Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter
374 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsThis 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...
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Episodes
World’s youngest Dragon, with Michele Romanow, Co-Founder of Clearbanc
March 16, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutesYou 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 industry she knew nothing about - caviar - right when the 2008 financial crisis struck. “There I am, 21 years old, selling the world's most unnecessary luxury product. I realised the world owes you absolutely nothing, that everything can fall apart in a second, that it can be your fault. It can be t...
From living on benefits to the American dream, with Pipe Co-Founder Harry Hurst
March 09, 2021 14:00 - 51 minutes“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 have everything that I didn't have when I went home to my reality. But I think that was the formation of Harry Hurst, the hungry, ambitious, immigrant entrepreneur.” Today’s Secret Leader, Harry Hurst, has been hustling ever since he was kid - and he’s had to. He credits his poor upbringing for his en...
Former Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield on falling out of love with your work
March 02, 2021 02:00 - 38 minutesGet you own unique referral link: https://www.secretleaders.com/hype Tom Blomfield, the former CEO and Co-Founder of Monzo, and Co-Founder of GoCardless, knows a thing or two about the fintech industry. “We wanted to create something different than existing banks. We believed that the banks weren't serving customers particularly well at that moment. Customer expectations had been raised dramatically by things like Spotify, Uber and Airbnb, in terms of the user experience and functionality.” ...
We're trying something that's never been done before
February 23, 2021 02:00 - 2 minutesTo get your own unique referral link, please head to https://www.secretleaders.com/hype. And if you have any feedback please email [email protected]. Thanks!
CERN scientist turned founder - Natural Cycles CEO Elina Berglund
February 09, 2021 02:00 - 39 minutes“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 that you use protection on the days that the app says.” Before becoming CEO and co-founder of Natural Cycles, the world’s first and only app to be certified as a contraception both in Europe and in the US, today’s Secret Leader, Dr Elina Berglund, was part of the team that discovered the Higgs boso...
Grace Beverley, 23, author, influencer & founder of TALA & SHREDDY
February 02, 2021 02:00 - 42 minutes“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 something, that's one thing, but if I'm selling it, that's a whole other thing.” Today’s guest on Secret Leaders is not your average 23 year old. Grace Beverley is a Natwest GBEA Young Entrepreneur of the Year and founder of two brands, Tala and Shreddy. A successful female entrepreneur, Grace is shak...
16-year battle to £100m esports team, with Fnatic Founder Sam Mathews
January 26, 2021 02:00 - 51 minutesIf you’re in need of inspiration and ideas for how to succeed in the eSports world, then don’t miss this insightful episode with the co-founder and CEO of Fnatic, Sam Mathews. “I'm probably more like the Glazers than I am Alex Ferguson, because I'm kind of running the whole business.” Fnatic is one of the leading eSports teams in the world, and currently, the eSports industry is blowing up, not just because of Sam, but he has definitely contributed towards its success. But what is eSports a...
From launch to IPO in 4 years, with Lemonade CEO Daniel Schreiber
January 19, 2021 02:00 - 56 minutes“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 such a dull industry that nobody's noticed it. Nobody's thought to tackle it.” Until Daniel Schreiber. That is. So what made a law graduate with no prior knowledge of the insurance industry decide to co-found an insurtech startup in 2016, which floated on the New York Stock Exchange just 4 short y...
Sir Ronnie Cohen: Refugee to father of British venture capital
January 12, 2021 02:00 - 55 minutesIf 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 doing. And by your mid to late 20s, you're ready to do that. You don't have to prepare beyond that.” Sir Ronald is Chairman of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and The Portland Trust. He is a co-founder director of Social Finance UK, USA, and Israel, and co-founder Chair of Bridges Fund M...
Samantha Moyo - addict-turned-shaman who created sober raving
January 05, 2021 04:55 - 51 minutesHow 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 6am and go dancing, sober, to famous DJs such as Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx and Carl Cox. She sold just 26 tickets to their first event, but such is Sam’s desire to challenge the status quo, she grew the business to a community of 200,000 within 18 months, across 23 cities. Morning Gloryville was bo...
DECIEM - a tale of tragedy and beauty with CEO Nicola Kilner
December 29, 2020 02:00 - 1 hourThe 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 cosmetic company, they acted more like a startup incubator launching 10 brands in rapid succession. They were hugely successful, did everything in house, outstripped the competition and grew wildly popular brands like The Ordinary. What Nicola wasn’t prepared for, however, was Brandon’s very public...
Could a startup solve homelessness? With Beam CEO Alex Stephany
December 22, 2020 02:00 - 54 minutesWondering 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 homeless person get back on their feet. “There's billions of pounds being spent on homelessness. More than 1,000 organisations are tackling homelessness. There are millions of people in London who care about this issue. And yet still, despite all of this, people are literally dying outside of tube ...
HubSpot - how to build a SAAS titan with CEO Brian Halligan
December 15, 2020 02:00 - 56 minutes“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 b2b, there’s a high possibility that you’re already a customer of today’s Secret Leader, CEO and founder of HubSpot, Brian Halligan. Founded in 2006, HubSpot has grown to annual revenues of over half a billion dollars, 3000 employees, 70,000+ customers across 100 countries. Brian is also an author of s...
Tabitha Goldstaub - AI, pivots and losing your identity
December 08, 2020 01:36 - 51 minutesIf 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 artificial intelligence industry expert who is chair of the UK government's AI Council, and co founder of CognitionX, which was before COVID, the biggest AI conference in the world, but has understandably had to pivot to an expert advice platform. “It was really clear that there were so many better experts to a...
Jim Collins - best business author of his generation
December 01, 2020 04:22 - 1 hour“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 is an entrepreneurial researcher, however he’s most well known for being a best selling author of multiple books that frankly, if you're listening to this podcast and you haven't read, you've definitely got your priorities all wrong. We celebrate all things entrepreneur on Secret Leaders, having been i...
Atomic Habits - Little things can transform your life
November 24, 2020 03:56 - 47 minutesIf 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 can change your reality. “The book’s been out almost two years now and has sold over two million copies. And for me, the most gratifying thing is that the ideas are useful. The best thing is to see people using them to build better habits in their own life or to break habits that they've been strug...
Alain de Botton & Anne-Marie Huby: How to do good, better
November 17, 2020 02:26 - 1 hourWith 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 that does pro bono work for architecture. People look at me a little bit sceptical, like, what's the motivation? You can't really earn a profit and do good at the same time. So why is building a for profit company better for society than building a charity?” Alex, alongside special guests Anne-Marie Hub...
Arlan Hamilton - from homeless to VC founder in 3 years
November 10, 2020 03:51 - 38 minutesWe 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. Backstage Capital is a fund that invests in under-estimated founders that are defined as women, people of colour and members of the LGBTQ community, who together represent the biggest economic opportunity for investment. Arlan’s latest book, It’s About Damn Time has been received with critical accl...
Damian Bradfield & Matt ‘Mills’ Miller: Mental Health and Entrepreneurship Live
November 03, 2020 02:00 - 1 hourMental 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 Secret Leaders, two amazing guests, Damian Bradfield and Mills, open up about their personal experiences with mental health. “I've come to realise now that everyone has some form of mental health without a doubt. And actually, the more I talk openly about it, the more I realise that many people are in...
John Cleese: How creativity can be applied to business
October 27, 2020 02:00 - 51 minutesAs 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 do we begin? John’s (Mr Cleese?) talents are boundless - actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and author. The co-founder of the infamous Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the creator and star of Fawlty Towers has taken the time to look back on his writing processes and accomplishments as a series of cr...
Series 6 - Coming Soon
October 22, 2020 17:43 - 2 minutes - 1.9 MBWelcome 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 from experts, so we've listened. We'll learn about using creativity to make business decisions from John Cleese, building better habits with James Clear, creating winning customer experiences with Brian Halligan, and so much more. Tune in... or you'll miss out.
Represented Episode 8: Wrapping Up
August 23, 2020 06:14 - 5 minutes - 4.62 MBOur eight episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We're wrapping up the series for now, with an update on Define.
Represented Episode 7: Pitch for Afrocenchix from Joycelyn Mate
August 16, 2020 06:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBOur seventh episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about Afrocenchix, a company formulating and manufacturing natural products for afro hair, co-founded by Joycelyn Mate and Rachael Corson.
Represented Episode 6: Pitch for SPCE from Leon Ifayemi
August 09, 2020 06:00 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBOur sixth episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about SPCE, a real estate-oriented software and data company, supporting non-profit and public sector organisations, founded by Leon Ifayemi
Represented Episode 5: Pitch for Arthronica from Letizia Gionfrida & Keith Green
August 02, 2020 06:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBOur fifth episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about Arthronica, an AI-powered pain management software company, founded by Letizia Gionfrida and Keith Green.
Beauty Pie: Meet The Forrest Gump Of Serial Entrepreneurs
July 28, 2020 04:38 - 1 hourMarcia 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, Soaper Duper and now Beauty Pie. But how did she become Queen of Startups? Bliss Spa, her first startup in NYC, saw her give facials to Demi Moore, Courtney Love, Christy Turlington, Bette Midler and Calvin Klein to name drop but a few regulars. She sold this to world leader in luxury products LVMH, b...
Represented Episode 4: Pitch for Bold Health from Jossy Obi Onwude & Elena Mustatea
July 26, 2020 06:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBOur fourth episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about Bold Health, a digital therapeutic company that delivers personalized behavioral medicine, founded by Jossy Obi Onwude and Elena Mustatea.
Basecamp: The One Stop Shop For Remote Working
July 21, 2020 01:00 - 1 hourIf 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, Kickstarter, to name but a few, would you make it open source? Because that’s what David Heinemeier Hansson decided to do. DHH (to his friends and everyone on Twitter) is the creator of Ruby on Rails. But that’s not all he’s done. He’s also the cofounder and CTO at Basecamp. Oh, and he’s a best-selling au...
Represented Episode 3: Pitch for ApTap from Nadal Sarkytbayev
July 19, 2020 06:25 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBOur third episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about ApTap, a bill and subscription management tool, founded by Nadal Sarkytbayev, Isa Ibrahim, and Will Billingsley.
Pleo: The Startup That Became A Major European Company
July 14, 2020 03:25 - 53 minutesPleo 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 Perra, core listeners may have a good understanding of who Pleo are, but how much do you know about their actual journey? “It was all about the product in the beginning. And we were just figuring out what are the tangible pain points out there? And how can we bring a solution? We didn't think too m...
Represented Episode 2: Pitch for Bleep from Ygor Francisco and Caroline Anjorin
July 12, 2020 06:00 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBOur second episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about Bleep, a mobile social TV watching experience app, founded by Ygor Francisco and Caroline Anjorin.
Bulb: Starting The UK’s Fastest Growing Private Company
July 07, 2020 04:34 - 54 minutesDo 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. Together they wanted to change the energy industry, to make it better, by making energy simpler, cheaper and greener. “We saw all the new technology from solar panels and batteries and smart meters changing the relationship that homes have with the grid. The home of the future [has] solar panels on the roof,...
Represented Episode 1: Pitch for Define from Nnamdi Emelifeonwu and team
July 05, 2020 06:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBOur first episode of Represented, by Secret Leaders, a funding pitch podcast. We will hear about Define, a Microsoft Word plugin for lawyers, founded by Nnamdi Emelifeonwu.
GoCardless: Finding The Hockey Stick Growth Curve
June 30, 2020 06:00 - 59 minutesIf 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 really strikes me that's changed over the course of the last 10 years is the level of awareness of what's possible. When we decided to start GoCardless, most of our friends just thought we were unemployed and couldn't get a job.” Today’s guest is one third of the British equivalent of the PayPal mafia, ...
Introducing Represented: A new pitch show by Secret Leaders
June 28, 2020 06:00 - 4 minutes - 4.2 MBLaunching Sunday 5th July 2020. Join us in our new pitch show featuring the best black and under-represented founders building big, scalable business, looking for funding to help change our world.
Charity: Water: From Club Promoter To Clean Water For 11 Million People
June 23, 2020 01:00 - 1 hour“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, it's something that they've never known.” Scott Harrison is a former club promoter turned CEO of Charity: Water, a hyper transparent non profit organisation that in 13 years has raised over $500 million and brought clean drinking water to 11 million people. You’d think with these numbers under his ...
Black Lives Matter - Represented by Secret Leaders
June 21, 2020 06:00 - 1 minute - 1.18 MBComing Sunday 28th June 2020
Karma & Olio: Capitalists Can Care About The Environment Too
June 16, 2020 01:00 - 51 minutesHave 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 cooking at home, seven days a week. It's the perfect storm for trying to figure out your cooking schedule and using everything and that definitely produces food waste, at least initially until you've found your equilibrium.” Chatting all things food waste on this episode of Secret Leaders are two entrepr...
The Lowdown: Benedict Evans of Entrepreneur First and Mosaic Ventures and Anu Adebajo of British Patient Capital
June 14, 2020 06:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBThe Lowdown: Benedict Evans, venture partner at Entrepreneur First and Mosaic Ventures, and Anu Adebajo, investment manager at British Patient Capital.
Superior: Delving Into The Murky Science Of Racism
June 09, 2020 01:00 - 56 minutesWith 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 guest we've had that is not an entrepreneur of a wildly successful company. Angela Saini may not have the battle scars, nor learned the painful lessons that you, our audience, have become accustomed to hearing on Secret Leaders, but what she has to say might be even more pertinent for you. We felt...
The Lowdown: Ladi Greenstreet of Accenture and Azeem Azhar of Exponential View
June 07, 2020 06:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBThe Lowdown: Ladi Greenstreet, Head of European Investments at Accenture, and Azeem Azhar, Founder of Exponential View.
Secret Sales: the naked truth behind their entrepreneurial journey
June 03, 2020 01:00 - 52 minutesIf 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. There's always a list of reasons as to why you shouldn't do it. And the older you get, the more that list grows. If you're going to start anything, whether it's a start up or do something, you need to just do it now. Because it'll only ever get harder.” Wise words from someone who’s never earned any money ...
The Lowdown: Yessi Bello Perez of The Next Web and Check Warner of Ada Ventures
May 31, 2020 06:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBThe Lowdown: Yessi Bello Perez, Senior Writer at The Next Web, and Check Warner, Founder and Partner at Ada Ventures.
One Billion Happy: Learning To Be Happy In A Pandemic
May 26, 2020 01:00 - 56 minutesLearning 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], serial entrepreneur and author of “Solve for Happy: Engineering Your Path to Joy” (2017). Mo’s famous for bringing Google to 4 billion new users, but that’s not all he’s done. Throughout his career he’s also co-founded over 25 businesses (7 still survive today). He starts businesses that fascinate him,...
The Lowdown: Debbie Wosskow of Love Home Swap & AllBright, Sarah-Jane Mee of Sky News & The Sarah-Jane Mee Show
May 24, 2020 06:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBThe Lowdown: Debbie Wosskow, former CEO of Love Home Swap and co-founder of AllBright, and Sarah-Jane Mee, presenter at Sky News and anchor of The Sarah-Jane Mee Show.
The Lowdown: Paul Murphy of Northzone and Amy Lewin of Sifted
May 17, 2020 06:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBThe Lowdown: Paul Murphy, General Partner at Northzone, and Amy Lewin, Deputy Editor at Sifted.
BrewDog: From Salty Sea Dog to Rebellious Beer Captain
May 12, 2020 02:42 - 51 minutesFrom 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 startup began life in co-founder Martin Dickie’s mum’s garage. “No one wanted to buy our beer. Everyone told us to make beer with less flavour, with less bitterness, with less hops, that our labels looked stupid, like nobody wanted to know and we were working almost 24/7, sleeping on sacks of malt on t...
Allplants & Mindful Chef: Keeping The Nation Fed Through Covid-19
May 05, 2020 01:00 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MBIt'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 companies are growing exponentially, because of the lockdown. “Literally overnight, it's [Covid-19] essentially forced consumers who have never bought one grocery shop online to go, ‘Well, I might as well try this because there's queues around the block for my supermarket, which has got noth...
allplants & Mindful Chef: Keeping The Nation Fed Through Covid-19
May 05, 2020 01:00 - 59 minutesIt'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 companies are growing exponentially, because of the lockdown. “Literally overnight, it's [Covid-19] essentially forced consumers who have never bought one grocery shop online to go, ‘Well, I might as well try this because there's queues around the block for my supermarket, which has got nothing in it, ...