Best hx & Fascinate Productions Podcasts (2024)

1
4 simple rules for being a good dad, Ross Shiel - Infogrid, Twitter and Stride 31:52

2y ago31:52

31:52

Energy vs time management, internal psychological conflicts and the 4 rules to being a dad are just a few of this episode’s highlights. Amrit is joined by Ross Shiel - currently SVP of Global Revenue at Infogrid, he formerly worked at Twitter and Stride. Keep up to date with everything Startup Dads related on Twitter - https://twitter.com/startupda…

1
Leading through Crisis: Jacob Waern, eduMe 32:00

2y ago32:00

32:00

After a successful career in digital media, Jacob Waern became the CEO and founder of eduMe, a groundbreaking platform offering mobile training for desk-less workforces. Tune in to listen to Jacob’s fascinating takes on the importance of staying present with your team and family, the transition from corporate CEO to startup founder and how quick de…

1
Develop the mental grit to prosper in crypto, business & life: Piers Ridyard, RDX Works 32:56

2y ago32:56

32:56

“One of the biggest differentials in success is the combination of curiosity and mental toughness.” Welcome Piers Ridyard; the first crypto guest on Startup Dads. In today’s chat with Amrit, Piers talks about the importance of honouring your commitments as a CEO and a dad, the weight of your words and the power of separating your ideas from yoursel…

1
Embrace and learn from failure: Mike Quinn, Boost Technology 30:13

2y ago30:13

30:13

“I genuinely believe that failure can become a superpower". Prior to founding Boost Technology, Mike was a co-founder and CEO of Zoona, one of Africa's earliest fintechs, having processed $2.5 billion of transactions, generated $26 million in income for 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs across Zambia and Malawi, and raised $35 million in investment. He is …

1
Discover happiness as an entrepreneur: Reshma Sohoni, SeedCamp 32:48

2y ago32:48

32:48

“The definition of happiness is reality exceeding expectations.” A lover of numbers and people, Reshma Sohoni is continuously excited to see hard work and game changing connections come together. Her team helps push early stage founders through those difficult early days into being household names. In today’s chat with Amrit, Reshma talks about giv…

1
SUD selects: Lessons learned from life and leaders - Dan Murray-Serter, Heights 33:49

2+ y ago33:49

33:49

A guest that needs no introduction, Dan Murray-Serter! You may know him as host of Secret Leaders, the UK’s #1 Business Podcast, and co-founder of wellness company Heights. Alongside this he’s an angel investor, and he helps other founders succeed through his startup network Foundrs. In this episode, Dan explains how he discovered that feeding his …

1
Design your support systems to operate at the highest level: Polly McMaster, The Fold 33:52

2+ y ago33:52

33:52

“Why am I so driven and ambitious? It’s because I’m in a job that I really love doing and I’ve got a big ambition for it.” Operating as a bellwether for motivation and business, Polly McMaster exhibits a refreshing hunger for novelty and diversity while displaying a relentless dedication to offering options to women that ensure confidence and gravi…

1
Being a Jedi Master to your Padawan (employees): Jimmy Williams, Urban Jungle 29:26

2+ y ago29:26

29:26

“You think a lot about what happens if it goes badly, but no one tells you about what happens if it goes well.” Self-professed workaholic, Jimmy Williams has set out to build a team capable of turning the insurance industry on its head. He leads on strategy, people and investor relations, but loves rolling his sleeves up and diving into the busines…

1
Build a culture of transparency & openness: Ruth Handcock, Octopus Investments 31:57

2+ y ago31:57

31:57

“You build much better relationships with people if you’re able to show a bit of vulnerability” . Proud to make a positive difference to the world we live in, Ruth Handcock is passionate about reducing the stress that people feel managing their finances by harnessing technology to improve access to financial services and financial advice. In today’…

1
The juggling act of work-life balance: Sam Gordon & Sophie Eden, Gordon & Eden 27:18

2+ y ago27:18

27:18

“We have really good quality time at the end of the day - that works for us as a family.” In today’s chat with Amrit, Sam and Sophie talk about how to make family time, romantic notions versus practical reality, juggling glass balls and plastic balls and creating a business in the image of your clients. Sam Gordon and Sophie Eden are the co-founder…

1
Championing Startup culture: Gerard Grech, Tech Nation 33:25

2+ y ago33:25

33:25

“There's going to be an explosion of creativity now that the tools are available, the capital is increasingly available in various ways and I just call that the entrepreneurial age.” Globetrotter Gerard Grech, has been passionate about conceiving and building impactful products and services throughout his career. In this chat with Amrit, Gerard tal…

1
SUD selects: Tessa Clarke, OLIO: Setting a good example 34:46

2+ y ago34:46

34:46

Can you still succeed when profit isn’t your primary motivation? Today’s guest shows us that you can. In this episode she tells us how staying true to your purpose can do a whole lot of good for your bottom line, and in her case - a whole lot of good for the world. Tessa is the founder of Olio: the app that connects neighbours with each other and w…

1
SUD selects: Fred Destin, Stride VC: Why do startups win? 44:32

2+ y ago44:32

44:32

Fred Destin is the founder of Stride.VC, a London-based seed-stage tech fund that is made up of a team of dedicated venture investors backing small teams of passionate entrepreneurs. He was also the lead investor and board member for companies such as Cazoo, Zoopla, Deliveroo, Pillpack, Integral Ads, Secret Escapes and others. His portfolio has a t…

1
SUD selects: Matt Reynolds, Barbell Logic: Voluntary hardship 49:17

2+ y ago49:17

49:17

Matt Reynolds is a founder, strength coach and family man. In this episode, Matt explains how it all gets done...with time left over at the end of the day. Amrit and Matt explore how methods, such as using the pomodoro technique for productivity and the 'black box' approach to output, can be applied just as successfully to homeschooling your kids a…

1
SUD selects: Rob Walling, Tiny Seed: Plotting your own path 29:12

2+ y ago29:12

29:12

Rob Walling is a serial entrepreneur and VC who’s founded multiple companies, runs an accelerator, and keeps coming back for more. In this episode, Amrit asks - why go through such a testing process of starting a company from scratch time and time again? Well, he’s also father to three kids, so is clearly comfortable with adapting to new challenges…

1
SUD selects: Rachel Carrell, Koru Kids: Powerful lessons in business and childcare 24:32

2+ y ago24:32

24:32

Welcoming our first startup mum this week… Rachel Carrell! Rachel is the founder and CEO of Koru Kids, a childcare tech startup. It was only when Rachel had her first baby that she realised how limited childcare options were in London. The idea for Koru Kids was born out of her frustrations! In this episode, Rachel and Amrit examine the many parall…

1
SUD selects: Ben Hay, Collective Benefits: You can’t do it all on your own! 29:33

2+ y ago29:33

29:33

Ben Hay leads operations at Collective Benefits, a rapidly-growing insurtech on a mission to make independent work, work for everyone. It’s a noble path, and one that found Ben rather than the other way round! In his chat with Amrit, Ben discusses the importance of generosity, building a great network and not being afraid to reach out for help. Kee…

1
Scale your routines alongside your Startup, over communicate on expectations, & definitions of success for a founder with children: Joshua Wöhle, Mindstone 31:35

2+ y ago31:35

31:35

"People don't rise to the level of their ambitions, they fall to the level of their routines." Self confessed routine obsessive Josh Wöhle has been optimising his routine for the past decade, to make the biggest impact possible on the world whilst maintaining a happy life. In this chat with Amrit, Joshua explains how founders rarely scale as fast a…

1
They wouldn't invest in a pregnant founder... 29:41

2+ y ago29:41

29:41

Anastasia Lang is the CEO and founder of Creative X, a successful marketing analytics company born out of the e-commerce platform Hatch.co. Tune in to listen to Anastasia’s rich insights on moving between discovery, comfort and danger zones in the Startup journey, the need for flexibility of priorities between family life and business on a day-to-d…

1
Creating a leveraged version of yourself. With Paul Wickers of Huggg 33:25

2+ y ago33:25

33:25

Paul Wickers is the founder and CEO of Huggg, a b2b gifting startup that has made it easy for you to reward employees, customers and clients with gifts they’ll love. He’s also a dad to 4 kids. Tune in about what it means to create a leveraged version of yourself through your startup and the vulnerability that comes with, learning to embrace lack of…

1
Choosing long term priorities as an entrepreneur. Saul Klein, Localglobe 31:04

2+ y ago31:04

31:04

Father of three Saul Klein guides us through his journey in the world of entrepreneurship as an investor in Index Ventures, a VP at Skype and Co-Founder of venture capital firm Localglobe. He chats with Amrit about the importance of defining long term priorities, the high value of emotional soft-skills, and the entrepreneurial gene. Keep up to date…

1
Jonathan Wolf, Zoe: Set intensions, control notifications, & feed your microbiome 27:58

2+ y ago27:58

27:58

Jonathan Wolf is the founder of Zoe, a health-tech start up that uses science and artificial intelligence to help people feel healthier and lose weight without dieting. Earlier in his career, he was also chief product officer at Criteo - helping to transform it from a 30 person startup to a Nasdaq listed company, bringing in over 1 billion dollars …

1
Max Landry, Peppy: Mission driven recruitment 31:03

2+ y ago31:03

31:03

Max Landry is an experienced serial founder, having launched independent news source the Conversation, office supplies provider Paperstone, and his current company Peppy - a company that supports people through life and family transitions, including having a baby. Tune in to find out some invaluable tips on hiring into Startups, how to reframe stre…

1
Liam Martin, Time Doctor: The rise of remote working 39:00

2+ y ago39:00

39:00

Today’s guest founded time doctor, an application to help remote businesses track and manage their time. It’s a business that found a silver lining in the pandemic, with the rise of remote work becoming truly mainstream. In this chat with Amrit, they discuss synchronous vs asynchronous management, how the future of work could drive the future of ed…

1
Aron Gelbard, Bloom and Wild: Act like an owner 26:02

2+ y ago26:02

26:02

Aron Gelbard is the CEO of Bloom and Wild, a pioneer in the world of flower delivery. In this chat with Amrit they discuss leverage, ambition vs risk, different phases of focus throughout the life of a business and Aarons journey as a founder. Keep up to date with everything Startup Dads related on Twitter - https://twitter.com/startupdadspod/ This…

1
Marvin Liao, 500 Startups & Yahoo: Don't be a businessman, be a business, man 34:42

2+ y ago34:42

34:42

Today’s guest was a partner at 500 Startups, investing in 400+ companies during his time there. Before this he was an executive at Yahoo, building teams in sales and marketing, as well working in his own Startups. As you’ll hear today, Marvin has a gift for distilling big ideas and vast swathes of information into its first principles. This ability…

1
Toby Cubitt, Phasecraft: Paternity leave 26:57

2+ y ago26:57

26:57

Have you thought much about paternity leave? Most of us just accept the status quo, but today’s guest has other ideas. Toby Cubitt is a father, academic and the founder of Phasecraft: a cutting edge quantum computing company. Toby has also put down a lot of his ideas about paternity leave online - the current state of affairs, what other countries …

1
Daniel Hegarty, Habito: Leading with empathy 28:03

2+ y ago28:03

28:03

Today’s guest really has led a life. Having secured a record deal for his band he dropped out of school at 16, moved to LA and went on to become a writer and session musician for many well known international artists. After returning home to the UK without much of a plan, Dan Hegarty landed on his feet, but took quite a pivot. He became one of the …

1
Chris Howard, The Rattle: Early-stage dad life 35:01

2+ y ago35:01

35:01

Empowering artists and musicians to approach their work like an early stage startup, is a lot of how today's guest spends his time running The Rattle. Speaking with Amrit just days before the arrival of baby number two, Chris Howard paints a markedly honest picture of the struggles faced by a new father, already nurturing one high maintenance entit…

1
James Field, LabGenius: Framing success & rationalising risk 29:43

2+ y ago29:43

29:43

James Field’s decision to enter the Startup world is somewhat at odds with many of the entrepreneurs who feature on this show. James weighed up the risk of continuing in academia with starting his own business, and determined that overall, Startup life was the less risky move of the two! LabGenius was born: a deep-tech startup that uses AI to disco…

1
Michael Collett & Matt Blom, Kin: Socially responsible social media 30:00

2+ y ago30:00

30:00

Today’s guests founded an app that gives your family its own secure ‘personal media’ space where you can connect with each other today, share memories from yesterday, and even leave messages for tomorrow. All free of advertising and without your data ever being up for sale. They’re on a mission to shake up a world dominated by unicorns and question…

1
Jeff Solomon, Markup Hero: There's no 'A' in entrepreneurship 33:49

2+ y ago33:49

33:49

Jeff Solomon a startup entrepreneur and 5x founder from L.A. He’s founded a number of Startups of varying sizes one of which he sold for $128m in 2017. Jeff is passionate about sharing his experiences with young people, and now teaches at the very high school he attended growing up, where he’s developed a curriculum for entrepreneurship. This episo…

1
Ashleigh Cornelius, Localise: Championing small businesses 28:59

2+ y ago28:59

28:59

Today's guest started his career in the cut-throat world of investment banking, but long held a startup idea close to his chest on how to save the high street. However, Ashleigh Cornelius and his wife went through an emotionally draining 7 year long IVF journey to have their first daughter, Amelie, so his startup idea had to wait. After his second …

1
Andrew Lynch, Huckletree: Developing a calloused mind 29:48

2+ y ago29:48

29:48

Today’s guest founded the fast growing coworking community Huckletree - spaces to help businesses grow, collaborate and pioneer new ideas for the future. Being a dad, alongside running a business like this, you wouldn't think there’d be time left for much else. Well, you’d be wrong on this occasion. Andrew spends what time he has left running ultra…

1
Rosemary Francis, Ellexus: Being the only woman in the room 34:09

2+ y ago34:09

34:09

After a PHD in computer architecture at Cambridge, followed by a move into the semiconductor industry, Rosemary Francis found herself wanting more. So, she set out on her own to fix the problems she’d encountered during her career. Ellexus was born, creating tools for I/O diagnostics, optimization, and dependency detection for high-performance comp…

1
Ben Hardyment, Gameroo & Webflix: Taking on the big boys 32:37

3y ago32:37

32:37

Today’s guest started out in entrepreneurship as (in his own words) “a professional internet researcher, much like Hugh Grant in About a Boy". After spotting a nascent internet company building traction across the pond, Ben decided to start his own version in the UK: Webflix. Why? Because how hard can it be? This episode is all about hustle! Ben ta…

1
David Grimm, UCL Tech Fund: Empathy - experiences from both sides of the table 31:42

3y ago31:42

31:42

David Grimm’s move into the world of entrepreneurship was highly unconventional. A chance meeting in China during his gap year led him to find out about the problems faced by dairy farmers, and years later, he quit his job in consultancy to form a solution. A bold move, and one that ultimately didn’t pan out due to government regulation. However, t…

1
Leila Zegna, Kindred Capital: Codified reputation and the future of parental leave 39:24

3y ago39:24

39:24

Leila Zegna spent her early career helping other founders achieve success - notably the founders of Innocent Drinks, Endeavor, Plum District, and DNA Sequencing company GenapSys. Now she runs Kindred - her groundbreaking new model for Venture Capital, where each founder in the portfolio becomes a co-owner of the fund! In this chat with Amrit, she d…

1
Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi: Accessible computing for all 36:09

3y ago36:09

36:09

Today’s guest needs very little introduction - he’s the CEO and Founder of Raspberry Pi; a charity that puts the power of computing and digital making into the hands of people all over the world. Eben talks with Amrit about his transition from engineer to the founder of a truly groundbreaking company, how to deal with psychopaths (they make up 10% …

1
Paul Kemp-Robertson, Contagious: Choosing brand bravery 29:00

3y ago29:00

29:00

Paul Kemp-Robertson left a career as an ad man to launch Contagious; a publication that shares creative ideas to help agencies and brands innovate. In this chat with Amrit, he talks about launching in the incubation of a larger company to mitigate some risk, how his company evolved to offer consultancy to meet clients needs, the ways advertising ca…

1
Wil Schroter, Startups.com: Staying ahead of the curve 33:55

3y ago33:55

33:55

This is an episode absolutely brimming with knowledge bombs! Wil Schroter is the founder of Startups.com: a company that’s helped founders raise over half a billion dollars of capital, and in doing so he’s observed the the challenges that pop up for almost every founder. Wil regales stories from founding multiple companies, of overcoming imposter s…

1
Brett Wigdorts OBE, Tiney: Solving your own problem - childcare! 17:36

3y ago17:36

17:36

Today’s guest first founded charity Teach First, in an effort to break the link between low family income and poor educational attainment. He now heads up tiney, on a mission to make the highest quality child care accessible to more families, and empower a generation of micro-entrepreneurs to deliver amazing care from their own homes. In this chat …

1
Scott Hawskworth: SOAR Pay & the CBD Guide: Running a side hustle 30:05

3y ago30:05

30:05

Today’s guest is a talented multitasker, and the first ‘side-hustler’ to feature on Startup Dads. Alongside heading up communications at digital payments platform Soarpay and presenting their podcast, Scott runs the CBD guide using his podcasting skills. In this chat with Amrit, they discuss the value of growing an audience, whatever business you'r…

1
Tessa Clarke, OLIO: Setting a good example 34:14

3y ago34:14

34:14

Can you still succeed when profit isn’t your primary motivation? Today’s guest shows us that you can. In this episode she tells us how staying true to your purpose can do a whole lot of good for your bottom line, and in her case - a whole lot of good for the world. Tessa is the founder of Olio: the app that connects neighbours with each other and w…

1
Tom Hooper, Third Space Learning: Starting up in a brand new market 34:11

3y ago34:11

34:11

It can be a daunting prospect starting a new business in an industry where you have no previous experience - but that’s exactly what today’s guest did. Tom Hooper, Founder of Third Space Learning lays out the pros and cons of making the jump, in his case, from finance to the education sector, and provides some golden insights for anyone thinking of…

1
Leo Ringer, Form Ventures: Bridging 2 different worlds 25:53

3y ago25:53

25:53

Today’s guest set out to create a VC firm to support cash strapped, time poor founders in so much more than just funding. Leo Ringer’s expertise is in navigating the world of regulation - to enable companies within his portfolio to jump through the hoops of working regulated markets without the holdups. In this conversation with Amrit, they discuss…

1
Claire Cockerton, Plexal/Innovate Finance/ENTIQ: The ‘i’ word 29:43

3y ago29:43

29:43

Our guest today took an unconventional route on her way entrepreneurial journey: Building and exiting a landscaping business at a young age, before heading off to business school. Claire Cockerton really is a student of the school of hard knocks! A specialist in designing, building and operating innovation centres, as well as advising companies on …

1
Mike Townsend, Otter Labs: Knowing when to pivot 38:24

3y ago38:24

38:24

There isn’t a part of the startup ecosystem that Mike Townsend hasn’t touched. As well as being an investor and mentor in the startup space, he’s an experienced founder, dipping his toe in a range of industries. Since founding ZingCheckout in 2012, he’s gone on to grow HomeHero, a marketplace for families to hire in-home care for seniors, Redeem, a…

1
Youssef Darwich, Hapi: Investing in our children 27:22

3y ago27:22

27:22

Youssef Darwich co-founded Hapi, a business that helps parents achieve financial security for their children. Before becoming a startup founder he led the product efforts for Octopus Wealth and was the second employee at Tide - the leading SME challenger bank. When he’s not solving problems in the financial services, he can be found performing rend…

1
Simon Hay, Firefly: Starting Early 24:27

3y ago24:27

24:27

Simon Hay started Firefly with a school friend at age 15, beating Mark Zuckerberg in the age stakes! He designed the Firefly learning software to try and solve his own frustrations as a student. What started as revision procrastination has since grown to a global business helping students in 35 countries learn from home. He is also dad to Angus and…

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