40 Minute Mentor

“Before you scale, you need to make sure you are solving big pains with a great value proposition.”  It’s not every day you get to speak to someone who turned their Startup into a Double-Unicorn with over 500 employees in just 3 years.  Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Nicolas d'Audiffret, one of the Co-Founders of Ankorstore - the marketplace taking on e-Commerce giants like Amazon. Ankorstore was fou...

“Even if we electrify everything and switch to renewables and decarbonise - we still need to remove billions of tonnes of carbon from the sky because we have polluted so much.”  Ahead of World Earth Day this week, we’re really excited to welcome Michelle You, Co-Founder of Songkick and Co-Founder and CEO of Supercritical, to 40 Minute Mentor.  You might have heard of the popular concert ticket app...

“There’s a general recognition that doing good is good for business - and that applies at all levels of business.”  This week we have the pleasure of welcoming not one, but two amazing mentors to 40 Minute Mentor - Natalie Graeme, Co-Founder of Uncommon Creative and Orr Vinegold, Co-Founder of Unrest.  Uncommon Creative is an award-winning creative studio building brands that matter, make a differ...

“I thought burnout was just the equivalent of meaning you hadn’t got it - you couldn’t keep going. Then one day at work, I came out of a meeting and collapsed in the streets.”  In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by industry-disrupter Dan Garrett, Co-Founder and CEO of Farewill - the multi-award-winning wills, probate and funerals company on a mission to change the way the world deals w...

“When people say that you can’t do something, it’s really because they can’t do it. Don’t stop doing what you want to do because someone told you you can’t, because you can.”  To ring in the halfway point of Series 7, we had the pleasure of interviewing an absolute icon in personal branding: Amelia Sordell, the Founder of Klowt. Klowt is THE personal branding agency on a mission to build entirely...

In this episode we’re joined by sisters, Margot and Alexia de Broglie, Co-Founders of Your Juno - an app widely referred to as ‘the Duolingo of Finance’ and on a mission to empower women and non-binary people through financial education.  The de Broglie sisters give us an exclusive insight into Your Juno’s amazing journey from conception to over 10k downloads and raising £1.6 million.  💙A big tha...

In this episode, we had the pleasure of welcoming Wing Chan, the Co-Founder and CEO of Sourceful - the Index Ventures backed all-in-one platform bringing together tools, data and products companies need to make their supply chains more sustainable.  In today’s episode, Wing recounts his experiences of quickly climbing the ranks at The Hut Group to become CMO at 25 and CTO at 28, what has led him t...

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we speak to one of Britain’s most decorated Olympians and Founder of FemTech Startup, Jennis, the incredible Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill.   Jess shares the ups and downs of her athletics career, including how setbacks early on in her sporting career turned her into the successful athlete she became and how she dealt with the pressures of Super Saturday. We also hear m...

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we chat to the inspiring Marta Krupinska, serial entrepreneur and Head of Google for Startups UK - a programme run to support thriving, diverse and inclusive Startup communities around the world.  Marta shares some brilliant mentorship in this episode, including the lessons learned from her first Startup, her candid take on the progress made in DE&I in the Tech se...

To kick off Series 7, we had the pleasure of welcoming a real rising star in the UK Tech scene, Christian Facey, the Co-Founder and CEO of AudioMob.  AudioMob allows brands to connect with gamers without interrupting their gaming experience, using in-game audio ads. In today’s episode, Christian gives us an exclusive insight into AudioMob’s fascinating journey to date and shares some great mentors...

40 Minute Mentor is back with a brand new series, filled with mentorship from Founders of some of the world’s fastest growing businesses and future unicorns as well as a number of world class leaders from other industries. To get a little preview of what's coming your way, hit play on our trailer. And if you've enjoyed the past 6 series, please leave us a review over on https://ratethispodcast.com...

Today’s ‘Where Are They Now’ episode is our last one before we launch Series 7 - and we’re definitely finishing on a high, as we catch up with the amazing Ezechi Britton MBE, Co-Founder of Code Untapped and Founding Member and Principal at Impact X.  2 years after his appearance on our 40 Minute Mentor social mobility special , Ez tells us about what it felt like to find out he received an MBE at...

In this ‘Where Are They Now’ feature mini episode, we catch up with the brilliant Juliet Davenport OBE, Founder and former CEO of Good Energy Group.  A year after coming onto 40 Minute Mentor, Juliet chats to us about her decision to step down as CEO of Good Energy, what she wishes she had known before her switch to a portfolio career, and she tells us what she’s been up to since. Plus, Juliet sha...

In this ‘Where Are They Now’ feature mini episode, we catch up with the brilliant Sophie Adelman, Co-Founder and CEO of The Garden and Co-Founder and former President of Multiverse.  2 years after coming onto 40 Minute Mentor, we chat to Sophie about her decision to leave hypergrowth EdTech Scaleup, Multiverse and we find out more about her exciting new venture, The Garden. Plus, Sophie shares som...

In this special ‘Where Are They Now’ feature mini episode, we catch up with one of our very first 40 Minute Mentors we welcomed onto the podcast, the brilliant Kresse Wesling CBE. We talk about her journey with Kresse & Elvis since 2019, why they’re building a one-of-a-kind regenerative farm in Kent, and why now is the time for all of us to be environmentally focused and help reduce waste. Hel...

Series 6 of 40 Minute Mentor might have come to a close earlier this month, but with another Series filled to the brim with advice and Scaleup insights, we thought we’d add a little something to your pre-Holiday playlist. In this special roundup episode, we focus on a topic we often get asked about here at JBM - VC and Fundraising. Whether you’re wondering how to get into the industry or you’re a...

In this final 40 Minute Mentor episode of Series 6, we’re joined by the Founder and former COO of Social Chain, and now a Founding Partner of Fearless Adventures, the brilliant Dominic McGregor. A lot of you will be familiar with the incredible journey Social Chain and their team have been on. At a very young age, both Dominic and his Co-Founder Steven Bartlett, have built a unique company culture...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by former COO of Monzo and Founder and CEO of Lollipop, Tom Foster-Carter. Tom started his career in consulting before embarking on his Operations journey - first as Founder of both Osper and Curve, and then as Monzo’s COO where he scaled the business to 4 million customers and the team from 30 to 1,000, in just 2 years. In May 2020, Tom decided to...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Team GB hockey legends and Olympic Gold Medallists Kate & Helen Richardson-Walsh. Kate and Helen have been on an incredible journey, playing Hockey when it wasn’t really a viable career choice and continuing to represent Team GB at the Olympics, resulting in winning Gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016. While being teammates, Kate and Helen’s win on...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by our very own JBM SOS Board Advisor, Partner at Stride. VC and former Director of Operations at Uber, Cleo Sham. Cleo has had an incredible career, spanning from building Uber’s Guangzhou city business and team from the ground up to becoming Uber’s largest city business globally and the first city to reach 1 million weekly trips, to leading the s...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Co-Founder and CEO of Amazing If, Co-Author of best-seller ‘The Squiggly Career’, and Co-Host of the popular Squiggly Careers podcast (a JBM favourite!), Helen Tupper. Helen has enjoyed a hugely successful career at some of the biggest companies in the world – Virgin, Microsoft, BP and Capital One, to name a few – but decided to take the leap in...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Ben Stephenson, the Founder and CEO of the ground-breaking travel platform Impala. Ben has raised millions in funding for Impala over the last five years from some of the best VCs out there, including Lakestar which previously invested in Airbnb. He’s seen his staff mushroom to over 100 people, and he made the company remote-first way back in 20...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by journalist, broadcaster, TV presenter, Podcast host of ‘The Solo Collective’ and author, Rebecca Seal. Rebecca’s had a hugely varied career so far, including working as a journalist at The Observer, featuring as a Food and Drink expert on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, writing and publishing multiple books, including her latest best seller: “Solo: H...

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by a real-life child prodigy, Co-Founder and CEO of Stemettes, and Host of the Evening Standard’s Women Tech Charge podcast, Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE. Anne-Marie was one of the youngest to pass two GCEs in two different subjects while in primary school and completed her master’s degree from the University of Oxford by the age of 20. Since those day...

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Founder and CEO of Walking on Earth, Reeva Misra. Reeva has made it her mission to tackle the epidemic of stress in the modern world – with Walking on Earth taking a holistic approach to health, focusing on the interaction between mind, body, and the environment to elevate happiness, particularly at work. It’s certainly been a fascinating journe...