# entrepreneurship
45 moments across 37 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.
45:28Lessons from Big Corporate to FounderAl Elliott: You've worked for huge, huge organizations. You've worked for organizations that I believe IPO'd. And now I sense that you've got your— well, I know you've got your own consultancy and I sense that some of yoEP 321 · 23 Jul 2026·interview· 45:28–48:130:00Intro — the founder who did everything 'right'Al Elliott: Richard Clarke did what every founder dreams of. He built a company, spent 10 years growing it, and sold it. Surely that would make him very happy indeed Richard Clarke: I should be the happiest person on theEP 317 · 9 Jul 2026·intro· 0:00–2:4415:56First business: from bar manager to Gimme Some BeerLeanne Elliott: So let's take it back to your first business, that first opportunity that you saw. What was the buildup to that? What did kind of the 12 months before you started your first business look like? Al ElliottEP 304 · 26 May 2026·other· 15:56–20:193:16From academia to entrepreneurship — the invisible struggleAl Elliott: You went from academia into entrepreneurship, and I'd imagine, and you're probably gonna be too modest to say this, but from your bio, you looked like you were a pretty smart woman and you did a lot. You did,EP 301 · 14 May 2026·interview· 3:16–4:4433:21Who are the real experts?Al Elliott: Is there, is there a particular book that around entrepreneurism, around marketing, around whatever that you've picked up and you've gone, yeah, this is, this is for me an essential tome? Rosenna Bakari: I loEP 301 · 14 May 2026·interview· 33:21–34:4742:55Warning signs you'll hate entrepreneurshipAl Elliott: If someone super smart is listening, what other warning signs would you think that they are going to hate entrepreneurship and they shouldn't make that step? Rosenna Bakari: I think if they're gonna, they're EP 301 · 14 May 2026·interview· 42:55–44:417:17Kitchen table to 24 employees in 5 yearsRachel Harris: Oh no, it's only been 5. Yeah, 5 years Al Elliott: 5 years. So, you went kitchen table to 24 employees, 5 years. Talk me through those 5 years Rachel Harris: Of course. And I think specifically within the EP 299 · 7 May 2026·interview· 7:17–9:510:00The $30M to $2M story: A warning and a deep learning periodLeanne Elliott: Today's episode contains some strong language and conversations around controlled substances and bereavement. Al Elliott: Aydin Fida's company turned over $30 million in 2021. By 2024, that was down to $2EP 295 · 23 Apr 2026·interview· 0:00–4:034:03The origin story: A Toronto basement and a cannabis problemAl Elliott: Best answer we've ever, ever had. I love it. Look, I want to take you right back to, I think it's going to be sort of around about the beginning of 2017. From my research, You were working in the tax office aEP 295 · 23 Apr 2026·interview· 4:03–8:4949:30Workplace Surgery — the overwhelmed founderLeanne Elliott: So I think there's 3, there's 3 answers here Al Elliott: Yeah Leanne Elliott: And one of them's a bit tough love, one of them's a bit kind of psychological, and one's more kind of operational. Tough love EP 284 · 17 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 49:30–53:2318:56The empty car park syndrome and finding your nicheAl Elliott: So I do want to get into this idea of you choosing your niche because I call it the empty car park syndrome. We've talked about it before. We use it in terms of like, we live in Europe, my wife and I live in EP 259 · 18 Dec 2025·interview· 18:56–41:3831:20The reality behind making it look easyAl Elliott: Yeah Christian Laing: But this is the— so this is the thing, Leanne. So as much as we made this look relatively easy, it's not been easy. It's been so hard for 26 months. Me, Ross, Natalie didn't get paid froEP 253 · 27 Nov 2025·interview· 31:20–34:4035:43Workplace Surgery: imposter syndrome as a business ownerAl Elliott: Lovely. Also get in touch if you have an idea for The Truth, Lies and Work. Very much like to hear your thoughts. Okay, it's on to my favourite time of the week, which is our world-famous weekly workplace surEP 250 · 18 Nov 2025·workplace surgery· 35:43–42:1828:06Meghan's Startup Journey – Learning the Hard WayLeanne Elliott: Meghan's laid out the problem. It's shareholder supremacy culture that's making banana-hoarding monkeys into business heroes Al Elliott: Brand new sentence right there Leanne Elliott: But here's what I abEP 229 · 4 Sept 2025·interview· 28:06–38:0010:10How entrepreneurs respond to challengeAl Elliott: Yeah Leanne Elliott: They hesitate, so they won't make any new hires under these new rules, or they'll change how they're employing people in, in certain ways, maybe engage more contractors than full-time empEP 224 · 19 Aug 2025·other· 10:10–14:5821:41Al's booze delivery startup in 2002Leanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: So yeah, those kids. So anyone who's over the age of 40 will know, in the UK will know, you never used to be able to buy alcohol. So this solved the problem. Basically, I'd sell it over tEP 218 · 29 Jul 2025·other· 21:41–29:261:01Who is Nick Huber and the Sweaty Startup philosophyAl Elliott: What about this You've been termed toxic superstar. Why are you so obsessed with winning? Is there something that happened when you were perhaps a bit younger where you didn't get to win? Nick Huber: Hold on,EP 193 · 1 May 2025·interview· 1:01–5:4942:35When freedom means people leave to start companiesAl Elliott: I would be worried about giving so much freedom to people who are essentially entrepreneurial with their ideas that you're just going to be set, people are just going to go, Oh, that's great. I'll go and do tEP 189 · 17 Apr 2025·interview· 42:35–44:590:00Meet Steve Carse — from layoff to King of PopsSteve Carse: My name's Steve Carse. I started a popsicle business called King of Pops with my brother about 15 years ago now, and I think we may have the most carts in the US out on the, out on the streets these days. MyEP 181 · 20 Mar 2025·interview· 0:00–8:2447:16What's next: The King of Pops founder storyAl Elliott: Okay, I think that's the end of the episode, Leanne. Uh, coming up this Thursday, well, let's just say this is one of the most fun interviews I've done In a while, we're bringing you the story of Steve Kass, EP 180 · 18 Mar 2025·news roundup· 47:16–49:2623:52From PhD to founding Unconventional Organisation and key lessonsSkye Waterson: Yeah, I think one thing that we haven't touched on yet is the strengths of neurodiversity or ADHD. So people who have ADHD, um, they tend to be really great problem solvers, uh, they tend to think originalEP 173 · 20 Feb 2025·interview· 23:52–29:5829:55Selling Nexmo to Ericsson and personal missionAl Elliott: So let's go back to the days when you were selling to Ericsson. Again, I'm gonna ask you the— I'm gonna ask you for the story. In fact, let's tell the story now because the context of my question is I want toEP 167 · 30 Jan 2025·interview· 29:55–36:4839:10James's honest answer on leaving the corporate worldJames Fleming: So when I told my wife— worked for the same oil and gas company— and when I told her what I wanted to do, her very first reaction was Let's do it. So we came home. The actual— I won't get into the whole stEP 165 · 23 Jan 2025·interview· 39:10–44:517:34John Lee Dumas on becoming your own advocateAl Elliott: JLD's here Leanne Elliott: I blew Al's mind when I said I'd confirmed JLD Al Elliott: He said, I've got— I said, I've got this guy called John, um, entrepreneur something. And I was like, no, yeah, it's not gEP 159 · 2 Jan 2025·other· 7:34–13:245:41The accidental entrepreneur origin storyGarrett Delph: I was an accidental entrepreneur. I never anticipated or expected to work for myself. And so getting into business, I was sort of like, I played learned how to play business by ear, if you will, kind of thEP 147 · 21 Nov 2024·interview· 5:41–8:264:25How Paul started MAP at 27, riding the cloud accounting waveAl Elliott: So Paul, take us back to the beginning. What you said, it was 11 years ago. How did you start MAP? What happened? It was really weird, actually. I used to work on the High Street in Levenshulme, uh, near MancEP 127 · 12 Sept 2024·other· 4:25–7:150:33Introducing Cate Luzio: from banking to founderAl Elliott: Nice Leanne Elliott: Hello and welcome to Truth, Lies and Work, the award-winning psychology podcast brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network. The audio destination for business professionals. My name isEP 114 · 10 Jul 2024·intro· 0:33–4:4732:04Workplace Surgery: When you want to give upAl Elliott: So this is from a business owner. So he said, I'm a business owner who built a good company, but I'm exhausted from fighting fires every day. It feels like all I do is deal with team problems instead of focusEP 99 · 21 May 2024·workplace surgery· 32:04–38:4815:03Co-founder couple lessonsAl Elliott: Today, if you're learning to drive, which is quite a strange thing. But we have been a co-founder couple now for about 2 or 3 years. So over 17 years, um, we've had our own thing, done our own thing, and thenEP 95 · 7 May 2024·news roundup· 15:03–25:129:09The founder story: watching their mum try to return to workAl Elliott: Entrepreneurs exist to solve problems. They build the things that don't currently exist. exist in the world. And often there's also a more personal connection with their startup. Here's Lydia to explain what EP 94 · 2 May 2024·interview· 9:09–10:420:00Intro and why Joe wanted a partnerJoe Fier: And this is, this was a decision I needed to make for myself, my family, and it was the right move. It was fucking hard. And this is like, I didn't wanna lose a friend, so, or friends, but mainly Matt because, EP 76 · 1 Feb 2024·intro· 0:00–7:447:44The psychology of the entrepreneurial personalityLeanne Elliott: There is a lot of talk about the personality of entrepreneurs, and I get asked about it quite a bit actually, and for good reason. I mean, it's interesting, and there's also some pretty interesting researEP 76 · 1 Feb 2024·interview· 7:44–10:5128:13Advice to his past selfAl Elliott: I asked Joe that if he could go back in time and give advice to himself, what would he say to himself? Joe Fier: I was moving too quickly and making decisions very fast and not listening to my gut, my intuitiEP 76 · 1 Feb 2024·interview· 28:13–32:1023:29Fueling the entrepreneurial spirit: building businesses across industriesManeesh Goyal: I have since— since I got out of the agency business, have pivoted to the hospitality business and And I currently run and operate 2 hospitality outposts in New York City, a very cool contemporary Indian rEP 56 · 14 Sept 2023·interview· 23:29–30:2023:46Clip 6 & 7 — Stella: first founder story and what you can do with a collection of peopleLeanne Elliott: So from one inspiring leader to another, my next clip comes from our very first founder story with the formidable Stella Smith from Perks. The more I learn about Stella, both in the media and from her teaEP 52 · 17 Aug 2023·other· 23:46–31:5047:07Clip 13 — Dr. Ryan Sherman: entrepreneurs and disruptionLeanne Elliott: My final choice is Dr. Ryan Sherman, Chief Science Officer at Hurrican Assessment Systems. I I couldn't quite believe, my teeny tiny little psychology mind was blown when not only did Hogan Assessments enEP 52 · 17 Aug 2023·other· 47:07–52:3823:53The Psychology of EntrepreneursAl Elliott: Yeah, absolutely. And just because you start running, you're not gonna be Usain Bolt within a year. Just be, don't be so hard on yourself. The fact that you've now grown your team from 5 to 25, you are still EP 48 · 20 Jul 2023·interview· 23:53–26:2012:30Kevin's Story: The Genesis of SwellAl Elliott: Yes, he is. A very, very good one too. Okay, so we are diving today into the 7 essential leadership lessons that our guest Kevin Dahlstrom has accumulated over more than 20 years in corporate and startup busiEP 44 · 21 Jun 2023·other· 12:30–20:5735:44Side hustles through the generationsAl Elliott: I have a quick question, just something what Ashley said. This is for, for Carrie and Claire. Um, side hustle, it seems to be quite a new thing. Now, I'm a Gen X too. Um, so did Boomer generation and Gen X, dEP 35 · 19 Apr 2023·other· 35:44–39:470:33Recap of Part 1: Why investors back people, not businessesAl Elliott: Nice. Check out hopspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses Simon Berger: Can I sell it to you? So I said, yeah, yeah, come on, John. He said to me— so he looked at me, came up to the deEP 28 · 1 Mar 2023·panel interview· 0:33–2:594:04What investors are really looking forAl Elliott: So what are investors looking for? The first thing is entrepreneurship. Obviously, they want to make sure people can entrepreneur well. Um, secondly, they're looking for people leadership. They want to find rEP 28 · 1 Mar 2023·panel interview· 4:04–4:3933:14Simon's mission: entrepreneurialism in schoolsAl Elliott: But this is a cause that's very close to Simon's heart. Simon's Simon's mission, which he declared on his website, is to ensure that entrepreneurialism— that's a difficult word to say. I heard someone say thaEP 28 · 1 Mar 2023·panel interview· 33:14–40:0639:45What investors look for in entrepreneurs and leadersAl Elliott: So the first thing they're looking for is leader and entrepreneurial leadership. The second thing they're looking for is people leadership. So what are the commonalities here? What are the traits of a businesEP 27 · 22 Feb 2023·other· 39:45–46:3220:19Al's burnout story and bankruptcyAl Elliott: This is brilliant. Now, now, as someone who runs businesses and has always run businesses, then I'm really keen to see what the business case is for, for burnout. Because, I mean, I started my first business EP 21 · 13 Jan 2023·other· 20:19–22:012:11The DNA of an entrepreneur: young Al and the need to be popularAl Elliott: Okay Leanne Elliott: And get to know, get to know Al Elliott. So to steal a question, and if you're a regular podcast listener, you'll know exactly where this question is from. What do I need to understand abEP 16 · 13 Dec 2022·other· 2:11–3:42
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