Success Stories Latest Topics

Uncovering the secrets of computing

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Alex Klein tells Jonathan Moules about his ambition to transform attitudes to computing with his kit to help people of all ages make their own and write the programmes to go with them.

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How not to hire a psychopath

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:42:55 +0000

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.

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Pursuing the AI dream

Mon, 23 Jul 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Twenty years ago, Chetan Dube left the world of academia, at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, to pursue a career in business. He tells Jonathan Moules what inspired the move.

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The accidental entrepreneur

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Michelle You, co-founder of the music ticketing and concert discovery platform Songkick, tells Jonathan Moules about the fun of creating a business, and the sense of failure she felt after the company was acquired by Time Warner.

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Creating trust in an online world

Mon, 09 Jul 2018 04:00:00 +0000

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.

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Buddi: what to do when a deal goes wrong

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 04:00:00 +0000

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.

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How fighting a computer bug turned into a vocation

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 04:00:00 +0000

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

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The business that spun out of control

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Julie Deane set up the Cambridge Satchel Company as a way of financing her children's education, but its rapid success attracted outside investors and the venture took a direction that made her feel uncomfortable. She tells Jonathan Moules how she regained her confidence and took back control.

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iZettle: beating the incumbents

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 04:00:00 +0000

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

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Dale Murray: networking saved my business

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 03:00:00 +0000

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

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Start-up Stories returns

Wed, 30 May 2018 11:01:38 +0000

We’re back. Start-up Stories is returning with a new set of entrepreneurs sharing their insights about the joys and challenges of starting a business.

So look out for our first episode in series five - from Monday June 4

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A payment solution for Latin America

Mon, 11 Sep 2017 05:00:00 +0000

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.

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The Aspen busters

Mon, 04 Sep 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Glenn Keys and Andrew Walker were childhood friends who'd both served in the army and run businesses. Eventually they found a way to pool their resources, creating a company that provides tailored healthcare solutions in 12 countries from the UK to Africa, East Timor and Iraq.

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Challenging the consumer giants

Mon, 28 Aug 2017 05:00:00 +0000

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.

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A winning commute

Sun, 20 Aug 2017 05:00:00 +0000

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

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Europe's tech pioneer

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 09:45:00 +0000

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.

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Building a successful team

Mon, 07 Aug 2017 05:00:00 +0000

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.

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Blazing a trail for cycling safety

Mon, 31 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Emily Brooke wanted to help solve the worst problem faced by urban cyclists - safety. She tells Jonathan Moules how she went about it.

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Beating off the competition

Mon, 24 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Will Dean tells Jonathan Moules how a legal challenge acted as a catalyst for the growth of his extreme sports business Tough Mudder.

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Plugging into the global maker movement

Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh imagined a product for fixing things that would help end the global throw-away culture. She tells Jonathan Moules how she turned her idea from a fun concept into a reality.

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Framestore and the Soho creative cluster

Mon, 10 Jul 2017 11:49:17 +0000

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.

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Live panel debate: living in a world of optimism

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 14:49:23 +0000

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.

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Series 3: The Coconut Merchant 10/10

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Al Shariat trained as a lawyer, but then took a job with the UNDP in Iran, working on microfinance and other projects. It was this experience that inspired him to change direction and set up a business providing ethically-sourced coconut products to western consumers.

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Series 3: Mixcloud and the art of bootstrapping 9/10

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Mixcloud, a music streaming service, got off the ground and achieved profitability without any external funding - something highly impressive and unusual in the world of tech start-ups. Nikhil Shah tells Jonathan Moules the story.

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Series 3: The intelligent vending machine 8/10

Mon, 21 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Phil Davidson is a bit of a health nut, and was frustrated when working long hours as a broker in London that he couldn’t find healthy food in the office vending machines. So after a spot of travelling, he decided to design his own.

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