Thomas Panton is a serial entrepreneur and now Venture Fellow at Endgame Capital, investing in early-stage 'climate-change-denier-proof' tech startups.

In this interview, Steph and Thomas discuss:

- What happened with the eco marketplace he co-founded, Canopey
- The key lessons from Canopey's post-mortem - and how he's applying them to his new stealth startup
- Co-founder alignment - red flags / green flags - and the best way to test them
- How being a serial entrepreneur has helped him be a better investor now
- What Endgame Capital looks for in their investment deals
- How to help remove some of the unconscious bias in VC
- What makes a 1% founder

(Psst! Here's the Matt Lerner interview mentioned in the conversation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6i0oJnpsNDgW0JF8ZkKu3R?si=652d59ea50d14c30 )

Fundraising? Head to Endgame Capital's website, here: https://www.endgamecapital.vc/ or drop Thomas a message here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspanton/

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

Get involved in the conversation:
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🎬 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

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Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen is an award-winning entrepreneur, bestselling author and TedX speaker. She's listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, and closing the gender investment gap with FemaleInvest by educating women on investing and personal finance through educational events, e-learning and strategic partnerships.

In this interview, Steph and Anna cover:

💰 Why getting more women into investing helps *everyone*
💰 What makes women better investors and where they can start
💰 Anna-Sophie's founder story, meeting her co-founders, and starting FemaleInvest
💰 From the brink of bankruptcy to being listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 - overnight!
💰 Top lessons learnt from fundraising $24M - and the biggest surprise
💰 Creative marketing tactics
💰 And more.

Learn more about FemaleInvest here: https://www.femaleinvest.com/en-gb

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemelodia/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XFx6rPcEAC0

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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

TW: Contains themes of mental health including depression and suicide.

Founder of StoryCast®. Leadership Communication Expert. Global Keynote Speaker. Award-Winning Author of GLOW IN THE DARK 💡

Mark Leruste helps leaders harness the power of their stories to build trust and inspire action. He’s worked with the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Nike to communicate and connect in a way that resonates and drives real impact.

His TED talk, ‘What they don’t tell you about entrepreneurship,’ has amassed 1.3M views, and Steven Bartlett listed it as the number 1 TED Talk every entrepreneur should watch.

In this interview, Mark and Steph discuss:

🎤 Why storytelling matters

🎤 Practical frameworks (like the 3 C's) to help you become a better storyteller

🎤 Inspirational examples from Mark's time at the Movember Foundation

🎤 The blurred lines between storytelling and the truth

🎤 Entrepreneurship and mental health

🎤 And so much more.

Transform your story into your most powerful asset through engaging talks, masterclasses and coaching programmes for business leaders to leverage the power of personal storytelling to connect with their audience, build trust and inspire action with StoryCast®: https://www.storycast.co/

Book Mark to deliver a talk to your organisation: https://www.markleruste.com/

Get involved in the conversation:

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

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

🎬 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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Nina Briance is the Founder & CEO of CULT MIA, the values-driven luxury fashion platform that retails conversation-starting, standout pieces with sustainability and minority-empowerment at its core.

In this episode, Steph and Nina discuss:

🖤 The marketing mistake that taught Nina an unforgettable lesson
🖤 "Your network is your net worth" - the value of connections
🖤 How Nina took on the fashion giants - and won
🖤 The power of branding (and defending it to investors)
🖤 A specific use case where Cult Mia empowered one of their female designers
🖤 And so much more.

Comment what resonated with you 👇

Discover new designers, support women in business, and shop your next conversation-starting piece all on Cult Mia: https://cultmia.com/

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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

Varun Bhanot is the Co-founder & CEO of MAGIC AI, the at-home personal fitness system crowned one of TIME's best inventions and featured in Sifted's top high-growth startups.

In this interview, we replay the first time Steph & Varun sat down to record in 2023, and catch up at the 31:34 mark, on...

🪞 What's been the biggest game changer for MAGIC AI
🪞 What Varun has now learnt having fundraised more venture capital
🪞 Which growth marketing hack has helped them scale faster
🪞 How the awards & accolades have impacted the business
🪞 Varun's updates now he's a dad!

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniemelodia/

🎬 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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

Kim Innes Is the Founder & CEO of Humble Crumble - the country's most loved dessert that went viral! She is also a Forbes 30 under 30 winner of the Everywoman Scale Up award, and one of NatWest x Telegraph’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch.

In this interview, Steph and Kim cover...

🧁 Kim's passion for baking and particular love of crumble
🧁 Applying 'The Lean Startup' principles to a food business
🧁 The near-misses and mistakes made along the way
🧁 How Humble Crumble unexpectedly went VIRAL
🧁 ...and maintained momentum as they grew

Visit a Humble Crumble near you: https://www.humble-crumble.com/pages/locations

What resonated with you from this interview?

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

🎬 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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Meet the first female CEO of a city stockbroking firm; Sam Smith. Founder and ex-CEO of finnCap, Sam is now the Co-Founder of SuperScalers and no. 1 bestselling author of The Secret Sauce: How to SuperScale.

In this interview, you'll hear about...

🚀 Taking finncap public on the London Stock Exchange during tumultuous times
🚀 Top growth levers to go from £1m turnover a year to £1m turnover a week!
🚀 Leadership pitfalls to avoid as you scale your businesses
🚀 Balancing a high-powered career with motherhood
🚀 What's in the secret sauce of how to SuperScale
🚀 How entrepreneurship can be a force for good
🚀 Resources for female founders fundraising

Are you ready to scale to £50m & beyond? Learn more about SuperScalers here: https://www.superscalers.world/

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

🎬 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephmelodia/

🙏🏼 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=108229517

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Akash Mehta is the Forbes 30 under 30 CEO of Fable & Mane, an Ayurvedic-inspired hair brand, which he Co-Founded with his sister, Niki, making it the first Indian beauty brand co-founded by siblings.

Akash harks from beauty & fashion household names including Burberry, Estée Lauder, and Dior, before launching his own business with Fable & Mane in 2019, now stocked in the likes of Sephora, Selfridges and Cult Beauty.

Akash is also a wildlife Conservationist and Ambassador for Jane Goodall, passionate about wildlife and on a mission to save the animals.

In this interview, Akash and Steph cover...

🐯 How Akash started his successful FMCG brand (including a loan from Papa Mehta!)
🐯 How he and his team built a highly-engaged community
🐯 Social media mastery from the expert himself
🐯 Building a well-loved, purpose-driven brand
🐯 Getting stocked in Sephora

Discover more about Fable & Mane here: https://fableandmane.com/

Get involved in the conversation:
🤍 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephmelodia/
🤍 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmelodia-keynotespeaker/

Subscribe to the podcast:
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🎧 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0239e1a6-027c-41c5-b80a-f51d80f49eb0/strategy-tragedy-ceo-stories-with-steph-melodia

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