Episode #409 - Building relationships and effective storytelling are vital for success - with Joe Seddon
Release Date: 09/02/2024
Episode #643: Trust Isn’t a Feeling. It’s a KPI - with Rob McKenna
ScaleUp Radio
What if one of the biggest constraints on your ability to scale is something you’re not measuring at all? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Rob McKenna for a fascinating discussion about trust: how to measure it, why founders frequently misjudge it, and why building trust isn’t about creating a perfect culture. Rob introduces the WiLD Trust Index, a framework designed to turn trust from something intangible into something leaders can measure, understand and deliberately improve. For founders, there’s a particularly important message here. Delegation and...
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Episode #642: Building to Sell, Starting Again and Where AI Changes Business Value - with Gavin Bell
ScaleUp Radio
What would you do differently if you knew from day one that somebody else would eventually need to run your business? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I’m joined by Gavin Bell, entrepreneur and founder of Yatta, the paid media agency he deliberately built to be sellable before its acquisition by Velstar in 2024. Gavin’s story is particularly interesting because selling Yatta wasn’t something that simply happened after years of building the agency. It influenced how he designed the business from the outset. Inspired by Built to Sell, Gavin moved away from building a business around his...
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Episode #641: From Founder Led to Systems Led: Building a Business That Can Scale Without You - with Jake Young
ScaleUp Radio
What makes a business genuinely valuable? For many founders the answer isn't more customers, more turnover or even more profit. It's creating a business that can thrive without depending on them every single day. In this episode Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur, investor and business strategist Jake Young to explore why founder dependency is one of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth and successful exits. Jake shares the frameworks he uses with businesses ranging from ambitious SMEs through to organisations preparing for institutional investment and IPOs. From defining your end...
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Episode #640: Why smart leaders still make bad strategic decisions - with David Mansfield
ScaleUp Radio
Making decisions as a founder or leader is rarely about having perfect information. In this episode, Kevin Brent is joined by David Mansfield, strategist, board adviser and researcher into strategic decision making, to explore why so many intelligent leadership teams still make poor strategic choices and what business owners can do to dramatically improve the quality of their decisions. Drawing on doctoral research and decades of board experience, David explains why the process behind a decision matters far more than simply reaching an answer. He shares practical techniques that help leaders...
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Episode#639: Designing organisations that scale by putting people first - with Peter Rimmer
ScaleUp Radio
Growing a business isn't just about strategy, systems or structure. As organisations grow, founders often discover that the biggest obstacle isn't the market. It's themselves. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Peter Rimmer, founder of Tusk Consulting, to explore why scaling successfully requires founders to evolve alongside their businesses. Peter shares why organisation design should start with people rather than process, how founders can overcome the fear of letting go, and why creating a culture where both hiring and leaving are positive experiences is essential for...
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Episode #638: ScaleUp Club - Seeds, Nets and Spears: Building Predictable Lead Generation
ScaleUp Radio
Growing a business beyond founder-led sales is one of the biggest challenges many SMEs face. In this special ScaleUp Club edition of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined once again by returning guest Dhanushka Tennakoon from RE24 for an interactive Q&A session exploring one of the biggest questions facing growing businesses: How do you create a predictable flow of new opportunities instead of relying on referrals and hope? Alongside the discussion, Kevin also shares this month's AI Pulse update, covering one of the most talked about AI stories of recent weeks and what it means for business...
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Episode #637: ScaleUp Radio Shorts - Why focus beats hustle every time
ScaleUp Radio
Choose Less. Scale Better. Three founders. Three wake up calls. One lesson every business owner needs to hear. What do an authority strategist, a sales leader and an AI entrepreneur have in common? Far more than you might think. In this special edition of ScaleUp Radio Shorts, Kevin Brent and Louise Blunt reflect on three recent conversations with Erica Holthausen, Gulliver Burns and Lee Nazari. Despite completely different industries and experiences, all three arrived at the same conclusion: sustainable growth doesn't come from doing more. It comes from choosing less, focusing better and...
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Episode #636: How Not to Scale: Why Revenue, Ego and Hustle Can Destroy Your Business - with Gulliver Burns
ScaleUp Radio
What happens when you build multiple multi-million-pound businesses... but almost lose yourself in the process? In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by entrepreneur Gulliver Burns, who has experienced both extraordinary growth and devastating setbacks. From building a call centre with over 200 employees before the age of 25 to creating a multi-million-pound automotive business, Gulliver has learned the hard way that scaling without strong foundations comes at a significant cost. Rather than another success story, this conversation is a refreshing look at how not to scale a...
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Episode #635: Can we still trust a CV in the age of AI? - with Lee Nazari
ScaleUp Radio
Artificial Intelligence has made applying for jobs easier than ever. It has also made it much harder for employers to identify the best candidates. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent speaks with entrepreneur Lee Nazari, founder of Interviewa, a platform using conversational AI and on camera interviews to help recruiters, universities and job seekers cut through the growing noise created by AI generated CVs. Following a life changing personal tragedy, Lee chose to build something with genuine purpose. The result is Interviewa, a business focused on creating fairer, faster and more...
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Episode #634: Why Your Content Isn't Winning Clients and What to Do Instead - with Erica Holthausen
ScaleUp Radio
Most business owners know they should be creating content. Yet many find themselves stuck on a relentless treadmill of blogs, social posts and newsletters that consume huge amounts of time without generating meaningful opportunities. In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Erica Holthausen, founder of Catchline Communications, to challenge one of the biggest assumptions in modern marketing: that more content equals more business. Erica argues that authority doesn't come from publishing more. It comes from having a clear point of view, writing with conviction and building a...
info_outlineHi there and welcome back to another edition of ScaleUp Radio, the podcast inspired by the Entrepreneurial ScaleUp System and designed to make navigating our ScaleUp journeys that little bit easier by learning from others' experiences.
I’m Kevin Brent and this week on the show I’m joined by Joe Seddon, founder and CEO of Zero Gravity. Joe shares his entrepreneurial journey, starting with just £200 to build an MVP, leveraging storytelling to attract investors, and raising a £425k pre-seed round.
He emphasises focusing on solving one key problem initially, building a strong culture, and hiring for values over skills. Joe's mission is to help students from low-income backgrounds access top universities and careers, breaking the link between socioeconomic status and opportunity.
Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever
you like to listen to your podcasts.
Stay tuned for Joe's insights on building and scaling a mission-driven tech startup. Let's dive in!
Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for.
If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here:
https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin
You can get in touch with Kevin here:
Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!
Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.
More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/
Joe can be found here: