Billionaire Business Audio Podcast

The Story of ABSOLUTE COLLAGEN - how a single mum took on the beauty industry and won

Maxine Laceby is an absolute inspiration to single mum’s who have teenage children. Her eldest daughter went to University, and the next, a year younger, learned to drive. She was then faced with the decision that all mum’s face – what do I do with the rest of my life?
 
The tale of how she became convinced that collagen was vital to the health of women and then quickly turned it into a hugely successful business is amazing.
 
At the end, in the section called ‘Ian and Chris’s Takeaway’, the hosts discuss the key lessons to learn from this extraordinary lady.
 
Maxine explains:
 
▪️ That she had never run a business before and hates the concept of a spreadsheet
▪️ The business hit £12m revenue still operating from her garage
▪️ Her obsession with the customer – what she calls ‘the absoluter’
▪️ Within 6 years she hit £30m revenue
▪️ What it was like to work with her eldest daughter, Darcy
▪️ How she chose which private equity investor to work with, to help them grow, even faster
 
Follow Maxine Laceby:
 
LinkedIn - com/in/maxinelaceby
Website – absolutecollagen.com
 
 
Billionaire Business:
 
Website: billionairebusiness.net
Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/billionaire-business-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
 
Buy the book “The Street-Smart MBA – Mastering Business Acumen Without Going to School” by Ian Fishwick
 
HARDBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B0FLD5Q8Z5/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
 
PAPERBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B08735HP2W/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
 
KINDLE https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without-ebook/dp/B08738NVS8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2VOX3UKOWGT6R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jGqkZxFG3WEufxz7M-1iVgGElqr83rgD-VAM-9WLfXz4fii5xR10ZsWDNVlnOGAfLdZG4lksR0cCtaRyzjKlwxD8Gh4WKr2ZP8TuayLmYBiPqNWQi66IAM3QDfoxZeEa.ZUymM2LEtrzNGeYhyP9yoJQknWJe8w7LOx6GDaS6ano&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+street-smart+mba&qid=1755704706&sprefix=the+street-smart+mba%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-2
 
Sponsors for Series 1:
 
NETS International - https://nets-international.com

Scaling Up: Lessons from one of Europe's Top VCs

Scale-Ups from one of Europe’s Top VCs
 
 
Dawn Capital, with 2 billion Euros under management, are probably Europe’s largest Venture Capital fund investing in software companies.
 
Nils Howland has been involved in many of their investment decisions and is very clear about what they look for. There are millions of coders out there, but which ones will be backed to become the next big software company? And which types of AI company are they looking to invest in?
 
At the end, in the section called ‘Ian and Chris’s Takeaway’, the hosts discuss the key lessons to learn from this interview.
 
Nils explains:
 
▪️ How a €2 billion Venture Capital fund decides which software and AI companies to back
▪️ What type of founders are they looking for?
▪️ How important is the actual code?
▪️ Do you need a complete senior leadership team?
▪️ How big do you need to be to attract investment from Venture Capital?
▪️ How do you decide whether a business is capable of being valued at over £1 billion?
 
 
 
Follow Nils Howland:
 
LinkedIn - com/in/nilshowland
 
Billionaire Business:
 
Website: billionairebusiness.net
Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/billionaire-business-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
 
Buy the book “The Street-Smart MBA – Mastering Business Acumen Without Going to School” by Ian Fishwick
 
HARDBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B0FLD5Q8Z5/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
 
PAPERBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B08735HP2W/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
 
KINDLE https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without-ebook/dp/B08738NVS8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2VOX3UKOWGT6R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jGqkZxFG3WEufxz7M-1iVgGElqr83rgD-VAM-9WLfXz4fii5xR10ZsWDNVlnOGAfLdZG4lksR0cCtaRyzjKlwxD8Gh4WKr2ZP8TuayLmYBiPqNWQi66IAM3QDfoxZeEa.ZUymM2LEtrzNGeYhyP9yoJQknWJe8w7LOx6GDaS6ano&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+street-smart+mba&qid=1755704706&sprefix=the+street-smart+mba%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-2
 
Sponsors for Series 1:
 
NETS International - https://nets-international.com
 
 

The story of SKYSCANNER: from a startup to a $1.75 billion sale

This is probably Scotland’s greatest ever technology story. How do you take a software app (for booking flights) and turn it from a startup to a $1.75 billion sale?
 
Shane Corstorphine played many C-suite roles at Skyscanner, including CFO, and explains clearly how they did it. Some of the lessons are not what you expect.
 
At the end in the section called ‘Ian and Chris’s Takeaway’, the hosts discuss the key lessons to learn from this remarkable interview.
 
Shane explains:
 
▪️ The type of leadership team you will need
▪️ How employee share ownership can play a part
▪️ How you tackle international expansion on an incredibly rapid scale
▪️ How they attracted the greatest ever investor name from Silicon Valley - Sequoia
▪️ At the time this was the largest fundraise by a privately-owned UK tech company in history – but the record only lasted weeks
 
00:00 Welcome & hosts intro
00:01:07 Guest background: startup → banker; execution mindset
00:05:30 Joining early stage Skyscanner & founder vision
00:08:40 Execution v strategy; COO cadence & weekly reviews
00:11:00 Travel’s frequency problem & tracking PMF (product market fit) metrics (AARRR)
00:13:40 Sequoia joins: valuation, fundraising & dilution
00:16:30 Sponsor: NETS International
00:17:40 Equity that retains staff: options, buybacks & secondaries
00:23:08 Scale cultures: UK prudence vs US/China speed
00:28:45 Go to market playbook: test and learn
00:33:10 The exit (2016): sale process, buyer & lessons
00:36:00 Closing: What’s next and Key takeaways
 
Follow Shane Corstorphine:
 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanecorstorphine/
Blog – com/@shanecorstorphine/
 
Billionaire Business:
 
Website: billionairebusiness.net
Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/billionaire-business-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
 
Buy the book “The Street-Smart MBA – Mastering Business Acumen Without Going to School” by Ian Fishwick
 
HARDBACK - https://tinyurl.com/5x5nusuf
 
 
PAPERBACK - https://tinyurl.com/ybtknv9m
 
 
KINDLE - https://tinyurl.com/59hvtm3e
 
 
Sponsors for Series 1:
 
NETS International - https://nets-international.com