Brilliance Talks

Most leaders don’t fail because of strategy, they fail under pressure. In this episode on Leadership Under Pressure, Greg Zlevor explains why awareness, not intelligence, determines leadership success. From emotional control to decision-making in chaos, this is a deep dive into what separates great leaders from the rest. 📝 Show Notes: 02:08 The concept of different “arenas” 04:30 Why most leaders...

In this episode on Property Business Growth, Alan Wing-King shares how he built and scaled multiple companies across the property sector. From launching during a financial crisis to managing five ventures today, this conversation covers the real strategies behind sustainable Property Business Growth. You’ll learn about leadership, scaling systems, digital marketing, and the future of property and...

What does a real SaaS Growth Strategy look like? In this episode, Tom Hamilton Stubber (CEO of TutorCruncher) shares how he went from intern to leading a global SaaS company, and why growth is slower, harder, and more strategic than most founders expect. We break down: Data-driven decision making Scaling a SaaS company without hype Hiring and building strong teams Expanding into international mark...

In this episode, we dive deep into Scaling a Health Clinic with Simon Gilchrist, co-founder of Mayfair Health and WellQ. Simon shares how he built a multi-location clinic brand, overcame cash flow challenges, and transitioned into health tech. If you're interested in Scaling a Health Clinic, hiring the right team, and building sustainable growth, this episode is packed with real insights. 📝 S...

This episode explores Business Recovery with David Vosku, founder of Voscap Business Recovery. We dive into how failing companies can restructure, reset, and come back stronger through proven Business Recovery strategies. From insolvency and liquidation to mindset and resilience, this conversation breaks down what founders need to know when everything is on the line. If you're navigating finan...

Former Warner Bros executive Eric Frankel joins Brilliance Talks to explain how AI Advertising is transforming the marketing industry. After 30 years in Hollywood, Eric left a multi-billion dollar division at Warner Bros to build AdGreetz, a company using AI to generate thousands of personalised ads at scale. In this conversation we discuss entrepreneurship, marketing innovation, founder mindset,...

What does it really take to build a Social Impact Startup that balances profit and purpose? John Ramsey left Linklaters to build Social-Ability, a Social Impact Startup transforming dementia care through interactive technology. From caring for his father with early-onset dementia to scaling across nine countries, John shares the brutal realities of building a commercially sustainable Social Impact...

Power BI AI is transforming finance, business intelligence, and the future of work, but most professionals are not ready. In this episode, Microsoft MVP Rishi Sapra explains how Power BI AI, Microsoft Fabric, and AI tools are reshaping finance teams, startups, and global enterprises. After working with Deloitte, HSBC, and KPMG, Rishi now helps professionals and founders understand how to use Power...

Jonathan Sackier is a surgeon who helped build one of the world’s first surgical robots, and accidentally became a startup founder along the way. In this episode, Jonathan explains how MRI-guided surgical robot technology is changing Parkinson’s treatment, why most healthcare innovation fails, and what entrepreneurship taught him about people, money and humility. From turning $1 into $17,500, to s...

What does it really take to build an AI marketing agency while launching SaaS and scaling e-commerce? In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Duray Pretorius, co-founder and CRO of Viaduct Generation, shares his honest journey through growth, pressure, innovation, and burnout. We talk about leadership, culture, AI done right, and why success without mental fitness is a dangerous trade-off. This is a...

Discover how MELP is building the future of the employee benefits platform, from lifestyle and longevity to protection, insurance, and AI-powered sales. In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Juozas (Joe) Sargunas shares how MELP is combining lifestyle & protection into one powerful ecosystem designed for companies and their employees. This is a raw founder story about pressure, resilience, and...

The serial entrepreneur mindset isn’t about chasing a dream, it’s about building happiness first. In this episode, Lawrence Seaforth shares how he built three businesses, learned to code his own MVPs, used AI to move faster, and avoided the traps that burn most founders out. Real talk on money, time, decision-making, and why freedom comes from clarity, not hustle. 📝 Show Notes: 01:05 Building 3 b...

Glenn Sanger went from tech apprentice to co-founding a multi-million-pound IT and cybersecurity firm, without investors. In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Glenn shares what 15 years of bootstrapping taught him about leadership, partnerships, apprenticeships, and building a business that lasts. No hype. Just real lessons from the trenches. 📝 Show Notes: 02:10 Starting Bunker with two laptops 0...

AI didn’t start with ChatGPT, and this episode proves it. In this episode of Brilliance Talks, we sit down with Vasili Nevlov, founder of Analysium and creator of AIgentic, who’s been building real-world AI systems since 2012, long before AI became mainstream. We explore what AI looked like in the early days, how Vasili scaled a multi-million-pound data analytics firm, and why AI agents... not cha...

What if the mistakes you’re about to make… have already been made? In this New Year special episode of Brilliance Talks, we’ve curated the most powerful lessons shared by CEOs and founders we featured this year, the moments that changed their thinking, leadership, and businesses. These are honest reflections on failure, growth, hiring, health, timing, and what it really takes to build something th...

What do successful entrepreneurs wish they’d known earlier? In this Brilliance Talks Christmas Special, we’ve brought together the most powerful insights shared by CEOs and founders featured on the podcast this year. From fundraising and scaling to leadership, self-belief, and resilience, this episode is a reflection on the realities of building something meaningful. Whether you’re closing out the...

She left a successful career in Big Law to fix one of the most broken systems in the UK. In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Hannah Nicholson, Founder & CEO of Snapply, shares how she raised £1.5M+, rebuilt her company through a major rebrand, and is creating the Airbnb of home buying. A candid conversation about courage, fundraising winters, motherhood, and building tech with a human touch....

Livia Bernardini has built products and brands across Italy, Japan, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and the UK, and now leads Future Platforms, the digital product company behind experiences for BT, EE, McKinsey and more. We get into intuition (her secret edge), product strategy, innovation traps, branding mistakes, how to build a lovable MVP, and why moving countries forces you to rebuild your ident...

From Metallica to Harvard, Toni Hopponen has quietly built tools used by some of the world’s most iconic brands. He bootstrapped Flockler, scaled it through pure product-led growth, sold it, and then, instead of retiring, started from zero again. In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Toni breaks down: How he landed global brands with no sales team The emotional cost of selling a company after 12 ye...

Alex Grundy, co-founder and CEO of Spendkey, shares his journey from corporate procurement expert to AI SaaS founder. Learn how Spendkey automates years of consulting work into days, the mindset shifts required to move from corporate to founder, and how to build a global team with a winning culture. Key Takeaways: Turning experience into actionable AI products Scaling a startup globally while main...

She didn’t plan to change the world — but a single hackathon sparked a technology now giving people new ways to communicate. Dr. Hadeel Ayoub, the inventor behind BrightSign and Fiddley, joins us to share how she built AI-driven tools that translate hand signs into speech, and how a mission to help one person grew into global impact. In this episode, we unpack her founder story, the breakthrough m...

At 40, a finance guy walking away from the London Stock Exchange so he could learn to cook pasta. Sounds wild? It’s only the beginning. Meet Chris Rensell — former financier turned co-founder of Pasta Evangelists. He built a pasta brand from a kitchen in East London, scaled it into a £30-plus million business, hit Harrods, Ocado and 50+ delivery kitchens, and then got acquired by Barilla. In this...

Lena was coding neural networks before AI was cool. In this episode, she shares how she went from space research to co-founding The Good Face Project — helping beauty giants like L’Oréal and Estée Lauder build safer, faster products with AI. We talk about: Building AI before ChatGPT The rise of “World Models” Startups, burnout & resilience The future of AI in business If you’re into founders,...

In this episode of Brilliance Talks, we sit down with Daniel Bulteel, co-founder of Ting — an AI platform that turns the messy back-and-forth of scheduling into real, meaningful meetings. Before founding Ting, Daniel helped scale TikTok, Live, Shopping, and CapCut globally at ByteDance, and led adidas’ social and creator strategy across 50+ markets. Now, he’s using AI to bring back what tech often...

In this episode of Brilliance Talks, Simac Konkader sits down with Tatyana Mamut, CEO and co-founder of Wayfound.ai, to uncover the truth about innovation, leadership, and the human flaws shaping the future of AI. Tatyana’s journey began as a refugee fleeing conflict in Ukraine — and led her to build and lead at some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies. Her story is a powerful reminder that tech...