“The importance of the team around you, having focus and discipline and the awareness of facing setbacks… it’s been great to bring the things I’ve learned from sport into the business world.” From the 2012 Olympic poster girl to Founder of FemTech brand, Jennis… today’s 40 Minute Mentor Replay episode is with none other than Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill. In this episode we talked about the ins and outs of Jess’s phenomenal sporting career and her pivot into the business world with Jennis - a women’s hormonal health platform, with the goal to help women understand what’s happening hormonally.  Tune in to the full episode to explore:  ➡️ The realistic road to success [04:32] ➡️ Jess’ introduction to sport and falling into athletics [05:52] ➡️ Dealing with pressure and making sacrifices [07:52] ➡️ How to support children without being a pushy parent [09:39] ➡️ Reliving the ups and downs of Super Saturday [13:03] ➡️ Focusing on one event at a time and taking home Gold [15:04] ➡️ Exploring the

“I was most unhappy at work when I was making the most money and the biggest amount of success.” From a successful career at Google, to the journey of making 1 billion people happy.That is the story of Mo Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer of Google X, author of Solve for Happy and Founder of One Billion Happy. It’s an episode full of wisdom, honesty and candid reflections. In today’s 40 Minute Mentor Replay, Mo shares his incredible story, including spending 25 years in tech and the devastating experience of losing his son in 2014 which set him on a completely new path. Today’s episode topics: ➡️  Heartbreak and loss, finding a new purpose in pain [04:31]➡️  The beginning of his happiness journey [06:34]➡️  Going viral with 1 Billion Happy [07:44]➡️  Committed acceptance in the face of grief [09:29]➡️  Anger lessons from Gandhi’s grandson [13:26]➡️  Mo’s

“Globally, a third of all the food we produce each year gets thrown away. Meanwhile, 800 million people go to bed hungry, who could be fed with a quarter of the food we waste in the Western world.” Did you know that roughly one third of the world's food is wasted?Meanwhile, 1 in 9 people on our planet are either starving or malnourished...This is something today’s 40 Minute Mentor is on a mission to change. In today’s replay episode, we’re joined by Tessa Clarke, the Co-Founder and CEO of the popular sharing app Olio. Tessa’s career has taken her down many paths, including consulting and publishing to MD of eCommerce at Dyson. We first shared this episode three years ago, and the message is as important as ever, if not more so. Tune in to explore:➡️ Pivoting from consulting to Startup Founder [02:30]➡️ Creating your path in consulting [05:06]➡️ Transitioning from consulting to ind

“People often say to me, sport is different from business, it's not. Business is about delivering results through people.”  In our first episode of our 40 Minute Mentor Replay series, we’re re-visiting our episode with the brilliant Sir Clive Woodward, World Cup winning England Rugby coach and former Director of Sport for the London 2012 Olympics. After spending his childhood with big dreams of becoming a professional footballer, it was playing rugby at his local club as a kid that started Sir Clive down the path to becoming the first England Coach to lift the Rugby World Cup in 2003.In today’s episode, you’ll discover: ➡️ Sir Clive’s first ever job at Xerox [02:20]➡️ The power of failures and setbacks [04:13]➡️ The realities of being the first full time professional Rugby coach [05:34]➡️ Delivering results through people, in business and in sport [07:03]➡️ The moment that trumped England's World C

That's a wrap on Series 10! And what a 12 weeks it has been. We have been joined by some incredible Founders and leaders, who have been refreshingly vulnerable, sharing the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journeys, with lots of wisdom and mentorship shared along the way. From building the Uber of volunteering, to changing the world with ethical AI, we have covered SO much in our tenth series and hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. Thank you so much for all your support along the way - today your host, James Mitra, reflects on this latest series and what we have coming up next... ⭐Enjoyed this episode?⭐️Keep up to date with all our latest episodes, by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40m

“Every business that I’ve founded has been on the brink of disaster, and one of the big lessons is that the business you started is never the business you end up with.”And just like that, we have made it to the final episode of Series 10 of 40 Minute Mentor.For our series finale, we’re joined by multi-exit Founder, Investor, board advisor and author - the brilliant Debbie Wosskow OBE. We cover a range of topics with Debbie, including her whirlwind journey as an entrepreneur - building and exiting incredible businesses, including PR and marketing consultancy Mantra (sold in 2007), Love Home Swap (sold in 2017) and AllBright (exit in 2022). All the way to today and her latest ventures - WJV LLP, a boutique investment and strategic innovation firm, championing diversity, wellness and economic empowerment, and The Better Menopause, empowering women’s performance at midli

“Paying people well and giving them lunches when they come to the office can be really good… but the best people are motivated by their growth and development.”For the final Monday episode of Series 10, we're joined by Steve Coulson, Founder and CEO of Kitt - the business that creates and manages custom HQs for the world’s most vibrant brands. Before Kitt, Steve built B2B parking platform and B2C app, JustPark, to 50,000+ locations and 5m+ drivers. Today, we discuss Steve’s entrepreneurial journey and the lessons learned along the way, including: ➡️  From investment banking to Startup life [1:12]➡️  Entrepreneurial environment & his upside down career [04:35]➡️  Leaving JustPark and Kitt’s origin story [07:50]➡️  The deafening silence of entrepreneurship [11:12]➡️  From serving startups to the biggest brands in the world [13:49] ➡️  Building momentum & early lessons learned [14:55] <

“We live on an ocean planet, and we have this strange relationship where we assume it’s all been discovered, but it actually hasn’t…” For the penultimate week of this Series of 40 Minute Mentor, we’re joined by Steve Etherton, President EMEA of DEEP - an international research and development organisation who aim to become the NASA of the ocean. Having placed Steve Etherton with DEEP, when they were still in stealth mode, we’re so excited to finally be able to welcome him to the podcast and find out about DEEP’s mission to radically advance how humankind access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. Before joining DEEP, Steve spent 12 years in the British Army and a decade growing one of Africa’s fastest growing FinTechs. Tune in to discover:➡️  Finding the balance between entrepreneurship and the rest of life [03:35] ➡️  Starting his career in the Military & leadership le

“I want to create my own space. I don't want to have to fit into someone else's whitewashed marketing… I want to create fashion that shows people like me.” In this week’s 40 Minute Mentor takeover, Samuel Tholley. Founder of Hidden Pages, is joined by Rosette Ale, Founder of Revival - a sustainable fashion label redesigning discarded clothes into contemporary designs for a cleaner and cooler planet. Samuel and Rosette know each other from university and have a really insightful and refreshing conversation in today’s episode, covering the following topics: ➡️ The start of Revival and the mind of a young entrepreneur  [01:31]➡️ Challenges of entering the fashion world [04:49]➡️ Mentorship, crowdfunding and being bold [07:34]➡️ Fostering a good mentor mentee relationship [12:06]➡️ The importance of representation and breaking down barriers [15:02]➡️ Diversifying the fa

“You’ll make mistakes but that doesn’t matter - it’s all about speed and growth, but at some point you’ll have to go and clean up the room.” Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder & CEO of BlaBlaCar - the world’s leading community-based travel app enabling 26 million active members a year to share a ride in 21 countries.BlaBlaCar’s environmentally and human-friendly mobility network saves 1.6M tons of CO2 and enables 120M human connections every year.On top of leading BlaBlaCar, Nicolas is also an investor in many mission-driven brands, such as Ankorstore, Home Exchange and Dust, to name a few, so there is plenty to unpack in today's episode, including: ➡️ Becoming a father and closing a $10 million fundraising round [4:41] ➡️ Missed opportunities and keeping up with competition [06:42] ➡️ Bringing entrepreneurship into schools [09:55] ➡️ From Physics to VC and Entrepreneurship [1

"I'm not surrendering to the peaks and troughs of social ways, acceptance and rejection. I'm standing firm in my core principles.”Today's podcast episode is a special one - it's a Hidden Pages' takeover. In this episode, Samuel Tholley, Founder of Hidden Pages is joined by Faith Locken, Founder and CEO of We Rise In - an award-winning business network with the mission to inspire, elevate and develop the careers of black professionals. Tune in to discover:➡️  We Rise In: on a mission to improve diversity at senior levels [2:46]➡️  How frustration led to Faith’s first startup [6:09]➡️  George Floyd and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter  [From 7:35]➡️  Finding mentorship in different forms [9:11]➡️  Building resilience on the lonely Founder journey [12:39]➡️  Mental barriers and supporting families in the black community [14:47]➡️  Backing yourself to work on your side hustle [19:20]</

“I think we are scared of AI in the same way that we’ve been scared of many technological inventions when we’ve been on the forefront of something big.” Today's 40 Minute Mentor is the incredibly inspiring Raj Kaur Khaira, Co-Founder and COO of AutogenAI, a business that is leveraging large language models and text generating AI to combat the expensive business problem of writing and answering bids, tenders and proposals.Raj is also an acclaimed author, lawyer and campaigner and Founder of the world’s first global directory of South Asian therapists. Over her career so far, she has worked for over 20 Startups, so there is loads to unpack in today’s very refreshing and candid conversation. Tune in to discover: ➡️ Being an overachiever and reframing failure [05:12] ➡️ Why fundraising is not a success signal [07:16] ➡️ Dealing with rejections and building resilience [12:31] ➡️ Leaving Accenture to pursue law

“What the murder of George Floyd taught me is that if you don't spend time changing how the people within the system think, you'll never fundamentally change the system.”To recognise and celebrate this year’s Black History Month, we are kicking off a special three-part series, where we once again partner up with Samuel Tholley, Founder of Hidden Pages. If you're a loyal 40 Minute Mentor listener, you will have come across Samuel already and there will be plenty more from him over the next three weeks. Before his podcast takeover next week, we wanted to revisit one of the most inspiring episodes we have recorded to date, with the brilliant Baroness Oona King. Oona was the second black woman elected into British Parliament, and is currently the VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Snap Inc.Following some highlight snippets from her 40 Minute Mentor episode, you’ll also hear some refle

“Immigrants start businesses that add to the local economy and we are very excited to be a growth engine for that.”Today's 40 Minute Mentor is the brilliant Nina Mohanty, Co-Founder of Bloom Money, a FinTech bringing familiar financial services to migrant communities. Nina created Bloom Money based on her own lived experiences, as a child of immigrants and having relocated to multiple countries herself. Today, we’ll discover what led her to entrepreneurship, riding the ups and downs of an early-stage startup and her very candid insights into her own fundraising experience: ➡️ Her struggle with hustle porn and hustle culture [06:04] ➡️ Growing up in Silicon Valley and starting her career in FinTech [08:37] ➡️ Bloom Money’s origin story [15:50] ➡️ Fixating on the losses and under-celebrating the wins [20:02] ➡️ The recipe for burnout, a lesson in Founder wellbeing [22:00] ➡️ The fut

“It doesn't matter where you come from or what school you went to, or whether you went to university. There are  Founders out there, building incredible businesses, no matter what their backgrounds.”In celebration of International Podcast Day, (and our 200th podcast episode!) JBM Founder , James Mitra, and Head of Marketing and 40 Minute Mentor Producer, Hannah Urbanek, chat all things 40 Minute Mentor… From the early days of building the podcast, to shining a light on the biggest lessons along the way and how podcasting has become a fundamental part of our business. Tune in to unravel the ins and outs of business podcasting, including:➡️ Breaking the traditional industry rules, why 40 Minute Mentor was born [00:52] ➡️ Providing an ‘access all areas’ to mentorship from incredible Entrepreneurs [03:06]➡️ Reflecting on our podcast growth [04:15]➡️ From ad-h

“Becoming financially free but not being a Unicorn, is still success.”Today's 40 Minute Mentor is Nick Telson, exited Founder of DesignMyNight, Co-Founder of Trumpet, Angel Investor and Podcast Host of the popular Pitch Deck show. With so many hats to wear, we loved diving into Nick’s story and career from starting at L’Oreal to scratching that entrepreneurial itch by building DesignMyNight to 100+ employees with minimal angel funding and finally returning to the Founder seat to disrupt B2B sales. There is SO much to unpack from Nick's impressive story, from his views on failures to what it really feels like to exit and start again, and so much more: ➡️ Having ‘failure moments’ and the glorification of entrepreneurship [02:37] ➡️ Growing up with a creative brain and unconventional paths [03:50] ➡️ The idea of DesignMyNight from the streets of NYC [06:46] ➡️ From side hustle to exit [10:55] ➡️ More about

“Never underestimate the power of a rant, if you’re going to do something about it.”In today’s bite-sized 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by fellow podcaster and good friend of JBM, Amardeep Parmar, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of BAE HQ. Amardeep has been on an incredible journey - from being a Tech consultant in 2020, to setting a New Year’s resolution which made him the second fastest writer to gain 50,000 followers on Medium.com. Now, he’s inspiring, connecting and guiding British Asian Entrepreneurs with BAE HQ. Today, Amardeep shared more about his journey and the crucial lessons he has learned along the way, including: ➡️ His traditional journey and accidental entrepreneurship [00:55] ➡️ Questioning your identity as a Founder [04:51] ➡️ A New Year’s resolution turned career [06:26] ➡️ Advice for aspiring writers [08:32] ➡️ How a rant with a friend paved the foundations

"You can have the best idea in the world with a bad team and you get nowhere, and you can have a really good team with a bad idea and you’ll probably make it into a good idea.” Doctor to Startup Founder... That’s not something we get to say a lot, so buckle in for today's episode! This week’s 40 Minute Mentor is Dr Sonia Szamocki, Founder and CEO of 32Co, the HealthTech revolutionising access to specialised healthcare services, by connecting general clinicians with a network of specialists. Sonia's very impressive journey has taken her from Oxford to a career as a clinician to jumping into the Founder seat, building the future of collaborative healthcare. She has grown 32Co 5x since April last year, and has recently secured £2.36 million in seed funding, led by Balderton Capital.Tune in to today's chat, to find out: ➡️ Podcast recommendation: Black Women Working [00:13] ➡️ Why

"When you’re aligned on vision, values and strategic direction, you can achieve anything…”In this week’s bite-sized startup mentorship episode, we’re joined by Charlene Chen, JBM Board Advisor, COO of AZA Finance and Co-Founder of Operations Nation. Charlene is not only a brilliant COO, but also happens to be our very first 40 Minute Mentor guest, back when we started the podcast in 2019. In today’s episode, you’ll learn more about: ➡️ Charlene’s squiggly career to COO [01:06] ➡️ A full overview of the COO role [03:27] ➡️ The evolution and expansion of the COO role [07:05] ➡️ The essential skills any COO needs [09:26] ➡️ Making the leap from Head of Ops to COO [14:04] ➡️ Common challenges COOs face [16:16] ➡️ Building effective relationships across the C-Suite [22:13] ➡️ Resources any aspiring COO should check out [26:20]  ⛳ Helpful links:</stron

"There's some horrible sacrifices in the first few years to get it to a place where it's got to survive..."Today's 40 Minute Mentor epitomises what it means to be Tech for Good. We’re joined by Sanjay Lobo MBE, the Founder & CEO of OnHand - the all-in-one tool to engage your team in volunteering and environmental action. Dubbed the ‘Uber of volunteering’, OnHand lets employees learn and take action on the issues that matter. You may even recognise Sanjay from his recent appearance on BBC's Dragons’ Den, where he successfully secured investment from FOUR dragons. Here’s what we talk about in today’s episode:➡️ Finding his path to entrepreneurship [04:02]➡️ Moving from law into tech [06:58]➡️ How Parkinson's disease became Chapter 1 of the OnHand story [11:05]➡️ Engaging employees in volunteering and environmental action [13:45]➡️ The significance of a great team in a scaling busi

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains topics of mental health and suicide attempts, that may be harmful or traumatising to some audiences. If you’re affected by any of the topics discussed, please make sure you reach out to the helplines listed below. ⚠️ Suicide is a major public health problem, with far-reaching social, emotional and economic consequences. According to the World Health Organisation, there are currently more than 700,000 suicides per year worldwide. Following yesterday’s World Suicide Prevention Day and to play our part in breaking the perceived taboo of speaking about suicide, we’re releasing this special episode with clips from our conversation with Clarke Carlisle. Clarke is a former professional footballer, mental health advocate and ambassador for the mental health charity Mind. He has had an illustrious football career, having played for a number of top clubs, including Leeds United, Watford and Bu

“Everything I have done has centred around teams and individuals, and how do you get the most out of them…” Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is the brilliant Catherine Lenson, Angel Investor, Founder, Venture Partner at LocalGlobe and CEO of Andante Advisory. Catherine has had a hugely successful career, having spent her formative years at UBS and becoming the first female Managing Partner at SoftBank. Today, Catherine is the Founder and CEO of Andante Advisory, a boutique consultancy firm which operates as a trusted partner to senior executives and leading organisations on Culture, People and Purpose. She is also a Venture Partner at LocalGlobe, an angel investor in early-stage tech companies across the UK, US and Israel, and is the UK’s first Fair Play facilitator. Tune in to today’s episode to discover: ➡️ Reliving her days when a rogue trader almost brought down UBS [03:32] ➡️ The

“The most impactful piece of advice I got early on in my career was - You need to grow where you're planted.” In today’s bite-sized 40 Minute Mentor episode, we take a deep dive into a core component of any successful startup - the Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy.To guide us through the essential components of building and executing a GTM strategy, we’re joined by Tarun Gidoomal. Tarun has led some of Europe’s most notable tech Scaleups, including Next Jump, where he led its international expansion to reach £3bn GMV, and more recently, at Ankorstore, where as UK GM he established its footprint in the UK as it became one of Europe’s fastest growing tech unicorns.  Today, Tarun shares more about: ➡️ His upbringing and career to date [01:30] ➡️ The fundamentals of a GTM Strategy [03:40] ➡️ Examples of successful GTM Strategies and mistakes made [06:38] ➡️ Getting buy-in across

"Founders are made to look like superheroes. They get up at 4am, meditate, take ice baths, work 100 hours a week… I think it's a super unhealthy culture."Today's 40 Minute Mentor shines a light on the realities of Founder life, and his passion for reframing how the world sees and perceives credit. We are excited to welcome Tim Chong, Co-Founder and CEO of Yonder, to the podcast. Yonder is on a mission to build a credit experience that empowers young people to live their best lives and build responsible spending habits, at the same time. Tune in to today’s episode to discover: ➡️ The unhealthy culture surrounding Founder life [03:53] ➡️ Growing up around computers and the influence on his tech journey [05:25] ➡️ Exploring the world and creating high impact as a consultant [07:33] ➡️ Pivoting from consultant to Founder [10:17] ➡️ How a revolutionised economy in Kenya started the story of Y

“The traditional definition (of a Generalist) has been a ‘Jack of all trades’, which often comes with a negative connotation.”In today’s bite-sized 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Milly Tamati to explore the rise of the Generalist. Milly is not only a Generalist, but a Community builder and Founder of Generalist World. Before leaning into all things Generalist, Milly built businesses all over the world, including co-owning a hostel in Thailand, a wine tour in Australia and an illustration agency in the UK. Today, we explore: ➡️ The making of her Generalist skill set  [01:33] ➡️ Defining what a Generalist really is [03:53] ➡️ Specialists vs Generalists [05:34] ➡️ Ending the “Jack of all trades” narrative [08:15] ➡️ Framing your Generalist career to employers [09:47] ➡️ The Generalist World community [13:05] ➡️ Quality over quantity in community building [15:43]  <

“We had one month to refinance the business, or lose our home….”Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Dimple Patel, exited Founder, Advisor and CEO of Trouva - the leading global marketplace for independent boutiques. With roots at Goldman Sachs, Dimple’s story is one of endless resilience, having navigated recessions, a major re-brand that almost cost her her home, a global pandemic and multiple acquisitions, including Made.com’s collapse. In today’s episode, we dive into all of the above, plus: ➡️ Growing up on a Council Estate [05:00] ➡️ Joining Goldman Sachs during a recession and amid mass layoffs [07:12] ➡️ Exploring entrepreneurship as a first-time Founder in a recession [09:38] ➡️ Going from side hustle to full-time Founder [11:47] ➡️ Spotting burnout and the importance of routine rest [14:01] ➡️ Freedom vs Security as a first-time Founder [15:00] ➡️ The decision that almost led to the loss o

“If you don't work well with other teams, everyone else's problem will become a product problem.”In today's episode, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of Product… To do so, we’re joined by Product legend, James Routledge, VP of Product at Converge. James has tons of experience, including helping a NASDAQ business go from 100 million to $250 million revenues and working with 400 person Series B businesses. The role of the CPO has evolved significantly over the last few years, so we loved getting a first-hand account of the past, present and future of Product roles, including: ➡️ His own impressive career in Product [01:08] ➡️ The top 3 skills great Product people need [02:59] ➡️ Scope and responsibilities in your product journey [05:42] ➡️ The power of mentorship in Product roles [08:54] ➡️ The evolution of the CPO and putting customers first [12:28] ➡️ Working cross-functionally as a

“So many people are suffering from a lack of knowing who they are and what their worth is, so they downplay and restrict it to a job role.”Welcome back to 40 Minute Mentor, and a brand new series… Kicking off Series 10, we’re joined by one of the most requested guests on the podcast - the brilliant Andy Ayim, MBE. You may have come across Andy through his DE&I work in tech, or his angel investing training programs at the Angel Investing School, which empowered over 350 new angels. Andy has also invested in over 17 Startups himself, including some of which have been featured on this podcast, such as Patch and Unplugged. In today’s episode, we unpack his own journey to entrepreneurship and demystify angel investing once and for all: ➡️ Shaking off imposter syndrome and backing yourself [04:09] ➡️ How growing up in a multicultural melting pot shaped his path [06:34] ➡️ His

"One doesn't leave the best job in the world for anything less than an opportunity that can genuinely, if we're lucky, save the planet." As we’re kicking off Series 10, we’re also introducing our Monday Startup spotlight series. In our first instalment, we’re joined by a familiar face - Marta Krupinska, Co-Founder and CEO of carbon removal startup, CUR8. Marta has previously come on the podcast, in Series 7, when we talked about her Founder journey and her role with Google for Startups - find a link to the episode below. Since then, Marta has jumped back into the Founder seat and chats to us about: ➡️ The opportunity of a lifetime that made her step down from Google for Startups [01:07] ➡️ Returning to the world of entrepreneurship and the privilege it holds [05:40] ➡️ Building with the scientific community [07:45] ➡️ Fundraising as an experienced entrepreneur [10:21] ➡️ Building the future of carbon

Successes, mistakes and lessons learned…We cover all of the above and more in our BRAND NEW series of 40 Minute Mentor…coming to a set of headphones near you, next week!Inspiring conversations with category-defining Founders, CxOs and Investors, who have been through it all…the good, the bad and the in between, along the way.Resilience. Angel Investing. Burnout. Saving the planet. Plus, SO much more....Get a little taster of what's to come this series, in today's trailer.Series 10, we are ready.....are you?🌟 Make sure you hit the 'subscribe' button, to be the first to know about Episode 1 launching next week!