Business Leader

• Alibaba.com's president explains how AI tools let SMEs access global supply chains

  It’s a magnet for side hustlers around Europe. The CoCreate event was held this November in London, the first time it’s come to Europe. It’s an event run by Alibaba.com, a global online marketplace for b2b wholesale trade. Small businesses use it to source in bulk products from manufacturers and trading companies to then sell to consumers themselves. Alibaba.com is part of Alibaba Group founded by Jack Ma in China in 1999. Alibaba.com now connects 50 million buyers with 200,000 global suppliers, many of them based in China. At CoCreate there are suppliers showing off their wares, including everything from robot vacuum cleaners to skincare products and fashion items. Dougal Shaw spoke to the entrepreneurs who flocked to this event before catching up with Kuo Zhang, the president of Alibaba.com, to find out how small companies can access global supply chains, with AI making the task increasingly sophisticated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  --------  

  23:13

  --------

  23:13
• Katharine Viner: The editor taking the Guardian into the TikTok age

  Many prime ministers don’t make it to 10 years in office. US presidents only get eight at most to secure their legacy. Katharine Viner has had a decade and counting as editor-in-chief at the Guardian newspaper. She is also the first woman to hold the role. She’s made radical changes to an institution more than two centuries old, while returning it to profit. Dougal Shaw took a trip to the Guardian HQ in London to learn about the reader revenue model that took everyone by surprise, commercial innovations like The Filter and how she plans to attract younger audiences while navigating the perils of social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  --------  

  34:45

  --------

  34:45
• Viral video to viral brand

  In this episode, Lucie Macloud reveals the unexpected story behind Hair Syrup’s meteoric rise—from a homemade solution shared on TikTok to a multi-million-pound beauty brand. In this episode of the Business Leader podcast, she joins Lucy McPhee and Josh Dornbrack to talk about battling self-doubt, navigating Dragons’ Den, handling explosive growth and learning how to lead long before she felt ready. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  --------  

  46:08

  --------

  46:08
• Mountain Warehouse and Mark Neale

  The story of how one of the best-known high street chains was built. Mountain Warehouse now has more than 400 shops and generates more than £450m in annual revenue. But, as founder and chief executive Mark Neale tells Graham Ruddick, this story starts with a shop selling roller blades... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  --------  

  45:17

  --------

  45:17
• Thea Green: The beauty entrepreneur behind Nails.INC

  Thea Green, the founder of Nails.INC, is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs in the beauty and self-care space. Her early background was in journalism, but she spotted a gap in the fashion market back in the late 1990s – and grabbed the opportunity. When the world was crazy about everything “dot com” and coffee shops, she saw that the UK hadn’t caught up yet with the American trend for getting a regular manicure at nail bars. She first built her beauty empire around nail bars on the high street and in department stores. These days she presides over a multi-million-pound retail business that is based on innovative nail products like varnish, art packs and polishes. Last year Nails.INC was acquired by a private equity firm in a reported £30m deal. Thea Green remains at the top of the company she founded. Dougal Shaw went to her HQ in Mayfair, London to learn how she has evolved as a leader and what others can learn from her experience... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  --------  

  34:17

  --------

  34:17

More Business podcasts

Trending Business podcasts

About Business Leader

Business Leader: Podcasts in Family