Entrepreneurs set themselves testing targets – it’s what they do. From hotel owners to jewellery makers, they must strike out alone or with a small team and forge something special. Doing so requires a deliberate dash – naked at first – into a painful daily hailstorm of challenges. It’s a tough calling by nature, and there are as many different dreams burning holes in founders’ pillowcases each night as there are stars in the sky. But of all the entrepreneurial goals, there can be few more demanding than the one Dima Kats set himself in 2016.

First, he futureproofed the BBC by rolling out its iPlayer. Next, he founded and exited two pioneering media tech companies. Now, his new business – SeedLegals, backed to the tune of £4m so far by Index Ventures and other top VC firms – is fundamentally transforming the way start-ups launch and grow. Meanwhile, another Anthony […]

Jay Richards’ life nearly ended in unmitigated disaster, but his passion for business saved him. Today, his ingenious start-up bridges the growing gap between brands and Generation-Z. As a business, how do you appeal to Generation-Z – those people born from 1995 onwards? How do you sell yourself to schoolkids and fresh-faced young adults in a language they understand?

Vanilla Underground’s recent growth has been formidable, with online sales of its officially licensed clothing and apparel going – to use a technical term – completely ballistic. Armchair shoppers are ordering Minecraft T-shirts, Peppa Pig slippers and Harry Potter rucksacks faster than Sonic the Hedgehog. And the trend has handed the company’s Tamworth-based co-founders, married couple Deniz and Jason Yarnell, a heady combination of excitement, joy, and – because you can’t run a business without it – worry.

Care is not a traditional business value. Peruse the classics and you’ll see boldness, passion, honesty and perhaps integrity, but not the C-word.
Thankfully things are changing – as Bloom & Wild demonstrates. This flower retailer meets tech company is undoubtedly growing relentlessly. Yet its business values would disorient yesteryear’s ‘manly’ entrepreneurs. “We’re obsessed with care,” says founder Aron Gelbard. “It’s vital to me and it’s a key trait I look for when hiring.”

PROPERCORN’S HQ buzzes with youthful energy. Stroll through the front door, past the doorbell emblazoned with the words ‘Done Properly’, and you find yourself in one of London’s more life-affirming offices. The ‘guilt-free’ popcorn brand’s co-founders Cassandra Stavrou, an ex-ad agency employee, and Ryan Kohn, an entrepreneur since university, tell us how it all began…