Tough Cookies Podcast
27 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago -Welcome to the Tough Cookies podcasts where we interview individuals who build, scale and support startups. Brought to you from Nic, CTO and co-founder of CookiesHQ, these 30-minute podcasts explore the startup ecosystem of the South West, UK.
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Episodes
Identifying and overcoming burnout with Dr Becky Sage
May 12, 2021 11:27 - 1 hour - 110 MBThis week Nic and Nat sit down with Dr Becky Sage (Director of Acceleration at EDUCATE and former CEO of Interactive Scientific) to share their personal experiences with identifying and overcoming burnout. The symptoms of burnout can include energy depletion and exhaustion, increased negativity at work and reduced productivity. It's the result of exposure to prolonged and intense periods of stress and can go hand in hand with deeper mental health issues such as anxiety and depress...
Has society had enough of 'stuff'? (Dominic Mills from Yuup)
March 31, 2021 08:10 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBThis week Nic and Nat sit down with Dominic Mills, co-founder of Yuup - one of CookiesHQ’s own clients. Yuup is an online marketplace for Bristol-based experiences that launched in September 2020. The vision for Yuup came from a passionate belief in local communities and the role local people and enterprises have in making them thrive. Dominic had done a lot of reading around the idea of us reaching ‘peak stuff’ as a starting point - that as a society we had accumulated enough stu...
From West End theatre to a West Country incubator - the Stornaway story with Kate Dimbleby & Ru Howe
January 20, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBThis week Nic and Nat sit down with CookiesHQ's own clients for the very first time: Rupert and Kate, co-founders of Stornaway - a platform that enables creative filmmakers to plan and produce multi-linear interactive films without coding or complexity. Stornaway existed as an idea in Rupert’s head for many years, before making it to pen on paper that had been plastered all over an entire wall of their home. With a rich history in film, he was on the lookout for something to plug t...
Lockdown & Homeschooling with Timmy (age 8) and Alice (age 6) - Behind the Screens #9
January 14, 2021 09:00 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MBWe’re kicking off 2021 with a brand new episode in our Behind the Screens series. Lockdown 3.0 is here, and homeschooling is back on the agenda. So, who better for Nic and Nat to sit down with than their home co-workers - ahem, kids - Timmy (8) and Alice (6)? As Nic and Nat are married co-founders, the kids have inevitably been involved in and aware of the CookiesHQ journey through the years. Timmy and Alice share what they really think Mum and Dad do, how they rate homeschooling v...
A tale of two agencies with Atomic Smash - Behind the Screens #8
November 25, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 88.8 MBThis week Nic and Nat sit down (remotely, of course) with Piers and Dave from Atomic Smash - a Bristol-based specialist WordPress and WooCommerce studio. CookiesHQ and Atomic Smash are nearly the same age, and have had very similar journeys towards similar goals, so they dig deep into this alignment. Piers and Dave started Atomic Smash fresh out of university, where they’d met and become best friends. They share their experience of building a business with someone you have a close ...
Don't Fear the F Word with Revoco Talent
November 11, 2020 08:00 - 30 minutes - 42.5 MBThis week we have a very special episode lined up - this is a recording from 4th November when Nic & Nat were interviewed by the lovely bunch at Revoco for their ‘Don’t Fear the F Word’ webcast series. Here, ‘F’ stands for failure, and Nic & Nat talk about their biggest failure with regards to running an agency, how they overcame it and how, in the end, it probably shaped the future of CookiesHQ for the better. Revoco started ‘Don’t Fear the F Word’ as they believe failure is not...
Welcome Emily, we are CookiesHQ - Bitesize #1
September 30, 2020 07:00 - 14 minutes - 19.5 MBBack in June we welcomed Emily Mellon to the team to look after CookiesHQ's marketing. And she had a tonne of questions: how do we work? What makes CookiesHQ unique? Why do our clients love us? What’s different between a web and mobile app and what the hell is Ruby on Rails? The list goes on! Of course, the UK was still in lockdown back then, and amongst all the craziness, we never got around to answering them all. Now things are a little more normal, we’re setting time aside to de...
Keeping Bristol weird (Marty Reid from Engine Shed)
August 05, 2020 07:00 - 43 minutes - 60 MBTo mark the re-opening of Engine Shed this week we’re releasing our Tough Cookies episode featuring Marty Reid, recorded before Covid-19 restrictions were put in place. Marty had only recently taken on the role as Head of Engine Shed the time of recording, and chats through his decision to leave the corporate world behind after 10 years at Rolls Royce. His previous work and studies had taken him all around the world from Munich to Canada to Japan — but he found his focus shifting m...
Market research & customer feedback: 3 startup mistakes to avoid - Behind the Screens #7
July 29, 2020 16:37 - 41 minutes - 56.8 MBWe talk to a lot of early stage founders looking to build businesses around a tech product. In having many of these conversations over the last decade, we've learnt to look out for some early indicators as to whether someone has the right business mindset to make it work. This week, Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about some common mistakes they’ve seen early stage founders make when it comes to getting their product off the ground. The first one, and it’s a biggie, is conducting...
Beyond building apps - CookiesHQ and the community - Behind the Screens #6
July 22, 2020 07:00 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBThis week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about getting involved in and giving back to the community as entrepreneurs. They look back at everything they’ve done, successfully or otherwise, over the last decade to cement their place in the Bristol ecosystem. We have a long history of running events here at CookiesHQ. When you’re sat in front of a laptop all day, nothing can beat being in a room with and actually speaking to like minded, passionate people. We started out running th...
How setting personal goals can boost your business - Behind the Screens #5
July 08, 2020 15:06 - 27 minutes - 38 MBThe Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt organisations across the globe. Business plans, forecasts and even products aren’t looking the same as they were when the year began. Goals we set for ourselves may have looked optimistic and achievable in January, and now look near impossible come July. Could using this midpoint in the year to compile a different set of goals help people regain a sense of control that was lost to lockdown turmoil? Nic sets goals on a regular basis but lac...
Trust communication & collaboration: How we manage a remote team - Behind the Screens #4
June 24, 2020 07:00 - 36 minutes - 49.6 MBThis week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the challenges and benefits of working and managing a team remotely. Since starting CookiesHQ from a home office a decade ago, they’ve always embraced flexible remote working finding it crucial to have a separation between work and home - especially when there’s a newborn around! Nic had imagined that CookiesHQ would at some point become a fully remote organisation, with the idea that this would allow you to hire the best people you...
Organising the chaos: How we manage a flexible project scope on a fixed budget - Behind the Screens #3
June 17, 2020 07:00 - 42 minutes - 58.7 MBCookiesHQ are looking for a new Project Manager, so this week Nic and Nat sit down to talk through how we approach new projects and what skills a person might need for the role - offering an insight to the inner workings here at Cookies. From initial chats over coffee to a successful product launch and all the stages in-between, they chat through the CookiesHQ project management and client on-boarding process. They speak about the importance of communicating with clients in an open...
Our job is to make other people happy - It’s addictive - Behind the Screens #2
June 10, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MBThis week, Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the challenges of starting, running and growing a service business. Well... that was the plan, but they found themselves going over the many positive aspects of building an agency, from the opportunities you can offer to potential employees, to sharing the successes of your clients. We think that can only be a good thing! When your agency is committed to creating and maintaining long lasting relationships with clients, it’s importa...
Did we really have to think about closing Cookies because of a virus? - Behind the Screens #1
June 03, 2020 07:00 - 40 minutes - 55.7 MBThis week Nic sits down with CookiesHQ co-founder and MD Nathalie. Covid-19 has had a huge impact on businesses up and down the UK, and CookiesHQ is no different. They reflect the period of uncertainty triggered by lockdown, the impending sense of approaching a ‘doomsday situation’ and the management challenges that arise from having the whole team working remotely. They speak about their differing personal experiences of lockdown: Nathalie is a self-confessed hermit while Nic crav...
06 - The past, present and future of the Bristol entrepreneurial scene - (Nick Sturge)
May 14, 2020 07:00 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MBNic sits down with Nick Sturge to discuss his career journey from founding a company to becoming a pivotal figure in the entrepreneurial Bristol ecosystem. They discuss SETsquared, the birth of the Engine Shed and the city's tech cluster, touching on important subjects such as inclusivity, how the city needs to progress and the importance for smaller companies to have a board.
The past, present and future of the Bristol entrepreneurial scene - (Nick Sturge)
May 14, 2020 07:00 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MBNick Sturge talks us through his career, from founding a company, becoming an entrepreneur in residence at SETsquared, to eventually running the incubator and helping to form the Engine Shed in Bristol. Nick Sturge talks about how the incubator has contributed to the tech scene in Bristol and how entrepreneurs can benefit from the programme. They discuss how businesses have propelled the city of Bristol to become a key national player for new business, and touch upon the future of...
Transparency and trust: We know there's a gender pay gap but what are you going to do about it? (Zara Nanu from GapSquare)
March 05, 2020 04:00 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBWho better for Nic to sit down with ahead of International Women’s Day 2020 than Zara Nanu from GapSquare who is revolutionising how companies are measuring and ending pay gaps. With a shift currently happening in the workforce due to automation, Nic and Zara discuss how society should also be innovating the way people are paid using the technologies and data available to us. They touch on whether people should be paid for the value of their work, not the time. They talk about t...
05 - Transparency and trust: We know there's a gender pay gap but what are you going to do about it? (Zara Nanu from GapSquare)
March 05, 2020 04:00 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBWho better for Nic to sit down with ahead of International Women’s Day 2020 than Zara Nanu from GapSquare who is revolutionising how companies are measuring and ending pay gaps.
What makes a performance growth agent? (Ashley Wheeler from HdE)
February 26, 2020 16:00 - 23 minutes - 33 MBNic sits down with Ashley, co-founder and CEO of HdE: A Bristol-based performance growth agency for the tech and digital sector. They discuss what "performance growth" actually means for businesses and why Bristol has been such a great place to set up an agency. Ash shares his top tips on how early-stage businesses can attain performance growth by paying close attention to processes and data. They discuss marketing strategies for early-stage companies to attract their first follow...
04 - What makes a performance growth agent? (Ashley Wheeler from HdE)
February 26, 2020 16:00 - 23 minutes - 33 MBNic sits down with Ashley Wheeler, co-founder and CEO of HdE: A Bristol-based performance growth agency for the tech and digital sector. They discuss what "performance growth" actually means for businesses, Ash's career before setting up his own company and the tech cluster in Bristol.
How to shape innovative university students (Katie Martin from The University of Bristol)
February 19, 2020 14:00 - 27 minutes - 37.9 MBNic sits down with Katie Martin to talk about how The University of Bristol supports students to launch their own companies and chase their dream career in business. They discuss why students want to leave university to work in SMEs to enrich their skills and align their values with their first job. Katie explains how The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the university allows students to take a multi-disciplinary approach to their studies, as well as the New Enterpris...
03 - How to shape innovative university students (Katie Martin from The University of Bristol)
February 19, 2020 14:00 - 27 minutes - 37.9 MBHow is the University of Bristol helping students become innovative and entrepreneurial? Nic sits down with Katie Martin to discuss how the Bristol-based university is gearing students for innovative future careers.
Business development for startups and the Loop programme (Dave Corlett)
February 13, 2020 07:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBThis week Nic sits down with David Corlett, Business Director at Workbrands. They speak about David's career journey and the world of branding and business development. David gives his tips about how a startup can generate leads and recruit their first business development team member. Finally, Nic and David discuss the new Bristol-based Loop Programme: A growth programme aimed at tech startup and scaleup founders who want to benefit from a panel of experts. Join the conversatio...
02 - Business development for startups and the Loop programme (Dave Corlett)
February 13, 2020 07:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBThis week Nic sits down with David Corlett, Business Director at Workbrands. They speak about David's career journey and the world of branding and business development. David gives his tips about how a startup can generate leads and recruit their first business development team member. Finally, Nic and David discuss the new Bristol-based Loop Programme: A growth programme aimed at tech startup and scaleup founders who want to benefit from a panel of experts.
Bristol startup ecosystem and a new investment programme (Ben Shorrock from TechSPARK)
February 05, 2020 01:00 - 19 minutes - 26.5 MBWho better to kick off our Tough Cookies podcast than Ben Shorrock, Director of TechSPARK. Nic and Ben discuss the resources available in Bristol for startups, what it's like to live in the city and how people can connect with one another. They catch up about the new Investment Activator Programme TechSPARK has launched to help the investment eco-system and about New Year's resolutions such as switching off the phone… Join the conversation on Twitter.
01 - Bristol startup ecosystem and a new investment programme (Ben Shorrock from TechSPARK)
February 05, 2020 01:00 - 19 minutes - 26.5 MBWho better to kick off our Tough Cookies podcast than Ben Shorrock, Director of TechSPARK. Nic and Ben discuss the resources available in Bristol for startups, what it's like to live in the city and how people can connect with one another. They catch up about the new Investment Activator programme scheme TechSPARK has launched to help the investment eco-system and about New Year's resolutions such as switching off the phone…