The Naked Founder

Simon Swan is on track to create a one-man £1m+ startup, with a little help from former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan. Two-time founder Swan is the latest guest on The Naked Founder podcast and his second business, Uthful, is already profitable after less than six months. Uthful is a health supplement business and it’s a far cry from Swan’s previous enterprise, Manchester-based talent ma...

Tom Dunlop turned his back on an Olympic dream to launch LegalTech Summize and said a degree of paranoia is healthy in business. Earlier this year, Summize raised £40m in a Series B investment round and has just acquired the key assets and staff from Seattle consultancy InnoLaw Group. After swapping a successful badminton career for a legal one, he became an in-house lawyer at AppSense, where he m...

Mark Stuart is on a mission to make Stuart Energy Europe’s leading power generation business. He founded Stuart Energy in 2017 alongside his father Fred and brother Lee, and the company has been named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list for three consecutive years. But following in the footsteps of a successful parent comes with its own pressures. “You see great footballers that have sons...

From being raised by an alcoholic mother to fighting off a sex pest and coming out as gay at the age of 30, Sam White has faced more challenges than most. She is the award-winning CEO of female-focused motor insurance business Stella Insurance, which has offices in Manchester and Australia, and is the latest guest on The Naked Founder Podcast. No-nonsense White brings a new meaning to the phrase '...

Derry Green knew his Dragons' Den appearance would transform the fortunes of his business, The Secret Garden Glamping, but even he underestimated its power. Green had become a social media sensation when he built a glamping pod for his kids in his back garden during Covid and turned it into a business. The success of The Secret Garden Glamping saved Green from financial ruin, but even he had no id...

Vicar's daughter. Accidental entrepreneur. Published author. Founder. Award winner. Disruptor. There are plenty of ways to describe myHappymind CEO Laura Earnshaw. Another would be: in demand. Last year, 16 investors wanted to back myHappymind before Earnshaw eventually chose LDC.  She has also spoken out about the lack of women in the investment world and her mission to equip every child with the...

Jen Atkinson is a legend in the travel industry and has grown her business, Travel Seen, to nearly £60m turnover. She told The Naked Founder podcast that female founders need more self-belief if they want to scale their business. “One of the reasons that women particularly struggle in the world of scaling a business is investment and that self-belief that they can ask for £10m and get £15m, as opp...

Matthew Scullion is the founder of British unicorn Matillion and told The Naked Founder about the ‘crazy’ world of AI. His business joined an exclusive club of only 41 UK unicorns in 2021 when a $150m Series E funding round took its valuation beyond the magical $1bn mark. He estimates Matillion has invested ‘many, many tens of millions into Maia’, which is its AI data automation platform. Scullion...

Russell Teale was juggling the pressures of business and family life when he thought he was having a heart attack. Tests later revealed he was having a panic attack but the near-miss changed his life and his outlook. He’s the founder and CEO of Vivify, which today employs 500 people and is set to grow turnover from £8m to £12m this year. At the same time, the startup has given more than £10m back...

James Laithwaite has been described as rugby league’s unluckiest player after fracturing his left leg four times and breaking his neck during a career that saw him play for Warrington Wolves, Toronto Wolfpack and Bradford Bulls. However, from the depth of despair, he launched premium meal prep delivery firm FuelHub in 2019 with his wife Michelle. Today the company is working with some of the UK’s...

As the co-founders of Pareto Law, Jonathan Fitchew and Andy Sawer were inseparable. For 26 years they shared the same office and, when away on business trips, even shared the same bed rather than book separate rooms. One look at his best friend’s empty desk after he died in 2021 was enough to convince Fitchew that he could never work there again. In this episode of the Naked Founder podcast, he di...

In the events industry, Holly Bennett (Moore) is almost as big a name as the stars she rubs shoulders with. From Robert De Niro to Kylie Minogue, and from Gary Barlow to McFly, Moore has worked with them all. However, behind the confident exterior, Moore has wrestled with crippling OCD. At one point, on New Year’s Day 2012, Moore was unable to carry on and rang the Priory to be admitted. Moore has...

James Cole is the straight-talking founder of Panache Cruises. He founded the luxury cruise retailer during Covid and believes in authenticity and honesty, and is partial to the odd swear word. A two-time founder, he’s on track to build his second £100m turnover company, but this time it won’t be at the expense of his family or by turning to drink. In this episode of the Naked Founder podcast, he...

Hayley Roberts had it all. And then she didn’t. She founded cybersecurity business Distology in 2015 and has grown it to £63m turnover, 50 staff and offices in the UK, Netherlands and Germany. Roberts is one of a growing number of female founders who get divorced and has opened up on the price she paid for going it alone. In this episode of the Naked Founder podcast, she discusses: • Why female fo...

Peter Cliff and Jos van der Steen hated each other when they first met but went on to launch one of the UK’s most exciting companies. They are co-founders of CONDUCTR, which creates world-class ‘kick-ass attractions’ from its Manchester HQ. In four years, the startup has grown turnover to £26m and staff numbers to 100, with studios in the UK, US and Middle East. In this episode of the Naked Founde...

The Naked Founder - Season 1 Trailer