Jurga Zilinskiene is founder of Guildhawk, Evernoon, Today Translations and Today Academy. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How does the board at Guildhawk add value? (1:49) What roles did friends and advisors play early on in your business journey? (6:03) How did you transition from receiving informal advice to establishing a formal board? (10:32) How did your board advance your strategy? (15:37) How should boards be responding to AI? (18:39) How has your board helped you think about geographic distribution? (25:57) What makes a good NED recruitment process? (30:58) What lessons have you learned from past recruitment processes? (35:03) How do you performance manage board members? (38:22) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(41:58)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Gerry Murphy is Chair of Tesco and Burberry, Trustee at The Burberry Foundation and Senior Advisor at Perella Weinberg. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What were the three most consequential boardroom moments for you as a CEO? (1:42) How can boards assess how much control they have over external factors? (6:26) What frameworks do you use to assess risk? (9:33) What megatrends should be shaping strategy today? (12:29) How do you decide whether a trend is structural or cyclical? (15:01) What are the practical, board-level implications of the AI megatrend? (16:51) As CEO and Chair, where have you seen CEO succession work best? (20:30) Where do you see boards adding most value now? (27:01) How should boards strike a balance between long and short term issues? (28:34) What KPIs do you ask for from the exec team? (33:32) What can private and listed boards learn from each other? (34:22) What’s stopping them from learning these lessons? (36:11) If you could design an ideal management incentive structure, what would it look like? (37:27)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:24)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Cindy Rampersaud is NED at Sage Homes and formerly SID at Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How have you decided which pro bono roles to take on? (1.47) What have you gained from pro bono opportunities? (3.36) How do you build relationships on boards? (5.19) How does a board recruit the right CEO? (10.42) What role should the board play in shaping digital strategy? (13.15) What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a trustee? (18.16) How do you navigate the pro-bono to commercial transition? (21.14) What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a commercial board member? (28.38) How do you ensure constructive dialogue on a board? (33.41) What have you learnt about crisis management in the boardroom? (37.16) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(40:01)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Kate Swann is Chair of Moonpig, Beijer Ref, Parques Reunidos, and IVC Evidensia and former CEO of WH Smith. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: As a CEO, where have seen boards add most value? (1:56) Are board members more valuable as individuals, or as a collective? (7:35) What boardroom archetypes are most useful to a CEO? (8:54) What have you learnt from being a NED that would have made you a better CEO? (12:24) What can listed boards learn from PE boards? (14:53) What's the thread that goes through your portfolio roles? (18:53) What has been hardest for you during your CEO to chair transition? (21:57) Are there different CEO archetypes? (27:04) What have been the most challenging situations you have faced as a chair? (28:26) How do you allocate your time as a chair? (31:15) How have you dealt with acquisitions as a chair? (32:32) What is the difference between chair leadership and CEO leadership? (37:46) What personal development are you doing to get better as a chair? (39:48) and ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(41:24)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Annemarie Durbin is Chair at YBS. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How did you become comfortable as Chair of the Yorkshire Building Society (YBS)? (1:50) How much time did you commit, as a new chair, to YBS? (4:45) What lessons have you learnt from previous chair transitions? (7:48) How valuable was having a mentor during your chairship? (9:30) Who are some examples of good chairs you have served under? (11:15) What are some examples of bad chairing? (14:09) What are the most difficult situations you face as a chair? (16:24) What is the difference between a subsidiary board and top co board? (18:38) How does the relationship between a CEO and a chair differ from that between a CEO and their coach? (21:00)Do coaching qualifications make you a better chair? (25:43) What are building societies? (28:11) What are the strategic threats facing Yorkshire Building Society? (33:18) Has previously being a company secretary made you a better NED? (36:40) Has the fact that you sat on a ‘sin-stock’ board ever been an issue in finding new non-exec opportunities? (39:54) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(41:55)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Richard Meddings is Chair of NHS England. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What is the governance landscape of the NHS? (3:48) Which parts of the system are most interesting to get involved with as a NED? (6:17) What are the typical challenges NHS Trust board members face? (11:40) Do NHS and commercial organisations approach strategy differently? (16:01) Where have you seen NHS board members add most value? (22:02) Is the turnover of ministers a bad thing for the NHS? (31:11) How power does the NHS England board have to influence long term strategic thinking? (33:26) How did NHS England help resolve the pay dispute? (37:26) Do chairs need prior sector knowledge? (40:11) What board archetypes are NHS England looking for? (42:32) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(45:21)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup and a Professor of Business Psychology. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: How can board members add value during a CEO recruitment process? (2:05) Why do boards still hire incompetent leaders even when they know what traits and behaviours to look out for? (5:51) How should board members assess CEO’s? (13:06) Are psychometric tests useful and worth using? (18:59) What assessments show if a candidate is ‘smart, driven and honest’? (25:57) How do you identify if your CEO is a psychopath? (31:51) How do you remove a narcissist from a board? (37:33) Should boards invest in leadership development for their executives? (38:50) How do you assess someone’s coach-ability? (42:34) and ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(44:47)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Rain Newton-Smith is CBI CEO and NED at F&C Investment Trust. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What advice would you give to CEOs preparing for a new position? (1:45) How have you built a relationship with your Chair? (8:47) How do you ensure a distinction between the roles of CEO and Chair? (13:36) How do you decide whether to share something with your Chair? (17:17) Can you offer some examples where your board has added value to you? (20.01) How has your background as an economist helped and hindered you? (23:10) What sources of support & challenge do you use as CEO? (27:27) How have your non-exec positions informed the way you operate as CEO? (30:13) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(35:01)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
John Allan, CBE, is Co-Founder of J&A Mentoring Partners. He was Chair of Tesco PLC and also served as President of the CBI. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Why did you feel like you had to step down from your roles at Tesco and the CBI? (1:54) How should boards handle personal reputational risk? (5:15) Would you handle the situation differently now? (7:07) When should chairs step down in a crisis? (7:57) As chair, how did you help turnaround Tesco? (10:14) How can boards balance financial returns with ethical conduct? (13:33) How did you think about strategy at Tesco? (15:48) What questions mould a good strategy? (19:39) As Chair, what frameworks do you use to help organisations with international expansion? (26:06) How did you navigate competitive threats? (28:26) How well did the Tesco board understand competition ? (32:37) How can board members get comfortable that management are on top of competitors (33:58) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(39:33)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Pamela Dow chaired the government's Inclusion at Work Panel. She is the COO at Civic Future and former exec director at the Cabinet Office. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What were your key takeaways from the government's D&I review? (1:57) Common mistakes organisations make with DEI? (7:50) What data should inform boards decisions on DEI? (10:02) Which organisations are getting DEI right at the moment? (19:28) What are the biggest barriers to implementing D and I strategies? (26:46) Should boards get involved in politics? (30:11) What is 'HR Britain’? (34:23) And ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(40:00)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Stanislav Shekshnia is a professor at INSEAD, where he directs board development programs. He is Chair of TechnoEnergy AG and has held numerous chair and director positions across the EU and US. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: How should Chairs prepare for new roles? (1:42) What can Chairs do to build a sense of team on their boards? (5:42) What are the most effective means boards can use to assess themselves? (13:21) Do you see value in constructive disagreement on boards? (15:51) Do Chairs need industry expertise? (22:21) How do you assess facilitation skills in prospective Chairs? (25:28) How do you handle a CEO who isn’t engaging with the board? (27:56) Would we be better off using professional facilitators or AI instead of Chairs? (30:39) How do you assess yourself as a Chair? (32:09) What do Chairs need to do to own the prep work? (35:38) ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(39:14)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Angela Seymour-Jackson is Chair of Page Group, Deputy Chair of Pikl, SID at TrustPilot Group, and NED at Future and Janus Henderson Group. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Can you describe your journey into the boardroom? (1:47) As Chair, what archetypes do you want around the board table? (6:25) What frameworks do you use to understand the range of organisations across your portfolio? (12:32) How do you understand businesses which have less obvious purposes? (17:54) How do you make sure technology is sufficiently embedded in your organisation? (20:04) How are you approaching AI specifically? (23:23) How do you identify and prioritise strategic discussion points like AI on your boards? (28:15) How do you approach CEO succession? (32:15) Are boards too reactive when it comes to succession? (39:11) ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(42:55)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Nadhim Zahawi is a former cabinet minister and Conservative Party chair. Before his parliamentary career, he founded YouGov, where he was CEO for a decade. Tune in to hear Nadhim’s thoughts on: What have been your sliding doors moments in your journey into the boardroom? (1:58) How did you cut through bureaucracy with the Vaccine Task Force? (10:59) How do you deal with the court of public opinion as someone from a commercial background? (17:50) You brought in previous education secretaries as a pop-up board when you took on the role - was it effective? (24:37) Does government (and business) need a more agile means of accessing external expertise? (30:50) Should people with commercial backgrounds bother applying for government roles? (34:29) Were there specific moments when board members created breakthroughs at YouGov? (36:56) How do you reflect on your decision to go public? (39:46) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(43:48)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Tamara Box is a partner at Reed Smith LLP, Chair at Interpath Advisory & The Eve Appeal, NED at Hanover Capital, and Trustee at the Chartered Management Institute. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Why and how did you put in place an advisory board at Reed Smith? (2:10) Given the talent around the table, why are so many boards dysfunctional? (6:21) How did your advisory board add value to you, and where could it have added more value? (9:29) What would you do differently if you were setting up your advisory board again? (15:49) What challenges did the InterPath board face, transitioning to PE ownership? (19:03) As a board member, what heuristics do you use to understand professional services businesses? (22:21) How do you engage with the exec on vision and strategy? (27:30) How do professional services boards think about beating competition? (28:50) What opportunities did PE ownership provide you as a board? (33:18) How have you built your plural career? (36:37) As Chair, what are you looking for in candidates? (41:35) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(44:01)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Eamon Devlin is adjunct professor and associate fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, founder of Minute9, an elite sports consultancy, and co-founder of MJ Hudson, a private equity law firm. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: To what extent do board meetings resemble half-time team talks for the executive? (1:53) How do you decide who should be present at half-time, and can boards use similar criteria? (5:07) How can you get external voices into the discussion without derailing it? (6:42) What lessons can board members learn from alignment around the purpose of team talks? (8:55) What have you learnt about transitioning into team talks that could apply to board meetings? (12:22) How can boards foster the kind of experimental mindset we see in elite sport? (20:59) Can you explain how Chairs might use the ctrl-alt-delete speech in board meetings? (23:00) Do you have any other storytelling tips board members might find helpful? (28:23) Where did the board add value to you at MJ Hudson, and where could they have added more value? (34.28) What are the biggest risks boards need to be aware of when a company goes public? (37:06) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:49)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Nuala Walsh is NED at British & Irish Lions and Basketball Ireland, Chair of Innocence Project London, Founding Director of the Global Association of Behavioural Scientists and author of Tune in. Listen to hear her thoughts on: Can you bring to life, blind, dead and dumb spots - the trilogy of errors that lead to bad decisions? (2:00) If these errors are often unconscious, how can board members know if they are making them? (6:07) How can board members apply the perimeters framework to determine whether they’re being impacted by their biases? (7:15) When should they use it? (13:52) Is there an antidote to these biases? (20:18) Are there examples from your own experience where you’ve been able to help a board think differently and reach a better decision as a result? (23:23) I once failed to prevent a deal which had backing because of interpersonal dynamics rather than economics - what could I have done differently to persuade people? (28:39) Can you reverse-engineer the perimeters framework to influence other people’s decisions? (31:42) How have you built your plural career? (39:03)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(42:26)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Gerry Brown is Chair of Novaquest Capital Management and G Brown Associates. A plural Chair and NED across private equity, family and listed businesses, Gerry is co-author of three books about boards, including Disaster in the Boardroom. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Is there such a thing as a comprehensive risk checklist applicable to all boards? (2:07) How do you apply your framework of the six archetypal board dysfunctions on the boards you sit on? (4:01) With a limited number of seats, how do you ensure you get the right voices in the boardroom? (6:57) How do you bring outside voices into the boardroom? (9:04) Can you talk about the problem of the distended board at Uber? (12:27) Are some dysfunctional archetypes more prevalent than others? (16:37) What relevance do these dysfunctions have beyond big corporates? (19:48) What advice would you give a new board member who wants to challenge a successful CEO? (23:54) How do you define and measure healthy board culture? (28:50) Can you give an example where you’ve changed a problematic board culture? (32:42) When haven’t you been able to change board culture? (34:59) How do you remove control shareholders who are damaging other stakeholders? (35:38) How do you assess independent directors as a Chair? (37:29) How do you assess integrity? (39:52) What professional development do you undertake? (40:43) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(44:12)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
When have boards added most value to you as an exec? (2:48) When was the last time your board challenged you as CEO? (5:38) How can non-execs challenge execs, without compromising trust? (7:05) How have you and the board of the Natural History Museum got comfortable that your 550m transformation project won’t overrun? (8:52) Could you distill Amazon’s ways of working and how they might apply to boards? (12:33) Can non-execs help instil good judgement in execs? (18:46) What are the other ways in which non-execs can materially impact their organisations? (25:12) How should board members be thinking about AI? (28:44) What can board members do to better undertake their environmental responsibilities? (32:44) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(35:11) Audience Q&A (40:57)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Ali Parsa founded Babylon Health, which he grew to a $4.1bn equity valuation in 2021 before it entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in 2023. Tune in to hear this amazing story, including Ali’s thoughts on: How has your backstory, escaping Iran in the 80s, informed your approach to entrepreneurship? (2:20) How have you managed to fundraise so successfully? (3:21) What advice do you have for others who are fundraising? (8:01) How did you scale revenues so quickly?(11:24) How did you break into the right distribution channels? (15:12) How do you identify the right person at partner organisations? (16:18) Was launching in the UK rather than US a mistake? (20:40) How did you decide which markets to go after? (25:06) What can board members do to encourage better cross-functional collaboration? (28:24) What value did you get from investor-directors? (31:13) What lessons did you learn through bankruptcy? (35:44) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:39)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Amy C. Edmondson is a Professor of Leadership & Management at Harvard Business School. Ranked #1 management thinker in the world by Thinkers50, Amy has written seven books, including Right Kind of Wrong and the fearless organization. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What is psychological safety and why does it matter for board members? (1:44) Can we overcome our fear of what others think of us, even if we’re aware of it? (4:02) Isn’t psychological safety just a grandiose term for inclusion? (5:12) As board members, what should we be looking at to assess our organisation’s psychological safety? (7:24) Are there predictable events that trigger drops in psychological safety? (10:16) How can organisations mitigate the impact of remote work on psychological safety? (13:10) How can boards increase the quality of their conversations through psychological safety? (14:14) Can you talk about “setting the stage” and specific tactics boards can use to have more candid conversations? (17:02) How do you sanction violations whilst maintaining psychological safety? (19:27) How would you advise board members to challenge execs in meetings? (24:46) How can boards decide if their CEO is a difficult genius to stick with or someone they should let go? (26:11) Where do we go wrong when thinking about failure? (28:51) When is it right to proceed via first principles versus A|B testing? (34:50) Could the boards at VW, Wells Fargo and Nokia have prevented their respective failures? (36:08) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(40:01)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Sara Weller CBE is Chair of the Money and Pension Service and former/NED at BT, Virgin Money and Lloyds Banking Group and UK Department for Work and Pensions amongst many others. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How have you built a plural career across the private and public sectors? (2:04) What are the similarities and differences between the public and private sector board roles? (4:08) When should people take on their first board position? (6:25) Can you take on a role too early? (9:35) How can board candidates make themselves stand out? (11:49) Are you always the voice of the customer in the boardroom, irrespective of product? (19:24) How do you balance your personal customer experiences with big data? (22:19) How do you express challenge as a NED? (24:44) Can you talk about your own experience of disability in the boardroom? (27:07) How much time should boards allocate to think about disability? (32:13) What three things can boards do now to help disabled board members and customers? (34:03) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(36:51)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Jenny Knott is NED at the British Business Bank, the UK Development Bank & SimplyHealth and Founder of FinTech Strategic Advisors Ltd. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What was your journey into the boardroom? (1:44) How did you transition from internal to independent boards? (3:50) When you were CEO, was your board your highest return on your time invested? (6:06) Do board members add more value in or outside meetings? (10:10) Who is board performance for? (12:38) Can boards really perform their monitoring function? (13:19) What do NEDs need to understand first when they come onto FS boards? (15:45) Where do they go wrong? (17:52) How can NEDs from different sectors get their heads around unfamiliar regulations? (20:06) Do start-up boards have a different relationship with regulation (versus larger firms)? (24:12) Where do they go wrong, engaging with the regulator? (26:44) What are your key value levers as a Remco member? (28:15) What would your dream incentive structure look like? (32:45) Should we include debt in compensation packages? (35:05) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(41:18)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Professor Renée Adams is a professor of finance at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and Fellow of the European Corporate Governance Institute. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Do popular boardroom surveys provide an accurate picture of women’s underrepresentation? (0:56) Would the financial crash have happened if Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters? (3:38) Are crises inevitable? (5:02) Are there any differences between female and male directors? (6:59) Why is our current way of thinking about the causes of female under-representation wrong? (10:19) Does adding women to your board improve shareholder value? (16:02) Are quotas effective for improving female director representation? (18:04) What are the latest boardroom myths that need debunking? (19:44) How would you build your dream board? (21:39) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(22:26) Audience Q&A (23:54)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Edwina Dunn the co-founder of dunnhumby, the data analytics company behind Tesco's Clubcard and numerous loyalty programs worldwide. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What were the key value adds of the dunnhumby board? (0:50) How did you manage to land the transformative deal with Tesco? (3:14) How did it feel when you landed the deal? (6:54) How did you get comfortable making one big bet on one customer? (7:56) Why were Tesco happy to share their sensitive data with you and not others? (9:36) Did your investor directors add any value? (12:42) What was the board’s role in your growth? (16:20) When and how did you break into new markets? (19:16) Did all the markets work out equally well? (20:16) How did you make sure you got the best deals in your strategic partnerships? (22:20) Did you get your pricing right? (23:41) If you’d had a board, do you think it would have been able to add more value to you on that journey? (28:37) What was the single biggest value add of your independent director? (31:27) How did you do your exit? (34:58) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:22)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom
Nick Jenkins is Founder and former CEO of Moonpig, former Dragon on Dragon’s Den, Chair of Virtualstock, NED at Green Energy Options and Trustee at Operation Fistula. Nick has recently founded the South Wilts Ski Club, an infinity ski slope in Wiltshire. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What were your key sources of support and challenge in the early days at Moonpig? (2:26) How did you pick your first investor-directors? (4:40) What distinctive value did each of your investor-directors bring? (5:42) How did you keep going when your investors told you it wasn’t going to work? (7:06) How did you unlock the value of your board? (8:14) What was the biggest disagreement you had with the board? (9:05) Can you talk through your transition from Founder to Exec Chair? (10:01) How did you strike the balance between autonomy and oversight for your successor? (11:34) How do you add value as a NED today? (13:10) What advice do you have for those trying to scale a successful culture? (13:51) As a board member, how do you make sure organisations make the best use of data? (17:09) Why did you choose repeat rate as your north star metric at Moonpig? (19:32) Should all businesses have north star metrics? (20:09) How do you assess business plans as a board member? (22:18) How important is it to hit business plan targets? (24:53) Would your CEOs say your boards are the highest return on their time invested? (26:13) How do you help your businesses spot opportunities as a board member? (28:47) How do you help them identify their growth levers? (33:52) ⚡ The Lightning Round ⚡(39:57)
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Alex Fish
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kolt
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom