🧚‍♀️ Want Steph to mentor you? Apply for 1:1 founder coaching here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchRTqGNNhrN8xph4Gh4RuVJNU_mc31cT8bl08nXRQeM6rd8Q/viewform

☕️ Get 25% off artisan half-caff coffee for a guilt-free cup at https://buzzcutcoffee.com/

Jonny Burch is a serial entrepreneur, early Deliveroo employee, exited founder, and now runs Near Future, an AI transformation consultancy for product and design teams. As a designer for nearly 20 years, Jonny is the founder of Progression, a career platform for which he raised $6m and exited in 2024, before exploring the AI transformation space by day and tinkering in his product studio by night.

In this conversation, Steph and Jonny discuss:

👉 Jonny's design background and how it's influenced his entrepreneurial journey

👉 Early days at Deliveroo and the unforgettable lessons learnt

👉 Finding product-market fit with his first venture - testing lots of ideas and parting ways with initial co-founders before landing on Progression

👉 Fundraising for Progression during the pandemic

👉 Exiting Progression and the shocking last-minute turn of events

👉 Founder life and soul-searching post-exit

👉 What Jonny's working on now (hint: it's in AI!)

🤖 Keen to accelerate your team’s AI adoption? Get in touch here: https://nearfuture.works/

I'd LOVE to know, what resonated most with you from this interview?

Get involved in the conversation:

🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/

🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share with a friend!

Have you committed any of these seven sins of sales? Or been a victim of one?

Hit follow or subscribe, and get in touch! We’d love to hear from you:

💌 theswordshowhq@gmail.com

💌 https://www.instagram.com/the.s.word.show/

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Could you do with some sales training, either for yourself or for your team? Book Tash here: https://trsalesconsultancy.co.uk/

Interested in having Steph advise your scale-up on growth strategies or 1:1 founder coaching? See more here: https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/growth-consulting-for-scaleups

Want either (or both) Steph and Tash to speak at your next event? Whether it’s motivating your teams or presenting a keynote, see more on each below:- https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/keynote-speaker-hacking-luck-

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashrebuck/

Interested in sponsoring the show? Contact Tash Rebuck on tash@trsalesconsultancy.co.uk or 07961 254 469

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Where it all started…

Tash Rebuck interviewed by Steph Melodia on Strategy & Tragedy

👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX2Hes_VBk8&t=19s

👉 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7n6IwRD35hp3DHHfCJt5uA?si=457aef4dbd5646c9

Want Steph to mentor you? Apply for 1:1 founder coaching here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchRTqGNNhrN8xph4Gh4RuVJNU_mc31cT8bl08nXRQeM6rd8Q/viewform

As a world-leading expert on mindful productivity and systematic curiosity, Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur and former Googler. She is the creator of learning community, Ness Labs (https://nesslabs.com/) - described as the mindful productivity school for knowledge workers featured in Wired, Rolling Stone and Business Insider. Anne-Laure is also the author of Tiny Experiments you can get your hands on: https://nesslabs.com/book

I'd LOVE to know, what resonated most with you here?

Get involved in the conversation:

🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/

🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share with a friend!

Get started for free - launch your AI Agents to help you run your business in minutes with LaunchLemonade: https://launchlemonade.app/ 🍋

Could you do with some sales training, either for yourself or for your team? Book Tash here: https://trsalesconsultancy.co.uk/

Interested in having Steph advise your scale-up on growth strategies or 1:1 founder coaching? See more here: https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/growth-consulting-for-scaleups

Want either (or both) Steph and Tash to speak at your next event? Whether it’s motivating your teams or presenting a keynote, see more on each below:

- https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/keynote-speaker-hacking-luck

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashrebuck/

Interested in sponsoring the show? Contact Tash Rebuck on tash@trsalesconsultancy.co.uk or 07961 254 469

Hit follow or subscribe, and get in touch! We’d love to hear from you:

💌 theswordshowhq@gmail.com

💌 https://www.instagram.com/the.s.word.show/

TW: Themes of abuse and gun violenceNell Daly is a social worker turned venture capitalist as Co-Founder of Revenge Capital, a £50M sector-agnostic, global impact fund that invests into overlooked founders and their big disruptive ideas. She describes herself as an advocate for underdogs and works with policymakers to help build a more just, free, inclusive and humane world.In this episode, Steph and Nell discuss:❤️‍🔥 Starting a fund NOT coming from the world of finance❤️‍🔥 Nell's experience in media and what led to her "going dark"❤️‍🔥 Overcoming adversity and practical tips on how to be the outlier❤️‍🔥 How her training as a psychotherapist makes her a better investor❤️‍🔥 The power of manifesting, and what to watch out for❤️‍🔥 The importance of dreams and working towards your purpose❤️‍🔥 What her VC fund, Revenge Capital, is looking for in fundraising startupsFundraising? Apply for investment here: https://b1jxsdtzi9t.typeform.com/reve...Get involved in the conversation:Follow on social media:🤍 Instagram: / stephmelodia 🤍 LinkedIn: / stephmelodia-keynotespeaker Subscribe to the podcast:🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NuiaWj...🎧 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...🎧 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...🎧 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/023...Don't forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share with a friend!

Tune into my new show with Tash Rebuck: 'The S Word'

Every Monday, co-hosts Steph Melodia and Tash Rebuck bring you education and entertainment on all things B2B sales. From cold-calling live on air to critiquing others’ outreach, from how to leverage AI in your sales process to interviewing subject matter specialists.

Hit follow or subscribe, and get in touch! We’d love to hear from you:

💌 theswordshowhq@gmail.com

💌 https://www.instagram.com/the.s.word.show/

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Could you do with some sales training, either for yourself or for your team? Book Tash here: https://trsalesconsultancy.co.uk/

Interested in having Steph advise your scale-up on growth strategies or 1:1 founder coaching? See more here: https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/growth-consulting-for-scaleups

Want either (or both) Steph and Tash to speak at your next event? Whether it’s motivating your teams or presenting a keynote, see more on each below:

- https://www.stephaniemelodia.com/keynote-speaker-hacking-luck

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashrebuck/

Interested in sponsoring the show? Contact Tash Rebuck on tash@trsalesconsultancy.co.uk or 07961 254 469

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Where it all started…

Tash Rebuck interviewed by Steph Melodia on Strategy & Tragedy

👉 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX2Hes_VBk8&t=19s

👉 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7n6IwRD35hp3DHHfCJt5uA?si=457aef4dbd5646c9

Want Steph to mentor you? Apply for 1:1 founder coaching here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchRTqGNNhrN8xph4Gh4RuVJNU_mc31cT8bl08nXRQeM6rd8Q/viewform

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From running out of money to building a business worth billions, Sir Richard Harpin is the co-founder of HomeServe, the home repairs and insurance business he started in 1993 before scaling it to a multinational serving millions of customers, listing on the London Stock Exchange, and becoming a FTSE 100 company before being taken private in a multibillion-pound deal.

A passionate advocate for entrepreneurship, Richard is the author of 'How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps' - sharing lessons from his journey building one of Britain’s most successful companies.

He is also the founder of Business Leader, a growth programme that supports founders of £3m+ businesses, combining CEO coaching and peer forums, powered by the proven 9-Step framework in Richard's book, alongside practical content, masterclasses and company visits so you can focus on what matters and scale with confidence. Richard also invests in founder-led companies.

In this episode, Steph and Richard discuss:

- Co-founder relationships

Richard and Jeremy Middleton's 30+ year partnership worked because of clear role division and mutual honesty, even when Jeremy once told Richard to give up entirely.

- Near-bankruptcy to breakthrough

Down to their last £10,000, a direct mail campaign with a 3.8% conversion rate saved the business and sparked the HomeServe home insurance model.

- Entrepreneurial mindset

Copy and improve proven models, bootstrap where possible, avoid growing too fast, and embrace persistence and optimism when your back is against the wall.- Knowing when to step aside as CEOBring in an experienced CEO at the right growth stage, recruit slowly, and let the founder focus on their true strengths (vision, BD, international growth).

- Mentorship and persistence pay

Richard didn't find his first mentor until 2009, but swears by it — illustrated by cold-calling Nigel Morris and flying to DC the next day to secure a meeting.

Other interview mentioned with Jeremy Middleton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q59RqI1GgxE&t=15s

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I'd LOVE to know, what resonated most with you here? Leave a comment!Get involved in the conversation:

🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/

🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

Anu Obe is the Founder of To All My Black Girls, a D2C ecomm business that specialises in naturally textured hair extensions for Afro-Caribbean hair types.In this episode, Steph and Anu discuss:👩🏾‍🦱 The importance of self-belief and optimism - your reality is not your identity!💜 Having a clear mission, identifying a gap in the market, and solving one fatal customer problem 👩🏾‍🦱 The idea of whether or not entrepreneurship is for everyone?! 💜 The power of self-confidence, and where that came from for Anu👩🏾‍🦱 The top books that impacted Anu the most. (Hint: one of them is a religious text).💜 How Anu went about finding her very first customersLearn more about To All My Black Girls here: https://toallmyblackgirls.com/