He Quit BlackRock To Build A Gin Brand With £500 | Nishant Sharma
In this episode of Screw It Just Do It, I sit down with Nishant Sharma, founder of Rutland Square Spirits and the mind behind Rutland Square Gin.
Nishant didn’t arrive in Scotland with investors or a master plan.
He arrived with £500 in his pocket and the determination to build a life from scratch.
He had a roof over his head and food on the table, but no real direction. What followed was years of hustling, questioning what success actually means, and learning that sometimes achieving the things you dream about still leaves you asking one powerful question — what’s next?
In this conversation, Nishant opens up about the relentless pressure of entrepreneurship, the moment he pushed himself so hard it resulted in a heart attack, and the mindset shift that forced him to rethink everything.
We talk about believing in yourself before anyone else will, why founders sometimes need to be shameless in pursuing opportunity, what investors are really betting on when they back a startup, and the deeper philosophy behind ambition, money, and purpose.
This is a raw conversation about risk, resilience, and the reality of building something meaningful from almost nothing.
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Key Takeaways
Belief comes first.
If you don’t believe in yourself, no investor or partner will either.
Investors bet on people.
Numbers, charts, and projections matter — but ultimately investors back the founder.
Relentless hustle has a cost.
Entrepreneurship demands everything, and ignoring your health can push you to dangerous limits.
Success doesn’t end the journey.
Even when you achieve the things you once dreamed of, the bigger question often becomes: what’s next?
Nishant Sharma didn't plan to build a spirits empire.
He was on a lucrative corporate path, working as a high-paid contractor for global giants like HSBC and BlackRock. He was "living the dream" with a big SUV and a comfortable salary, but he felt like a misfit without a true purpose.
Then, the death of his grandmother in 2017 changed everything. During his trip home to India, he discovered his family’s "inception story": his great-grandfather had run an illegal spirit-blending "side hustle" with a Scottish officer decades earlier.
That was the spark.
In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Nishant shares how Rutland Square Spirits was born "from the fire of a cremation," how he arrived in Scotland as a student with only £500, and how he survived failing three times before his brand took flight.
We talk about the "brutal reality" of startup stress—including the heart attack that nearly killed him—the power of "shameless" tenacity, why he cold-emailed 1,000 people in a single weekend to save his business, and how he eventually landed a major celebrity investor.
This is not a story about chasing a quick payout.
It’s about building a legacy, refusing to have an "exit plan," and the sheer grit required to turn a family story into a global brand.
Key Takeaways
The "Shameless" Founder: Why you must keep "paddling" even when you're drowning.
The Heart Attack Warning: The physical and mental cost of the "hustle".
Story-Led Branding: Why modern consumers are choosing meaning over "Big Alcohol".
Tenacity vs. Desperation: How sending 1,000 emails can change your business trajectory.
The India Opportunity: Why the world's youngest population is the next frontier for craft spirits.
🎧 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
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