The Start-Up Diaries Podcast

In this weeks episode we were joined by Manoj Varsani & Marco Ferrari, Co-Founders of the property finance platform Hammock. Having recently raised £1million in seed funding, the team are preparing to launch their brand new current account for landlords. Sitting down with Oli Lochhead from our London office, the pair talked us through the processes they have in place that have enabled them to scale the Hammock platform so quickly and how they use customer feedback and insights to shape the product to what it is today - a renting platform made by landlords for landlords! 

During lockdown the Hammock team took on a brand new not-for-profit venture in the form of SOS Supplies, in response to the national PPE crisis. SOS Supplies connects charities and organisations in need of urgent PPE with suppliers who can offer stock with fast delivery in the UK. Running the charitable organisation alongside Hammock, Manoj & Marco tell us how they reacted to the situation so quickly, the challenges they faced when pivoting their approach and why the project turned out to be a huge morale booster for their team during the more difficult times.

The Modern Milkman was created with a clear vision - to revitalise the traditional milkround on a mission to reduce plastic waste, after being inspired and disheartened by David Attenborough’s Blue Planet. Having secured Series A funding at the start of the year, the tech for good business are gearing up for national expansion and are in the process of rebuilding their tech platform to support aggressive scaling plans. We sat down with the man in charge of the project, CTO James Renshaw. We spoke to James about the drive towards candidates ‘tech for good’ and what he looks for in the ‘DNA’ of potential hires, how the team are taking a data-driven approach to improve their customer experience and an insight into the due-diligence process when preparing for funding.

Netacea is one of the leading bot management solutions on the market. But for this Manchester-born start-up, securing a spot amongst industry leaders was no small challenge, as they entered a mature market dominated by the U.S. In this episode, Andy Still, CTO of Netacea, sat down with us to discuss their journey from spinning out of Intechnica, to the challenges around becoming a serious voice in the U.S market. He also talks us through the challenges around gaining long-term buy-in from customers as a new product and building and maintaining a collaborative workplace culture. 

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For most start-up businesses, the pandemic has been a difficult wave to ride, with many unfortunately not making through to the other side. But what if your business idea fit perfectly into the ‘new normal’? With the introduction of working from home and the ban on hospitality during lockdowns, Ashley Lockwood had not one, but two businesses that prospered in the post-COVID era. Desk Mate, a standing desk business, and Oya, an organisation that connects unused or under-utilised commercial space for short term use, have both grown exponentially under the new conditions we now find ourselves in. In this final episode of the series, Ashely sat down with Chris and talked us through how he has managed to balance two successful start-ups through periods of exponential growth, including discussion around outsourcing, investment, hiring and delegation. He also chatted about the challenges around gaining fundraising and knowing when the right time is to move on from one project to another. You’ll also discover what a ‘dark kitchen’ is and how it might be paving the way for the future of the catering industry.

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Starting a £4 million NET turnover business from your living room sounds too good to be true… but Hanna Putjato made it her reality when she spotted a gap in the eyelash extension distribution market. Originally moving to the UK unable to speak any English, Hanna trained as a lash technician with the ambition of learning the language, never dreaming that she would walk away as the Founder & Managing Director of London Lash Pro. In this episode, we were joined by Paul Waite, Director of Rowan Executive Search as a special guest co-host alongside Chris. Hanna talked us through her incredible journey from factory worker to multi-million pound businesses owner and her self-taught approach to entrepreneurship. She discusses her unique attitude to problem solving as a founder and how she built a killer marketing strategy off the back of a Google search! As we take a step back from the technical, this episode dives into developing business strategies as an industry novice, as well as the effects of Brexit and COVID-19 on international supply chains and the power of having the right idea at the right time.