Success Is In The Mind with Oliver Bruce

PinPoint Media

A podcast where we speak to founders and entrepreneurs from businesses you’ve always wanted to know more about. We delve into the formative years of their business lives and ask those with the inside track on start-up and scale-up life the questions I wish I knew the answers to when I started out so you should too! So, when should you raise VC funding? Should founders give all employees equity? And what do the acronyms banded around in boardrooms like SEIS, EIS, TAM and VAT actually mean for you as a founder? We shed light on just how many founders are neurologically diverse and show you how to get through times when the things get tough, as they will... Hosted by me Oliver Bruce a Dyslexic, Dyspraxic entrepreneur with ADHD my business journey so far really exciting. I have built multi-million-pound businesses, I have invested at Seed and Series A stage and I have launched this podcast now ranked in the top 5% of business podcast globally and guess what, I have loved every minute as I hope you do to! Recent winners of Campaign Publishing (https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/campaign-publishing-awards-2021-podcast-year-%E2%80%93-business-media/1715626) business podcast of the year with judges saying "This podcast has identified a niche in the market and sets out to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs honestly and ethically" To find out more visit http://successpodcast.co.uk read less
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Episodes

S5 Ep68: Ranj & Xav co-founders of Mixtons. How becoming bored of the quiet life in Cornwall inspired a multimillion pound pandemic partnership.
29-03-2023
S5 Ep68: Ranj & Xav co-founders of Mixtons. How becoming bored of the quiet life in Cornwall inspired a multimillion pound pandemic partnership.
Co-founder of Mixtons, Xav struggled with Dyslexia from an early age, ultimately discovering music as his form of expression as a teenager. With Dyslexia forming Xav's unique outlook on life he tried, and sometimes failed in business, that was, until the 3 co-founders of Mixtons came together... One third of Mixtons, Ranj, trained as an engineer before becoming a cocktail mixer in a local bar ultimately finding his love for hospitality and the perfect pour. It wasn't until the 2019 pandemic that Mixtons took off. From making the perfect cocktail in their co-founder Sim's kitchen, Ranj and Xav managed to scale in little under 2 years the brand from zero to hero bringing on investors spanning the world of food, drink and influencer from Calfreezy through to the founders of Goat and dare we say it, even Oliver's invested in Mixtons on their latest round which values the business well into severn figures. So, how do 3 friends come together to work so seamlessly on scaling a business in a world only one third of them had ever experienced? When is the right time to raise outside money? And when is the right time to move out of your mates kitchen and into something a little more professional...? Series Sponsor Huboo. Your eCommerce fulfilment partner www.huboo.com Episode Sponsor Huel. huel.com/success for your free shaker and t-shirt. Produced by PinPoint Media. www.pinpoint-media.global
S5 Ep63:  David Abrahamovitch, Founder Of GRIND Coffee Took On The High Street Coffee Chains And Won But Pivoting Into A Sustainable D2C Coffee Brand Changed Everything!
28-09-2022
S5 Ep63: David Abrahamovitch, Founder Of GRIND Coffee Took On The High Street Coffee Chains And Won But Pivoting Into A Sustainable D2C Coffee Brand Changed Everything!
Founder of GRIND Coffee David Abrahamovitch grew up watching his dad build multiple businesses as a child ultimately inspiring him to go it alone. It didn't however start with coffee!  Having turned his Dad's business around and pivoted it into new sectors, David speaks to Oliver about how there's a seismic culture shift in today's world about what being an 'entrepreneur' actually is.  David started his first 'proper' business at University at aged 22 whilst studying UCL. David and his co-founders found themselves pitching for seed capital around a boardroom table before even graduating, the business he was pitching for capital still trades today. GRIND took on the giants of Costa Coffee and Starbucks and, in time, started to win. Having arranged external investment for GRIND it was still just a side hustle. David ended up jumping ship from his University founded business to go into GRIND full time.   It was during the start of the 2019 pandemic that everything changed for David and the GRIND team.  GRIND, a business that was turning over c£10m at the time, had no choice but to close it's high street coffee shops overnight, ultimately leading to David exploring new avenues for revenue. It was this world first, D2C compostable pod offering that doubled GRIND’s turnover in less than 12 months to over £20m.  Still going strong, GRIND and David are looking to take on the US.
S5 Ep61: Andy Shovel Not Every Business Has Takeoff like THIS For Self-Proclaimed ‘Uncool’ Entrepreneur
22-08-2022
S5 Ep61: Andy Shovel Not Every Business Has Takeoff like THIS For Self-Proclaimed ‘Uncool’ Entrepreneur
In this live on location recording, Oliver caught up with Andy Shovel co-founder of vegan food brand THIS at their London HQ.  A born entrepreneur Andy’s hit the headlines recently for his slightly ‘out there’ marketing stunts, one of which included a life size naked statue of Piers Morgan in Leicester Square with his ‘THIS’ product housed around Piers’ nether regions… That said, the self proclaimed ‘un-cool’ entrepreneur that is Andy, co-created his first business with a group of mates whilst at University. Ironically quite a ‘cool’ clubbing night called ‘cash throw events’ and yes the clue is in the name, it didn’t take off financially but opened Andy’s eyes to the possible.  From University to founding a recruitment business which he later exited through to finance, insurance and everything in between Andy has built and sold multiple businesses. Not all of Andy’s business ideas however have succeeded. One such flop was ‘Equity Fish’, a business similar to what Crowdcube is today. Andy left this idea behind after being “outgunned by the legal system” - It didn’t stop there however, Andy also ventured into advertising on escalator handles however, that too also didn’t work… Relentless and not knowing when to stop, Andy has since learnt, thankfully, when to say ‘no’. Clearly however, and contrary to that, he said ‘yes’ at exactly the right time when launching THIS, his most recent business.  Having overfunded on multiple occasions and recently rolled out vegan THIS sandwiches into WHSmith and other high street stores, Andy’s vision of a mass market vegan brand is coming to fruition as their current market value is circa £75million. Watch the full episode on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/BULhsd5cgg0 Sponsored by Capsule Cover Produced by PinPoint Media
S5 Ep59: E59: Habito Founder - Daniel Hegarty
23-03-2022
S5 Ep59: E59: Habito Founder - Daniel Hegarty
After dropping out of school with no qualifications aged 16, Daniel Hegarty got signed to the same label as Boy George and went touring with his punk band for just £100 a week. He then spent the next ten years carving out a career as a working musician in LA, writing for and performing with the likes of S Club 7, Robbie Williams and the Sugababes, before returning to the UK to be one of the first employees at Wonga, where he became fully immersed in the world of tech startups. Dan became frustrated with the whole property buying process after almost losing the house he was trying to buy due to mistakes made by his solicitors. He realised there was huge potential for change in the mortgage and property market, and in 2016, Habito was born. Habito is a tech startup that is dedicated to ending ‘mortgage hell’ and aims to streamline the whole process, cutting down the average transaction time from 21 days to just 10. Since its founding six years ago, Habito has seen rapid growth, from sorting just 245 mortgages in 2016 to a whopping £4 billion worth of mortgages in 2020. With £80 million of funding raised so far, Habito had recently expanded into lending their own mortgages, streamlining the process even further. In this week’s episode of Success Is In The Mind, Oliver Bruce sits down with Daniel to ask, how do you set up a business with no experience and raise millions in funding? Was dropping out of school the best decision he ever made? And what does the future of mortgage broking look like? Watch the best bits here - https://bit.ly/3tqDcyq  Listen to the full podcast – https://link.chtbl.com/lsgRUCSI  For more exclusive content visit Oliver's YouTube - https://bit.ly/32eboTi Sponsor - Capsule Insurance Produced by: PinPoint Media
S5 Ep56: E56: HYBR Founder - Hannah Chappatte - Student housing, winning funding, and the hustle culture
02-03-2022
S5 Ep56: E56: HYBR Founder - Hannah Chappatte - Student housing, winning funding, and the hustle culture
From an early age, Hannah Chappatte was surrounded by successful family members, but her initial confidence took a knock when her teachers told her she had dyslexia. Despite this, she went on the secure As and A*s across the board in her A-Levels, before spending a globe-hopping year working in intern roles in various companies around the world.  While studying English Literature and Language in Bristol, Hannah spotted a huge gap in the market for a platform that would provide reputable student accommodation, as well as help and support to students renting from private landlords in the tricky and often murky world of student housing.  Thus in 2019 HYBR was born, and Hannah quickly won several competitions which gave her the initial seed funding she needed to get HYBR off the ground. Fast forward to 2022, and HYBR has hundreds of properties listed in 8 cities across the UK, and with a fresh round of funding that garnered £600k, it’s only up from here for HYBR. In this episode of Success Is In The Mind, Oliver Bruce asks - how do you go it alone as a founder of a company fresh out of university? How do you build a middle ground between students and landlords who mistrust one another? And who can you turn to for support when you’re in the lonely position of founder? For more exclusive content visit Oliver's YouTube - https://bit.ly/32eboTi Sponsor - Capsule Insurance Produced by: PinPoint Media