From who we employ to what we eat, each conversation has come back to one important theme: community. 

Here at FutureX, we know that our people are our most important asset. Who we work with and for is an issue close to our hearts, and we’re always looking for how we can continue to empower the community we’re building around our events. 

Rounding out this season is Zoi & Bruce, co-founders of FutureX. They caught up with Colin just after Startup Summit 2019 to reflect on how the day went, how the event fits into FutureX’s mission, and how we’re going to keep building the FutureX community in 2020 and beyond.

Here to talk about how to utilise tech to streamline your organisation so you can focus on what you do best is Gary Turner. As the Co-founder and Managing Director of Xero, a multi-award-winning online accounting software, Gary is one of the most influential figures in UK FinTech. 

Under Gary’s leadership, Xero has scaled from a three-person startup with annual revenues of £50k, to a global player with 1.8 million paying subscribers in 180 countries and revenues of over £60 million.

That’s where our guest today comes in. Jo Massie is the VP of Customer Success at Slido - that’s right, success, not service! Leading her team of Customer Success Managers, or CSM, Jo ensures every customer interaction is meaningful, delivers value and provides an unbeatable customer experience.

At the heart of this mission is understanding that not all customers are the same. By listening carefully to what their customers are trying to achieve and engaging with them throughout their journey, the CSM team can be proactive when their customers’ business objectives change.

Jo believes that if you focus on the success of your customers, the rest will follow. This passion hasn’t gone unnoticed: in 2018, Gainsight recognised Slido for their Voice of the Customer programme as being among the best-in-class across the European region.

Jason Maude is your warm welcome into the future of banking. As the Chief Technology Advocate of Starling Bank, Jason talks with people every day about the technology that makes Starling work. 

Starling Bank is an award-winning and fully-licensed bank built to give people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past. Starling’s world-class tech reimagines banking for life today, putting the tools people need to feel good about money in the palm of their hand.

Jason joins us today to talk about the impact of tech and digitalisation on how we deal with our money. What does the future of banking look like? And how should entrepreneurs prepare for that future?

Here to chat with us about how we can use creative, unashamed marketing led by a strong social mission is Celia Hodson, CEO and Co-founder of Hey Girls. 

Celia and Hey Girls are furling a new path for social innovators of the future. Hey Girls is on a mission to eradicate period poverty through a buy-one-give-one model. In an era where women and girls should live their lives without stigma, the social enterprise is doing a bloody great job at making access to period products a right, not a privilege.

After retiring from a successful global career, Celia felt the pull to set up the social enterprise in 2018. And it’s been a triumphant return to business, being named Social Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneurial Scotland in 2018 and Great British Entrepreneur of the Year by Royal Bank of Scotland in 2019. 

Eighteen months on, the trailblazing organisation's products are stocked in supermarkets, universities and public sector organisations across the UK, resulting in over six million period products donated to girls and women in need.

Here to talk with Colin about the meeting of ethics, health and business is Ross Mackay, CEO and co-founder of Daring Foods. Daring Foods is a company on a mission to rebuild chicken from plants. 

Ross believes that we can eat food that doesn’t compromise our health, the environment, or our tastebuds - but we’ll have to change how we think about and eat protein.

The Entrepreneur Project is brought to you by FutureX and The Podcast Host.

FutureX empowers purposeful business leaders who are contributing to a more sustainable, socially-conscious global economy.

The Podcast Host is a one-stop-shop for all the information you need to launch, run & grow a successful podcast. 

This season, it’s all about startups. Colin, our host and the mind behind The Podcast Host, was live at FutureX’s Startup Summit, Scotland’s leading entrepreneurship event. He sat down with founders and leaders from some of the most innovative organisations across the UK to chat about their work and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

From values to market creation, we’re taking a journey from startup to scaleup and beyond. We’ll be hearing from business leaders who know how to navigate the changing economic landscape - from surviving in the startup world to scaling into a thriving company.