Send us a text This time I’m trying something different. First, I’m speaking with two co-founders, Damian Milkins and Simon Hancock who built a hugely successful tech business called Control Circle and led it to a $65m exit. I let this one run longer than the usual 60 minutes because the guys were in full flow and there was no way I was going to cut this short - there were just too many interesting stories and valuable words of wisdom. What you’ll hear is Damian and Simon explaining the vital im...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Send us a text According to the Department of Business and Industry, there are 5.6 million businesses in the UK. But get this - out of the 5.6 million businesses, 4.2 million had no employees - they are sole traders. And 99.2% of all businesses have less than 49 employees. Only 4% of businesses ever hit £1m turnover. And yet, SMEs account for three-fifths of all employment and around half of the turnover in the UK private sector. Last year total employment in SMEs was 16.3 million (61% of the to...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Send us a text Every now and again you hear a story that stops you in your tracks because it deeply touches a part of you whilst at the same time is uplifting and inspiring. Stefan Wissenbach is a serial entrepreneur and has built and sold 4 financial services businesses before launching his current company which is a technology business focused on helping entrepreneurs to create more engaged teams. He has also coached numerous business owners and helped them to define what success means to them...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Send us a text I think one of the reasons that this podcast is proving to be popular is that most of the stories follow that classic ‘Hero's Journey’’ narrative arc. Our hero, the Founder is dissatisfied with the status quo of their current situation, sets off on a bold journey of discovery - starts a company, and faces insurmountable problems, huge challenges and fierce obstacles. Eventually against all the odds, finds success and lives happily ever after! If you watch almost any Hollywood film...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Send us a text Don Fraser is something of a legend in the financial planning and wealth management sector – he’s been working with entrepreneurs for well over 30 years and he’s got a deep understanding of not only the financial issues but perhaps more importantly the personal and human ones. During our conversation, Don explains the vital importance of timing when you’re planning your exit, and the need to be clear on the big question - How Much is Enough? He explains the actual process that a b...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Send us a text Richard Bridgwood was the founder of Contender which was a media and film distribution company which he and his team built from scratch over 12 years and sold to one of the biggest entertainment and media companies in the world, Entertainment One. If you’ve got kids, you’ll be familiar with one of his companies’ creations, Peppa Pig which nowadays is a global sensation worth hundreds of millions if not a billion dollars. There’s a lot of money in children’s entertainment! So, part...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Send us a text Hi and welcome back to the Entrepreneur Transition podcast - the only podcast that explores the uniquely human journey involved in building a business, selling it and crucially, life on the other side. In 20 years of working with and advising entrepreneurs, I’ve come to realise that it’s a transition more than it is a transaction and there are so many issues and challenges that a business owner will have to navigate to maximise their success from a financial but more importantly f...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Send us a text This Inspired Conversation is in many ways why I launched the podcast in the first place - to explore the human side of the entrepreneurial journey, every bit as much as the financial side. Let me share a quick true story to give you some context: Did you hear about the entrepreneur who sold his business and made a fortune and was miserable? Markus Persson is a Swedish tech entrepreneur and inventor of the wildly popular game Minecraft. Starting on a laptop in his bedroom, he went...
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Send us a text From a council estate in Hackney, London to an ‘8-figure exit’ by age 27. The most inspirational founder conversation you will hear in a long time. I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs over the years but few are as impressive as Tim Armoo - or Timo as he’s better known. He knew he didn’t want to be poor and decided from an early age that being an entrepreneur and starting his own business was the way to create his own financial security. He started his first business while still at sch...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Send us a text Tom Manwaring is at the top of his game. He’s the leading Mergers & Acquisition advisor in the UK focused on the media sector and in particular television production companies. He’s advised hundreds of owners and completed almost 50 deals (including 13 in the last 2 years which is some going considering what’s been going on). The combined sale value is in excess of £1 billion so he’s definitely someone worth listening to. You’ll have watched many of the shows created by the bu...
Jun 30, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Send us a text My name is Alan Smith and I’m a founder, entrepreneur, investor, wealth manager and yes now a podcast host! Over nearly 20 years, my team and I have established our business, Capital Asset Management as the leading independent wealth advice business in the UK, focused on working with successful business owners. In that time, I’ve worked with hundreds of founders and have always been fascinated by their entrepreneurial journey and what’s got them to where they are today. I wanted t...
Jun 16, 2022•14 min
Send us a text For this episode, we go to the Emerald Isle to speak with a serial entrepreneur from Ireland called Donal Daly. A self-confessed tech geek, he founded, scaled and sold 5 companies and is now on his 6th, most, the most exciting, and certainly on a personal basis the most rewarding. Over his 30-year entrepreneurial journey , he’s bootstrapped his start-ups, he’s raised external funding, and he’s bought a business from one of the biggest tech companies in the world. He’s gone on to e...
Jun 16, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Send us a text This episode is about courage. From the outside looking in, the life of an entrepreneur seems exciting and fun. Starting a business and growing it towards a successful exit appears to be fairly straightforward. However the statistics confirm that very few ever manage to do that. Nigel Shanahan is an extraordinary entrepreneur. Through tremendous ups and downs, he grew his tech startup to a £50m exit. Coming from a fairly traditional corporate role, he had the seed of an idea and w...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Send us a text Mark Mills was- as he refers to it himself ‘one of those annoying kids at school, who started businesses buying and selling stuff - and he’s been building them ever since. But there were several failures along the way. Listen to him talk about the opportunity he had back in 1999 to open the first franchise for Starbucks in Europe - and why he turned it down! He admitted that wasn't his best decision - but he's done OK since then. He eventually started a business and grew it to ove...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 1
