He Was Three Feet From Gold. Then Everything Changed | Jonny Plein

Jonny Plein left a comfortable corporate career in his mid-twenties and went from earning around £50,000 to £60,000 a year to paying himself £500 a month to build his first startup.That business, Pouch, went on Dragon's Den, received offers from all five Dragons and was eventually acquired.But just months before the sale, everything nearly disappeared.A £1 million corporate deal collapsed on the day it was supposed to be signed. Jonny and his co-founders had to cut half the team, money was running out and he gave himself six months to either change the trajectory of the company or walk away.He kept going.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Jonny shares what happened next, why he believes founders are often “three feet from gold”, why starting his second company was psychologically harder than the first, taking a 70% pay cut to go again and what happened when £1 million of funding commitments disappeared in a single day.We also talk about Dragon's Den, learning to make your own luck, getting comfortable with failure, knowing when to quit, building resilience and why the downside often becomes less frightening once you actually confront it.Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It for more conversations with founders and entrepreneurs who stopped waiting and took action.🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, helping ambitious businesses make international payments, pay overseas suppliers and collect payments from around the world.Jonny and Yaso are themselves a WorldFirst client, making this a particularly relevant conversation about helping Western brands build and scale their businesses in China.🌍 Doing business internationally? Create your free WorldFirst account at: https://www.worldfirst.com

Sabrina Stocker realised she wasn't afraid of hard work. She was simply working hard at the wrong thing.After losing her tennis-events business during lockdown, Sabrina found herself running a new PR company from her local coffee shop.Then she realised: if she could work from there, she could work from anywhere.Within a month she'd sold her car, given up her flat, sold everything and moved to Egypt.In this Founder Classic, Sabrina shares the mindset behind that decision, why staying where she was felt scarier than leaving, and her approach to creating financial, location and time freedom.🎧 Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It for more conversations with founders and entrepreneurs who stopped waiting and took action.🎟️ Festival of Entrepreneurs | 3-4 November | NEC BirminghamJoin thousands of founders and entrepreneurs for two days of ideas, connections and action.

Kim Antoniou has built businesses, lost a fortune, started again and spent years developing technology that didn't exist when she first had the idea.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, Kim shares the story behind Auris Tech and Fonetti, the reading platform using voice technology to help children develop their reading confidence and skills.We talk about losing a business, starting again when she thought she was finished with entrepreneurship, building technology from scratch, failing publicly, ignoring advice, finding purpose around the age of 50 and why sometimes you simply have to keep going when everyone else thinks you should stop.Kim also explains why she believes improving literacy can change a child's life, and why purpose still has to work commercially if you want to create impact at scale.If you're building something difficult, starting again after failure or still wondering whether it's too late to find the thing you're meant to do, this conversation is for you.Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It for more conversations with founders and entrepreneurs who stopped waiting and took action.

Jay Morton wanted Air Troop when he joined the SAS.Instead, he was sent to Mountain Troop. It was the last posting he wanted and, at the time, he was gutted.Looking back, that unwanted decision became one of the defining moments of his life. Mountain Troop introduced Jay to climbing, exploration and adventure, eventually taking him towards Everest and a life in the mountains. What felt like the wrong direction turned out to be the one he needed.In this Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, I revisit my conversation with Jay about that sliding doors moment, the fear of unfulfilled potential, vulnerability and what happens when achievement stops giving you the answers you expected.Jay also shares what he would tell someone who feels directionless: listen to what you actually want, get outside your comfort zone, make a decision and give yourself enough time to see where it leads.His Screw It Just DO It moment comes down to something deceptively simple: stick to the decision. Stop obsessing over what you might have lost by choosing one path. Have some faith in what you want and crack on with it.Key Takeaways✦ Why getting Mountain Troop instead of Air Troop changed Jay’s life✦ How an unwanted SAS posting led to his passion for mountains and exploration✦ Why vulnerability became harder for Jay than physical challenges✦ The danger of becoming directionless when you do not know what you want✦ Why leaving your hometown and experiencing different cultures can change your perspective✦ How sticking to a decision creates momentum✦ Why your plan does not need to be complicated to give you direction🎧 Subscribe to Screw It Just DO It for more conversations with founders, entrepreneurs and people who took the decision to stop waiting and act.🎟️ Festival of Entrepreneurs, 3–4 November at NEC BirminghamJoin thousands of founders, business owners and leaders for two days of practical insight, honest conversations and connections that can move your business forward.

They had the careers most people dream about. Then they moved back in with their parents.Dom and Phil Kwok had followed the conventional path through top universities and prestigious careers in law and finance.Then they walked away.They moved back home, built the first version of EasyA from their childhood bedrooms and spent their early days delivering flyers themselves.At 3am, covered in bike grease with no revenue coming into the business, they found themselves asking:“What are we doing?”Today, EasyA has around 1.3 million users. Dom and Phil say they have raised no external funding and still own 100% of the company, and they have announced plans to take it public.In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, we talk about betting on yourself, taking risk, building a network from nothing, the years nobody sees before the “overnight success”, AI and the future of entrepreneurship, and the philosophy that captures their journey perfectly: Action produces information.In this episode:Walking away from prestigious careers Moving back in with their parentsBuilding EasyA from their childhood bedrooms Flyering at 3am with zero revenue Why they didn't raise external fundingBuilding a network from nothing The chance encounter that changed EasyA's trajectoryWhy they believe most people don't take enough risk Why long-term business plans can fail startups🎟️Festival of Entrepreneurs | 3–4 November | NEC BirminghamJoin me and thousands of founders and entrepreneurs for two days of ideas, connections and action.Get your FREE ticket: festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk

Laura Fullerton hated being cold.Then she discovered thousands of people converting chest freezers into DIY ice baths because the product they wanted simply didn't exist.That was her Screw It Just DO It moment.Despite never having built hardware or software before, Laura decided:“I've got to create it.”In this Founder Classic, we revisit Laura's journey building Munk and the reality behind turning an idea into a physical product.We get into spotting genuine customer demand, building something you've never built before, fundraising, why your network can become one of your greatest founder assets, relentless drive and the sacrifices people rarely see behind an early-stage business.In this episode:• How Laura spotted the opportunity behind Munk• Why existing customer behaviour can reveal a market• Building hardware and software for the first time• The blood, sweat and tears behind getting into production• Why fundraising became one of her hardest challenges• Why Laura deliberately invests in her network• What happens when you actually just go for it• Developing the relentless drive to keep going• What founder life really demands behind the scenes🎟️ Festival of Entrepreneurs | 3–4 November | NEC BirminghamJoin me and thousands of founders and entrepreneurs for two days of ideas, connections and action.Get your FREE ticket:festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk#LauraFullerton #Munk #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #Startups #BusinessIdeas #FemaleFounder #TakeAction #ScrewItJustDoIt #SIJDI

What does more than 50 years in business teach you about knowing when to grow, when to pivot and when to walk away?In this episode of Screw It Just DO It, I sit down with Brad Aspess MBE, founder of Rarewaves, whose career has taken him from the music industry to high-street retail and ultimately global e-commerce.Brad started at Decca Records in 1973, just after they'd lost the Rolling Stones, and went on to build and scale retail businesses generating more than £60 million annually, before ultimately building Rarewaves into a global e-commerce business selling millions of products around the world.We talk about what five decades in business have taught him about spotting opportunities, following the cash flow, scaling without relying heavily on debt, empowering people rather than micromanaging them, and adapting before the market forces you to.One of Brad's central philosophies is simple:Play to win. Don't play not to lose.In this episode:• 50+ years of lessons from music, retail and e-commerce• Starting at Decca Records in 1973• Building and scaling major retail businesses• Why an opportunity only matters if you can expand and grow it• Why Brad believes you don't need heavy debt to build a business• Following the cash flow• Knowing when to shut something down and move on• Empowering people rather than micromanaging them• Sticking to what you're great at and outsourcing the rest• Adapting and pivoting before disruption catches you• Building Rarewaves into a global e-commerce business🎧 This episode is powered by WorldFirst, helping ambitious businesses make international payments, pay overseas suppliers and collect payments from around the world.Brad and Rarewaves are themselves a WorldFirst client, making this a particularly relevant conversation about building and operating an international business.🌍 Doing business internationally? Create your free WorldFirst account at: https://www.worldfirst.com/🎟️ Festival of Entrepreneurs | 3–4 November | NEC BirminghamJoin me and thousands of founders and entrepreneurs for two days of ideas, connections and action.Get your FREE ticket:festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk#BradAspess #Rarewaves #WorldFirst #Entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #BusinessGrowth #Bootstrapping #Leadership #ScrewItJustDoIt #SIJDI

 Thinking about doing something isn't doing it. Planning it isn't doing it. Talking about it isn't doing it. Eventually, you have to do the thing.In this Thursday Founder Classic episode of Screw It Just DO It, Antony “Staz” Stazicker, former Special Forces operator and co-founder of ThruDark, shares his uncompromising philosophy on overcoming hesitation and executing under pressure.Staz spent 13 years in the military—including 10 years in the Special Boat Service (SBS) as a Sergeant and Chief Sniper Instructor—before walking away at age 33 to start from scratch in a field he knew nothing about.In this hard-hitting, 6-to-7-minute Founder Classic, Staz breaks down:• Why thinking, planning, and talking are not substitutes for execution• Leaving Special Forces at the top of his game to embrace a white-belt beginner mindset• The birth of ThruDark on a desert drop zone and starting in a front room with a borrowed whiteboard• Why building a business proved far harder than expected and why "people invest in people"• The military concept of "battle prep": defining the mission, working backwards, and executing without overthinking• The single factor behind making the leap and sustaining success: peopleKey Takeaways• Leap of faith: You don't need all the answers before taking action—commit first• Eliminate Plan B: Committing 100% to Plan A removes the temptation to settle• Battle prep your goals: Break intimidating missions down into progressive, executable steps• People over everything: High performance relies entirely on surrounding yourself with passionate, dedicated teammates🎧 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

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 capitalise 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