Business Leader

In this episode of The Business Leader podcast, Richard Harpin interviews Caspar Lee, the YouTube pioneer who successfully transitioned from influencer to powerhouse entrepreneur. Lee reveals the strategies behind co-founding Influencer.com, a marketing agency with multi-million pound revenues and his subsequent move into venture capital with Creator Ventures. The conversation explores vital insights for scaling businesses. Lee explains why hiring 'big company' veterans can backfire in mid-sized firms. He also outlines how partnerships can be used to drive organic growth when building communities. He also shares his tips for personal branding, reflecting on the strategies he used to build his own following. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is cost cutting really a strategy or is it quietly holding businesses back? In this episode of the Business Leader podcast, Sir Richard Harpin sits down with advertising and marketing legend Rory Sutherland. Sutherland challenges some of the most deeply held assumptions in modern business, from efficiency and procurement to marketing, pricing, and customer experience – all through the lens of a marketer. Drawing on decades of experience at the advertising group Ogilvy and in behavioural science, Rory explains why an obsession with cost reduction and short-term efficiency can destroy long-term value, and why businesses need to think in terms of opportunity, not just spreadsheets. This episode is essential listening for founders, CEOs and senior leaders who want to grow sustainably without sacrificing innovation, trust, or long-term opportunity. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the thinkers and leaders shaping the future of business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rohan Blacker is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Sofa.com. Blacker shares his journey with host Dougal Shaw, from an unfulfilling legal career to becoming a pioneer in UK e-commerce. He left Sofa.com in 2015 when a private equity firm took over. Today he’s still very much in furniture retail, running Pooky.com and Schplendid sofas. Blacker tells the story behind acquiring the Sofa.com domain name, explaining why he and his co-founder felt a "nuts name" was essential for success, in the brave new world of online branding. Blacker also explains why he thinks Sofa.com declined after his exit, citing "death by a thousand cuts", including excessive discounting and high rent overheads. He explains how he is now using the lessons learned from his Sofa.com days to power his latest venture, Schplendid, which aims to champion sustainable sofas in a world of "fast furniture". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Mishreki is the founder of the UK-based, fast-growing skincare brand Skin + Me. In this episode Mishreki discusses with host Richard Harpin his unconventional entrepreneurial journey. It began in childhood with selling copied CDs at school and included a stint as a professional poker player, a role he credits with building his resilience. The conversation explores how Skin + Me aims to disrupt a £140bn beauty and cosmetics market plagued by a 55% customer dissatisfaction rate. Mishreki details his company’s innovative personalised subscription model, which provides prescription-grade treatments through a vertically integrated system, including their own pharmacy and factory. Mishreki shares his philosophy on "rejection training" and explains why he transitioned from CEO to Chairman to focus on his core strengths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FlightStory CEO Georgie Holt and Chief Revenue Officer Christiana Brenton discuss with Dougal Shaw how they are pioneering podcasts and new media alongside Steven Bartlett, creator and host of The Diary of a CEO. Moving beyond traditional audio, they operate an end-to-end studio scaling global IP across newsletters, live events, and commerce. The duo explains how they "kill the guesswork" using proprietary technology like Guest Radar and Creator Radar to identify high-potential talent through data. They delve into their collaborative leadership, the necessity of "killing the romance" to avoid stagnation, and the role of Flight X in disrupting their own success. Finally, they highlight the transition from digital consumption to real-world communities, arguing that "packaging" long-form content for algorithms is essential for maximising global human impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.