Entrepreneurship Now Podcast Series

From starting up to scaling up, getting your team right to finding the funding you need: what’s it really like to run your own business? Industry experts provide guidance and successful founders of ventures reveal the highs and lows of the entrepreneurial journey in this series for Think at London Business School.

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How we created Duolingo

Luis von Ahn, founder of language learning platform Duolingo, talks to London Business School’s Jeff Skinner about his experience of becoming an entrepreneur and his commitment to creating products that do social good. It’s a journey that offers up some useful lessons for any entrepreneur starting out.

Start up diaries: How entrepreneurship became cool

LBS Start up diaries and entrepreneurship series. Jeff Skinner (Executive Director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship), discusses the growth of entrepreneurship with the architect of the movement, Prof John Mullins. The shift hasn’t just been driven by corporate downsizing but some great role models who have shifted perceptions and made it cool.

Real stories – the entrepreneur’s journey

What makes an entrepreneur? Find out in our new podcast series. In the first episode, we hear from Monique Baars, former management consultant, London Business School alumna and founder of Fineazy.

Start up diaries - How to be yourself online - advice for entrepreneurs

Ever stopped to think what the internet says about you? James Chance tells Jeff Skinner how pondering that very question gave him the idea for a new business – and why, for all of us, it’s more necessary now than ever to keep track of our online identities and who has access to them. This is episode 2 of our entrepreneurs’ journey series.

Start-up Diaries – Entrepreneurial wanderlust | In Conversation

How can we alleviate travel anxiety? In the third episode of our ‘Start-up Diaries’ series; we speak to two MBA students who are aiming to do just that. In conversation with Jeff Skinner, Executive Director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sherpa founders Eliska Mallickova and Allie Fleder discuss their start-up solution to soothing travel stress, and how the LBS experience opened their eyes to entrepreneurship and building a business.

Start-up diaries - Do I need an Executive MBA?

Juan Andrade (EMBA2018) of Rebank had a clear idea of what he wanted out of London Business School. Before LBS he also had a clear blueprint for his start-up and despite not holding an undergraduate degree he applied looking for that something extra.

In this podcast he chats to LBS’ Jeff Skinner about why the EMBA proved to be the experience he needed. After graduating, he executed a refined strategy, successfully launching Rebank with Simon White. Rebank gives you a complete view of your business banking and optimises the way you make payments - without forcing you to switch banks.

Start-up diaries – From consultants to tech founders

In this episode of the Start-up Diaries podcast series, LBS’s Jeff Skinner is joined by two of the three founders of Stotles (John Witt and Taj Kamranpour) to talk about their journey from consultants to tech founders.

For information about entrepreneurship at LBS, please check: London.edu/innovation

Lessons learned - What I wish I knew 12 months ago

Hindsight is an incredibly powerful thing. How many of us still cringe at something we’ve said or regret ever hitting ‘send’ on a certain e-mail? We’ve all made mistakes – although not necessarily at the same level and with the same impact.

Mistakes are all part of learning in any business. Three start-up founders looked back at what happened in the past year and joined us to share their experiences and learnings. Hear what happened to them and how you can avoid it happening to you.

10 common legal mistakes made by entrepreneurs when starting a business

Hear David Farquharson, founder of London Law Collective and legal expert in residence at London Business School, talk about the 10 most important legal mistakes to avoid when building a start-up. David is also one of the subject-matter experts on the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital’s Ask an Expert programme at LBS, which advises LBS student and alumni-founded start-ups. He is a commercial lawyer with over 20 years’ experience of advising start-ups and entrepreneurs. This podcast is adapted from the online event held in Nov 2021 and is part of the LBS Entrepreneurs' journey series, providing you with a toolkit to begin and grow your start-up.