The Scottish Business Podcast

CEO and Founder of Phlo, Nadeem Sarwar, talks about his struggles with managing burn out and work life balance, his advice to CEOs and Founders that are also struggling and says that businesses that have raised capitals aren't successful yet (he gives his thoughts on turning that fundraising into momentum). This is the last episode of The Scottish Business Podcast for 2020. 

This week, I talk with Colin Hewitt, CEO and Founder of Float Cashflow and Forecasting. Colin and I dive deep into his leadership style, how he uses coaching and mentoring and we take a look at his strategies for burn out and morning routine. Colin founded Float and has grown it to a £1 million business and with his sights set on £10 million, he opens up about some of his biggest mistakes and what he'd tell his past self.  

Jane Morrison-Ross, the CEO of ScotlandIS, talks about innovation across big and small businesses due to the pandemic, building a strong and nurturing business community to bolster Scotland's resilience and building the future of Scotland. 

In this special episode, recorded as part of Scottish International Week 2020, I'm joined in conversation by Alison Edgar (world leading sales coach and consultant) and Russell Dalgleish (chairman of the Scottish Business Network).  In this panel conversation, we talk about how businesses can improve  their sales, what budding and experienced sales people need to get right  to build their pipelines and close more deals and empowering young  people that are at risk of being left behind due to Covid-19.

Valentin Hinov the founder of Thankbox is bootstrapping his start up, betting on his own talent and the  connections he's made to turn Thankbox into something amazing. And he's  more than half way there. Val talks about the processes,  challenges and things he learned about building a business from the  ground up on a small budget, why he isn't seeking VC funding and  stepping into the unfamiliar shoes of a sales guy.

Danni Gordon is the Founder and CEO of the Chachi Power Project, which   focuses on mental health and body image.   In one of my most honest and  open conversations yet, Danni talks about  how the pandemic has  derailed her business, the struggles that her  friends (and other small  start up founders) are going through to keep  things on track and even  turns the tables and interviews me about The Scottish Business Podcast.

Julie Grieve is the Founder and CEO of Criton, a tech company that's  built an app for hotels to have contactless guest engagement.   Small to medium hotels sign up to Criton for a personalised version of  its app that enables guests have a completely contactless experience  from check-in to food and entertainment to check out, all through their  phone.  Covid-19 and the ensuing lock downs destroyed Julie's business. Overnight her clientele dropped off the face of the Earth. This is Julie's story about how she rebuilt Criton to serve a market  that's been fundamentally changed by the virus.

On this week's episode of the Scottish Business Podcast, I sit in an echo chamber and Russell Dalgleish (chairman of the Scottish Business Network, a  Managing Partner of Exolta and serial entrepreneur and business advisor) talks about what makes Scotland the best place in the world to start and run a business.  As one of Scotland's biggest advocates, Russell spends his time selling  Scotland to the world - investors, entrepreneurs and founders - and is  one of the brains behind Scotland International Week. In this in-depth episode of the Scottish Business Podcast, Russell talks  about what makes Scotland one of the best places in the world to do  business and the natural advantages that Scotland has over other  countries as a place to begin a business. 

How do you take an idea in the garden shed and turn it into a thriving  national business?   This week on The Scottish Business Podcast I’m talking to co-director of  Angel’s Share Glass, Karen Somerville, who, alongside her Dad, took the  idea of making hand blown glass angels (for the angel’s share of the whisky) and grew it into a premium business that now creates a range of  Scottish made, hand blow, glass and collaborates with some of the UK’s  biggest distilleries.    It’s been about 7 years since Angel’s Share started and in this open and  insightful conversation, Karen talks about learning the ropes in  business, tackling Covid-19 and how 2020 was meant to be the banner year  for Angel’s Share.   We also learn some fun stuff about whisky along the way.

Craig Mackay had been CEO of Sharktower for all of two weeks before  Covid-19 hit and all of a sudden he was closing his new office and his  team were working remotely.      Craig talks about the challenges of being a new CEO, making quick  decisions in a crisis and how to balance fact based decision making with  following your gut.      As a first time CEO, Craig talks openly and honestly about the  challenges he faces and his philosophy for hiring: that you should hire  experts, let them do what they do best and don't get in the way.      Sharktower is an Edinburgh based startup that helps transform the way  businesses think about project management by using AI.

Executive Coach and Managing Director of the School for CEOs, David Sole  OBE, talks about how to navigate a business through a crisis and the  key things executives need to do to make themselves stronger, more  capable, and efficient leaders.      We dive into mental health, managing the work life balance at executive  level and how to communicate with your team when the business is under  pressure and the future seems uncertain.     David Sole has been an executive coach for more than 20 years, working  with some of the UK's biggest businesses in the high street and public  sector. His School for CEOs brings together high-caliber executive  leaders to help new and long standing CEOs hone their skills.

Geoff Leask, CEO, Young Enterprise Scotland, talks about how school  shutdown has affected young people and the need for support from the  business community.      Geoff talks about how the business community has started to rally  together but that more needs to be in the done to help plug the skills  and knowledge gaps younger people are facing after school closures.      We look at mentoring opportunities, employment options and the role that  tech companies can play in securing Scotland's future workforce.

In this episode of the Scottish Business Podcast, Lisa Thomson, CEO,  PurposeHR, talks about how to maintain your employees' well being and  engagement levels when your company is working from home.      We dive into the biggest challenges (and tips and advice) around how you  can prevent presenteeism, foster engagement and help your team cope  with the different world of working from home full time.      Lisa also talks about bringing on new people and ensuring that they're  not left adrift and are able to (virtually) get to know the people they  work with.

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Beezer’s Marketing Manager, Anna  Tripodi, talks about how to shape a marketing strategy during a crisis  and how Beezer is enabling more businesses to innovate in a social  distancing environment.  We dive into how brands can handle marketing through (and coming out of)  a crisis - juggling empathy and the need to keep generating revenue.   Anna also talks about how Beezer, which has created a web app, helps  more businesses get online by removing the need to have a custom built  app - instead replacing it with a browser based alternative.  Before joining Beezer Anna was a mobile product manager (primarily in  apps) and international brand manager - managing brands sold across the  world with more than a $50 million in revenue.

Melinda Matthews, formerly of IBM, and current CEO of CodeClan talks about rapid and constant decision making during the pandemic.   We dive deep into how CEOs can not get locked in to spending a long time  on decision making, how to be more agile, the benefits of making the  decision and - most importantly - taking care of your mental health and  employees while you do it.  Melinda also talks about the changing future of work and how CodeClan  get help people looking for work or looking to change industries equip  themselves for the future by learning to code.  Before joining CodeClan, Melinda was previously a Global VP of Software  Sales and Marketing for ISVs and Alliances at IBM. Her time at IBM has  given her an insight into how the world embraces technology for  commercial and social success.

Jude McCorry talks about the importance of re-educating the Scottish workforce to provide jobs and support the Scottish tech industry. She also talks about how working from home has proven to businesses that mothers can (and do) thrive in flexible working environments while looking after children.  Jude started as CEO of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre three weeks before Scotland's Covid-19 lockdown came into effect. In that time she's re-positioned the SBRC to support businesses struggling with the effects of Covid-19 and built out the SBRC's support system, while working remotely with her team.

Robert Gelb, CEO of online events platform HeySummit, talks about the finding the resilience that comes with running a business during a pandemic (including unexpected growth), building value before seeking venture capital funding and how you take traditional in person trade shows and make them successful online.  Rob has successfully built and exited a number of businesses and is currently growing HeySummit out of his base in Edinburgh. HeySummit is a virtual events platform that incorporates live and pre-recorded events, as well as offering a bespoke online events service.