Vanguard Podcast

Meet our guest, Andrew Bloch, a seasoned PR and marketing specialist known for his prowess in buying and building companies. Discover the intricacies of entrepreneurship and success as we delve into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs aiming to sell their businesses. Gain insights into the importance of motivation, finding the right buyer, and impeccable timing.

Andrew Bloch's passion for business and entrepreneurship shines through as he offers guidance to those who may not have considered the journey of business ownership. Find out how enjoying what you do, setting goals, and embracing continuous self-challenge are pivotal to long-term success and personal fulfillment.

We also discuss the transition from traditional agency work to a scalable partnership model and explore the differences between lifestyle and scalable businesses. Discover the key factors potential buyers seek, such as scalability, motivated founders, strong management teams, and growth opportunities.

Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just considering your venture, this podcast provides invaluable insights into building and scaling companies.

Join us in a dynamic podcast conversation with Patrick Molyneux, the Partner and Head of Products & Partnerships at KPMG Acceleris. In this enlightening episode, we explore the vibrant world of innovation, entrepreneurship, and venture funding.

Patrick's passion for nurturing innovative founders shines as he delves into the critical role they play in driving progress and economic growth. Discover the secrets to securing venture capital, the impact of EIS and SEIS schemes, and the challenges entrepreneurs face in today's competitive landscape.

Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking funding or an innovation enthusiast, this episode offers invaluable insights and inspiration for your journey. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of innovation's transformative power and the strategies to fuel your startup's success.

Listen now and embark on a journey of innovation and entrepreneurship with Patrick Molyneux!

In a world where cybersecurity is often dubbed the "dullest" industry, there's an unexpected hero breaking through the digital defenses: comedy. Welcome to the episode that delves deep into the role of humor in the world of hacking, cyber threats, and digital protection.

Join us as we sit down with Ian Murphy, the CEO and founder of CyberOff, a remarkable personality at the forefront of cybersecurity's comedic revolution.

Discover why fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) have long been used in cybersecurity communication, and how humor is flipping the script. Learn how laughter can build trust, making it easier to communicate the importance of digital safety to both professionals and newcomers.

We tackle the challenge of balancing humor with technical accuracy when joking about cybersecurity topics like zero-day vulnerabilities. Understand the nuanced approach to comedy in different contexts, from engaging audiences at events to crafting stand-up routines about cyber themes.

Tune in for a dose of cybersecurity, a sprinkle of humor, and a whole lot of laughs.

🎙️ FLYING CARS WITH DEZSO MOLNAR🚀✨

In our latest episode of The Vanguard Podcast, we dive into the fascinating world of flying cars and how they could revolutionise travel in bad weather conditions and reduce risks. 🌧️✈️

Join us as we chat with a visionary designer who has ingeniously combined auto gyro and motorcycle technology to create an innovative aircraft 🚁🏍️.

By using off-the-shelf motorcycle engines, this forward-thinker aims to make flight accessible to individuals and minimise energy consumption and pollution associated with ground transportation. 🌍🌱

Excitingly, we explore the untapped potential of the experimental aircraft market, presenting a viable business opportunity with lower regulatory requirements and boundless growth prospects. 🚀💼

Don't miss out on this visionary conversation!

Allow us to introduce Vesa Kivinen, an esteemed digital art pioneer with a career spanning over 15 years! In 2017, he was among the first five artists to venture into the world of crypto art and NFTs. Renowned as a leading artist in the realm of metaverse fine art, he has been honoured with prestigious awards such as the top Web3 Artists award by L'Officiel Arabia and the World NFT Artist Award in Korea. Moreover, his notable digital art project with actress Veena Malik in 2013 garnered widespread attention, captivating an audience of approximately 300 million people and receiving critical acclaim. Additionally, VESA is the founder of VESA Digital LLC, a Dubai-based company dedicated to providing comprehensive physical and digital art experiences.

In this very exciting episode, Vesa Kivinen sits down with Phelim Rowe to discuss all things Crypto, NFTs and the Metaverse.

Chris Woods is the founder and CEO of CyberQ Group an International cyber company. Chris is an experienced leader and entrepreneur within the cybersecurity realm, previously managing elite and innovating cybersecurity teams at the European Space Agency, HP, Fujitsu and UK Government with over 25 years of pure cyber Security experience.

In today's episode, Chris discusses:

• Why IT and OT is a business-critical challenge.
• Where his passion for cybersecurity stems from.
• How the lateral movement from a smart kettle to a smart tv can leave someone exposed and vulnerable.
• The difference between cyber insurance and assurance.
• Home biometrics and why this has become the target.
• Why cybersecurity is no different to physical security.

This week we are delighted to be speaking to Maciek Szczesniak, HPE's Global Vice President and General Manager for SMB and Mid-Market.

His responsibilities include the designing and building of offers and solutions tailored towards the SMB and Mid-market customers, pricing strategy, business analytics, channel, sales and category enablement programs, SMB related trainings, videos, collateral and other content, across HPE’s diverse businesses and regions.

Moreover, the topics covered in this episode is very timely because even the smallest of the SMB's is looking toward digitalisation and making MORE GO FURTHER! This includes but is not limited to:  Managed Services, Security, IT Distribution and what the channel today really means for the SMB.

We are also excited to give a warm welcome to Phelim Rowe, as this is his first episode hosting The Vanguard Podcast.

Welcome to series 4 of The Vanguard Podcast!

Our guest today is Conference Director, Phelim Rowe. Phelim has worked with organizations such as CTG Intelligence, BBA and Play Secure in both the public and commercial sectors. He has organised conferences on a range of subjects throughout the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Prior to conferencing, he worked as a policy advisor for town planning in the UK Department of Communities and Local Government, trade promotion for the military, and ministerial private office in the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills.

In today's episode, Phelim talks about making a difference in a system that was designed to stay the same, finding your passion in unexpected places, and stress within the workplace. Not to forget our ICONIC quickfire questions. So stay tuned until the end!

We are also very excited to announce him as our new co-host alongside Scott Tyson. 

Before we kickstart Series 4 in 2023, we wanted to compile some key takeaways from Series 3, from 490 minutes of listening.

Thank you to all of our listeners for joining us every other week and listening to, learning from and being inspired by our awesome guests.

Lachlan Reid (S3 E10), Dr.Phill Bell (S3 E2), Rob Sprackling (S3 E3), Melissa Snover (S3 E4), Isabelle Bichler (S3 E5), John Doyle (S3 E6), Mark Dowds (S3 E7), Taran Singh (S3 E8), Alexandros Christodoulakis (S3 E9), Luke Swann (Tribute), Ed James (S3 E10).

Stay tuned as we come back bigger and better than ever in series 4.

Currently hosting Drive Time for Heart West Midlands in Birmingham is British DJ, broadcaster, and journalist Ed James. He is a founder member of HDY Agency, a creative content marketing firm based in the West Midlands, and he also writes columns for the Birmingham Mail. It is fair to say he keeps himself busy and well-occupied. In the past, he has also openly addressed the catalogue of disasters that caused him to hit the reset button on his life. We have a lot to speak about and can’t wait to get started.

Former guest of The Vanguard Podcast, Luke Swann, has passed away at the young age of 39.   On behalf of everyone here at METCLOUD and The Vanguard Podcast, we send our heartfelt condolences and prayers to Luke Swann's friends and family.   Our podcast host, Scott Tyson, described Luke as "someone who had time for anyone- young or old".  Luke's episode is one of the most listened to and frequently quoted amongst other guests.

Next on the Vanguard Podcast is Alexandros Christodoulakis, co-founder and CEO of Wealthyhood which is the first DIY wealth-building app for long-term investors. Wealthyhood aids long-term investors to build their wealth over-time, by intelligently investing their money how they want and for free.

Alexandros is also heavily accredited having attended, imperial college business school, the London school of economics and political science and national technical university of Athens. Achieving 3 first class grades. So very impressive.

Today’s guest is the founder and CEO of Taran3D, a company where digital creative storytelling is at the heart of what they do, and they combine these skills with cutting-edge technology to produce unique and compelling interactive content. TARAN3D is an Immersive production & training company. They produce immersive experiences through Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and 3D design. Moreover, they provide full-service XR training and consultancy through workshops, training programs, and one-to-one consultancy advice.

Taran is an expert in 3D technologies, combining a unique creative flair with technical aptitudes. He delivers professional-grade media products in the immersive technologies and 3D graphics arena. As a self-motivated and entrepreneurial designer, he possesses the drive and technical capabilities to steer creative projects to completion.

Our guest today is Mark Dowds, who is commonly regarded as a ‘serial entrepreneur’; and during an impressive two decades, he has helped get dozens of ventures off the ground.

For example, in 2012 he cofounded the first on-demand insurance platform in the world and oversaw sales, strategy, and development as the business went global.

However, before all this Mark had a rocky start, as he was kicked out of school at 16 before going into business with his dad.

Today’s guest is the founder and CEO of Voicescape, a company on a mission to build sustainable tenancies through more effective customer engagement. With one of their top values being innovation, as a company, they recognise the power of harnessing technology to better the lives of some of society's most socially disadvantaged people and help their customers better connect with their communities.

He is also a graduate of John Moore’s University and the host of his own podcast, ‘the social housing podcast’. A bit of competition for us!

Today’s guest is the co-founder and COO of Retrain.ai. A company that utilises technology data to help organisations find the best talent and prepare their employees for future jobs. Ultimately addressing the global skills gap while improving employability for all.

Just recently she was selected as one of the top 5 Finalists out of 98 contestants for the Women in Artificial Intelligence Awards North America 2022!

This is in addition to a plethora of educational certifications including a Bachelor of Law degree and a master of business administration.

Today’s guest is award-winning entrepreneur and visionary in the world of food technology and 3D printing. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Rem3dy Health which pioneers personalised solutions across preventative and curative health under the brands Nourished and Scripted.

Previous to this she was managing director for ‘The Magic Candy Factory’ which created the world’s first 3D printer for gummy candy.

It’s safe to say Melissa is a no short of talents or ideas and seems to always be hitting the nail on the head. As it was during the pandemic and an airport mishap, she came up with the idea of personalised 3D supplement gummies.

Today’s guest is someone who you might not have seen before, but you will have definitely watched his movies! Rob is an experienced screen writer and award-winning director, best known for the Disney animated movie 'Gnomeo & Juliet' starring James McAvoy and Emily Blunt, with music by Elton John. More recently, he co-wrote the screenplay for ‘The Queens Corgi’ which starred Jack Whitehall. In total these two movies alone took a whopping $250 million at the worldwide box office.

Rob has an extremely impressive resume working for the top US film studios, being a member the BAFTA’s and having wrote the children’s book ‘Born Again Ben’ which he sold to Paramount Pictures.

It seems Rob does it all and there are no signs of him slowing down any time soon! Currently he has several new movies in development, two of which are in pre-production.

Our guest today is Dr. Phill Bell who is Chief Operations Officer of ART Health Solutions which is an organisation utilizing scientific methods, tools, and processes to support organisational and employee health well-being and performance.

ART Health’s mission is to ‘Empower people to take the best care of their wellbeing by creating cutting-edge technologies that deliver data-driven actionable insights. Phill has a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from Northumbria University and before Art Health held the role of Principal Scientist at the GSK Human Performance Lab.

Employee well-being has been a top priority for organisations and especially since the pandemic has only gained more attention. It is essential for the efficient functioning of a company and a great challenge in the last years. Phill explains how data analytics can improve someone’s well-being and that it needs time to get through and have a return on investment.

Today’s guest is Lachlan Reid. He has been commentating on cricket, basketball and Aussie Rules football and some of them were even recorded and I think he still has a few on tape somewhere.

Lachy’s media career began in 1995 in radio when he took a leap of faith and moved across Australia to Perth to study Broadcasting at Edith Cowan University. Since then, he has completed over 20 years at Channel Ten in Perth as Senior AFL Football Reporter and Presenter and he has won several awards for best news and feature stories.

In February 2014, he was only a handful of Australian presenters to be chosen to commentate on the Winter Olympics in Sochi and he has also called the swimming in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific games.

Matt Solomon has worked in sales & business development for 16+ years. He had the unique experience of working with a start-up company (ID Agent) and helped it grow from 0 to 2,000 partners in a two-year period through acquisition, then later to 4,000+ partners, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in decades within the channel.

Matt has spoken at more than 150 industry events in six countries and received 40 awards in recognition. Post-acquisition, he took on the role of Channel Chief at Kaseya. After 2.5 years, Matt started a consulting company, Channel Halo, working with vendors and MSPs on their go-to-market strategies.

After having many of the same conversations, Matt and his former CEO Kevin Lancaster decided to team up again and launch Channel Program. Channel Program is a platform designed to bring together the most innovative technologies in front of Channel Partners (MSPs, MSSPs, VARs, IT Services Providers) and give them a voice in how companies present, enter, and succeed in the channel.

My guest on the podcast today is Deborah Leary who is CEO and Founder of Forensic Pathways and the company's new brand “Clarifyi”, which is aimed at bringing together the Company’s threat intelligence consultancy and technology offerings.

Deborah takes us through her journey in the launch of Forensic Pathways and explains how she was inspired and motivated to create these two innovative companies. In this episode we also discuss adaptability and resilience, and how important it is to maintain them throughout your career.

Press play to find out.

My guest today is Sean Lee who is an active member of the World Economic Forums Global Innovators community and the CEO of Algorand Foundation having previously held leadership roles within Dell Technologies, Pivotal and EMC, working with clients and partners across 20+ countries.

In this episode we talk about cryptocurrency and the transformational role it has into business industry along with an in-depth conversation about how cryptocurrencies could possibly change everyday life in the future.

Press play to find out.

In this episode, our guest is Luke Swann - a professional cricket coach currently working for Northamptonshire CCC and Cricket East. Luke explains how cricket led him through his career as a coach, what sort of skills can someone get from being a coach and how these skills are transferable to the business world.

The main topic though is how important is failure in order to succeed and how realising this simple task, can turn around your attitude and career and set you up on the road to success.

Episode #6 is being produced in honour of World Keratoconus Day, celebrated around the world on November 10th. This episode is jam-packed with crucial insight from company Avellino - a leader in precision medicine, is making a global impact in genetics and bringing innovative diagnostics, therapies, and AI-driven data processing to patient care. A special thank you goes out to our 2 guests this week: 

Joe Boyd: Mr. Boyd is the Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Avellino, a global leader in gene therapy and molecular diagnostics at the forefront of precision medicine for eye care. He has more than 20 years of experience in life sciences and medical devices and is a sought-after speaker in the science and medical industry. 

Brandon Ayres, MD: Brandon Ayres, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist at Wills Eye Hospital who specializes in all forms of corneal transplantation and all types of refractive and cataract surgery, including LASIK. Dr. Ayres also treats infectious diseases of the eye and ocular surface disease (dry eye).  He has an interest in the diagnosis and treatment of keratoconus and has been involved in several FDA trials investigating new treatments for the condition.

Avellino has launched its first genetic test, AvaGen™.  AvaGen™ is an eye test that confidently empowers eyecare professionals to protect and preserve vision by providing personalized genetic data that accurately quantifies the risk or presence of sight-threatening conditions.

For episode 5, we're joined by well-respected industry veteran, Ken Bagnall - CEO of Silent Push Inc. a US based, detection focused Threat Intelligence Platform that reveals adversary assets and infrastructure and integrates with your network defences, whether on-prem or in the cloud. Ken was also VP of FireEye product management for the prior couple of years after FireEye acquired his Email Security business The Email Laundry. Ken plays a lot of sport but never seriously.

The key factors of Ken's story are vision, determination and levelling up, wrapped in a focus on the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape. People within all industries will find the business tips and advice extremely useful and insightful. Tune in today! 

In this episode, our guest is Diana Paredes - CEO and Co-Founder of Suade, a software platform that enables financial institutions to understand and deliver their regulatory requirements. Diana's approach to making a happy workplace is inspirational and infectious. Her drive to create future leaders, lobby governments for supported parental leave and helping the banking and regulated sector to streamline processes after her experiences in that industry is a wonderful story of vision and determination.

Prior to founding Suade, Diana had a successful career in investment banking, covering all asset classes at Barclays and Merrill Lynch, across sales, trading & structuring. Whilst working in the industry, she saw an opportunity to innovate and launch her current Fintech/Regtech start-up. She believes that a data-driven approach to regulation is the key to preventing the next financial crisis. 

Our next guest is a entrepreneur Paul Tomlinson, who recently found himself making an major pivot in his career from the IT industry to the fitness industry. During this episode, Paul exemplifies the importance of having a strong work ethic and taking risks, whilst reminding us to maintain a healthy work/life balance. Tune in to hear all about Paul's journey!  

Paul began his career in IT nearly 30 years ago and has been responsible for running successful companies. A large proportion of that time was spent focussing on Mirus - an IT services business, providing support to the SMEs. Paul exited Mirus in 2019 following an acquisition by a PE backed player– at this time it had more than 100 employees and was on course to achieve a turnover of £15m per annum. 

Our first guest of the series is Luis Giraldo, who made a life-changing pivot from Music to Tech! Luis started his career as a professional musician, playing at international shows for Pop Star Shakira; more recently, Luis’s stage-time consists of delivering speaking as an executive and industry leader to thousands of IT Providers across the globe. Luis is well-known in the technology and MSP space, having worked for IT Glue and N-Able. He now runs his own successful MSP and has recently been appointed as Chief Experience Officer of ScalePad - an application that automates asset lifecycle management for hardware, software, and warranty services for MSPs.

Welcome back to the Vanguard Podcast - Series 2 is finally here! This first episode is a compilation of interesting and insightful moments from the first series, that we consider to be the 'key takeaways'. If you like the new branding, feel free to share in on social media or give us a rating on your favourite streaming platform. Stay tuned for more innovative stories, with episodes being released every 2 weeks! 

The latest innovator to join Scott is Ian Moore, also known as the "Most Influential Person in Fire Safety". With a versatile career behind him - including 13 years in the Royal Navy - Ian is currently putting his many years of experience working in security and fire safety to good use, as the CEO of the Fire Industry Association (FIA). The not-for-profit FIA now represents over 800 UK companies (the largest in Europe) and promotes professionalism of the Fire Safety industry to a number of Government departments.

Ian is well decorated with awards for contributions to the fire and security industry, including a DTI Millennium Award for Innovation for one of his solutions and the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2013 for Video Smoke Detection (VSD). VSD technology is now World renowned and manufactured by many companies around the World.

For lucky number 11 Scott is joined by Vanguard, Robert Baugh, Founder and CEO of Keepabl. This May marks the 3rd anniversary of the GDPR legislation coming into effect, so it's only right we bring in an expert! Rob has a magical way of making compliance and governance seem less daunting and more approachable for SME businesses.

With entrepreneurship running in the family, Robert inspires us to explore what makes us happy, take opportunities to travel and to evolve through taking risks and pivoting, whilst reminding us that self-evaluation and reflection is important in order to stay on track.

This episode Scott is joined by Andra Hedden, a natural innovator who eats, sleeps and breathes entrepreneurship. Andra is Chief Marketing Officer at Marketopia - the premier B2B marketing and lead generation agency for technology companies. 

With over 20 years experience in marketing and business development and 12 years of experience focused specifically on the IT channel, Andra's expertise and deep passion enables technology service providers to realize their growth potential. Over the past six years, Marketopia has evolved from a team of two to over 120 staff and recently expanded into Europe and APAC. Her passion has created an organisation recognized as a three-time Inc. 5000 award winner and ranked among the Tampa Bay Best Places to Work. 

We're excited to be joined by digital advocate, Andrew Grill - the 'Pragmatic Futurist'! Andrew has a broad career spanning over 30 years in large corporates such as IBM, British Aerospace and Telstra, as well as 12 years running technology start-ups. 

Andrew is a highly experienced keynote speaker and opens up a wide range of discussion points related to 'the workplace of the future', technology trends and the digital world. Unlike traditional Futurists who paint a picture of the future in 10, 20 or even 50 years’ time, Andrew can deliver practical and immediately actionable insights. Episode #9 is not one to miss!

The latest innovator to join the guest line-up is George Grant - CEO, Co-Founder and Publisher at Housing Technology - the leading technology information service and publisher of tech news and insights for the UK housing sector and local governments with over 20,000 readers.

During the podcast, George makes us aware that there are 300,000+ people homeless in the UK. He believes the housing crisis could be solved using the right mix of technology and social action and it’s his mission to do that by bringing together diverse housing experts globally to collaborate and help solve these problems.

In lucky number #7, Scott is joined by Tony Dalwood, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gresham House plc - the second business he has built. Tony shares his incredible industry insight, tips for investment and the innovation that he has seen in the finance industry over the years. 

Tony has over 25 years of experience in investing and advising numerous public and private equity businesses. He holds a Master of Arts in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge where he was also a junior rugby international and Blue. Tony is also a children's coach at rugby and cricket.

In episode #6, we are joined by well-seasoned security expert, Don Randall MBE who has dedicated his career to protecting people from crime, specialising in fraud, counter-terrorism and cybersecurity.

Don has earned himself some pioneering and industry-defining roles throughout his career... serving with the City of London Police from 1969-1995, he spent four years as Deputy Head of the Fraud Squad and three years in Operational Support Department. Don was also Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase from 1995. In August 2008, Don assumed the role of Head of Security at the Bank of England and in November 2013, he was appointed as the Bank’s first Chief Information Security Officer. In February 2015, Don moved to a consultative position with the Bank as their Cyber Ambassador. 

Don is Chairman of the ‘Sister Banks’, City of London Crime Prevention Association and ‘Project Griffin’ and a member of the City of London Crime Disorder Reduction Panel. Don also sits on the METCloud advisory board.

For episode #5, we are joined by the incredible Rob Scott - an established business leader with a wealth of experience and a reputation among industry insiders as a "competitive turnaround agent" who is willing to share his knowledge to help entrepreneurs (even competitors!) thrive to success. 

Rob is a true Vanguard, demonstrated by his versatile and opportunistic career pivots; from football to Formula 1 race car driving to technology executive. Tune in to hear how Rob stayed focussed and motivated throughout the twist and turns in the road.  

If you're looking for some motivation, this could be it! In our fourth episode, Scott invites industry veteran, Colin Knox - Founder & CEO of Gradient MSP. Colin is a technology innovator, passionate leader, and professional speaker focused on advising entrepreneurs how to grow, expand, and mature their businesses. 

We have an extra-special guest for Episode #3! Tune in as Host, Scott Tyson, speaks on everything this podcast stands for - innovation, pivoting, perseverance and more - with an original member of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team and captain of the 1992 and 1998 teams and a 3- time Olympian - Devon Harris!

In his current career as a Keynote Speaker, Author and Motivator, Devon goes about inspiring students, businesspeople and leaders to achieve their goals using his real-life story of perseverance and persistence through his motto ‘Keep on Pushing’. Hear more about his story in this episode!

In our second episode, our host Scott Tyson chats with Gene Reich, model turned co-founder of multiple successful tech businesses, as he resides in "the big apple".  

Gene Reich is a 15 year veteran in the MSP space.  Before co-founding Traceless, he founded POINT, a managed service provider serving small and medium sized business in New York and San Francisco.  Gene also founded Orchard, a national consulting firm focused on deployment and managing Apple devices. He sits on the Apple Consultants Network Advisory council, as well as the ConnectWise Cyber Security Advisory Council.

In this bonus episode, Scott Tyson talks with METCloud CEO, Ian Vickers, about his journey from Football to Cloud and Cyber Security. 

Ian Vickers, a serial technology entrepreneur, launched the METCloud brand in 2017. The cybersecurity company has gone on to win dozens of internationally recognised awards for innovation. Ian is fascinated with how technology can improve business and lifestyles and continually looks to identify emerging technologies, services and markets.

Keep your eyes peeled on our Twitter @metcloud_com for the announcement of our first official episode!