40 Minute Mentor

“There are so many opportunities out there for Founders. If you decide to step away, I can promise you there will be lots of people that will want to hire you.”  This week’s bite-sized 40 Minute Mentor episode, is all about knowing when to stay as a Founder and when to exit - something we talk a lot about with Founders, including in our upcoming episode with Graham Hobson.  Over the next 4 minutes...

“In the whole of my career, I lost more races than I won. I think people like to look at the medals, but don’t necessarily look at the other side of it.”  40 Minute Mentor is officially back for Series 8!  We’re kicking off this new series with the amazing Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain’s greatest Paralympic athlete, who has won 11 Gold medals and broke 30 world records throughout her caree...

“If you feel that you can be your vulnerable self, and you can bring your true self to work, you’re going to push yourself outside your comfort zone and achieve more.” In addition to our usual 40 Minute Mentor episode on Wednesdays, we’re launching a brand new bite-sized mentorship format.  Starting today, every Monday, you can tune in and spend 4 minutes with JBM Founder and 40 Minute Mentor host...

40 Minute Mentor, your pocket-sized career mentor, is back with a brand new series! From purpose-led Founders to Olympic champions; learn first-hand from today’s successful leaders on what it takes to be brilliant, all in just 40 minutes. To get a little preview of what's coming your way over the coming months, hit play on our Series 8 trailer.    ⭐Enjoying 40 Minute Mentor?⭐️ Keep up to date wi...

“Every single problem that you’re experiencing in your business today, there’s somebody out there that has solved it.”  To round off our 40 Minute Mentor ‘Early Stage Founders’ Feature Series, we’re joined by Nathan Chan, Founder and CEO of global media and education company, Foundr.  Foundr provide training from the world’s greatest entrepreneurs through magazines, podcasts, videos, articles and...

“This is an industry where 78% of products that are targeted to black women contain horrible toxic ingredients. There was a paper that came out that linked parabens in black hair care products to breast cancer growth in black women. Nothing you use to groom yourself should be making you sick.”  In this week’s 40 Minute Mentor ‘Early Stage Founder’ feature series episode, we’re joined by Rachael Tw...

“There are a lot of cases where I think raising capital can actually ruin a perfectly good business model.”  In this week’s 40 Minute Mentor 'Early Stage Founders' Feature Series episode, we’re joined by Hannah Russell, the Co-Founder of multi-award-winning podcasting company, Mags Creative.  Mags Creative aren’t just the brilliant team behind our 40 Minute Mentor podcast, but are also the brains...

“What matters to me about the people in our cap table is that they’re people who really care about what we’re trying to achieve and our values, and fundamentally believe and support me as the Founder.”  To kick off our brand new 40 Minute Mentor ‘Early Stage Founders’ feature series, we’re joined by the brilliant Freddie Fforde, Founder of Patch.  Patch creates dynamic work clubs and community ven...

“VC should be a great career for people from diverse backgrounds, because it’s really a role where you’re judged on your output. At the end of a fund cycle, it’s pretty clear to see whether you’re a good investor or not.”  In our final 40 Minute Mentor VC Feature series episode, we’re joined by Hannah Seal, Partner at one of the most prestigious VCs in the world and one of JBM’s favourite clients,...

“One of the biggest misconceptions in VC is that it’s an easy way to be successful, or a quick shortcut to something - that’s absolutely wrong. It’s a really long journey.”  In today’s 40 Minute Mentor VC Feature series episode, we’re joined by Antoine Nussenbaum, the Co-Founder of Felix Capital.  Felix is a venture capital firm for the creative class, at the intersection of technology and creativ...

“Create an anxiety balance sheet with the things you have control over and the things you don’t have control over. Put the things that give you anxiety into these credits and debits and you’ll realise that actually there’s a lot more that’s in your control than you think.”  Kicking off our VC feature series, we’re joined by Leila Zegna, the Founding General Partner of Kindred Capital.  Kindred are...

“The moment you start seeing yourself as a black Founder, you end up almost acting with all the facts that impact black Founders. So, you end up going into conversations with investors expecting not to raise money, or you don’t even approach VCs because you think they won’t give you money, etc.”  In this final episode of our 40 Minute Mentor ‘Where Are They Now’ feature series, we’re joined by the...

“If we were to see truly representative investment committees and truly diverse representation amongst the gatekeepers of power and capital, then we would solve this problem pretty much overnight.”  In today’s 40 Minute Mentor instalment of our ‘Where Are They Now’ feature series, we’re joined by Tessa Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO of OLIO.  OLIO is the number one sharing app, connecting neighbours w...

“When you’re 60 and you look back on your career, you’re never going to look back and think - I wish I worked for the two months more, I didn’t spend with my daughter.”  In this week’s 40 Minute Mentor, ‘Where Are They Now’ feature, we welcome back one of our very first guests on the podcast and JBM Board Advisor, the incredible Fred Jones, VP and Regional Manager of Northern Europe at TIER Mobili...

“Don’t be trapped by your job title. You can do more things. And by doing more things, by exploring all the sides of your identity and hidden talents, you’ll discover a completely different future than you can see right now.”  Up next in our 40 Minute Mentor, ‘Where Are They Now’ feature series, we’re joined by the Co-Founder of BAFTA-winning gaming studio, Bossa Studios, and multi-creative entrep...

“Just a single conversation can actually change the direction of someone’s life.”  To kick off Series 2 of our popular 40 Minute Mentor, ‘Where Are They Now’ mini-series, we’re joined by Alex Stephany, Co-Founder and CEO of Beam - the world’s first crowdfunding platform for homeless people.  When Alex last joined us in Series 2 of 40 Minute Mentor, we talked about the early days of Beam, the inspi...

“One of the biggest challenges that we’re facing is that we have a category defining product and nothing like it has existed before, so we have to do a lot of consumer education.” To celebrate the completion of 40 Minute Mentor Series 7 , we’ve put together a fascinating roundup episode spotlighting industry disrupting business leaders.  We hear from category defining businesses, including Dan Gar...

For the end of Series 7, we have a special roundup episode in store for you, in which our Host James Mitra sits down with 40 Minute Mentor Producer and JBM Head of Marketing & Partnerships, Hannah Urbanek.  Together, they reflect on their favourite moments of Series 7 and tell us a bit more about the upcoming episodes, including the comeback of a very popular mini series.  ➡️ If you’re not all cau...

“A healthier brain leads to a happier life. If you have more healthy habits than bad ones, you will ultimately be healthier and happier. But having healthy habits is hard….”  For our final episode of our Mental Health mini-series, we look back on our conversation with the brilliant Dan Murray-Serter , serial entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Heights and host of the popular Secret Leaders podcast .  In t...

“I really think now is the time for business leaders to step up, act boldly and put in some of the changes that have been needed for a while.”  In today’s Mental Health feature episode, we look back on our episode with Reeva Misra , the Founder and CEO of Walking on Earth - a holistic health platform on a mission to elevate human happiness.  Reeva shares her candid insights from blending technolog...

“Getting out of bed was hard. Every day felt like a chore - it felt like the grind. And one night in bed, I just thought to myself, if I feel the same way again tomorrow morning, I honestly don’t want to wake up…”  Continuing our Mental Health mini-series, we look back on our discussion with James Routledge , Founder and former CEO of Sanctus - a purpose-driven mental health organisation focused o...

“Silence is the oxygen [this illness] needs, it thrives on it. So the more insular that we become, the more we don’t talk, the more illogical and irrational our belief system gets.”  In episode 2 of our Mental Health Spotlight mini-series, we cover segments from our roundtable discussion featuring Psychotherapist and Wellness Expert, Sophie Scott , HR Director and Mind Ambassador, Rohan Kallichara...

“If you imagine that life is just about now, then the purpose of cleaning the dishes is to do it as best as you can and enjoy yourself. You can find micro purpose and joy in everything you do.”  To continue shining the light on the importance of mental health, we’re launching a special feature mini-series this week. Every day of this week we’ll be taking a look back on some of our mental health co...

“When I lost my seat in parliament, as devastating as it was, I genuinely felt relieved that I got out with my life.”  We’ve officially reached our final episode of Series 7, but we’re definitely finishing on a high with today’s 40 Minute Mentor - it’s none other than Baroness Oona King .  Oona has worn many hats throughout her career - from becoming the second black woman elected into British Par...

“If the product is good enough, ultimately the business will succeed.”  In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Nick Jenkins, Founder of Moonpig , former Dragon on BBC hit show Dragons' Den and angel investor.  Due to its incredible success story, greeting card business Moonpig probably doesn’t need much of an introduction, but we don’t often hear about the challenges it took to overc...