AJ is a serial entrepreneur and passionate student of startups.
After a decade of spending countless hours and money building companies, most of which failed, he went back to basics and surrounded himself with entrepreneurs decades further ahead of him.
He ran a deeply connected community of 400 entrepreneurs in the UK and realised how little he knew about the art and science of company building.
At this intersection of relationships and company building is where AJ has found the key to success.
If we don't understand people, we don't understand business.
But people are hard to understand....
Which is why this show exists!
scale with soul is a deep dive intro how the best entrepreneurs alive build and manage the relationships that lead to startup success.
AJ is a serial entrepreneur and passionate student of startups.
After a decade of spending countless hours and money building companies, most of which failed, he went back to basics and surrounded himself with entrepreneurs decades further ahead of him.
He ran a deeply connected community of 400 entrepreneurs in the UK and realised how little he knew about the art and science of company building.
At this intersection of relationships and company building is where AJ has found the key to success.
If we don't understand people, we don't understand business.
But people are hard to understand....
Which is why this show exists!
scale with soul is a deep dive intro how the best entrepreneurs alive build and manage the relationships that lead to startup success.
No.1 Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff shares the theory behind her book Tiny Experiments, which includes the problems with goals as we know them today.
She is an entrepreneur, whose first startup failed after she left her comfortable job at Google, but now has a thriving content business, Ness Labs, alongside her research as a neuroscientist at Kings College London.We dove into a range of topics including...
📖 Episode Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - The 3 Problems With Goals
08:06 - Why You Should Use Metacognition
13:47 - How To Escape The Prison Of Over-Thinking
20:35 - Cognitive Scripts: The Sequel, The Crowdpleaser & The Epic
32:51 - Where Are We Drunk On The Illusion Of Certainty?
39:43 - How To Lead Through Change
43:13 - How 1 Tiny Experiment Can Change Your Life
50:30 - End Of Year Routine
54:56 - The Paradox Of Persistence
57:50 - How To Get Out Of A Mental Hole
01:11:21 - How Can We Support Anne-Laure
If you enjoyed this episode you'll probably love;
One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558s
WeWork Cofounder Breaks His 5-Year Silence (Exclusive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u62kFgnUrU0&t=1615s&pp=0gcJCTwKAYcqIYzv
🪨 Resources:
Episode summary doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KdMvHuOvSA-WCkRGWcF3-xZoGntx7PpMBGyHuxmbobI/edit?usp=sharing
Ness Labs: https://nesslabs.com/
Ness Labs Annual Review Template (Google Slides): https://nesslabs.com/annual-review-template
Ness Labs Annual Review Template (Notion): https://satisfying-melody-287.notion.site/Year-in-Review-Template-5b31d64596cf40f1b8d79e88fb24a280?source=copy_link
👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs
📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building:
https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/.
Tom Foster Carter is the Ex-COO of Monzo and a serial entrepreneur. He joined Monzo as COO at Series A and helped them scale to become a £1 billion unicorn, before leaving to start his next startup Cherrypick. He's a startup and business weapon which you can tell through this interview where we cover... Episode Chapters:0:00 - 0:53 - Intro0:54 - 9:27 - Monzo: What broke as they scaled?9:28 - 18:55 - Hiring lessons - 30-1000 employees18:56 - 22:47 - Don’t set Values, set Operating Pinrciples22:48 - 41:01 - Speed as a habit; Kipchoge, not Bolt41:02 - 53:14 - Speed is a habit; Data not Debate53:15 - 58:58 - Pains of going from free to paid58:59 - 1:02:42 - How to spot shifts in the VC landscape1:02:35 - 1:09:05 - How has he developed as a leader1:09:06 - 1:15:25 - How are you kind in firing people?1:15:26 - 1:20:39 - Top lessons from Monzo & Curve1:20:40 - 1:24:54 - His secret sauce to startupsIf you liked this episode, you'll probably love;One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesnerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558sNick Jenkins - The Marketing Secrets Behind The $Billion Businesshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDJtTNTxvs👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building:https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
Maya Moufarek is a Full Stack meaningful marketing expert, with decades of experience from companies like Google, Amex, Not On The High Street, and then the company she was the founding CMO of, Pharmacy2U (which raised $300m and is the 3rd largest pharmacy in the UK).
How do we have to evolve as the company evolves? How do we think about our business' marketing from a high level? What biases do leaders suffer from the most? Expect to learn a lot about your psychology, meaningful marketing, startups and so much more in this podcast interview.
📖 Chapters:
00:53 - What got you here won't get you there
04:05 - The Problem With Founder-Problem Fit
09:39 - What Biases Do Founders Fall Prey To The Most?
11:28 - What's A Meaningful Company To You?
18:53 - How To Recognise Meaning
23:58 - Hoffman Process - How To Come Back To Yourself
27:20 - "I'm not good enough" vs Owning Our Differences
31:25 - Finding Your People (Mentors, Advisors)
35:24 - Strongest Limiting Beliefs In Female Founders
39:03 - How We Get In The Way Of Timing
42:29 - Maya's Evolution Of Her Relationship With Control
44:00 - Control: Masculine vs Feminine
48:24 - How To Give Feedback Well
01:01:56 - Meaningful Marketing
01:05:07 - How Should We Stay Aligned With Customers?
01:14:05 - Customer Interactions Post PMF
01:18:44 - The Core Of Business
If you enjoyed this, you'll probably love:
Nick Jenkins - The Marketing Secrets Behind The $Billion Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDJtTNTxvs
£100m CEO Superpowers & Shadow Sides - Aron Gelbard, Bloom & Wild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c289plCAeDA&t=76s&pp=0gcJCQgKAYcqIYzv
👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs
📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building: https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
Aron Gelbard is the CEO of the £100m revenue startup, Bloom & Wild, a flower delivery company operating across Europe.
In this interview he shares his work styles and shadows as a entrepreneur and a look inside a unicorn startup business.
📖 Chapters
00:00 - What does inefficient work look like?
07:45 - CEO = Upside Down Pyramid
09:26 - Core Value: Care Wildly
14:37 - World Class Customer Service
20:45 - Biggest Feedback from Executives - Goalkeep Less
25:17 - Responding to Market Trends
30:10 - Fix the System Not the Symptom
31:50 - How to operationalise values
34:19 - Values In Life = Embedded in Business
37:19 - Balancing kindness with demanding high performance
39:54 - The Most Difficult Decisions
45:48 - How To Set Stretch Goals
50:23 - Managing Up & Down as CEO
53:32 - Knowing everyone on the team
56:54 - Stages Of The Business Model
01:01:35 - Merging Three Teams into One
01:11:15 - Novel Annual Board Agenda
01:15:21 - The Secret To Consistency
01:21:42 - How Life impacts What We Do
If you enjoyed this interview, you'll likely love:
WeWork's Co-Founder Breaks His 5-Year Silence (Exclusive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u62kFgnUrU0&t=1615s
Pret & Itsu Founder: The One Skill To Build £Billion Brands | Julian Metcalfe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1EYLLS_0xw&t=1205s
👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building: https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
Karolina Pelc is the author of HerPlay, and the Founder and ex-CEO of the startup BeyondPlay, which was acquired by FanDuel.
She has been through the startup storm and has come out the other side with methods for finding calm.
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Karolina Pelc
01:02 - Intensity As A CEO
04:22 - "You Think You're So Tough?"
06:48 - Addiction To Doing & Parenting
15:20 - Deep Internal Wisdom vs Limiting Beliefs
21:01 - What if You Fly vs What if You Fail
24:58 - Don't Try To Be Liked As The Leader
27:57 - Unexpected Challenges With Gender Diversity
31:24 - What Does Being Ruthless Mean?
33:07 - How Transparent Can You Be As A Founder
38:49 - Boundaries to Transparency
46:30 - "Entrepreneurs Are Not Managers" - Sir Richard Branson
49:16 - Your Relationship With Control vs Delegation
53:41 - Setting Standards of Trust and Attention to Detail
56:44 - "The Chaos Muppet Building Calmness"
01:11:27 - What Health Habits To Prioritise When You Have No Time
01:14:04 - Psychedelics: What they uncovered?
01:19:00 - The Habit Of Reframing
01:22:48 - A Book is Like A Startup
01:29:34 - Don't Believe In Luck!
01:33:02 - Her Play: The Book
If you enjoyed this interview, you might love:
Work Isn't A Family...But It Can Be Human | Katy Turner (interview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Gxz1cQstI&t=58s
One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesner (interview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558s
👉 Subscribe on this channel to be the first to watch future episodes
📧 Subscribe to the newsletter to get summaries of each episode: https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
Moonpig is valued at over a $Billion and the founder, Nick Jenkins, reveals all his marketing and business secrets in this rich and insightful interview!
Nick is a marketing wizard and here he delivers a masterclass in business and marketing as well as...
📖 Chapters:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:49 - What Will you Do When You Grow Up?
00:01:48 - What is next to be learnt?
00:02:28 - Lessons from living through the Russian Revolution
00:06:26 - Decisions: At Some Point Your Going To Have To Jump
00:08:55 - When Entrepreneurs Overcomplicate
00:12:35 - Moonpig Marketing Marvel
00:18:59 - The Most Important Discovery From A Statistics Degree
00:21:50 - Growing Repeat Customers
00:24:46 - Where To Start With Marketing
00:27:21 - What's Your Price?
00:28:54 - What's Your Product?
00:30:56 - What Companies Get Wrong About Customers
00:33:27 - Actors on the Phone Lines
00:35:20 - Optimising Each Element of the Business
00:37:18 - Forming Your Team
00:40:35 - Breaking Through The Clouds into The Sunshine
00:42:38 - What Would You have Done Differently?
00:44:03 - How To Scale Employees
00:48:43 - Changing Direction
00:51:43 - Europe Vs US
00:52:49 - "Don't hand in unfinished homework"
00:54:21 - How To Sell A Business
00:59:28 - Burn After Selling
01:01:51 - Recruiting Advice
01:06:20 - Work Life Balance
01:08:10 - Crafting Creativity
01:10:04 - The Difference Between A Good and Great Entrepreneur
01:13:15 - Passion For What You Do
01:14:34 - VC / Investors: Judging what to do next
01:16:56 - Getting Caught Out
01:17:50 - What The Entrepreneur Community Could Do Better
👇 If you liked this interview, you'll probably love these too:
Pret & Itsu Founder: The One Skill To Build £Billion Brands | Julian Metcalfe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1EYLLS_0xw&t=1205s
One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesne
rhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558s
👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs
📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building:
https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
Devika Wood is the CEO of the public company Brain+, who are leaders in improving dementia care. She is also one of the most honest and vulnerable founders I have ever interviewed. In this interview she not only shares her deep inner world and trauma experiences, but also an exclusive summary of a court case involving her previous startup, and a deep betrayal of trust.📖 Chapters00:00:00 - A letter to my younger self00:06:54 - How trauma can shape your impact on the world00:13:51 - Refining your 'why'00:18:48 - ROI for investors when your mission isn't money driven00:26:36 - The story of the previous startup and a betrayal of trust00:37:53 - The court case - lessons in leadership00:46:10 - Compartmentalising vs Bottling it up00:50:33 - The art of transparency in a team00:54:22 - Backing yourself in moments of crises00:56:50 - The best process to dealing with a crisis00:58:51 - The balancing of the masculinity and femininity01:11:32 - How your identity evolves as a founder01:16:52 - How to best support our partners and ourselves01:27:52 - WEALTH - Women In Health01:32:27 - What stamp do you want to leave on the world01:34:42 - How we can support DevikaIf you enjoyed this episode, you might love these:WeWork Cofounder Breaks His 5-Year Silence (Exclusive)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u62kFgnUrU0&t=1615sDangerous (But Common) Startup Myths | Sho Sugiharahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8eBlgYIVDg&t=2943s👉 Subscribe on Youtube to be first to learn from world class, inspiring entrepreneurs📧 Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive content and timeless frameworks for company, culture and community building: https://scale-with-soul.kit.com/
A 15-lesson reflection on £100k spent, 18 months, over 50 interviews with some world class entrepreneurs.
This is a very open and honest look under the hood into what it takes to create a podcast business. I've been focusing on founder interviews because I wanted to learn what it takes to create a great company and build an audience at the same time. I definitely learned one of them.... the hard way.
📖 Chapters
0:00:00 - Intro
0:01:13 - Pret A Manger & Itsu Founder - Get To The Truth
0:05:29 - Sharmadean Reid - Build Networks Of Power
0:12:30 - Busuu Founder - Operationalise Your Culture
0:17:19 - Count the pennies, and the millions will count themselves
0:21:49 - WeWork Cofounder - What Does It Mean To Change The World?
0:28:11 - Don't go slow to go fast... just go
0:31:10 - Know what you're selling first
0:36:44 - Distribution is 50% of the game
0:39:46 - The cost of isolation is delusion
0:41:31 - The answer isn't pushing harder
0:43:32 - Financial Breakdown (My P&L)
0:48:38 - Don't build for the wrong reasons
0:51:05 - Question your foundations
0:53:12 - The Cognitive Dissonance Spiral
0:54:43 - The art of learning from others' experiences
0:56:10 - Failure Is The Cost Of Entry
0:57:22 - The future of this channel
If you enjoyed any of the clips I shared, here are the whole interviews:
Pret & Itsu Founder: The One Skill To Build £Billion Brands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1EYLLS_0xw&t=1205s
Create Your Networks Of Power | Sharmadean Reid MBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyskAAx_P90&t=3243s
One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558s
From 80 VC Rejections To Rejecting VCs | Atilana Pinon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gK5uCJscFU&t=1852s
WeWork's Cofounder Breaks His 5-Year Silence (Exclusive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u62kFgnUrU0&t=1615s
Please subscribe and hit the bell icon to support the channel!
Much love,
AJ x
WeWork's Cofounder, Miguel McKelvey, shares the most vulnerable, insightful and rounded account of WeWork in his first interview since the startup's dramatic collapse 5 years ago.
📖 Chapters - In this interview we cover...
00:00 - The Guilt Of WeWork & How To Let Go
15:40 - What Does Changing The World Actually Mean?
22:03 - Business And Community Tensions
27:36 - What Does Community Actually Mean?
32:21 - Community Ideologies vs Geographies
38:20 - Wisdom & Naval Ravikant
44:38 - When Does A Startup Become A Cult? "
57:26 - "How do you scale culture? "
01:04:03 - What culture practices to invest in as a smaller startup
01:11:21- Leaning Into Conflict
01:13:07 - Team Adam vs Team Miguel
01:21:24 - Power Tensions
01:26:27 - Rebekah Neumann's Role in WeWork
01:32:23 - S-1 IPO Filing
01:37:34 - The Public's Reaction To Adam
01:47:19 - Miguel's Awareness Of WeWork's Finances
01:54:02 - How Much To Trust Others In The Leadership Team?
01:57:18 - Noticing Scrappy Scaling
02:00:31 - Why It Made Sense For WeWork To Buy An Artificial Wave Startup
02:02:41 - Adam & Miguel's Reality Distortion
02:10:45 - What Really Destroyed WeWork
02:12:40 - How To Step Outside Of Ourselves & Reflect
02:18:08 - Miguel's Advice For Entrepreneurs
02:27:40 - What Can We Support Miguel With
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too
Pret & Itsu Founder: The One Skill To Build £Billion Brands | Julian Metcalfe (interview)
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter
When GoHenry's founder hit rock bottom, she was drowning...
She realised that the single point of failure was her. At 6am every morning, that familiar sick thump of dread would hit.
Here's how she built her company from the ground up, faced rejection from her own board, and emerged stronger than ever.
💡 What you'll learn in this episode:
▪️ How to identify and eliminate dangerous "single points of failure" in your business before they drown you
▪️ Why operationalising your values through your entire team is the secret to retaining talent for over a decade
▪️ How to navigate brutal board dynamics and still drive toward what's right for your company
▪️ The 6-month evolution framework that prevents you from running into walls as you scale
▪️ The counterintuitive approach to M&A that led to a successful £125M+ exit to Acorns
📖 Chapters
00:00 - What Keeps You Up At Night?
01:21 - When you are the Single Point of Failure
05:19 - Fixing the system when you're drowning
07:36 - The little Red Handbook!
13:59 - Fixing the Points of failure in practice
15:39 - Realising you might not be needed in a company you built
19:14 - Do they just want a yes man?
23:09 - Control as a leader: When to hold on and when to let go!
27:32 - Developing Finance Function... When and how to do it
30:21 - The board chose someone else to be CEO
35:30 - 2 Points: Identify Your Dragons and Learn The Art of Pre-Present
37:41 - Working with Dragons on your board
39:52 - Three biggest Board meetings, the biggest decisions
43:02 - Fundraising Learning Curves: Raised £125M, Acquiring Pixpay and Being acquired by Acorns
48:01 - How we Acquired Pixpay, finding a similar culture in your acquisition
48:03 - Biggest learnings from 6 rounds of fundraising
52:14 - Generosity within the company culture. A solidifying moment
56:08 - The ROI of paying for a holiday for all the staff
01:00:29 - What in the culture leads to people staying on for so long?
01:03:31 - Going from CEO to Executive Chair of the Board
01:07:44 - Make your passion your mission
01:12:08 - How to choose and win your battles
01:15:38 - What action we need to take
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesner (interview)
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter:
🔗 Guest Links https://www.gohenry.com/
LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/louise-hill-5197614
🔗 Affiliate Link Monk Ice Baths: discovermonk.com/SCALEWITHSOUL for £100 discount
Most founders think they can figure it out alone - until they crash.
Sam Knight was "very, very resistant" to coaching, convinced it was just "talking about feelings." Then his friend forced him to try it...
This is the story of how losing his father at 15 shaped his leadership blind spots, and why facing them transformed both his company and his life.
🧠 What You'll Learn
▪️ The performance management framework that separates high-growth teams from collections of individuals
▪️ Why "I am because we are" (Ubuntu philosophy) transforms competitive founders into collaborative leaders
▪️ The five pillars every leader must master (and why most CEOs score poorly on at least two)
▪️ How childhood trauma creates invisible leadership blind spots that sabotage teams
▪️ How to spot what you know is true now but will only admit in six months' time
▪️ Why feeling words at work unlock deeper team connection and performance
📖 Chapters
00:00 - From Resistant CEO to Coaching Convert
06:11 - The Yoko Ono Exhibition That Changed Everything
11:24 - Pollinate: Building and Selling a B2B Platform
13:52 - "I Really Just Wasn't Enjoying My Job"
17:38 - The Five Pillars of Leadership Framework
25:47 - Goal Setting vs Accountability: What's the Difference?
32:43 - Why Most Teams Avoid Performance Management
42:43 - The Question That Reveals Hidden Truths
49:02 - Ubuntu: "I Am Because We Are"
1:02:18 - Losing Your Father and Leading Others
1:13:06 - Preparing for Fatherhood After Loss
1:16:56 - The Ubuntu Philosophy That Transforms Teams
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too
Pret & Itsu Founder: The One Skill To Build £Billion Brands | Julian Metcalfe (interview)
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter
🔗 Guest link
🔗 Affiliate Link
Most founders don't realise the biggest barrier to scaling isn't capital or talent — it's learning when to let go.
Carolyn Dawson built a 10,000-person founder community by understanding this one truth:
The best leaders know exactly when to stop being indispensable.In this interview you’ll discover what is needed to choose between entering the US vs Europe startup sector.
🧠 What You'll Learn:
▪️ Why European founders' "humanity" in hiring decisions might actually be holding back the ecosystem
▪️ How celebrating failure accelerated growth at Supercell (and why most founders get this backwards)
▪️ The curation secrets behind building the UK's most exclusive founder community
▪️ Why "founder mode" becomes dangerous after Series B and when to transition
▪️ The internal vs external balance that separates unicorn founders from the rest
📖 Chapters
00:00 - UK vs US: The Narrative Problem
06:27 - When Founders Should Actually Exit Their Companies
11:43 - Building a People-Driven Business at Scale
22:46 - The Stories Behind Closed Funding Rounds
24:15 - What Separates the Top 1% of Founders
31:03 - The Quality vs Speed Trade-off in Company Building
33:22 - Building Loyalty: The Team That Follows You Everywhere
39:13 - From Control Freak to Strategic Leader
42:05 - The External vs Internal Balance Every Founder Must Master
45:21 - What Information to Share vs Keep Private
47:37 - European vs US Firing Culture: The Speed vs Humanity Debate
57:28 - Going Global: Boots on Ground vs Remote
59:09 - The Inner Voice That Builds Resilience
62:06 - Taking Yourself Too Seriously: The Success Trap
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Hard Startups Truths; Funding, Team Design, Skills | James Routledge
https://youtu.be/XcBwsq-KzmI?si=-WhZcPjyXXLWZYMq
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter:
https://the-aj-connection.kit.com/e2d35e66c4
🔗 Affiliate Link
HEIGHTS Brain + Gut Supplements - 15% OFF https://www.heights.com/scalewithsoul
He built a company to millions, hired someone better to run it, and walked away.
Why stepping down as CEO can be your greatest act of leadership.
Most founders cling to their CEO titles long after they've outgrown the role.
Evgeny Shadchnev did the opposite. He recognised the misalignment, planned his exit over 14 months, and handed the keys to someone who could scale what he'd built. What he soon learnt transformed both his life and the business.
🧠 What You'll Learn:
▪️ How to recognise when you've outgrown your own company (before burnout forces the decision)
▪️ The difference between founder skills and CEO skills — and why confusing them kills companies
▪️ A framework for making confident leadership transitions without destroying what you've built
▪️ The breathwork techniques that shift your nervous system from reactive to strategic
▪️ Why starting a company for belonging can lead to profound misalignment later
📖 Chapters
00:00 - What A Founder Coach Does
00:41 - What Founders Don't Talk About
05:02 - "Predicting the Future of the Company"
08:10 - The Founder's Job: Make Sure It Survives
11:15 - The Skills Needed at Pre-Product Market Fit
14:17 - Moving to Product Market Fit - "This Is a Very Specific Skillset"
15:15 - "The Skills You Never Stop Needing - Fred Wilson's Advice"
17:48 - The First Alarm Bells
20:24 - CEO Transitions Take Time
22:16 - Feeling Misaligned: Childhood Experiences
27:59 - The One Thing That Helped Me Make the Tough Decision
35:23 - Ego Wanting vs Heart Longing
37:40 - Success 10 Years Ago vs Success Now
40:07 - The Startup Is Not There to Make You Happy
45:09 - Running Away or Braving the Wind
49:26 - Working Long Hours Sustainably
58:22 - Decision Making
01:05:31 - What Makes You Tick?
01:08:20 - Revelation on Simplification of Life
01:13:12 - What Your Fiancée Said About You
01:15:25 - Read Evgeny's Book!
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Why Your Outer Voice Is Your Biggest Threat | Soheil Ahmadzadeh - Coach
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter:
🔗 Guest Links:
Mentioned Resources:
"Let Your Life Speak" by Parker Palmer Other Sheep breathwork app
Fred Wilson's blog on CEO framework (Union Square Ventures)
🔗 Affiliate Link
If you want to help Freddie's research on founders please fill this out: https://forms.gle/jLiW7TJBniXQfDRK8
Most founders obsess over their company metrics while completely ignoring their own performance metrics.
What if the secret to scaling your startup isn't just building better systems, but becoming a better human?
Finder coach Freddie Birley has spent years studying what separates venture-backed rockstars from the rest ... and it's not what you think.
🧠 What You'll Learn
Critical Founder Insights:
▪️ Avoid the spiritual poverty trap that follows most successful exits
▪️ Master the balance between masculine drive and feminine intuition in leadership
▪️ Discover the 3 core traits that define outlier performers in venture-backed startups
▪️ Understand why 50%+ of founders report wellbeing as their biggest personal challenge
▪️ Learn why alignment beats intelligence when it comes to sustainable high performance
▪️ Data Vs Debate: What founders at different stages (0-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50-150 team size) struggle with most
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro - Headhunting Taught Me to Coach
02:50 - What Actually Makes a Venture Rockstar
05:47 - The Three Pillars: Authenticity, Value Creation & Leadership
11:35 - Founder Challenges by Company Stage (Research Insights)
14:55 - Why First-Time vs Serial Founders Face Different Identity Crises
19:50 - The Performance Paradox: Preparation vs Play
25:47 - When Success Becomes a Spiritual Prison
29:09 - Internal vs External Motivation: Signs of an Emotionally Rich Founder
32:39 - Building High-Performance Culture Without Cracking the Whip
37:33 - Founder Circles: What Makes Them Thrive vs Die
43:44 - Breathwork for Founders: The Wild Modality Explained
50:29 - Connecting with Yourself as the Ceiling for Leading Others
52:31 - What the Startup Ecosystem Gets Wrong About Human Nature
54:57 - Balancing Masculine Structure with Feminine Intuition
1:05:40 - The Fundamental Principles of Being a Better Human
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too
Dangerous (But Common) Startup Myths | Sho Sugihara
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🔗 Guest Links & Resources Connect with Freddie Birley
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Most founders won't talk about this…
But the line between grandiose confidence and dangerous delusion is thinner than you think.
James Roycroft-Davis stood on Putney Bridge, hearing voices telling him to jump, before discovering his bipolar diagnosis would become his greatest teacher.
This is the unfiltered story of how ego, untreated mental health, and founder identity nearly destroyed everything - and how radical self-awareness rebuilt it all.
💡 What you'll learn in this episode:
▪️ How to spot the early warning signs of ego-driven decision making that destroy startups
▪️ Why bipolar disorder can be both a founder's greatest asset and deadliest trap
▪️ Why most founder therapy misses the mark - and what actually works
▪️ How becoming a father rewired his entire relationship with success and identity
▪️ A framework for making decisions based on who you want to be, not who you think others expect
▪️ The difference between £100M ego goals and £500K happiness goals (and why one nearly killed him)
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:19 - The Bridge Call That Changed Everything
07:28 - 20 Years of Trauma Exploding at Once
09:07 - The Guilt of Surviving
11:12 - Nature vs Nurture in Mental Health
12:19 - When Granddad's Death Flipped the Switch
15:31 - The Israeli Psychologist Who Gets Startups
18:10 - "Most Founders Do Have Grandiose Sense"
25:49 - Type 1 vs Type 2: Why It Matters
28:58 - The £500/Hour Diagnosis Story
34:13 - Ego Work: From Validation to Creation
38:20 - Why "Founder" Identity Makes You Unemployable
42:21 - Two Job Offers, One Ego Check
44:51 - Old James vs New James
46:58 - The Exit Community Vulnerability
49:02 - Alex McDonald's Life-Changing Advice
50:48 - Happy and Comfortable vs £100M Dreams
58:32 - The CBT Technique That Rewires Your Brain
01:02:15 - Dual Purposes: Father and Founder
01:06:26 - Final Asks: Jobs, Dad Groups, and Baseline
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Shazam Founder Interview; Secrets of Luck, Persistence & Success (Ep. 1)
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter
🔗 Guest Links & Resources
James Roycroft-Davis : LinkedIn
🔗 Affiliate Link
What does it really takes to SCALE (not just grow...)?
Neda Sahebelm was an early joiner at Multiverse, achieving 98% retention and 50% diversity in her teams, whilst delivering multiple £20M quarters.
Growth is doing more with more.
Scale is doing more with less.
In this episode she reveals the system that transforms chaos into high-performing teams.
🧠 What You'll Learn
▪️ Growth vs Scale: The difference between success and chaos
▪️ "Operation Thrive": How to flip a toxic team culture in 6 months
▪️ The hiring system that achieved 98% retention and radical diversity
▪️ The 3-pillar framework: Org Design, Recruitment, and Retention done right
▪️ How to fire people gracefully (and why most leaders get this catastrophically wrong)
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
06:14 - Growth vs Scale: Why Most Founders Get This Wrong
10:11 - The "Operational Efficiency" Myth.
16:32 - The SVB Crash Aftermath: Market Shifts and Human Costs
24:35 - Start with Product (Not People or Process)
30:34 - The Org Design Crisis: Why Founders Hire Wrong
38:14 - Building Scalable Hiring Systems: The 55-Person Quarter
46:04 - The Diversity Masterclass: 98% Retention Secrets
58:11 - "Operation Thrive": Turning -5 NPS Into +68
1:08:00 - The "Train Analogy": Managing Exits with Grace
1:16:23 - "Don't Bring Your Whole Self to Work" - The Leadership Reality
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Hard Startups Truths; Funding, Team Design, Skills | James Routledge
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For a £100 Discount discovermonk.co.uk/SCALEWITHSOUL
A Universe Class Coaching Session...
This is an insight into the framework to separate your inner wisdom from the fear-based voices that keep you small. This isn't therapy. It's reconnecting with your humanity.
🧠 What You'll Learn
▪️ The “5 Pillars of Connection” that transform any relationship
▪️ 9 Steps to identify "outer voices" Vs your authentic inner voice
▪️ The visualisation technique that silences self-doubt in minutes
▪️ How to turn your values into actionable "inner voice archetypes"
▪️Ask "If X wasn't there, what would be different?"
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
02:01 - "I've Never Been Career-Driven" - Led by Curiosity
10:13 - Meet Soheil: Founder of ReHumanity
14:15 - The 5 Pillars of Connection Framework
17:11 - Inner vs Outer Voices: The Foundation of Self-Awareness
21:25 - 9 Signs You're in "Outer Voice Territory"
25:10 - Moving from Outer Voice to Inner Voice
31:38 - Creating Inner Voice Archetypes from Your Values
57:18 - A Firm Foundation - "My Work Is Led by Love"
59:40 - How to Connect: Building Humanity in Startups
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Google's Expert Communication Coach | Kay Munday (interview)
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🔗 Guest Links Connect with Soheil Website
Instagram: @rehumanity
🔗 Affiliate Link For a £35 Discount on a Digital Detox Cabin - Unplugged
Use Code - UPMSCALEWITHSOUL
A Billionaire AND World Champion Powerlifter?
Jodie Cook, after selling her agency for 7-figures, is now building Coachvox whilst training to be a world champion. And the secret isn't talent, it's systems.
This discussion explains how to crack the code on any goal; why Jodie never looks at competition; and the exact framework that's taking her to the top of two completely different games.
🧠 What You'll Learn:
▪️ How to identify your personal success system from past wins (and apply it to anything)
▪️ Why "extreme people get extreme results" and how to test your edges safely
▪️ The 3-part superpower matrix: Ace Cards, Best Self, and Success Systems
▪️ The spirit animal framework that instantly shifts you from reactive to zen
▪️ How to build user manuals for your team that eliminate 90% of friction
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
04:21 - From Birmingham Agency to Global Ambitions
07:07 - Lifetime Goals Vs Annual Targets
14:19 - Cognitive Biases and the Halo Effect
17:12 - The Superpower Matrix: Ace Cards, Best Self, Success Systems
22:15 - Lion vs Pomeranian Puppy 28:12 - What Makes You Human in an AI World?
31:44 - Your Success System (Extract It from Past Wins)
40:06 - Finding People's Superpowers on Your Team
52:20 - Jody 2.0 vs 3.0: The Card Exercise
57:43 - Horizontal vs Vertical Relationships in Teams
1:08:18 - High Standards for Yourself, No Standards for Others
1:26:47 - The Content-Beliefs-Community Flywheel
1:34:42 - "Don't Waste Your Potential"
1:39:10 - Applying Success Systems to Becoming a Billionaire
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Mastering Leadership - Growing Teams & Growing Yourself | James Grant
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📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter
🔗 Guest Links
Connect with Jodie: LinkedIn
Mentioned Resources:
The Courage to Be Disliked (Book) Blue Ocean Strategy (Book) Rocket Fuel (Book) Power vs Force (Book)
🔗 Affiliate Link
The "ruthless" business world tells us kindness is weakness – but what if that's backwards?
Marcus Exall has built a reputation as one of the most respected angel investors in the world, not through aggression, but through genuine care for founders.
His approach challenges everything we think we know about succeeding in startups.
🧠 What You'll Learn
▪️ Why treating kindness as strength (not weakness) creates better investment returns
▪️ The 6-month founder evaluation process that's led to 2.5x returns across 31 investments
▪️ How to build resilience through saying problems out loud instead of carrying them alone
▪️ How to separate exceptional founders from good ones through focus and vulnerability
▪️ Why obsessing over product features (not problems) kills most early-stage startups
▪️ The storytelling framework that makes impossible visions feel inevitable
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:03 - From Tokyo Diner to 31 Angel Investments
03:07 - What Japanese Culture Taught Me About Company Building
13:08 - Balancing Kindness with Ruthless Business Decisions
17:22 - The Swan Problem: Creating Safe Spaces for Founders to Be Real
24:45 - Why Marcus Doesn't Invest Primarily for Money
33:21 - How to Spot Exceptional Focus in Founders
39:06 - Building Resilience: Why You Must Keep Getting Up
42:03 - The £150k Mistake Most Founders Make
01:02:07 - The Choice Between Health and Building Big Business
01:03:28 - Marcus's Mum on Raising a Future Angel Investor
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Shazam Founder Interview: Secrets of Luck, Persistence & Success (Ep. 1)
👉 Subscribe for weekly interviews and deeply practical videos on how to scale with soul
📧 Get exclusive insights, timeless frameworks & founder tools in my newsletter
Affiliate Link
Monk Ice Bath For a £100 discount on the world's first smart ice bath, visit - www.discovermonk.com/SCALEWITHSOUL
How to comeback from over 80 VC rejections.
Atilana Pinon, CEO & Founder of Retorna, went from constant rejection to investors fighting for her, all by telling her story.
🧠 What You'll Learn In This Episode:
▪️ How to shift the power dynamic with VCs
▪️ The research framework that identifies aligned investors before you waste time
▪️ Why being profitable before fundraising is the ultimate negotiating position
▪️ Elite cash management mindsets
📖 Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:44 - "Saying No to £600K"
05:31 - The Breaking Point: 80+ VC Rejections 07:47 - The Moment Everything Changed
11:03 - How to Research Investors Like a Pro
13:47 - The Preparation That Made All the Difference
19:52 - Cash Management: "Take Care of the Pennies"
27:08 - Revenue-Based Bonuses That Actually Work
31:14 - Growing Double-Digit Monthly (The Secret Sauce)
41:01 - From Solo Founder to Co-CEO Partnership
45:08 - Building Mutual Respect and Trust
52:29 - "Stop Worrying About the Future"
59:05 - "I Don't Deserve to Be Successful" - Breaking Limiting Beliefs
1:02:07 - Building a Zebra, Not a Unicorn
🍿 WATCH NEXT If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
My Identity Was Crippling My Company | Will Pearson - Ocean Bottle
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🔗 Connect with Atilana: Atilana's
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/atilanapinon/?locale=en_US
Website - https://retorna.app, or other relevant links]
Affiliate Link:
For a £35 Discount on a Digital Detox Cabin - Unplugged https://unplugged.rest
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