From a £2.30 Sale to a Billion-Dollar Business

From a £2.30 first insurance policy to building a billion-dollar business.Sten Saar started his first business at just 17 in Estonia. By 21, he had a team of 22 and a business generating around $1 million in revenue.Alongside the success came painful failures. After putting money into projects that collapsed—including money his father had raised against his own home—Sten bought a one-way ticket to London with no Plan B. Years later, while working at Deliveroo, he spotted a glaring problem: delivery drivers were being forced to pay £1,000 upfront for annual insurance before earning a single pound. That problem became Zego. The first policy sold for just £2.30.Zego went on to achieve unicorn status and raise more than $300 million. But rapid success brought an entirely new set of problems:• Tripling the team from 200 to 600 people in six months—and why Sten considers it one of his biggest mistakes• Losing 80% of revenue in three weeks when COVID hit• Metaphorically "firing himself" seven times as CEO as the business outgrew each stage• Why reaching unicorn status is merely a "petrol station on the way" and never the final destination Key Takeaways• Growth is only valuable if the organizational culture and quality bar underneath can support it• How asking "why?" repeatedly uncovers multi-million pound market opportunities• Why founders must continually "fire" their past selves to evolve with the company• The power of defining the worst-case scenario: "Nothing to lose. Let's do it."🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

When your old life disappears overnight, what do you build next? In this Thursday Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, former Royal Marines officer Steve McCulley shares the powerful story of surviving a targeted IED blast in Afghanistan and rebuilding his entire life from scratch .After spending three weeks in an induced coma as the most critical patient in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Steve's physio delivered the brutal truth: his military and sporting careers were over. It took Steve just 48 hours to get his head round the news. Rather than taking the expected corporate path into City finance or consultancy, he decided to "Screw It, Just DO It" and go all-in on his childhood passion: bicycles. In this tight, 10-to-11-minute Founder Classic, Steve breaks down:• The moment his military career was abruptly ended and why it was "the best thing anyone could have said"• Rejecting City finance and consulting to retain complete control over his diary and life• Going all-in with his injury compensation money on prototype carbon frames• How handing out business cards before he even had a functioning business led to his first customer• Why making the most of your luck is the ultimate founder differentiatorKey Takeaways• When disaster strikes, accept the reality quickly and immediately ask: "What next?"• Do not start a business for status—build around something you are genuinely passionate about• Action forces momentum: committing before you're completely ready creates the reason you have to deliver• Luck happens, but only those who execute actually capitalize on it🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

How do you know when to abandon the thing that's working to bet everything on something much bigger?In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Ed Klinger shares the extraordinary, unfiltered story of how he built Flock from a university drone project to an £80 million acquisition by Admiral.After four years of grueling work, Flock had captured 51% of the UK drone insurance market—only to realize they had conquered a pond that was too small to build a massive business. Instead of clinging to comfort, they made the terrifying call: "Screw it, we're closing the drone business."Ed dives deep into the realities of scaling a venture-backed startup:• The 4am rebuttal email that reversed an initial VC rejection and secured their seed round• Why entrepreneurship is 90% terror and 10% euphoria• Navigating near-death cash crunches and getting backed by Chamath Palihapitiya• Negotiating an £80M acquisition while recovering from a serious car crash concussion and preparing for a newborn baby• How a simple thumbs-up emoji on Telegram secured an extra $1,000,000 in fundingKey Takeaways• Winning a small market isn't enough—have the courage to pivot when you hit the ceiling• "Rejecting rejection": how challenging an investor's 'no' can change your company's fortunes• Never ignore your gut feeling when hiring leadership talent• Persistence in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles is the ultimate founder superpower🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Would you walk away from the peak of your career while you were still winning?In this Thursday Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, former England and British & Irish Lions rugby star George Kruis shares why he made the "ballsy call" to retire at age 32 to go all-in on his wellness brand, fourfive. Instead of waiting for physical decline or retirement to figure out what comes next, George built businesses alongside elite sport and chose to "leave the party a touch early."In this Founder Classic, George breaks down:• Why you shouldn't wait for one chapter to end before starting the next• Moving from elite sport where everything is done for you to entrepreneurship ("school on steroids")• The £40,000 retail kiosk failure and what real customer validation actually means• How to transition from founder-does-everything to building a specialist teamKey Takeaways• Don't wait until you're forced to change to figure out your next chapter• Real validation isn't 3 or 4 people telling you an idea is good—it's real market demand• Transitioning from elite performer to beginner requires humility and rapid learning• Leaving on your own terms gives you control over your legacy and future🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

What happens when you decide to jump off a cliff and start a business at 47 as a single mother of two?In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Louise Hill, Co-founder of GoHenry, shares the incredible story of turning a simple parenting headache—her kids spending all her money on iTunes—into a fintech powerhouse serving millions of children across the UK and US.Louise reveals the raw, unvarnished reality of building GoHenry :• Facing 60 to 70 initial rejections and surviving a 103-pitch fundraising round• Why she has "never balanced" work and family life, and why founder guilt is universal• Discovering her own name was the #1 "Single Point of Failure" in her company• How asking the "dumb question" allowed her team to challenge accepted financial wisdom• The mission to make every kid smart with money and add £7bn to UK GDPKey Takeaways• You don't need to know everything before you start—learn by asking questions• Why testing "fake front doors" beats endless analysis paralysis• How early financial education buys children time and options for their future• Why the founder will always be the best storyteller for their business🎧 Listen to the full episode of Screw It Just DO It🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3–4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

What does it take to walk away from a 21 year Royal Marines career and bet everything on a business you know almost nothing about?Stephen Howarth, co founder of Jöttnar, shares the story of failing his dream at 17, deliberately toughening himself up at sea, and eventually earning his place in the Royal Marines. Two decades later, he faced a completely different challenge: entrepreneurship.With his co founder Tommy, Stephen entered the outdoor clothing industry with little commercial experience, despite knowing they realistically needed £3 million to build the business properly. Instead, they started with just £60,000 and went years without a salary.From failure and resilience to founder pressure, risk, leadership and planning, this is a story about choosing the harder path and turning ambition into action.“Build your roadmap. Make your map.”

Kareem Raslan went from working in banking to building a global e-commerce business serving over 100,000 customers across 30 countries. In this episode, Kareem shares how he and his co-founder started by selling just 25 pairs of adjustable dumbbells from his parents’ garage during COVID, scaled through Shopify and Amazon, and eventually expanded across Europe. He explains why taking action matters more than finding the perfect business idea, the lessons he learned from expanding internationally, building supplier relationships in China, and the importance of understanding unit economics. Kareem also reveals why he regrets not leaving banking sooner and shares practical lessons for founders looking to scale globally.🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, specialists in international business payments. If your business pays overseas suppliers or receives payments from abroad, those transaction fees can quickly add up. 🎟️ Join us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, November 3-4 at NEC Birmingham👉 www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

They were already at the top of their sport. Then they removed the safety net.The Athertons had spent decades becoming one of mountain biking's most successful families.But rather than simply continuing with the security of a global bike sponsor, they took an enormous risk: build their own.Atherton Bikes launched in 2019. They developed and raced their own 3D-printed bikes, bought a mountain and forest to create their own bike park — and ultimately put a World Champion on a British-built Atherton bike.In this Founder Thursday Classic, Rachel Atherton, Dan Atherton and Atherton Bikes CEO Dan Brown talk about obsession, resilience, calculated risk and why sometimes success requires committing everything.The lesson?There comes a point where you can't make the outcome certain.You calculate the risk.You commit.And you Screw It Just DO It.

At 17 years old, Thomas Robson-Kanu was told his football career might be over.Instead of accepting it, he researched natural nutrition with his father, created a raw turmeric formula, and went on to play in the Premier League and represent Wales at Euro 2016.When customers started reporting life-changing results from his homemade blend, he decided to launch The Turmeric Co. When manufacturers said his product couldn't be made at scale, he built his own factory. And when football clubs offered him new contracts, he walked away to build a lasting legacy.Key Takeaways• How to pivot when experts tell you your dream is over• Why building your own manufacturing can be the ultimate competitive advantage• How to shift leadership styles from "master chess player" to "master gardener" as you scale• Why over-analysis causes paralysis and how to take immediate actionThis episode is powered by Molten Ventures, a leading European venture capital firm backing ambitious founders from seed through growth.Find out more at https://moltenventures.comJoin us at the Festival of Entrepreneurs, 3 and 4 November at the NEC Birmingham.https://festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Before Deliciously Ella became one of the UK's best-known wellness brands, it was simply a community.In this Founder Classic, Matthew Mills, CEO and co-founder of Deliciously Ella alongside Ella Mills, explains why building trust came before building products—and how putting the community first shaped every stage of the company's growth.