Episodios
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In this episode of Mastering Tech Growth, Mike looks at the challenge of scaling tech operations without compromising growth. To do this he is joined by Andrew Parsons, an industry veteran who, for decades, has been transforming operations for Vive Bank, HSBC, MasterCard, Admiral Group and more. Andrew shares his insights on achieving operational excellence without slowing the pace at which a startup grows and evolves. A critical but often overlooked factor of tech scaling.
Whether you're in a fast-growing startup or managing an established venture, this episode offers actionable strategies to help your operations grow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Be aware of the risks, but still be bold enough to innovate and break the mould.
Use Jeff Besos´s decision-making process to make sure you don´t become so risk-averse that progress freezes.
Set clear goals, clearly define your roles and set clear accountabilities.
Fail fast, move forward, and spend your money wisely.
Leverage frameworks, to improve operational consistency. This is especially important when you grow through mergers.
Effective change management is the key when scaling. Set clear goals, take a structured approach to communicating them effectively and monitor the impact of the change.
Communicate clearly in a calm, measured and consistent way, especially during mergers.
Be an active listener – read between the lines.
When things go wrong, calmly evaluate why and logically assess the problem layer by layer.
Put automation at the core. Everyone should be driving it.
Think carefully before automating decision-making.
At the growth stage you will need to quickly hire the talent you need. Prepare for this, in advance.
From an early stage encourage testing failure modes, to build resilience.
Turn each crisis into a learning opportunity.
BEST MOMENTS
04:04 "Risk management is the daily day buzzword. You're always trying to do something to make sure, it is the right thing for now."
16:03 “Clear goals, clear roles, clear accountabilities. If those are all correct, the people with those accountabilities will be the first to say, I need another person."
21:52 "You can never really communicate enough."
32:32 "Find a way of asking your questions that's not going to negatively charge the conversation and take things in the wrong direction."
47:05 "Gen AI will, and should, be used to augment and make life better for everyone."
01:11.14 “Make sure you've got a risk management framework that you can log these things into."
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-parsons-49b6135
Jeff Besos decision making - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
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Mike speaks to Jinesh Patel, co-founder and CEO of Uptime Health, to discuss the importance of strategic partnerships in scaling a tech business. Jinesh used 15+ strategic partners to grow from £1 million turnover in 2023 to £10 million in 2024. He explains how they found the right partners and built effective relationships with them to sell an innovative product that those involved in the dental industry had never heard of or thought about using before.
He explains how to put together deals that are so good for the partners that they will not be able to resist working alongside you.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
● With so many ways to promote your business, it is easy to choose the wrong ones and waste money. Jinesh talks about how to avoid this pitfall.
● Use partners who have a rolodex of the type of people who need your product so you are targeting a pre-filtered list of prospects.
● Take a highly structured approach to partnerships. Include regular milestones and incentives.
● Create a clear go to market strategy.
● Look for partners who are likely to sell your products alongside theirs e.g. anyone who sells medical equipment is also likely to sell medical software.
● Take the time to educate your partners.
● Vet your partners as you would investors.
● Reaching out to partners automatically improves brand awareness.
● Attend conferences as attendees and approach people in the booths who could be good partners for you.
● Tailor the incentives to appeal to each partner. Look for synergies and ways to help them to grow their business too. Examples are shared in the podcast.
● As you grow, partnerships need to evolve.
● You need different types of partners. Often, once a few have jumped aboard others will follow.
● If you are just getting started, target smaller partners. Jinesh explains why.
● Craft the contract to ensure that you have a way to contact the end customer.
BEST MOMENTS
00:13:08 - "We educate the partners. They educate the clients, and they’re only bringing us opportunities that make sense.”
00:33:13 - “Qualifying your partners is just like when you want to raise capital from an investment group. You want to make sure you’re taking in good money, and it has good reputation.”
00:47:50 - "We still do direct [sales], because at the end of the day, not everyone wants to buy from a partner.”
01:06:39 - “The best way to hedge is to have more than one partnership of that size, so you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.”
01:18:18 - "Closing a partnership has this huge element of pitching the product, talking about it, and...getting feedback."
01:19:07- “We’re always pushing out articles, podcasts just to educate and inform the community. That's been our go-to-market strategy.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jineshjpatel
https://www.uptimehealth.com
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
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For this episode, Mike speaks to Gautam Hazari an influential TED speaker and the visionary CTO of sekura.id. He is at the forefront of developing innovative security solutions that tackle the complex challenges of identity management and fraud prevention.
They start by looking at the impact fraud is having on businesses and why the situation is about to get a lot worse. Before discussing what you and the tech industry can do to mitigate fraud. Including being ready for when the fraudsters start using AI bots to work on an even larger scale than they are doing now.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Deepfakes are already being used in real-time using voice and video. Fraudsters are now training AI bots to carry out their fraud for them so they are not reliant on how fast their staff can work. When a business is a victim of fraud, the trust clients and investors have in them is undermined which can trigger them to look to your competitors. Fraudsters use our chemistry against us. They turn on and appeal to the emotional side of our brains. They try to scare you or appeal to greed. Time is your friend. Pausing and counting backwards from 30 before taking action engages your logical brain and helps you to spot fraud more often. Passwords no longer work. It is too easy for fraudsters to steal those details from companies. Even password credential managers. Between 80 to 86% of data breaches are related to credential (identity) failure. That is why sekura id is focused on providing better ways to confirm someone´s ID. Cryptographic authentication tied to their SIM gives everyone, including those in poorer countries, a far higher level of security. There does not need to be a privacy issue, mobile providers are already heavily regulated.BEST MOMENTS
02:59 “ 6% of global GDP is impacted due to fraud."
08:41 "When they (fraudster employees) are replaced by these AI chatbots, there is no scaling problem… and that's scary."
33:56 "The internet doesn't have an identity layer."
50:36 "These startups are getting targeted more now because they are easy targets if they want to do everything themselves."
53:22 "Passwords are a problem."
57:11 "The SIM is nothing more than a cryptographic engine…It's a hardware-based cryptographic engine."
1.03.05 “Every single phone on earth has a SIM providing or doing that cryptographic protection right now. Why don't we use that?”
1.1.52 “It's not going to be a man-in-the-middle attack, it will be AI-in-the-middle attacks.”
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://sekura.id
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sekura-id
https://www.ted.com/talks/gautam_hazari_digital_me_why_we_need_a_world_without_passwords
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/people/gautamhazari
https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir
https://www.netflix.com/es-en/title/81183491
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
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For this episode, Mike is joined by Keith Harrison a seasoned software development leader with 24 years of commercial experience. They discuss the intersection between community building and tech innovation and how it catapults your personal and business growth.
Keith explains how to set up your own tech community. Including, securing sponsors attracting high-quality speakers, pricing, finding venues, and more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Constantly learning is essential. Meetups and similar events are an excellent way to do this. Before setting up your tech event be clear about its purpose. What is needed for a business-focused event is quite different from what wors for community events. Sponsorship is powerful, it gives you credibility and attracts attendees, speakers, and partners. Know your audience and make sure the talks are relevant. Keep talks short. People have been at work all day, so attention spans are short. Initially, attracting the best speakers will take a lot of effort. In time, they will approach you. Pricing is a tricky subject, Mike and Keith discuss this in-depth.BEST MOMENTS
8:17 "We try and keep the talks broad enough so pretty much anybody could come along that has an interest in tech and get something out of it.”
10:34 "Decide which one you are: is this a community-based event, or a business-focused event? If you pretend to be a community event but it's for business, it won't work."
11:48 "Word of mouth has been our biggest driver."
11:50 "You can't beat LinkedIn... it's been great for reaching out and getting more people to come along to our meetup."
12:50 "Start by deciding your focus and building your community."
26:30 "We try to keep talks around 25-30 minutes because people are tired after work."
35:33 "Venue is the number one problem... I nearly quit over venue issues."
55:02 "If you want to scale, adding more events multiplies the effort. It's not the same process scaled up."
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://www.meetup.com/techmeetup/events/303972875/?eventOrigin=group_events_list
https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithdharrison
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Nathan Yeung, a seasoned fractional CMO with a keen interest in using consumer psychology to drive marketing success in the tech industry. Nathan explains how it should inform your marketing strategy and campaigns. Including creating a network effect, building trust, social proof, case studies, repackaging, anchoring, the impact of AI and why so much unethical marketing still works.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Effective marketing is key to success. Focus on selling to a small group of consumers first to benefit from the network effect. Nathan explains why. Most Gen Z brands are community-led, so get a community talking about you. Social proof is particularly powerful for new businesses. Some forms of marketing generate long-term, almost passive results e.g. SEO. Invest in mid to long-term strategies and be patient, you need to be consistently present for consumers to remember and trust you. Trust is built on empathy, authenticity, logic, and heuristics. Be hyper-specific and provide high-quality, literally invaluable products and information. Use case studies. Consumer psychology is why unethical marketing practices still work. Anchoring is powerful. Nathan shares how to do it for tech products. You have to be memorable, be bold.BEST MOMENTS
04:28 "You have to do everything you can to help solve problems and educate your customer about how you solve that problem."
09:37 “You're trying to get a community to bring up your name… if you can drive conversation you win."
15:17 "Everything is a choice, and you have to provide enough value for someone to make that choice."
23:29 "Social proofing has high influence, high impact … Every touch point you have in marketing has a level of influence on an individual."
39.07 "If I open up a pop-up on Fifth Avenue, people inherently think that I must be a legitimate company… anchoring is huge."
44:47 "The first thing is, is that you need to have a good website. I can't stress this enough."
49.15 “Going out there and solving a problem - anyone can do that. It's whether or not you can frame it in such a way that's going to be different, and that's being bold.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://www.findyouraudience.online
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yeungnathan
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Greg Rog a serial entrepreneur and expert in AI-driven automation and streamlining who co-founded easy.tools, easycart, Automation House, and Zencal. His latest innovation, Alice, is an AI assistant that works seamlessly with your apps to simplify tasks—a daily tool Mike uses.
Greg explains how Alice solves the automation challenges you are having including, dealing effectively with AI hallucinations, and being able to use your custom APIs as well as the automation you have already created on platforms like Make and Zapier.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Alice enables you to talk to and interact with your current stack e.g. custom-built automations/APIs and those built on platforms like Zapier and Make.
You can talk to the interface using natural language.
Most companies map only a small percentage of their processes, with many existing only in one person’s head. Automation pushes firms to examine, streamline, and update these processes.
Once a process is automated, people stop checking to see if what they need for their part of the process is ready. They waste less time and are more relaxed.
When a new task is introduced ask, should a person do this, or can AI do it?
Link simple automations together in a chain to complete complex processes, so you can easily debug and update them.
AI tools like Alice will reduce the need for people to specialize in certain business areas, e.g., sales or marketing.
To learn the tech and become a skilled prompt engineer. When you find yourself doing a repetitive task try to automate it.
BEST MOMENTS
5:01 "Thanks to automation, we have millions of operations working for us daily."
7:49 " Alice formats it as data …. trigger our automation, and make sure that the process is finished within our API or some other API."
16:39 "Design automations so nobody has to wait."
25:57 “AI models tend to hallucinate. But … our way to approach it is basically, it's mistake-free. ."
35:42 "The beauty is actually in simplicity with these automations."
49:39 “The mindset is very important …recognize small things in your workflow that can be automated and pursue this automation."
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://easy.tools
https://www.heyalice.app
https://x.com/greg_rog
https://www.linkedin.com/in/grzegorzrog
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Jothy Rosenberg an incorrigible entrepreneur who has sold 9 of his tech startups for millions of dollars each. In this episode, Jothy explains how he does it and how you can do the same.
During this episode, Jothy covers assessing the viability of your idea, how to get the attention of investors and raise funds, honing your pitch, self-financing, building a team, the impact of dilution on equity, and much more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Without product market fit your startup will fail. Product-based companies sell for multiples of 5 to 15 times revenue. Service companies typically sell for a multiple of 1. Use LinkedIn to find a lighthouse customer. An early adopter in desperate need of your solution who can afford to pay and will work with you. Launch big, invest in marketing. From day one, build your culture, that is how you attract your founder team. To be self-funded, start with a service, then build a product based on that. You can raise money before you make a single $. Approach the right type of funders at the right stages. Jothy explains how to handle JVs, seed funds, incubators, and more. Find investors on LinkedIn. Your pitch has to go beyond being good it has to tell a compelling story and include research and proof.BEST MOMENTS
17:12 "Find a lighthouse customer … a kind of early adopter, who will work with you to make sure that what you're building solves their problem."
24:18 "We had this typical situation; we had this product and now we were looking for a problem and we never found one which was a disaster."
43.47 “You can raise money as a seed with a small foundational team, clear identification of a big opportunity and you don't need to yet be getting any revenue.”
45:12 "Don't just send a business plan to a VC."
1.05.43 “ I don't believe that in an early stage, anyone except the person who's got the vision and the most passion should deliver the pitch, but they can get help.”
1.13.15 “100% of nothing is still nothing… at the end of the day, the equity translates if you sell it.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://www.jothyrosenberg.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jothy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tech-Startup-Toolkit-Launch-Strong/dp/1633438422
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distill practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Today, Mike talks with Maarten Ectors, an award-winning innovator in AI, Web3, and next-gen tech, known for launching the world’s first blockchain reinsurance solutions. They discuss the transformative impact of AI on society and the future of work. Including what developers, coders, and technical architects can do to position themselves now to take advantage of the wave of AI innovation and new technologies.
He also shares how AI is likely to impact the lives of less technical people like your parents and drastically change the way society works.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
AI is on the cusp of replacing millions more jobs across numerous industries e.g. robotaxis will make human drivers irrelevant. When you add robotics to AI, the transformative impact accelerates e.g. what happens to the food industry if we print our meat and fish? In a few years, we will have unlimited energy, which is what AI needs to explode and rapidly transform society. Work that requires human contact or where human contact enhances the experience is not likely to be eliminated by AI e.g. hairdressers. Think about what needs to change to make the new technology viable. They will need developers to create the framework to facilitate that change. Get involved in DevOps for AI and Cloud. Understand how to make models that get deployed on the Edge in the cloud and can be scaled out. Big companies who put together small teams to solve a specific problem as spin-off businesses succeed E.g. Amazon pizza teams. Most highly skilled work can be done gig style. AI could bring together a group of people with the right skills to solve a specific problem or build something like a super rocket. Once done, everyone moves on to another project. Generative AI is going to be a problem for coders but what it produces still needs to be evaluated and fixed by experts. That means you´ll still need coders. Technical architects are a vital part of AI technology development. Someone has to see the broader picture and make sure that is what gets delivered. AI speech recognition will transform lives in the next couple of years. Because AI is likely to greatly reduce the availability of work the structure of society must change radically e.g. universal income.BEST MOMENTS
03:38 “The AI-enhanced worker will very quickly eat the market of the rest."
9:19 "Do something that will require human contact."
25.01 “A lot of companies now scale through technology, not through users, not through workers.
26.28 “They need teams that can do 500 different things in a small unit, not 500 people that are all the same.”
33.52 “The DevOps person that goes towards Edge or AI DevOps is going to have a lot longer runway than the person that just stays doing what they've always been doing.”
35.37 “Generative AI doesn't mean there will not be programmers, but I think the architects are going to become more important.”
36.42 “AI-enhanced experts is the model for the next five years afterward, it will depend.”
54.06 “If you don't have users adopting and an easy go-to-market, hence product market fit, technologies are relevant.”
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://candao.io/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mectors/
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distill practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each
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Today, Mike speaks to Krista Neher about the increasingly critical subject of personal branding. Krista is an award-winning digital marketer, bestselling author, social media specialist, speaker, trainer & CEO.
Regardless of the tech work you do, how you present yourself makes a huge difference to the opportunities you attract. Your personal brand builds credibility and makes you attractive, so the information in this episode is critical to your success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Your personal brand is who you are. The person people see when they meet you. Work with you, listen to you or experience your work. Be that face-to-face or online. Your brand needs to demonstrate to potential clients that you have what they need and something extra to offer. Think why would someone pick me over someone else? Look at how your competitors differentiate themselves. When building your personal brand online, focus on one channel. Listen closely to what others tell you about how they perceive you. You have to be memorable. If you don´t stand for something you stand for nothing, so nobody will remember you. Create a great elevator pitch for yourself. Be authentic. If people feel they can´t get to know you they won´t connect with you. Don´t feel fenced in by your brand. People expect you to evolve and pivotBEST MOMENTS
O7:58 "What´s the reputation you are building for yourself that is unique? What sets you apart from others? – That´s the way to think of your brand."
08:19 "If you're an entrepreneur, are looking to get clients or grow your reputation externally, it's really about how people perceive you and being deliberate and consistent."
36:46 "The first is memorability. Which is specificity, simplicity and consistency."
36:52 "Authenticity. So, if people don't feel like they are getting to know you, they will not connect with you."
48:36 "Points of difference…. what are some meaningful differences that I would get with working with you than working with someone else?."
57.10 “Get your elevator speech down. Your elevator speech is what you say when you meet someone.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://launchyourself.com/
https://bootcampdigital.com
https://kristaneher.com
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Joe Pulizzi, who is a content marketing guru who is the founder of multiple startups including The Tilt, Content Expo Events, the author of 7 books, and the host of several podcasts. He also runs The Orange Effect Foundation which provides children with consistent speech therapy.
Joe explains how he went down the content marketing rabbit hole and how any business can leverage it. He and Mike discuss, which platforms you should use, software, automation, knowing your audience, email list building, leveraging AI and much more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If you want to grow significantly you need to build a strong relationship with your customers. Content marketing enables you to do this. People come to know, like and trust you, over time. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Don´t just go create content. Know who your audience is and be clear about what your marketing goal is. To find your sweet spot, ask what my audience’s pain spots are, what am I qualified to talk and tell stories about, and what differentiates us from our competitors. Don´t publish on every channel. Joe explains how to choose which ones. Initially you will need to set up listening posts so you can better understand what your audience wants. But don´t forget to talk to your customers. Use your content to build your list. You need to get people´s email addresses to gain one-on-one access that will enable you to better serve them. Once you have people´s email you can use that to look at their buying behaviour. Use your data to the full. So many businesses don´t. Before investing in software, get the most out of free tools like Google Analytics. Create a long-form piece of content e.g. a podcast, then pull your short content out of that. Make sure you post to a platform you own e.g. your website. The socials constantly change the algorithms, so you can never 100% rely on it. Leaning too heavily on AI stifles your creativity and makes you sound the same as everyone else. AI does however make a great assistant for example doing research. It takes a long time to build a business, years, which is why patience is essential.BEST MOMENTS
05:52 "It (content marketing) takes a lot of time, but it is the absolute best form of marketing on the planet."
13:45 “Create content that differentiates you and rises above all the other content clutter out there?"
25:48 "At some point you have to think like a marketing strategist and say I need to have the data."
27:20 "Build a program to get people back to your website and sign up for something."
40:17 "We don't have the time or resources to really figure out all these channels and do what we need to do. So just choose one."
48:33 "I think you´re in trouble if you´re getting your content from an AI tool."
55:57 “Don't spend frivolously. Don't be on every platform. Be strategic."
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://www.thetilt.com/tilt-author/joe-pulizzi
https://cex.events/speaker/joe-pulizzi-2/
https://theorangeeffect.org/about/
https://www.joepulizzi.com/signup/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepulizzi/
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks with Adelina Chalmers the founder of Geek Whisperers. She helps CTOs, Heads of Engineering, and others to improve team performance. In her 20s, Adelina stopped working in human rights organisations when she realised, she could help people far more by working in tech.
Her mission is to transform engineers and their leaders. To do that they both need to know how to give and take feedback. Something that we are socially and biologically engineered to struggle with. Adelina explains how to unpick that and use feedback to transform our performance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Those who work in tech have an incredibly powerful impact on people´s lives. The projects we work on really move the needle. Feedback is critical. Without it, nobody knows if they are doing a great job or not. Feedback is not a personal attack. Often, for biological and social reasons we see it that way, Adelina explains why and how to get past that feeling. Lean into feedback. Regardless of how you feel respond by saying “Tell me more” Think of feedback on your performance as being like the feedback you get from customers when developing products. Remote feedback is more difficult. Adelina explains how to get around this. For feedback to work well, the two people need to trust each other and have a proper connection. Remote teams need some face-to-face time. Tell people in advance why you need to speak to them. Don´t blindside them. Coach first if that does not work give feedback. Remember constant negative feedback wears people down.BEST MOMENTS
02:11 "Giving feedback and receiving feedback is effectively how we all grow."
03:43 "When people ask for feedback, most people mean, please don´t hurt me, give me good feedback."
29:03 "If you think about growing, by default, you have to make mistakes, learn from
32:19 "My key tip would be to build a relationship of trust with this person."
50:06 "Coach them every time they make a mistake. And if the coaching doesn't work, then you can move a gear up to feedback."
1.00:00 "The business strategy tells you what you need to do with your tech strategy.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
https://www.geekwhisperer.co.uk/adelina-chalmers
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alternative-st-sandwich-time-writing-adelina-chalmers
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge, and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Michael Orant who is an entrepreneur, fractional CTO and racing driver. Today, they discuss fundraising, covering when to raise funds and how to talk to VCs, what to expect from them and spending the money strategically.
To do this, Michael shares several real-world examples. Over the years, he has played a significant role in helping several startups to raise money.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Even when investors are more risk-averse, you can still raise funds. Think about your exit and the exit for the investors and make that as attractive as possible. Accelerator events are a great way to find funders. Get a warm invite. Michael explains how to do that. Practice articulating the opportunities to different types of investors in a range of settings. Practice on friends and family, if they understand investors will too., Be honest and realistic about what your business is worth and the potential of your idea. Model out the future, in particular, consider what future rounds of fundraising will look like. Do everything you can to avoid having to raise further funds. Remember you are inviting the investors into your business and will be working with them for the long term. Fundraising takes a long time, so plan ahead to avoid running out of cash before the funding arrives. Sometimes the VC will want to change the board and management team. Engage with the investors and set expectations. You will have to hire a lot of people fast, prepare early and empower people to recruit for their teams.BEST MOMENTS
12:57 "You need people that will ground you or at least challenge your thinking so you can check your facts and numbers are right."
24:31 "Be transparent with everything. Let the skeletons out of the closet early."
34:35 "Think about cash conversion. And actually, what can we do to mitigate having to go for further investment rounds."
36:42 "You are inviting someone into your business, to be part of that business, do your due diligence on them."
54:33 "If you're looking for highly skilled roles, then there is an advantage of using niche recruiters."
42:45 – “You have to make sure that they're (VCs) buying into that plan that you've put forward, or you accept that you're going into their plan.”
57.11 – Don´t underestimate how exhausting fundraising can be.”
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Robbie Clutton a fractional CTO, who does pretty much anything engineering-related. Today, they discuss transitioning from being an individual contributor to taking on a leadership role. Looking at how to decide if this is right for you and what you can expect that new role to look like.
Robbie also shares some really practical tips to help you to coach, manage and develop your first team. He covers giving feedback, managing one-to-ones, building relationships, effectively managing up and much more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Becoming a fractional CTO genuinely gives you control over how and when you work. To cover any lean times, have some cash behind you, reduce your spending and develop several income streams, e.g. coaching and advising. Not everyone can lead so try before you buy by taking on temporary leadership roles. Be wary of roles that require you to code but spend a lot of time managing people. You won´t be able to get into the necessary flow state to code well. Correct poor behaviour quickly. Creating a culture in which people can thrive is a leader´s No. 1 priority. Don´t protect your team from everything. They need to understand why things are needed in a certain way, if they don´t the hows they come up with may not work well. When asking for resources be clear about what you need and ask early. Consider using an external mentor. There is no bias in that relationship. The smartest people always ask for help.BEST MOMENTS
04:21 "During school holidays, it's very easy for me to dial down the work."
14:07 "Before you take on any formal responsibility start looking for the informal ownership of things." (Robbie explaining how to work out if a leadership role is a good fit for you)
42:00 "There´s no way you´re gonna be good at leading people if you´re not able to have a courageous conversation and give course-correcting feedback."
54:19 "For managing out make sure what you´re asking for is clear and ask it kind of early."
RESOURCES
https://ctocraft.com/
Micheal Bungay Stainer - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B002QK41GQ
Non-violent Communication - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Guides/dp/189200528X
The Leadership Pipeline - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Pipeline-3rd-Developing-Leaders/dp/B0CYJ6NJZY
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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For this episode, Mike´s guest is Pleo CTO, Meri Williams. They take an in-depth look at building high-performing, fully diverse, and inclusive teams, discuss how to attract and retain people from widely different backgrounds and create an environment in which they uncover and develop the innovative solutions that are so often missed by less diverse teams.
Meri has led both small and large teams for 17 different organisations. Including, P&G, Monza, MOO, M&S and several startups. So, the recruitment, training and retention strategies Meri shares here are highly practical.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
True inclusion is missing from most companies. People are rarely asked for their opinions, and they don´t feel they can be their true selves. If you only pay lip service to inclusivity people from diverse backgrounds just won´t apply. Hire people from different backgrounds whose life experience means they genuinely see things from a different angle. Go where people from diverse backgrounds train to find more candidates. Have a robust and effective onboarding process to improve retainment. Engineering managers need to want to and be capable of developing others. Tech leads need to be prepared to do the glue work e.g. refining processes Provide people you promote internally with leadership training and explain why they need to lead in a certain way.BEST MOMENTS
06:50 "The first thing I do is go meet every team and I ask them, what are they proud of? What are they worried about? And if I had a magic wand, what should I do with it?" (How Mari decides which challenges to tackle first when starting a new leadership role)
35:43 "I think actual diversity, where people are from different backgrounds, different demographics, different life experiences is much more likely to lead to true diversity and true different thinking."
37:23 "Making it an environment where lots of different people can be themselves and still succeed is the litmus test for whether you've got the right to go and get those people who are different in the first place."
51:03 "As you get bigger, it becomes easier to attract people who are different, because there's now more chance that they're not the only one who's different."
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meriwilliams
https://leaddev.com/events
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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In this episode, Mike talks about B2B, B2C, and B2B2C business models with Benjy Meyer, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Commonplace. Benjy shares his knwoledge on the complexities of different business models, the challenges of transitioning between them, and the unique role of a CPTO. With a mix of personal experiences and industry observations, Mike and Benjy share knowledge for anyone navigating the tech growth landscape.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
B2B and B2C models require different skillsets and approaches, with B2B focusing more on stakeholder management and B2C on data-driven decision-making. Transitioning from B2C to B2B can be a strategic move to increase revenue and customer loyalty, as seen in examples like Naked Wine and Design My Night. B2B2C models face unique challenges in balancing opposing forces from different sides of the marketplace and aligning motivations. Feature flags and customisation in B2B products require careful management to avoid technical debt and maintain scalability. The role of a CPTO combines strategic product vision with technical execution, requiring trust from the CEO and board, and the ability to think critically across both domains. Organic search and social media, particularly Facebook/Meta, can be powerful channels for building and engaging audiences in B2B2C platforms. When starting a tech venture, prioritising an entrepreneurial mindset in early engineers over perfect infrastructure can accelerate growth and learning. Building anticipation through waitlists and leveraging personal networks can help gather valuable early feedback and create a foundation for product development.BEST MOMENTS
"I would rather fail in a B2C where I've got a lot more data that teaches me, gives me learnings about why I failed, um, so that I can apply those to the next iteration, if that makes sense." 27:22 Discussing the difference between B2B and B2C
"We want built environment professionals, real estate developers, local government to come and use the platform to talk to communities so that they can get their planning applications through faster, build better places that are better designed, but they don't really want to talk to communities. We're kind of their enemy." 43:37 Explaining the challenges of B2B2C platforms
"You really have to understand in detail the user problems And motivations on both sides of that marketplace to come up with the right OKRs So that you don't like build this spurious motivation for your teams that imbalances" 45:05 Explaining the importance of understanding user problems in B2B2C
"What matters most at that level is the structure that's underneath. Those leaders and like in theory, let's say I'm working in a company of 300 people or something. I don't need to be that deep, right? I've got a team of 20, 30, 50 people working in products and technology. I need them to be amazing." 54:43 Discussing the role of a CPTO
"When you're kicking off entrepreneurial doesn't really care about the infrastructure doesn't know much about the infrastructure is just hungry for more data to help them make decisions and help you have good conversations together about what to build next" 01:00:48 Describing the importance of the first engineer in a tech venture
ABOUT THE GUEST
Benjy Meyer
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Join Mike as he discusses the business implications of AI and data with Steven Harrison, co-founder of Infratech Digital. Steven Harrison shares his visionary insights on the future of AI, the value of data, and how businesses can stay ahead in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. From comparing data to oil fields to predicting the rise of company-specific AIs, this episode will reshape your understanding of technology's role in business growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Data is becoming a new pillar of economic value, alongside labour, resources, and capital, with unique properties that make it infinitely replicable and potentially more valuable over time. AI is evolving from understanding and learning to creating, which opens up new possibilities for problem-solving and innovation beyond just automation. Companies that develop their own specialised AIs may gain a significant competitive advantage, potentially outperforming those with only top human talent. The adoption curve for AI technology is likely to be nearly vertical, with widespread integration expected within five years across various industries. Security is crucial for protecting valuable data and AI assets, and businesses should consider partnering with specialised security providers rather than relying solely on in-house expertise. The value created by IT investments needs to be carefully measured and justified, as many companies have shifted expenses to technology without necessarily increasing profitability. Businesses should use AI to eliminate waste and free up employee time for strategic thinking about transforming their operations and services. Education in digital infrastructure and data management is becoming as essential as basic literacy for navigating the modern world and avoiding exploitationBEST MOMENTS
"We don't teach how to build the things that make digital possible. We teach how to consume digital when it's already been built. So it begs the question of, well, who's going to build the next generation?" 02:19 (Harrison discussing the lack of education in digital infrastructure)
"The organisations that do that work best today, I think they're going to be positioned for an incredibly lucrative hundred years because as data becomes more controlled, more constrained, the value of the people that do have the data is just going to go up exponentially." 31:29 (Explaining the long-term value of data ownership)
"Once you realise that sort of step one, step two, step three process that have created an AI with the ability to think, I've now given it the ability to learn and have now given it the ability to create. If we look at that AI as we would a little human. It's kind of how we raise children, isn't it?" 36:33 (Harrison comparing AI development to raising children)
"We're going to see countries and organisations that previously would have struggled to compete, suddenly be extremely competitive. Because they've invested wisely in AI technology." 45:29 (Discussing how AI could level the playing field in global competition)
"If you wait until the wave is crashing down on top of you, there's going to be so much competitive pressure. There's going to be so much more pressure for the talent that you can now hire and train and develop today." 1:05:54 (Advising businesses to start AI transformation early)
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
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Mike interviews Peter Sorgenfrei, a coach for CTOs and business leaders. They talk about the often-overlooked realm of work-life integration, challenging the hustle culture mentality. Peter shares his thoughts on time management, prioritisation, and the importance of "me time" for leaders. Mike and Peter’s conversation will make you rethink your approach to work and life, offering practical tips to boost productivity while maintaining balance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Work-life integration is more achievable than work-life balance, focusing on organising professional and personal life around peak performance times. Delegating tasks and prioritising ruthlessly can significantly reduce overwhelm and increase productivity for leaders at all levels. Regular "me time" without screens, preferably in nature, is crucial for recharging and maintaining clarity of mind. Challenging the need for meetings and questioning the importance of tasks can free up significant time and mental space. Building in public and ensuring at least five new people know about your business daily is crucial for startup growth. Napping for 20-25 minutes after lunch can provide a significant energy boost for the rest of the day. Engaging with a professional coach or mentor can accelerate career growth and provide valuable perspectives. Selling and making people aware of your product or service is more important than perfecting features when starting a business.BEST MOMENTS
"I talk a lot about work life integration, which is to, instead of trying to find balance, which within something which is essentially out of balance because of our devices always being with us because of most of us being, you know, digital workers in some way, knowledge workers, it's about finding that integration." 06:48: Peter discussing the concept of work-life integration
"Sell every day. Selling. Sales saves everything." 56:15 Peter answering what is the most important thing for any tech venture growth)
"The number one piece of advice that I give anybody is make sure that five new people know that you exist and what you do every single day, seven days a week." 56:38 Peter emphasising the importance of building awareness for your business
"You can have the best product, but if you haven't exposed it to the market, if you haven't exposed it to customers and actually modified it in a way that they will buy it. You don't have a business." 58:51 Peter sharing the story about Mercedes-Benz introducing the C-Class to the US market
"I personally was person who was unwilling to pay for coaches and mentors until I slowly started doing it. And now I got a mentor and a coach for many things in life and the acceleration and the value exchange is just, it's just not comparable." 01:04:59 Mike discussing the value of professional coaching
ABOUT THE GUEST
Peter Sorgenfrei - CEO & Founder Coach
Website: https://www.petersorgenfrei.com/#1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorgenfrei/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sorgenfrei_co
Youtube: www.youtube.com/@peter_sorgenfrei
Newsletter: https://astounding-speaker-2032.ck.page
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike talks with David Lush about the intriguing world of imposter syndrome in tech leadership. Dave shares his personal journey from experiencing intense imposter syndrome to feeling surprisingly confident in his new role. The conversation explores psychological safety, authenticity, and the delicate balance between humility and assertiveness.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Imposter syndrome can be a sign of growth and stepping out of your comfort zone, indicating you're challenging yourself in new roles. Developing a personal playbook for entering new roles can help mitigate imposter syndrome and increase confidence in adding value quickly. Active listening and asking questions before sharing opinions can help maintain humility while leveraging experience in leadership positions. Creating psychological safety in teams is crucial for open communication and addressing mental health concerns in the tech industry. Authenticity and being yourself at work can lead to trust-building and improved psychological safety within teams. Balancing humility with confidence is key for effective leadership, especially when transitioning from individual contributor to management roles. Influence in the workplace can be gained through a combination of experience, data-driven arguments, and effective storytelling techniques. The tech industry is gradually shifting towards a healthier work-life balance, with younger generations prioritising clear boundaries and fair exchanges in their careers.BEST MOMENTS
"I've never really been able to keep my mouth shut and therefore I've ended up down the sort of management and leadership IC." 01:30: Dave explains how he transitioned into leadership roles due to his tendency to speak up and share ideas.
"A case of getting out and meeting people in the company doing the, you know, the information firehose thing, like, let me gather context, let me understand how your business works, build a mental model of it." 08:19: Dave is describing his strategy for quickly understanding a new company and role.
"I think I'm probably quite in the middle, you know, I'm very happy in my own company, but I also like a bit of other people's company for a period of time." 03:11: Dave is reflecting on his introverted and extroverted tendencies in relation to leadership roles.
"I feel like a bit of imposter syndrome is good. You know, the fact that I don't have any imposter syndrome coming into this role is probably a sign that I've not, you know, challenged myself enough with the role that I've moved into" 38:37: Dave believes that the lack of imposter syndrome in his current role might indicate a need for more challenges.
ABOUT THE GUEST
David Lush is the Chief Technology Officer at MindGym, with a distinguished career in technology leadership, including key roles as Head of Engineering at Onzo and Visa. With over 20 years of experience, David excels in building and scaling high-performing teams, aligning strategy with company vision, and fostering a culture of innovation and psychological safety. Known for his strategic mindset and commitment to continuous learning, David integrates his expertise in engineering and data to drive success and growth.
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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Mike speaks to Steve Spittle, the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at GlobalTrust Ltd about the fascinating world of satellite data and its role in sustainability. Steve shares his journey from environmental science to space technology, explains how Global Trust leverages satellite imagery for environmental monitoring and discusses the ethical implications and future of the industry. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in cutting-edge technology, sustainability, and the power of space-based observations to drive positive change on Earth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Global Trust uses satellite data to monitor environmental impacts, helping businesses make sustainable decisions and comply with regulations. Satellite imagery can provide valuable insights into various environmental factors, including deforestation, atmospheric emissions, and biodiversity. The satellite data industry is evolving rapidly, shifting towards smaller, more cost-effective satellites and increased data accessibility. AI and machine learning play crucial roles in analysing satellite data, but it's essential to use these technologies judiciously and transparently. The future of satellite data analysis will likely involve more integrated, user-friendly tools that become part of everyday business operations. Ethical considerations around satellite data usage include privacy concerns and the need for transparent, traceable analysis processes. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for businesses, driven by regulations, investor pressure, and public awareness. Networking and participating in industry events are crucial for CTOs and businesses looking to stay informed about sustainability trends and technologies.BEST MOMENTS
22:56 "So effectively the pricing module is on the frequency of data on a quality of data and then there's a historical data sets you can buy into that." (Mike summarising Steve's explanation of satellite data pricing models)
25:58 "From space, we are actually able to map out exactly where the dust goes from the activities. And we can also look at some of the high level composition of that dust by looking at its individual spectral footprint." (Steve Spittle discussing how satellite data can be used to monitor industrial dust pollution)
28:08 "We've gone from a place of having a separate sustainability report and a separate business model to now having what they call a sustainable business model. And they've combined the two." (Steve Spittle explaining how businesses are integrating sustainability into their core operations)
51:18 "I think 10 years in the future, we won't be so obsessed, I hope, with using terms such as AI, and it's going to be part of the kind of fabric of what we do on a day to day and it just gets wrapped into this term of analysis." (Steve Spittle predicting the future of AI and satellite data analysis)
01:01:18 "The premise of sustainability is that part of that idea of inclusion and actually bringing all these thoughts together and recognising that if we're going to have any chance of making any real impact, we need to have this kind of multidisciplinary approach." (Steve Spittle discussing the importance of collaboration in addressing sustainability challenges)
ABOUT THE GUEST
Steve Spittle
Steve Spittle previously worked as the Global Extractives Industries Technical Lead at the Satellite Applications Catapult. Within this role Steve engaged with stakeholders across the mining sector from large multinational commercial companies, governments and investors, creating satellite-based solutions. Prior to this role Steve held two additional roles at the Catapult, alongside these roles at the Catapult, Steve spent three years as a technical and business mentor for satellite start-up companies across Europe, as part of the Copernicus Accelerator programme. Finally, Steve is a non-executive director of Lux Aerobot, an exciting Canadian high-altitude platform start-up. He is one of the 100 Geospatial Rising Stars 2024.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/globaltrustgrp
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-spittle/
https://globaltrustgrp.com/solutions/globalguard/
https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/449780/steve-spittle-%E2%80%93-emerging-technology-lead-digital-intelligence
https://sa.catapult.org.uk/podcasts/ep-5-mining-for-sustainable-energy/
Spacewatch: https://spacewatch.global/2024/04/esa-funds-globaltrust-and-ecogains-space2climb-project/
ABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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In this episode of Mastering Tech Growth, host Mike interviews Peter Dakin, a behavioural assessment expert. They talk about the world of psychometrics, discussing how understanding human behaviour can revolutionise team dynamics and personal growth. From the origins of Promana People to the future of AI, this conversation is packed with insights on leadership, entrepreneurship, and the importance of self-awareness.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Promana People offers a digital platform with psychometric assessments to help individuals, coaches, and organisations understand and improve human behaviour. The "catalyst" or "disturber" behaviour is crucial for tech startups, as it drives innovation and disruption in the market. Understanding observable behaviour is more effective and authentic than personality-based assessments for improving team dynamics and individual performance. The concept of "endurance" may be more positive and goal-oriented than "resilience" when discussing stress management and personal growth. AI's ability to reason at human levels presents both opportunities and challenges for the future of work and decision-making processes. Effective leadership involves understanding and managing different behavioural preferences within a team, including time management and communication styles. The "action process" in organisational behaviour includes assessing cost-benefit and controlling behaviours, which is crucial for project management and resource allocation. Psychometric assessments can help identify and develop various coaching, mentoring, and advisory styles, leading to more effective knowledge transfer and personal development.BEST MOMENTS
09:38 "We don't really define even, even the word coach is necessary, not necessarily appropriate. That's why we call our, the middle tier of what, who we provide a service to people in the behaviour change business rather than coaches." (Context: Peter Dakin discusses the broad applicability of their services beyond traditional coaching)
19:25 "Stress in itself isn't a negative thing. It's when you reach overwhelm, that's when it becomes a problem." (Context: Peter Dakin explaining the importance of stress management in entrepreneurship)
56:22 "We're sort of literally on the event horizon now of going into either a black hole or a wormhole. And I don't think anybody really knows whether it's a black hole or a wormhole yet." (Context: Peter Dakin discussing the uncertain future of AI and its impact on society)
1:25:01 "I always enjoy listening to what people are having as a challenge, you know, as a struggle, as some type of definition of a problem space and put myself into that and go like, you know what, that's what I would do." (Context: Mike Reflecting on his natural inclination towards advising rather than coaching)
1:33:44 "Words do matter and we don't really want to fall into patterns of using buzzwords. We want to get across the idea that is underneath that." (Context: Peter Dakin discussing the importance of precise language in behavioural assessments)
ABOUT THE GUEST
Pete Dakin: Co-founder, Promana People
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterdakin/
Pete Dakin is the founder of Promana People, a New Zealand-based digital platform providing individuals, coaches, "people persons" and organisations with a suite of online tools, including a comprehensive suite of behavioural assessment tools that deliver insights for understanding and fostering personal, professional and organisational growth and development. Pete's path has long been intertwined with the interactions of people and technology - including work in early stage behavioural advertising, behaviour change in education, and now, to the mission of helping people to thrive in a complicated and ever-changing world.
https://promanapeople.com
https://youtube.com/@promanapeople
https://promanapeople.com/
https://promanapeople.com/explore/assessments
https://promanapeople.com/pro/upgradeABOUT THE HOST
Meet Mike, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and visionary with over two and a half decades of invaluable experience in founding and scaling successful tech start-ups. Mike brings a wealth of firsthand knowledge and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and tech professionals.
As a host, Mike is dedicated to sharing actionable insights, strategies, and stories gathered from conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and experts. With a remarkable ability to distil practical wisdom from guests, Mike curates engaging discussions that resonate with both aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Welcome to Mastering Tech Growth, where we dive deep into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs of scaling tech-driven ventures. Join us as we explore the dynamic world of technology businesses, uncovering the secrets behind successful growth trajectories. Each episode brings you candid conversations with founders and industry experts, sharing invaluable insights, proven tactics, and real-life stories. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, discover the roadmap to navigating the complexities of scaling in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
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