Great Minds Think Differently

In this episode we talk with Richard Lee who shares his story of a business becoming so successful it broke itself. And him. From startup to unexpected hypergrowth feels like every founder’s dream but it can rapidly become a nightmare if you don’t have the right people in the rights seats and lose track of your underlying value. Tune into this episode to understand what drove Richard to exit his own business because of the rapid growth and to share the lessons he learned on that journey. How we instil and maintain our values in both our own organisations and our clients are critical, ongoing elements of success. Losing sight of those values through rapid expansion can wreck a business and the mental health of the founders and understanding this is critical to the long-term health and success of any business.

For our first episode of 2025, the Partners at Beyond spend some time on reflecting what they learned in 2024 and what they can look forward to in 2025. We talk about the state of the market, what new technologies we have seen and what we expect to make a difference in 2025 as well as reflecting on some of the projects we have undertaken. We have seen some amazing businesses during the year and share our thoughts on what makes the difference between a truly successful business and one that just does ok.

In this episode we talk with Arias WebsterBerry who has a rare combination of attitude and structure. All too often we find people who can help us with our mindset but don’t provide a structure for us to work to. Or we can get a framework but flounder around trying to apply it. From his early years, the World tested Arias and each time he came back fighting and stronger and is using this attitude now to help business owners across all sectors to focus on their marketing. Through his platform, https://launchignition.ai/ and his own personal approach on https://ariaswebsterberry.com/, Arias delivers an amazing combination of effective and structured process and sheer attitude. Join this podcast to understand the nine core steps to marketing success but, more importantly, to understand how any framework is only as good as the attitude that operates it.

In this episode we talk with Vladimir Baranov, a rare combination of an experienced business coach who also holds academic posts. We take his academic view that is informed by practical experience and explore, among other things, why Crocs are so successful despite nobody understanding why and nobody admitting to owning any. We discuss how questioning the market is more important than building cool tech when it comes to success and how it is important to bug fix the human element of any organisation. We also explore how language matters so tune in to find out why, if you have the smartest lawyer in the world and the smartest doctor, you still have a potential communication issue. If, after the episode, you would like to find out more, reach out to Vladimir using this link: https://humaninterfaces.co/beyond

In this episode we talk with Chin Hing Chang who has spent the last 9 years working with early stage startups, helping them understand their purpose and establish core values that help them avoid shiny object syndrome. Many organisations have their values plastered over their offices and their websites but how real are these? Listen in and find out how, while Push Values are useful, it is really Pull Values that permeate through an organisation. We also explore why less is more and how values change over time and how that change should be managed to be effective.

In this episode we talk with Roberto Capodieci a man with a lifelong passion for technology who is an acknowledged expert in the art of Blockchain. When asked, most people see Blockchain as an older and not very successful technology that was designed for financial transactions but, as Roberto reveals, it is a powerful tool with thousands of use cases that often gets overlooked simply because many techies can’t adjust their mindset to how it works. Listen in and find out how effective Blockchain solutions can literally transform your business in so many different ways and understand how this ugly duckling of the tech world has the power to solve a myriad of problems.

In this episode we talk with Patrick Boylan, a professional multi-instrumentalist with a passion for music. A strange choice perhaps until you understand that Patrick has another passion. He is using technology to bring a whole new way of teaching to a new generation of aspiring musicians having built a unique business combining people from incredibly diverse backgrounds to create an amazing team and product. See http://museflow.ai for more information and feel free to use the discount code BEYOND50 to get engaged and learn. We discuss how the world of learning has changed and how highly diverse teams can be more effective as long as they have a shared vision that they all buy into. Listen in and see how the values of praising progress over perfection resonate, not just with Patrick’s customers, but within his own team and how that has driven progress.

In this episode we talk with Yassin Shaar, the CEO of Origo about how to create effective and immediate value post M&A through the use of Shared Service Centres. The biggest and most successful companies in the world have been adopting this approach for years and now the smartest mid-cap businesses are starting to explore this area. Listen in and learn how shared services can create very effective value creation in portfolio companies and any business post acquisition.

In this episode we talk with Abby Schommer, the Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of RevScience, a QuickBooks automation tool for service-based businesses. Abby has been leading growth strategy for pre-seed startups to Fortune 100 companies for over 10 years and is now on a mission to empower small business owners through accessible technology. She's also the host of the Marginal Podcast, which gives voice to the socially marginalised entrepreneurs you've likely not heard from, yet. Abby is proudly a female founder, a person with chronic illness, a wife, and (after 7 years in Silicon Valley) a recent boomerang to the Boston area.

In this episode, Iain Swanston, a sales trainer from Klozers shares the story of how he went from lifestyle business to international success as a founder. We will also explore why some founders find it difficult to scale their businesses through effective selling and explore some simple but effective changes they can make to overcome these issues. We learn how to focus on the problem and come to understand that if somebody can say so what to your pitch then something needs to change.