Being Average Used To Be Enough | Alex MH Smith, Basic Arts | E374

Does your sales approach match the way customers buy? Explore the distinction between essential and discretionary purchases, hear why Alex puts belief in the provider at the heart of discretionary B2B sales, and try his test for a strategy that makes people say, 'That's cool'.In this episode08:57 – Dominic distinguishes resource allocation from strategy, then explains how frameworks and experiments can bring more rigour to business decisions.17:27 – Alex introduces a matrix of B2B, B2C, discretionary and non-discretionary purchases to challenge the idea that every business should market itself as a problem solver.30:04 – Alex contrasts identity-driven consumer purchases with discretionary B2B services, where he argues that belief in the provider's leadership drives buying decisions.39:33 – Alex explains why even a pitch that precisely matches a customer's problem can fall flat without credibility and belief in the provider.49:10 – Alex introduces his idea of a charismatic strategy: an approach that makes people say, 'That's cool', rather than merely following a logical formula.About Alex MH SmithAlex MH Smith focuses on helping businesses work out how to win in competitive markets. He previously worked at a small experiential marketing agency doing product sampling. In this conversation, he describes his book, No Bullshit Strategy, as an approach for people who want to implement strategy without pursuing its academic side.Links and resourcesRead the full episode transcriptConnect with Dominic on LinkedInNever miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

How do you turn an acquisition into lasting growth? Steve Sharp shares Nuvo's approach to retaining teams, agreeing integration plans before completion and freeing leaders from client work. Hear his experience of a four-day week, too, with practical lessons for planning growth and supporting your people.In this episode03:07 – Why Steve sees completion as only the beginning: the work of retaining people, integrating acquisitions and growing the businesses.09:35 – Acquisition shortcuts Steve would not repeat, and why Nuvo now agrees a documented integration plan with vendors before completion.15:31 – Moving beyond the traditional partner model: separating leadership responsibilities from client work to bring in specialist expertise.25:36 – Steve describes shorter working hours without a pay cut, and the recruitment and retention benefits he associates with Nuvo's four-day week and wider people initiatives.38:53 – How Steve used EOS to turn a long-term vision into three-year and one-year plans, with a 90-day cadence Nuvo still uses.About Steve SharpSteve Sharp is founder CEO of Nuvo, an accountancy and advisory firm. He discusses lessons from 45 acquisitions over 17 years and Nuvo's shift from client-facing partners running the business part-time to a dedicated leadership team.Links and resourcesIf your growth plan is "buy a few more of them", watch this before you sign anything.First month free with code STWTRIALNever miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

Could better accountability be more useful than another round of advice? Oliver Cummings makes the case for regular challenge and support, then shares practical lessons on protecting your time, testing candidates and motivating people beyond pay.In this episode07:06 – Build a pop-up board around a specific problem: Oliver explains how he brought community experts together to challenge a new offering.13:00 – Why Oliver thinks founders overvalue advice and undervalue accountability, rather than recognising the discipline that regular meetings bring.28:41 – Protect your time as the team grows: batch questions, repeat the plan and use your calendar to avoid being driven by other people's priorities.36:21 – Test candidates against the work itself: Oliver suggests giving a prospective board member a board paper to discuss in a board-style setting.40:00 – Move beyond pay as a motivator: Oliver explains how autonomy, mastery and purpose changed his approach to leading people.About Oliver CummingsOliver Cummings is CEO of Nurole, the board search specialist. A former private equity investor, he joined the business his mother started at the same time as his brother.Links and resourcesNuroleEnter the BoardroomNever miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

Could a shorter investor shortlist spare you unnecessary pitch meetings? Hamish Grierson explains why he favours targeted fundraising, why Thriva is hiring for storytelling, and how the business plans to enter Germany through its existing partners.In this episode04:11 – Reducing customer anxiety: Hamish explains why fast results matter beyond convenience when people fear what a blood test might reveal.15:46 – Choose investors before pitching: Hamish contrasts his broad fundraising approach with a smaller shortlist of relevant investors.22:08 – Hiring for storytelling: why Hamish found it difficult to justify the investment and assess candidates for a creative role.30:49 – Entering Germany through B2B: Thriva plans to help existing partners operate in a new market using a familiar integration and contracting structure.35:32 – Make room for fiction: an unexpected book review prompted Hamish to rethink his reading habits and rediscover creative stimulus.About Hamish GriersonHamish Grierson is the co-founder and CEO of Thriva, a health tech business that tracks blood test results over time. He reflects on his fundraising experience and the difficulty of hiring someone who can turn storytelling into practical work for the business.Never miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

Could rescuing your team be keeping you in the way? James Ashford shares his approach to setting standards without doing everything yourself, explains why he favours salaries over sales commission, and challenges leaders to act on what they read.In this episode14:28 – James explains how detailed playbooks and an inspection process can help a team deliver to a founder's standards.18:59 – James makes his case for rolling sales bonuses into salary while keeping targets and accountability.26:01 – James describes how answering first and solving every problem diminished his team, and why he learnt to keep quiet.33:04 – Drawing on his daughter's hockey coach, James argues for candid feedback in the moment rather than delaying difficult conversations.44:18 – James recommends pausing business reading until you have put more of what you already know into practice.About James AshfordJames Ashford built a software business that ran without him and sold it within five years of starting it. In this conversation, he reflects on replacing his own marketing work with a team and learning to stop solving everyone's problems.Links and resourcesGoProposalNever miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

Where could AI improve your customer experience, and where could it stop you becoming the bottleneck? Nikola Mrkšić shares his case for AI-led service, his approach to catching missed follow-ups and why he built his go-to-market strategy around America.In this episode03:02 – When service teams must follow scripts, Nikola argues that AI offers a better route to standardisation, with humans building and supporting it.15:29 – Move beyond rewriting emails: Nikola discusses adapting AI to individual workflows and what that could mean for product roadmaps.25:35 – From stronger client presentations to daily briefings, Nikola shares how he uses AI to address weaknesses and catch missed commitments.33:43 – Nikola explains his America-first go-to-market strategy and why he believes US buyers have more room to experiment with technology.48:50 – Why buy rather than build? Nikola makes the case for specialist accountability and implementation support beyond the underlying AI models.About Nikola MrkšićNikola Mrkšić is the CEO and co-founder of PolyAI. In this conversation, he describes the company's shift towards a more self-service platform and how he uses AI briefings to keep track of commitments that might otherwise slip.Links and resourcesPolyAINever miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

Setting up a business is a major life decision that should not be taken lightly—it is incredibly painful. The ups definitely outweigh the downs, but the downs can be dark. Having a co-founder makes all the difference. Matthew Duhig, CEO and co-founder of FX Digital, started the business at university with his co-founder Tom, to build a website for his sister's bridal shop for free. Fifteen years later, they've grown from £1.5M to approaching £10M revenue, from 20 people to nearly 80, and they've built connected TV applications for major media and sports companies. Along the way, they had one major near-death experience when a single client became 80% of revenue, then in-housed the work down to 60%—leaving Matt and Tom with no personal wealth or assets, living together, staring at the barrel. But they believed in their proposition, backed themselves against the wall, and won 4 of 5-6 bids they needed to win, which launched them into major tech company work and one of their best years ever.In this episode, Matt reveals his four contrarian beliefs about building businesses: (1) Running a business is incredibly painful and decision should not be taken lightly; (2) Vision comes from consumption (reading, listening, watching—not plucking it from air); (3) Don't make promises you can't control (resentment is harder to overcome than anything else in teams); (4) The job of an entrepreneur is to reduce risk (not take risks). He shares why he's an absolute delegator (sometimes great, sometimes backfires), how he managed to get off the tools when billing five days a week, why he stays in touch with 5-10 people at any given time who might be future hires, and how Barcelona became their second office (Jack the QA lead asked if he could relocate and Matt asked him to set up an office instead).What you'll learn:💼 Why having a co-founder is massive (not dark and lonely on your own)🚨 What near-death looks like (80% revenue from one client, they in-house the work at 60%)📚 Vision comes from consumption (read, listen, watch—a year of immersion in industry)🤝 Don't make promises you can't control (resentment is the hardest thing to overcome)⚙️ The job of an entrepreneur is to reduce risk (not take them)🎯 Delegation as core skill (sometimes great, sometimes backfires, but necessary)📞 Keep a pipeline of 5-10 potential hires always (chat with them, stay in touch)🌍 Barcelona expansion lesson (talent + cost benefits + less competition than London)Book recommendations:The Intelligent Entrepreneur - Bill Murphy Jr. - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intelligent-Entrepreneur-Bill-Murphy-Jr/dp/0805094296Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits - Greg Crabtree - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Numbers-Straight-Talk-Profits/dp/1600374514Simple Numbers 2 - Greg Crabtree - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Numbers-Straight-Talk-Profits/dp/1600374514About the Guest:Matthew Duhig is CEO and co-founder of FX Digital, a business that builds connected TV applications for media and sports companies. He started the business with co-founder Tom at university when Matthew was 20 years old—Tom was away due to a bike accident in London ("Tom get well soon"), so they're running it together remotely. They grew from £1.5M revenue (7 years ago) to approaching £10M now, with headcount from 20 to nearly 80. The business evolved from web design work for his sister's bridal shop (free work) to building websites for a few years, then in 2015 they stumbled across connected TV—creating applications for TV like you create mobile applications, then launching them onto streaming platforms. That niche and doubling down on it propelled their growth.Connect with Matthew Duhig / FX Digital - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/matthewduhig--------Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter:https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.comFollow Dominic on LinkedIn:https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouseChapters:00:00 Introduction01:03 Starting FX Digital and early challenges07:15 Surviving a critical business downturn12:59 Personal sacrifices and work-life balance17:10 Stepping back to foster leadership growth22:25 Delegation and leadership management strategies28:34 Benefits of hiring fractional leaders32:48 Building and automating key business systems35:03 Establishing a Barcelona office for expansion37:30 Talent acquisition benefits in Barcelona39:42 Influential books and educational resources41:28 Sources of ongoing inspiration and learning

We will soon trust AI more than people with their own agendas. In 50 years, we'll realise 50%+ tax was madness when 20% could have worked. Digital voting will let people vote on issues, not political parties, and we'll have an executive of 40 people (like Singapore) instead of 1,000 MPs arguing endlessly. And Brexit will be remembered as the best thing that happened—because this entrepreneurial little island will reinvent how to govern, and the rest of the world will copy us as they've done throughout history. Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo! Sushi and YoTel, original Dragon on Dragons' Den, performer at Edinburgh Festival, recording artist with the Blockheads, and now published author of "Yo Man," has built businesses across multiple industries starting at age 45—and he's got radical ideas about politics, taxation, and why megalomaniac control at the beginning is the right way to start any business.In this episode from Thailand (where Simon now lives with his Thai wife after being brought up in old Singapore), he reveals how he started YoSushi after a Japanese TV producer said "conveyor belt sushi bar with girls in black PVC miniskirts," flew to Japan when it was expensive and difficult (Japan was the last great mystery of the East 30 years ago), found 2,500 conveyor belt sushi bars nobody in the UK knew about, and opened Poland Street with everything he had in the world—only to have nobody come for the first two weeks. Then the second Saturday, there was a 100-yard queue down the block because they'd done something so completely different. He shares why he was nicknamed "the steamroller," why megalomaniac control is perfect at the beginning but you must let go after three years, how he hired Robin Rowland who closed all the Yo Below bars much to Simon's chagrin (but was absolutely right), and why he's earned roughly 1% of YoTel turnover every quarter for years—which has funded everything since and probably saved him from going broke.Book recommendations:How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis - https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Get-Rich-Felix-Dennis/dp/0091927447Yo Man - Simon Woodroffe - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yo-Man-Simon-Woodroffe/dp/1398616761About the Guest:Simon Woodroffe is the founder of YoSushi (celebrating 30 years in January) and YoTel (now over 30 hotels worldwide, much bigger business than YoSushi), original Dragon on Dragons' Den (series 1-3), performer at Edinburgh Festival where he did a one-man show, recording artist with the Blockheads, and published author of "Yo Man" (his second book—the first was his autobiography). He's done a few things. He's 77 years old, was brought up in old Singapore, has lived all over the world, and now lives in Thailand with his Thai wife. His home base is Thailand because it's the best place he's found after searching everywhere.Simon started YoSushi at age 45 after a long, hard life that hasn't always been good. He's now a licensor of both YoSushi and YoTel, broadcasting on social media, and trying to give something back to the world to improve it—whether politically or directly helping one person at a time. He always said that when he was knocking on other people's doors, if he was ever the one whose door was knocked on (which is the situation he finds himself in now), he would always try to respond to everybody. And he does.Connect with Simon Woodroffe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosimonwoodroffe/--------Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter:https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.comFollow Dominic on LinkedIn:https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouseChapters:00:00 Introduction01:01 Introduction to Simon Woodroffe's journey and achievements02:37 Simon on world improvements and his life in Thailand03:47 Predictions on digital voting and government change06:37 A small executive model for better governance10:00 Reducing taxes by changing government spending12:00 Trusting AI over human biases for balanced insights14:06 Launch of Simon's book, Yo Man, and the ATM story16:57 Bringing conveyor belt sushi to London20:05 Transition from steamroller to delegator in business21:36 Successful expansion under Robin Rowland's leadership24:10 Involvement in Yotel and its global success28:59 Importance of theatre and 'ziz' in business branding30:07 Letting go of control for business growth31:28 Transition to TV and participation in Dragon's Den35:14 Enjoying Dragon's Den and investments made38:08 Overcoming challenges during Yo Sushi's opening weeks42:29 Creative 'yo' brand extensions and their impacts45:01 Making tough business decisions swiftly and confidently

How do you handle a difficult conversation without letting frustration take over? Scott Walker explains why he puts emotional regulation first, listens for what is not being said and favours clear, candid language over the feedback sandwich.In this episode07:54 – Negotiation takes practice: Scott explains how everyday opportunities to influence and persuade can help you develop the skill.14:32 – Raise the concern first: Scott explains how acknowledging perceived risk can help build rapport and isolate what is blocking agreement.16:45 – Buy time before solving the problem: Scott argues that slowing down allows emotions to settle and the real issue to emerge.23:28 – Scott's emotional regulation drill: interrupt your pattern, ride out the feeling and then ask better questions.38:10 – Drop the feedback sandwich: Scott recommends clear, candid language and listening for the emotions beneath someone's words.About Scott WalkerScott Walker introduces himself as a kidnap for ransom and extortion negotiator. He now applies insights from that work in corporate negotiation workshops and coaching.Never miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.

How do you scale without keeping yourself at the centre of every decision? Luke Tobin shares his approach to delegation, paid hiring trials and minority investment, plus why he sees self-doubt as something to work with rather than eliminate.In this episode03:25 – Luke reframes imposter syndrome as a sign of stepping outside your comfort zone and expanding your boundaries.16:52 – Why Luke believes founders should delegate, find people to fill their gaps and focus on where they add the most value.22:23 – Luke explains why he favours minority investment over taking control immediately, with founder motivation central to his argument.27:13 – Luke explains why loyalty is not the same as capability and introduces his approach to paid, week-long hiring trials.36:50 – What Luke looks for in founders: openness to suggestions, ongoing learning and the curiosity to seek help from people further ahead.About Luke TobinLuke Tobin is an entrepreneur, investor and founder of Unusual Group. He sold performance marketing agency Digital Ethos in late 2022 and now runs a holding company investing in marketing and creative service businesses. He discusses the lessons he learnt from promoting people based on tenure rather than experience and what they could deliver.Never miss an episode: subscribe and get the scale-up email course.