72 min listen
Beyond: shorting your rival’s stock for $700m but losing the war, with Founder & CEO Ian Strang
Beyond: shorting your rival’s stock for $700m but losing the war, with Founder & CEO Ian Strang
ratings:
Length:
58 minutes
Released:
Jun 7, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
80% to 90% of startups fail. But what those stats don't tell you is how you can do loads of things right and still fail. This is what happened to Ian Strang and the company he founded, Beyond, who tried to shake up the death industry - offering price comparisons, wills, funerals, probate - those kinds of things. They certainly managed to do that. They landed some blows, but ultimately they lost the war.
This is Ian’s story, told a few months after his company failed.
He and his team came up with some ingenious ideas which led to press, shorting stocks and ultimately the regulation of the death industry itself. But that’s not how things ended.
We talk about:
The demanding childhood which shaped his life
His first startup
Meeting Alan Sugar’s son
Quitting Pollen because it was too much fun
The bizarre circumstance for first pitching Beyond
The problem with monetising death
How to grow through SEO
The April fool’s joke that yielded big publicity
Shorting Dignity for $700m
How to get the CMA on your side
What is a bad advert anyway
Auctioning your company
The reality of being an entrepreneur
Feedback:
hello@secretleaders.com
Sponsor links:
smithandwilliamson.com/secretleaders
klaviyo.com/secretleaders
personio.com
vanta.com/secretleaders
This is Ian’s story, told a few months after his company failed.
He and his team came up with some ingenious ideas which led to press, shorting stocks and ultimately the regulation of the death industry itself. But that’s not how things ended.
We talk about:
The demanding childhood which shaped his life
His first startup
Meeting Alan Sugar’s son
Quitting Pollen because it was too much fun
The bizarre circumstance for first pitching Beyond
The problem with monetising death
How to grow through SEO
The April fool’s joke that yielded big publicity
Shorting Dignity for $700m
How to get the CMA on your side
What is a bad advert anyway
Auctioning your company
The reality of being an entrepreneur
Feedback:
hello@secretleaders.com
Sponsor links:
smithandwilliamson.com/secretleaders
klaviyo.com/secretleaders
personio.com
vanta.com/secretleaders
Released:
Jun 7, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Photobox: Graham Hobson (Co-Founder) on how he built a £400m business: Graham Hobson is the Co Founder of Photobox, the digital printing powerhouse that employs 1,000+ people across Europe, and exited for a reported £400m+.But it wasn’t a simple journey - 16 years in the making, including 5 where they scaled back to 3 people, Graham shares the highs and lows of their tumultuous ride to eventual success. Before that - a life in the city, in banking’s glory years, where he saw every immoral act under the sun happen in the office before his eyes - he has lots of experience and insight to share through his career, and is well worth the listen! by Secret Leaders with Dan Murray-Serter