years ago, I thought I'd made it as a Founder. My app was topping the charts, I was winning awards, having drinks with the Queen at Buckingham Palace (she laughed at one of my gags, sure), but as my business started to fail, I realised I had so much more to learn. The trouble was I found most business chat too stuffy, surface level or braggy so I started Secret Leaders to get behind the mask of entrepreneurship. I speak with the best Founders and business experts to learn how great companies are built - especially the things that normally get left out, like their mistakes. We cover the most important stuff, from fundraising to hiring, habits to mindset, so you can learn how to build a successful business. And no, you don’t need to get into an ice bath at 5am either...
https://www.instagram.com/danmurrayserter
Further podcasts by Dan Murray-Serter, Rich Martell
Podcast on the topic Karriere
All episodes
An Uncommon Criminal - Bad Money X Secret Leaders from 2022-11-14T07:00
This a new one for us - we've just launched our first true crime show at Kindling Media (we make Secret Leaders). It's called Bad Money and it's about the Hong Kong gangster, Big Spender. Obsessed ...
ListenMedMen: what went wrong at the cannabis industry’s first unicorn, with Founder and former CEO Adam Bierman from 2022-03-01T08:11
Look, we’re going to tell you straight - this is a blinding episode - and that’s because we’re talking to a man who is unflinchingly honest about his Founder experience. On the outside it looked li...
ListenDesignMyNight Co-Founder Nick Telson on gay shame and taking the business to exit… exactly as they planned from 2022-02-08T02:00
What’s particularly shocking about Nick Telson’s success with DesignMyNight is how deliberate it all seemed. They set themselves a target each year, achieved it and moved onto the next one until th...
ListenHow to go from a side hustle to a multi-billion market leader, with Houzz CEO&Co-Founder Adi Tatarko from 2022-02-01T07:00
It’s the stuff entrepreneurs dream of. Houzz, a marketplace for home renovations, evolved from an evenings and weekends passion project into a multi-billion dollar company with investors queuing up...
ListenWhen your mental health forces you to leave the company you’ve just started - with Faire Co-Founder&COO Jeffrey Kolovson from 2022-01-25T07:00
Life is the sum of your choices, says Jeffrey Kolovson, COO and Co-Founder of Faire, an online wholesale marketplace for retailers and brands. At the end of the day, it’s not what you say, it's wha...
Listen“He threatened to kill my parents and I had to get a restraining order” - the real Dan Murray-Serter, Chapter 1 from 2022-01-18T07:00
Cocaine, £1,000 on roulette, sleeping with the client, a boss demanding bail out of a Malaysian prison, a restraining order - and that’s just one of the stories in this special episode where we tur...
ListenCurve: Building an $800m FinTech after being laughed out of the room by Mastercard, with CEO&Founder, Shachar Bialick from 2022-01-04T07:00
Curve CEO and founder Shachar Bialick is a multi-exit entrepreneur with a background in the Israeli Defense Force special forces. “There's a joke in Israel: how do you win a competition in racing? ...
ListenNetSuite: How Evan Goldberg scaled one of the world’s first cloud companies to a $9.3 billion exit from 2021-12-21T07:00
How did NetSuite grow from its humble beginnings above a hairdressers in 1998 to almost 20,000 employees 23 years later, and selling to Oracle for $9.3 billion dollars? Today we’re speaking to Eva...
ListenWelcome to the death industry, with Farewill’s Co-Founder and CEO, Dan Garrett from 2021-12-14T07:00
The only certainty in life is death (and taxes!) And yet the industry of death had remained largely unmodernised by the time Farewill was co-founded by Dan Garrett in 2015.“Out of 100, losing a spo...
ListenI went to sleep one day... and woke up gasping for air - Morning Brew Co-Founder Alex Lieberman from 2021-12-07T07:00
Being a Founder takes its toll on you - even if it looks like everything is rosy from the outside. Today we’re learning from Alex Lieberman, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, which...
ListenVivino - how to disrupt a $400 billion industry that no one had really cracked, with Co-Founder Heini Zachariassen from 2021-11-30T07:00
How many times have you stood in front of a wall of wine in a supermarket and taken a punt on one because the bottle looked nicer than the others? We’ve all done it… and often been disappointed by ...
ListenThey had two weeks of runway left and are now worth $1.5b - Loom Co-Founder and CTO Vinay Hiremath from 2021-11-23T07:00
Growing a company to 14 million users and a valuation of $1.5 billion should be cause for celebration, but, like so many founders, for Vinay Hiremath, Co-Founder and CTO of Loom, it’s difficult to ...
ListenWhen you think Google might sue you but instead they hire you as a 17 YO - Larry Gadea, CEO&Founder of Envoy from 2021-11-16T07:00
Larry Gadea built the world's biggest Pikachu pictures website at 12 years old, was recruited by Google at 17, joined Twitter after college and then left to found Envoy in 2013. He did all this af...
ListenYou don't start your company to end up in court, with Michelle You, Co-Founder and CEO of Supercritical and former Co-Founder of Songkick from 2021-11-09T07:00
After exiting Songkick, Michelle You was burnt out. It felt like failure and grief (her words). She spent a year backpacking around the world, living on $2 per day, trying to figure out what it too...
ListenWhy do we clean our bottoms with toilet paper? With serial entrepreneur and Founder of Tushy Miki Agrawal from 2021-11-02T07:00
Miki Agrawal was forced to become an entrepreneur having started her career, in her own words, as an awful employee: “I got fired from pretty much all of my jobs growing up, because I just wasn't ...
ListenKraken - from growing up poor to founding Europe’s largest crypto exchange, with Co-Founder&CEO Jesse Powell from 2021-10-26T06:00
Jesse Powell grew up poor and hustling from a young age. First, he sold physical gaming cards, then he sold virtual ‘gold’ in the game World of Warcraft - and now he’s the Co-Founder and CEO of Kra...
ListenKilling Kittens - the world famous sex party turning into a tech business, with Founder&CEO Emma Sayle from 2021-10-19T06:00
“Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten, and I went ‘right, that's it, that's what I'm calling my business.’” This is the story of Killing Kittens, the cult-like sex party, founded by Emma S...
ListenWhen and why to pivot your life, with doctor-turned-YouTuber Ali Abdaal from 2021-10-05T06:00
How do you live a happier, healthier, more productive life? This is the question that doctor-turned-YouTuber Ali Abdaal is obsessed with. “Most of my childhood was spent chasing this dream of makin...
ListenThe startup that all other startups will want to succeed - MicroAcquire, with Founder&CEO Andrew Gazdecki from 2021-09-28T06:00
“It’s really hard for companies to get acquired. I was shocked at how many entrepreneurs reached out to me after we announced the acquisition [of Bizness Apps], like ‘how did you get acquired?’” Wi...
ListenLora DiCarlo - the sex tech startup that made Cara Delevingne orgasm three times in six minutes and got banned for being ‘obscene’ at CES 2019 from 2021-09-21T06:00
“When I was about 28 or 29 I had a squirting orgasm, I completely lost my mind. I couldn't tell if I was having a religious moment or a seizure, or maybe both or neither. As I lay there on the cold...
ListenSaved from the Nazis, she started a unicorn software company in the 1960s staffed with only women and just £6 - Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley from 2021-09-14T06:00
Dame Stephanie Shirley, known as ‘Steve’ for reasons explained in the podcast, escaped Nazi persecution before founding a software startup in 1962 with just £6 which provided employment to hundreds...
ListenHow exponential technologies will change the world - with founder, journalist and author, Azeem Azhar from 2021-09-07T06:00
“??Technology does not appear from nowhere, it is closely allied to the shape of society. And if you have exponentially changing technologies, they will force changes on society, or create a gap.” ...
ListenEthereum fallout - how the second biggest cryptocurrency in the world nearly didn’t happen, with Anthony Di Iorio, Co-Founder of Ethereum and Decentral from 2021-08-31T06:00
How many of us are kicking ourselves for not investing $100 in Bitcoin in 2010 - it would be worth almost $48 million today. Anthony Di Iorio, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, the massive open-s...
ListenThe other way to build a massive tech company - doing it slowly, with Airtable Co-Founder and CEO Howie Liu from 2021-08-23T23:01
Most investors didn’t understand the concept. Most non-technical entrepreneurs at the time didn’t get it either. But Howie Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of multi-billion dollar tech juggernaut Airtable, ...
ListenHow to build a business at 16, recover from a $1b dollar deal collapsing, and walk on hot coals, with multi-exit entrepreneur Norman Crowley from 2021-08-16T23:05
What would you do if you sold your business and effectively retired at the ripe, old age of 28? Phenomenally successful serial entrepreneur Norman Crowley took just three weeks before jumping back ...
ListenOvercoming crippling anxiety and how to get work/life balance right, with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder and CEO of Front from 2021-08-10T14:05
Mathilde Collin is the co-founder and CEO of Front, a communications platform that has developed a cult following - despite having to stop working at one point because her anxiety had become so deb...
ListenOvercoming crippling anxiety and how to get work/life balance right, with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder and CEO of Front from 2021-08-10T14:05
Mathilde Collin is the co-founder and CEO of Front, a communications platform that has developed a cult following - despite having to stop working at one point because her anxiety had become so deb...
ListenOvercoming crippling anxiety and how to get work/life balance right, with Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder and CEO of Front from 2021-08-10T14:05
Mathilde Collin is the co-founder and CEO of Front, a communications platform that has developed a cult following - despite having to stop working at one point because her anxiety had become so deb...
ListenBreaking startup scandal: how blood pressure medtech TLT scammed investors out of millions, with investigating reporter Sara McCorquodale from 2021-08-02T08:32
Tarilian Laser Technologies (TLT) was a medtech company founded by husband and wife team, Dr Sandeep and Nita Shah, who bamboozled everyone from the UK government to PWC. They claimed to have a rev...
ListenThe American fixing the race problem in UK venture capital - Eric Collins, star of Channel 4’s The Money Maker and CEO of Impact X from 2021-07-26T23:05
“Impact X exists because I'm tired. And there are a lot of people who are tired of asking the question - what to do to improve the lives of black Britain? We've been having this conversation for a ...
ListenHow to build a $65b company, with Twilio Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Lawson from 2021-07-19T23:05
Today’s guest is at the helm of probably the biggest company we’ve ever had on Secret Leaders. Jeff Lawson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Twilio, a cloud communication platform that helps businesses ...
ListenFighting P Diddy, managing Gwen Stefani & Nas, what Roger Moore said in Monaco, and turning the music industry on its head, with Steve Stoute, Founder and CEO of United Masters from 2021-07-12T23:05
Before he was the manager for Nas and Gwen Stefani, before he was the producer for the film 8 Mile, before he was getting into fights with P Diddy and 50 Cent, Steve Stoute was an entrepreneur. He’...
ListenBuilding world’s best elite match-making service, with Rachel MacLynn, Founder and CEO of Vida from 2021-07-05T23:05
“I came across a job advert for a psychologist to join a matchmaking agency. I wouldn't describe myself as a spiritual person, but it just felt like my dad had sent [me] this opportunity. I had but...
ListenLearn the art of negotiation with Chris Voss, FBI’s former chief international hostage and kidnapping negotiator, and author of Never Split the Difference from 2021-06-28T23:05
Want to know what it’s like to negotiate for a person’s life? Want to learn the secrets of great negotiation? Want to find out why a deal can break down with no warning?
“The deal-killers are a...
How Gorillas became Europe’s fastest ever unicorn and what it means for your supermarket shopping, with Co-Founder and CEO Ka?an Sümer from 2021-06-10T03:41:04.596160
Ka?an Sümer is the founder and CEO of Gorillas, a grocery delivery service which promises to have your order delivered to your door in under 10 minutes, at retail prices. They’ve been blowing up. R...
ListenHealthily: Building a “moonshot” for the health of a billion people, with Co-Founder & CEO Matteo Berlucchi from 2021-05-31T23:05
Most of the founders we speak to have already achieved much of their startup’s mission, but today’s Secret Leader is in the midst of a much longer journey with his company. Meet Matteo Berlucchi, a...
ListenHealthily: Building a ‘moonshot’ to help a billion people, with Co-Founder & CEO Matteo Berlucchi from 2021-05-31T23:05
Most of the founders we speak to have already achieved much of their startup’s mission, but today’s Secret Leader is in the midst of a much longer journey with his company. Meet Matteo Berlucchi, a...
ListenMyprotein: How to bootstrap a £500 overdraft into a £350m exit, with Founder Oliver Cookson from 2021-05-24T23:05
“I was a keen gym goer and I used to buy protein powder from what was the leading sports nutrition company in the UK at the time. And about six months in I looked at the back and thought, ‘what act...
ListenDouble Jeffardy: the story of Seedrs and its vetoed Crowdcube merger, with Co-Founder Jeff Lynn and CEO Jeff Kelisky from 2021-05-17T23:05
How did two Americans called Jeff come to lead Seedrs, one of the UK’s leading crowdfunding platforms? And why did their planned merger with bitter rivals Crowdcube get blocked?
In today’s ‘Do...
After his startup IPOd in record time everything fell apart, with Eve Sleep co-founder Kuba Wieczorek from 2021-05-10T23:05
Founders dream of being early to market, garnering flattering press, watching their product fly off the shelves and IPOing in record time. For Kuba Wieczorek, Co-Founder and former Chief Marketing ...
ListenBolt: Markus Villig skipped university at 19 to take on Uber and become the youngest unicorn founder in Europe from 2021-05-03T23:05
Markus Villig was 19 when he decided to spend the $5,000 his parents had saved up for university on starting a business instead. His initial goal for Bolt, then called Taxify, was to solve Tallinn’...
ListenA startup Covid tale: how accuRx got to ? of UK vaccine bookings and 99% market share of GPs, with Co-Founder and CTO Laurence Bargery from 2021-04-27T01:05
You might not have heard of today’s guest or his company, but if you’ve had a Covid jab in the UK (or are going to) there’s a good chance you’ve used their tech. Laurence Bargery is co-founder of a...
ListenInsights from 12 world class founders & thinkers for our 100th episode from 2021-04-19T23:00
We’ve been making the UK’s startup podcast since 2017 and this is our 100th episode. To celebrate, we’re doing something a little different and bringing you a bunch of the most powerful stories and...
ListenHow to land LeBron James & Michael Phelps in your first 100 customers - Will Ahmed, Founder of Whoop from 2021-04-12T23:05
As the captain of the Harvard squash team, Will Ahmed trained and prepared as best he could. But, whatever he tried, his body kept breaking down. He didn't know why so he started researching the hu...
ListenTrinny Woodall reveals her surprising, untold startup journey - from dotcom bust to beauty boom today from 2021-04-05T23:05
Most people recognise Trinny Woodall for being one half of Trinny and Susannah from their breakout TV show: What Not To Wear, but not many people know this side of her story. Trinny is a serial ent...
ListenBloom & Wild: building world’s fastest growing flower company with Co-Founder & CEO Aron Gelbard from 2021-03-29T23:10
How big can a flower company really be? Well, the industry processes over a billion transactions every year and Bloom & Wild is leading the charge to become the dominant player. In today’s show we ...
ListenFour top female founders reveal what it’s really like in the startup hot seat from 2021-03-23T00:05
To mark Women’s History Month, we’re serving you the secret sauce of four incredible female founders: Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First; Debbie Wosskow, co-founder of AllBright; Saas...
ListenWorld’s youngest Dragon, with Michele Romanow, Co-Founder of Clearbanc from 2021-03-16T00:05
You can’t take your ears off our guest today. Born and raised in Canada, Michele Romanow has been building startups since university (a cafe which still operates today) followed by a venture in an ...
ListenFrom living on benefits to the American dream, with Pipe Co-Founder Harry Hurst from 2021-03-09T14:00
“I was a young kid with a family on government benefits living off £600 a month. I was surrounded by people that could afford private school. And from a naive child's perspective, they seemed to ha...
ListenWe're trying something that's never been done before from 2021-02-23T02:00
To get your own unique referral link, please head to https://www.secretleaders.com/hype.
And if you have any feedback please email hello@secretleaders.com.
Thanks!
CERN scientist turned founder - Natural Cycles CEO Elina Berglund from 2021-02-09T02:00
“There's no birth control method that is 100% effective and Natural Cycles is as similarly effective as the pill. So it's 93% effective with typical use, and 98% effective with perfect use, meaning...
ListenGrace Beverley, 23, author, influencer & founder of TALA & SHREDDY from 2021-02-02T02:00
“Both my businesses have really strong values. And those have evolved pretty naturally from my growth coming into those interests of sustainability, of ethics, and saying, well, if I'm consuming so...
ListenFrom launch to IPO in 4 years, with Lemonade CEO Daniel Schreiber from 2021-01-19T02:00
“Once you see it, you can't unsee it. [Insurance] is something that is 11% of GDP, $5 trillion worldwide, 100% household penetration. And you're like, wow, this has been hiding in plain sight. It’s...
ListenSir Ronnie Cohen: Refugee to father of British venture capital from 2021-01-12T02:00
If you’re a budding entrepreneur, you can’t learn to swim by doing exercises on the beach, says Sir Ronald Cohen. “You can't keep preparing yourself for an entrepreneurial career. You learn by doin...
ListenSamantha Moyo - addict-turned-shaman who created sober raving from 2021-01-05T04:55
How do you get sober when AA isn’t working for you? Well, if you’re Samantha Moyo, you found the global sober raving movement, Morning Gloryville. A business designed to get people to wake up at 6a...
ListenDECIEM - a tale of tragedy and beauty with CEO Nicola Kilner from 2020-12-29T02:00
The massive beauty disruptor, DECIEM, was founded in 2013 by “the beauty world’s most exciting disruptor”, Brandon Truaxe, and co-CEO Nicola Kilner. From the beginning, they weren't like any other ...
ListenCould a startup solve homelessness? With Beam CEO Alex Stephany from 2020-12-22T02:00
Wondering what to give as an unusual gift this year? How about donating in someone’s name to a social enterprise solving homelessness? Simply purchase a gift card for someone from Beam, and help a ...
ListenHubSpot - how to build a SAAS titan with CEO Brian Halligan from 2020-12-15T02:00
“I think today, if I look at the companies that are doing really well and kind of came out of nowhere, it's when their customer experience is 10 times better than the competition.”
If you run a...
Tabitha Goldstaub - AI, pivots and losing your identity from 2020-12-08T01:36
If you’re concerned about AI and how it could affect your future, then don’t miss Tabitha Goldstaub on this week’s episode of Secret Leaders.
Tabitha is a serial tech entrepreneur, an artifici...
Jim Collins - best business author of his generation from 2020-12-01T04:22
“Bill [Lazier] would always remind our students, the most important thing is to do work you love, with people you love. And if you do work you love, with people you love, you win.”
Jim Collins ...
Atomic Habits - Little things can transform your life from 2020-11-24T03:56
If you've not read Atomic Habits by James Clear, we urge you to stop what you’re doing and go and get it. It's one of those books that once you've read it, you start to think about how those ideas ...
ListenAlain de Botton & Anne-Marie Huby: How to do good, better from 2020-11-17T02:26
With host Dan Murray laid up in hospital, this special live episode is hosted by none other than the feisty, joyous force of nature, Resi founder, Alex Depledge.
“We have a foundation at Resi ...
Arlan Hamilton - from homeless to VC founder in 3 years from 2020-11-10T03:51
We are all for throwing two fingers up at the establishment, and who better to do that than an LGBTQ, black, woman investor? Meet Arlan Hamilton, Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital. ...
ListenDamian Bradfield & Matt ‘Mills’ Miller: Mental Health and Entrepreneurship Live from 2020-11-03T02:00
Mental health disorders are the global epidemic of our times and according to WHO, the instances of anxiety, depression and suicide rates are climbing, globally. On this special live episode of Sec...
ListenJohn Cleese: How creativity can be applied to business from 2020-10-27T02:00
As an entrepreneur, creativity is the name of your game. And who better to hear from than the king of creativity himself, Mr John Cleese. Yes, that’s right. John. Cleese. You’re welcome.
Where...
Series 6 - Coming Soon from 2020-10-22T19:43:19
Welcome back to your favorite place to listen in to brilliant leadership and the UK's #1 business podcast!
We learned last season that people really love hearing more on a specific topic f...
Beauty Pie: Meet The Forrest Gump Of Serial Entrepreneurs from 2020-07-28T04:38
Marcia Kilgore is a serial entrepreneur in the truest sense of the term. Not content with creating just one globally renowned brand, Marcia is responsible for Bliss Spa, Soap and Glory, FitFlop, So...
ListenBasecamp: The One Stop Shop For Remote Working from 2020-07-21T01:00
If you created one of the world’s most popular programming frameworks, a framework on which hundreds of thousands of programmers rely to build applications such as Github, Shopify, Airbnb, Kickstar...
ListenPleo: The Startup That Became A Major European Company from 2020-07-14T03:25
Pleo is a fundamentally new way to manage company expenses (not to mention being one of the sponsors of this illustrious podcast). Founded in early 2015 by fintech veterans Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo...
ListenBulb: Starting The UK’s Fastest Growing Private Company from 2020-07-07T04:34
Do you want to cut your carbon emissions to zero and save money on your energy bills?
Introducing Bulb, a green energy company founded in 2015 by Hayden Wood and co-founder, Amit Gudka. Togeth...
GoCardless: Finding The Hockey Stick Growth Curve from 2020-06-30T06:00
If you’ve ever wondered how entrepreneurs without a specific idea go on to found a unicorn startup from their bedrooms, then this episode of Secret Leaders is for you.
“One of the things that ...
Charity: Water: From Club Promoter To Clean Water For 11 Million People from 2020-06-23T01:00
“When have you actually been thirsty? We have water everywhere around us. There are taps, there are showers. It's this infinite resource for most people, yet for the marginalised 10% of the world, ...
ListenKarma & Olio: Capitalists Can Care About The Environment Too from 2020-06-16T01:00
Have you seen your household food waste increase exponentially during the pandemic? You’re not alone.
“Food waste in homes is more under scrutiny now than ever because people are not used to c...
Superior: Delving Into The Murky Science Of Racism from 2020-06-09T01:00
With the world now confronting issues of race, and more specifically, Black Lives Matter, we felt it right to bring on an award winning science journalist, author and broadcaster and the first ever...
ListenSecret Sales: the naked truth behind their entrepreneurial journey from 2020-06-03T01:00
If you think now’s not a great time to start up a business, take this advice from seasoned entrepreneur Sach Kukadia:
“There is never a good time to start anything, particularly a startup. The...
One Billion Happy: Learning To Be Happy In A Pandemic from 2020-05-26T01:00
Learning to be happy is hard enough. Learning to be happy in the middle of a pandemic should be nigh on impossible. Not so, according to Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google [X], seri...
ListenBrewDog: From Salty Sea Dog to Rebellious Beer Captain from 2020-05-12T02:42
From salty sea dog to captain of BrewDog in the space of a year. James Watt is the founder of the rocket ship brewery and brand known as BrewDog. Now valued at over $1 billion, this incredible star...
Listenallplants & Mindful Chef: Keeping The Nation Fed Through Covid-19 from 2020-05-05T01:00
It's a tough time for many businesses right now, but one sector in particular is thriving - the world of delicious food delivered to your doorstep. Unlike the vast majority of businesses, these com...
ListenStride.VC: Funding and Financing During A Pandemic from 2020-04-28T01:00
If you’ve been caught out raising money for your startup during this complicated time, then you’ve come to the right place - you’re in good company.
In this episode of Secret Leaders we’ve pin...
Slack: How to Work Remotely and Stay Productive with Cal Henderson from 2020-04-21T01:00
Today’s guest is someone we’ve had on the show before, in fact, he kicked off season 4 for us. So don’t be confused and think we’ve got our seasons muddled up.
We thought we’d invite Cal Hende...
Tech Will Save Us & Koru Kids: Educating Children at Home Through Covid-19 from 2020-04-14T01:00
If you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to hold down a full time job while working from home AND educating your kids for the foreseeable future, then you need to listen to Koru Kids founder R...
ListenAli Parsa and Dr Rangan Chatterjee: The Global Impact of Coronavirus from 2020-04-07T01:00
Kicking off series 5 of Secret Leaders are two fantastic guests - Ali Parsa (CEO and founder of Babylon) and Dr Ranjan Chatterjee. Ali has been on the show several times before - firstly on his own...
ListenSeries 5 - Secret Leaders in Crisis - Coming Soon from 2020-03-29T14:56:41
Coming back to you much sooner than planned we are bringing you Secret Leaders in Crisis Mode. As the world changes with the COVID-19 pandemic we have accelerated our next series to bring interview...
ListenDeliveroo: The Rise Of The Delivery Unicorn Company from 2020-03-10T02:00
We’ve all been there - back from a hard night’s boozing and hungry. Most of us would simply eat some toast and hit the hay, but then most of us aren’t Will Shu, founder and CEO of Deliveroo.
“...
Planet Organic, Hassle, Skimlinks & Seedcamp: Female Leadership and Equality for International Women's Day from 2020-03-03T02:00
“I think the worst thing is every morning when you wake up as a founder and you pick up your phone, you think what will I discover that will ruin my day?”
While your business might not care wha...
Allbright: Connecting women, what’s the worst that can happen? from 2020-02-25T02:00
If you found the film ‘The Holiday’ so inspirational it kickstarted a business that you went on to sell for over £50 million, then you’re in good company. You didn’t? Well you missed a trick. Not s...
ListenLoveFilm: Selling to Amazon - The Deal From Both Sides of The Table from 2020-02-18T02:00
You may know that LoveFilm became Amazon Prime Video, that part of the deal was public knowledge. What you may not be familiar with is the wrangling, the deal making and the allegiance swapping tha...
ListenOakNorth: The pathway to building a unicorn with Rishi Khosla from 2020-02-11T02:00
Today’s guest has been a high achiever since he was a kid, completing his computer science GCSE at 11, his A-levels at 13, and receiving a Masters from LSE by the time he was 20. Some child geniuse...
ListenAlain de Botton: Finding Answers to Life’s Tricky Questions from 2020-02-04T02:00
Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is? Of course you have, you’re only human after all.
Well, today’s guest, Alain de Botton, philosopher and founder of The School of Life, has no...
Mumsnet and Jo Malone: Lifting the Lid on Life as a Female Entrepreneur from 2020-01-28T05:00
Here at Secret Leaders we are all about bringing you the best entrepreneurs in the world - those people who you wouldn’t ordinarily hear from, but who have inspiring stories to tell. They share the...
ListenFabFitFun: Creating A Celebrity Swagbag Subscription Box Model from 2020-01-21T02:00
Founded in 2010 in the USA by Co-CEOs brothers Dan and Michael Broukhim and Editor-in-Chief Katie Echevarria Rosen Kitchens, the wildly successful lifestyle subscription platform FabFitFun is a lif...
ListenCalm.com and Babylon Health: The Future of Healthcare from 2020-01-14T02:00
In this live podcast episode we talk about what makes a healthy body, a healthy mind and the future of technology enabled healthcare.
We’ve previously talked to both of today’s guests - Michae...
Starling Bank, Resi and Just Eat: Funding and Financing Startups from 2020-01-07T02:00
Secret Leaders is all about hearing from founders and CEOs of some of the world’s most successful startups. We grill each guest on the highs and more importantly lows of starting and running a star...
ListenSecret Leaders Season 4 Continuing January 7 from 2019-12-24T03:00:09
We're taking a short break over the Christmas and holiday period, with the remainder of Season 4 continuing on January 7.
ListenGrenade: Disrupting the FMCG Industry with Alan and Juliet Barratt from 2019-12-10T05:10
If you’re an entrepreneur in the FMCG industry, this episode of Secret Leaders is one you don’t want to miss. Today we talk to the founders of Grenade, one of the fastest growing companies in the U...
ListenBlippar and Shazam: A live chat with visionaries Jess Butcher and Dhiraj Mukherjee from 2019-12-03T02:00
If you want to know what it takes to start and run a technology company, then you need to listen to two of our most pioneering guests discuss their experiences live, as they started visionary compa...
ListenHuel: How to Become a Food and Drink Millionaire with Julian Hearn from 2019-11-26T04:38
Want to know what it takes to become a food and drink millionaire? Of course you do. That’s why you need to listen to Julian Hearn talking about how and why he founded the powdered food product Hue...
ListenPhotobox and Moonpig: Selling to your competitor and the art of the exit from 2019-11-19T04:46
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes when one well-known start up buys another well-known start up?
Well, wonder no more.
You’ve heard us talk to both Nick Jenkins (founder of Moonp...
Slack: Cal Henderson - An Engineer’s Fairytale Story from 2019-11-12T06:00
Welcome back to series 4 - what a season have we got lined up for you!
Kicking us off is Cal Henderson, co-founder and CTO of one of this decade’s most famous tech companies - the team communic...
ClassPass: How Payal Kadakia Built A Fitness Empire from 2019-05-14T05:00
Today’s guest is Payal Kadakia, founder and executive chairman of ClassPass. Payal started ClassPass in 2011 a business that was born out of her love for dance, which she has been doing since the a...
ListenVicki Saunders: On being a SheEO extraordinaire and implementing #radicalgenerosity from 2019-05-07T05:00
Investment funds for female entrepreneurs are not exactly commonplace in the world of finance. But today’s guest, SheEO founder and Canadian entrepreneurial powerhouse, Vicki Saunders, has been on ...
ListenFounders4Schools and Scale Up Institute: Meet Sherry Coutu CBE, a Serial Entrepreneur and Angel Investor Turned Philanthropist. from 2019-04-30T06:00
Sherry Coutu CBE is a serial entrepreneur, former CEO, angel investor and non-executive director based in Cambridge, UK but originally from Canada. She is best known for investing in Lovefilm, Zoop...
ListenLovefilm - The Subscription King You Won’t Have Heard Of from 2019-04-22T23:00
Serial tech entrepreneur William Reeve realised early on that he wasn’t quite techy enough to be a techy, and so focused on the business side of tech businesses. And without this early enlightenmen...
ListenLastminute.com: meet Martha Lane Fox, the Baroness of tech who refuses to let her past define her future from 2019-04-15T21:00
Martha Lane Fox is a digital entrepreneur who is not only passionate about the world of tech, but Chancellor of the Open University, a philanthropist and a public servant to boot. Martha can be tha...
ListenSaasha Celestial-One: Tackling food waste through startup Olio from 2019-04-09T04:00
Saasha Celestial-One may sound like a band formed in the swinging sixties, but she’s actually one half of a food waste startup looking to sign up 1 billion users to food sharing app, Olio, by 2025....
ListenFounder of Stellar, Ripple and Mt Gox Jed McCaleb: On Cryptocurrency and the Hardships of Entrepreneurship from 2019-04-02T04:00
Jed McCaleb is a cryptocurrency legend. He's been involved in some of the most high profile organizations in crypto including Mt. Gox, Ripple, and now his current rocket ship, Stellar.org. But the ...
ListenCandy Crush: creator Riccardo Zacconi on what it means to be the king of King from 2019-03-26T05:00
Riccardo Zacconi is an Italian entrepreneur best known as the CEO of King, the company behind the most popular game of our generation: Candy Crush Saga.
Riccardo cut his teeth in the tech start...
Uber's first invester - Jason Calacanis the GREATEST angel investor of all time (his words) and host of This Week In Startups from 2019-03-12T05:00
Today’s guest, Jason Calacanis, is best known for his podcast This Week In Startups and for investing in unicorn companies such as Uber, Thumbtack and Robin Hood; as well as selling shares in Faceb...
ListenClara Brenner: the VC investing in social entrepreneurs for a better urban future from 2019-03-05T06:30
Clara Brenner is co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm she established to invest in the future of cities. She had a vision to empower entrepreneurs ke...
ListenTim Draper: The Jedi Master of Venture Capital from 2019-02-26T06:30
Tim Draper is the world’s most famous venture capital investor who’s backed many companies like Hotmail, Twitter or Tesla. He is a ridiculously nice and charming guy (it might be all that Bitcoin h...
ListenAllbirds Co-Founder Tim Brown: Designing and Manufacturing the World’s Most Comfortable Shoes from 2019-02-19T06:30
Tim Brown is an ex-professional New Zealand footballer turned American shoemaker entrepreneur.
After a successful football career, Tim got injured. This caused a career turning point and he loo...
Mumsnet: Justine Roberts on Saving Parents’ Lives from 2019-02-12T06:30
Described as one of the world’s most influential women and CEOs, Justine Roberts is at the helm of one of the world’s most talked about forums, Mumsnet.
Loved by many and the cause of many heat...
Starling Bank: Anne Boden Founder & CEO, an Innovative Challenger Bank That’s Exciting the Market from 2019-02-05T06:00
Growing up in Swansea with two hard-working parents, Anne Boden couldn’t have dreamt of the future ahead of her. After going on to study Chemistry and Computer Sciences at Swansea University, she m...
ListenWeTransfer: Damian Bradfield tells us about the art of the stunningly straightforward file sharing from 2019-01-30T06:30
WeTransfer started in late 2009 and today it has over 45 million active monthly users. It’s one of the world’s most trusted online brands, helping people to discover and share in every country arou...
ListenSecret Leaders Season 3 Coming January 30th from 2019-01-23T08:30
We're back after a break to work on Series 3. It's coming on 30th January so stay tuned and visit secretleaders.com for more info!
ListenJo Malone: The Alchemist Devoted to Spreading the Poetry of Scent from 2018-07-10T04:00
Today’s Secret Leader is Jo Malone CBE, founder of her namesake and more recently Jo Loves. Of all the guests we’ve had the wonderful fortune of interviewing, Jo has one of the biggest reputations ...
ListenVijay Eswaran: From Taxi Driver to Billionaire from 2018-07-04T11:00
Vijay Eswaran is the Executive Chairman of the QI Group of Companies. Born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1960, to hardworking parents, Vijay had a childhood filled with moves around his native country.
JustGiving: Anne-Marie Huby, Always Guided by a Deep Sense of Purpose from 2018-06-26T04:00
From a business desk at the Birmingham Post to the world’s fastest-growing tech-for-good platform, Belgium-born Anne-Marie Huby is one of UK’s most innovative entrepreneurs, creating the first onli...
ListenRankin: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes from 2018-06-19T04:00
Rankin is arguably Britain’s most successful export to the fashion industry, and one of the world’s leading portrait photographers. He is also well known for his phenomenal work ethic, his charitab...
ListenPlanet Organic: How Founder Renée Elliott Wove Together Love and Food from 2018-06-05T05:00
From the pages of a wine magazine to the UK’s largest certified organic haven of delicious produce, Mississippi-born Renée Elliott moved to the UK in 1986. Nine years later, Renée launched Planet O...
ListenShazam: How Dhiraj Mukherjee Built One of the Most Downloaded Apps of All Time from 2018-05-29T05:00
Our esteemed guest this week is Dhiraj Mukerjee, co-founder of Shazam, the app that has literally put more songs on the record than anyone else in the world. Dhiraj is not a fan of being praised or...
ListenBabylon Health: How Founder and CEO Dr Ali Parsa Plans to Make Healthcare a Utility for Every Human on Earth from 2018-05-15T04:00
Our guest this week is the very inspirational Ali Parsa, founder and CEO of Babylon Health. Babylon is the world’s largest healthcare app successfully changing the way we as humans are getting acce...
ListenHassle.com: How Alex Depledge Co-Founded a Company that Sold for €32 Million from 2018-05-08T06:00
Left work on a Friday and gave birth on a Saturday: already our guest this week is pretty much a rockstar. 2014 Tech City’s Entrepreneur of the Year Alex Depledge is a straight-talking British busi...
ListenCharles Tyrwhitt: How Founder Nicholas Wheeler Went From an Aston Martin to Global Domination from 2018-05-01T03:00
Here to share with us his journey from owning an Aston Martin to owning a multi-million-pound shirt company is Nicholas Charles Tyrwhitt Wheeler, one of UK’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Afte...
Not On The Highstreet Co-Founder Holly Tucker from 2018-04-17T04:30
Today we are delighted to bring you Holly Tucker, the co-founder of the first marketplace of its kind, notonthehighstreet.com, the place to pick up fantastic inspiration and bespoke gifts. Side not...
Listenustwo Co-Founder Mills on Building a Fampany (aka Family Company) from 2018-04-10T03:00
Our guest today is on the more unconventional side. For starters, he wouldn’t necessarily choose to call himself a “leader”, so what better set-up for a secret leader?
Mills, aka Matt Miller, i...
Café Rouge: How Co-Founder Karen Jones Creates Brands People Come Back To from 2018-04-03T07:00
Today we have an audio feast for you as our guest is Karen Jones, most well-known as the co-founder of the Café Rouge chain of restaurants. Her career is a textbook story of entrepreneurship.
K...
Songkick: Pete Finlay on Burnout and Growing Too Fast from 2018-03-27T07:00
Today you are going to hear the story of Songkick led by Pete Finlay, formerly known as Pete Smith.
You’re going to learn about the ups and downs of a very brutal story. Songkick was once one o...
Project Everyone: How Gail Gallie reached 7 billion people in 7 days from 2018-03-20T08:00
If you are the type of person who is into sustainability, philanthropy, giving back, purpose, any of these things, our guest today is the crème de la crème. Meet Gail Gallie, co-founder of Project ...
ListenJust Eat: How David Buttress Co-Founded and Built a £5.5bn Company from 2018-03-13T09:09
For the last 11 years, David has done nothing but think about takeaway. Sounds like a dream, right? But that’s the reality for the former CEO of food giant Just Eat, still part of the board to this...
ListenDraper Esprit: The first ever public VC fund - Simon Cook from 2017-09-12T19:34
Today’s special guest is one of the key Venture Capital investors in the UK, the CEO and Founder of Draper Esprit, Mr Simon Cook. Most recently, Simon has focused on disrupting the traditional VC s...
ListenUnruly - From lecturer to millionaire. Sarah Wood tells all. from 2017-08-25T10:37
Today we are joined by one of the best known, and certainly most liked entrepreneurs in the UK - Sarah Wood from Unruly Media. The tl;dr on Sarah is that she went to University of Cambridge, then b...
ListenTraffic & Copy: Vincent Dignan on how to growth hack your way to success from 2017-08-16T06:45
Today’s guest is the self styled Jesus Christ Superstar of the organic viral growth world, Vincent Dignan. He puts the M in Millennial, the G in Growth and the WTF in Fashion. A man who very much p...
ListenMr & Mrs Smith: Tamara Lohan MBE taking on Expedia and Booking.com from 2017-08-09T21:03
Tamara Lohan MBE is the co-founder and CTO of Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels. She started Mr and Mrs Smith with her husband James 14 years ago, and has been at the heart of one of the best loved internet br...
ListenVorsprung Durch Technik - Sir John Hegarty (BBH) tells us where that came from! from 2017-07-13T10:14
Our guest this week is the advertising giant Sir John Hegarty. As the co-founder of ad agency BBH and creator of acclaimed campaigns for brands such as Levi’s, Audi, BA and Johnnie Walker, Hegarty ...
ListenSkimlinks: Alicia Navarro on how to build an advertising giant from 2017-06-29T11:12
Our second Australian guest in a row for our 10th episode of Secret Lives of Leaders. This episode we have the pleasure of hosting Alicia Navarro - the co-founder and CEO of Skimlinks. Known for he...
ListenDaniel Priestley -- Bestselling Author & Entrepreneur (Key Person of Influence, 24 Assets, Oversubscribed) from 2017-06-23T10:40
Our guest in episode 9 is the bestselling author Daniel Priestley. Hailing from Australia Daniel was already a success before he moved to Europe. He used writing as a way to get his thought process...
ListenSeedcamp: Reshma Sohoni tells us how to be a successful VC from 2017-06-15T09:15
Our guest this week is one of the best networked ladies in UK tech, as the Co Founder of not only the first ever, but also arguably the most successful Seed Fund in Europe, Seedcamp. By only part-s...
ListenSocial Chain: Steve Bartlett is young and hungry from 2017-06-05T11:00
Our guest in this episode is probably responsible for the funny tweets you saw, or that ridiculously viral campaign that captured your imagination. At 24, he’s one of those guys who has already had...
ListenCalm.com - Michael Acton Smith tells the story behind Calm, Moshi Monsters and Mind Candy, from 2017-05-12T13:00
Michael Acton Smith OBE is a man who's been described as the ‘tech version of Willy Wonka’. From setting up popular e-commerce websites with university friends to extravagant online games Michael A...
ListenBlippar: Jess Butcher building a business and a family from 2017-05-08T05:00
Jess Butcher is the co-founder of Blippar - the augmented reality giant. Founded in 2011, Jess has over 250 colleagues and as of 2016 raised a total of $100m valuing the business at a reputed $1bn ...
ListenHRH The Duke of York: Supporting UK's next big companies from 2017-04-24T05:45
In this episode you will learn;
How his journey from 20 years in the navy eventually led to him starting Pitch at Palace
How he became fascinated with people and psychology - from...
Prince Andrew on supporting the UK's next big companies from 2017-04-24T05:45
In this episode you will learn;
How his journey from 20 years in the navy eventually led to him starting Pitch at Palace
How he became fascinated with people and psychology - from...
Photobox: Graham Hobson (Co-Founder) on how he built a £400m business from 2017-04-24T05:30
In this episode you will learn;
Why he started Photobox, and what it was like running a startup over the dotcom boom and bust, within the first year of it’s inception.
The complex...
Entrepreneur First: How to build unicorns with Alice Bentinck from 2017-04-24T05:15
In this episode you will learn;
Where the idea for Entrepreneur First came from originally, and how
that’s evolved through the years
How to start a business with no
<...
Moonpig: Nick Jenkins and the £120m card company from 2017-04-24T05:00
In this episode you will learn;
How he started his career in Russia working for the infamous Mark
Rich as an ‘intrapreneur’ and what that process taught him about
busines...
Moonpig: Nick Jenkins and the £120m card company from 2017-04-24T05:00
In this episode you will learn; How he started his career in Russia working for the infamous MarkRich as an ‘intrapreneur’ and what that process taught him about business.The value of being a sol...
ListenMoonpig: Nick Jenkins and the £120m card company from 2017-04-24T05:00
In this episode you will learn; How he started his career in Russia working for the infamous MarkRich as an ‘intrapreneur’ and what that process taught him about business.The value of being a sol...
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