Success Stories & Member Wins

Philipp Bock set out to solve one of the biggest problems faced by consumer businesses in Latin America - the lack of a localised cross border payments infrastructure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

A crowded train journey home after a Chicago baseball game provided the inspiration for Katie Hill-Gottesman's Commuter Ads business, as she tells Jonathan Moules Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Will Dean tells Jonathan Moules how a legal challenge acted as a catalyst for the growth of his extreme sports business Tough Mudder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Emily Brooke wanted to help solve the worst problem faced by urban cyclists - safety. She tells Jonathan Moules how she went about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Sarah Murray’s mobile alarm and tracking technology company faced an early setback when a government contract she’d been pinning her hopes on fell through. She tells Jonathan Moules how she dealt with the disappointment and bounced back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Slack co-founder Cal Henderson and his collaborator Stewart Butterfield started out with the aim of creating a successful video game but ended up doing something completely different. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Jeff Raider has helped pioneer a high quality, low cost model for selling consumer products like glasses and razors online. He tells Jonathan Moules how he did it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

When Peter Mühlmann’s mum had some bad experiences making her first purchases online in 2007, he decided there must be a way to guide consumers to businesses they could trust. The result was Trustpilot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Dale Murray co-founded Omega Logic, which provided an electronic solution for mobile phone top-ups just as mobile phone use in the UK was becoming widespread. Timing played a big role in the success of the company, but it was ultimately her networking skills that saved the business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Alberto Lopez tells Jonathan Moules how he developed his idea for Alva, a corporate reputation management service, in the British Library. What's really important, he says, is that you do something you know well: "Knowledge of the domain is key." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

In the final episode of the series, Jonathan Moules looks at the reasons why founders decide to sell up and hears a cautionary tale from Paul Collins, chief executive of M&A advisor Equiteq Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Andy Harter funded his technology start-up with an early version of crowd funding. He tells Jonathan Moules how fans of his software provided an excellent source of seed capital and market research Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Entrepreneur Martin Spiller tells Jonathan Moules that using recruitment professionals doesn't always make sense when you are looking to hire graduates. He found a talented designer for his design start-up by chatting to a barista. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

James Watt found the secret of success was building a community of fans for his craft beer. They have provided investment, ideas and even helped find locations for his expanding network of bars.Picture credit: Rosie Hallam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

The Brompton folding bike has grown into a global brand sold in 43 counties. During the recent downturn, it raised its prices by over 65 per cent without putting a dent in sales. Finance director Lorne Vary tells Jonathan Moules why having a bold pricing strategy makes sense. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Alex Cheatle's business had a near-death experience when he lost customers after the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s burst. He tells Jonathan Moules that the experience proved invaluable.Music: Kevin MacLeod - Off to Osaka Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Maria Sipka was looking for a US business partner for her marketing company Linqia when she became pregnant and found herself in the middle of a crucial funding round within hours of giving birth. She tells Jonathan Moules her story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Branding is about more than just a logo, says Adrian Lomas of digital marketing company Blueleaf. It's about defining a clear purpose for your business and making sure everyone - from staff to customers and competitors - know what that is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Andrew Mullinger of Funding Circle tells Jonathan Moules why he and his co-founders opted for a rapid rate of growth and the difficulties that entailed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Bernard Liautaud's startup was the first French company to go public in the US back in the 1990s. He describes how he steered the company from idea to exit and now advises other European companies hoping to take the same route. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

William Sargent founded his visual effects company over 30 years ago in London’s Soho district, and tells Jonathan Moules that the location was key to the early success of the business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Marcin Kleczynski’s interest in computer software was sparked at the age of 14 when a battle to remove a virus from his home computer brought him into contact with the world of cyber geeks. He teamed up with some of them to provide a free service, later turning their ‘freemium’ model into a lucrative global business, Malwarebytes. Picture credit: Alpana Aras Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Geoff Watts and Julia Fowler co-founded EDITED, an innovative tech company that brings data analysis to the retail industry, nearly a decade ago. They tell Jonathan Moules that the toughest problem they've faced was when they hired someone who wasn't a team player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

If you are trying to fill a gap in the market and a very conservative industry tells you it can’t be done, then go for it because there is “massive opportunity and the sky’s the limit”, iZettle’s Jacob de Geer tells Jonathan Moules Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article

Six entrepreneurs who have featured in recent episodes of FT Start-up Stories discuss survival strategies and key ingredients for success with Jonathan Moules in front of an invited audience at the Financial Times in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. View the full article