Startup Microdose

Dr James Field is a leading scientist in the field of synthetic biology. He set up LabGenius while completing his PhD at Imperial College London. He is a winner of the prestigious BBSRC Innovator of the Year award for early career impact and was featured on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list for Science & Healthcare. James is also a fellow of the prestigious Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (LEAP). As founder and CEO of LabGenius, he has overseen the development if EVA - an autonomous AI-driven evolution engine for the discovery of high-value protein components. The company uses this cutting-edge technology to develop new biological products in partnership with world leading multinationals. Their current focus areas are creating novel therapies for unmet clinical needs and “advanced materials” for the UK Ministry of Defence. The company has raised $3.7m in funding from venture capital firms led by Acequia Capital. We discuss: - the history and current landscape of synthetic biology - the genomics of sexual attraction and how intuitive knowledge is hard coded in our genes - gene editing and its ethical implication in this brave new world - how Science Fiction is a thought experiment for examining our own humanity - the challenges of becoming a CEO from a scientist If you like Sci-Fi and want to know why a ruby red grapefruit is red, you’ll enjoy this one!

Oleg Fomenko is the co-founder of Sweatcoin, the fastest-growing health and fitness app in history. The app gamifies keeping fit by converting users’ steps into virtual Sweatcoin which can be exchanged for rewards. In December 2017, Sweatcoin hit 10 million users and raised Series A funding from several US-based VC firms. Oleg tells us of his big plans for 2018 and beyond. These include expanding into every country, listing as a trade-able currency on the blockchain and partnering with governments. Before Sweatcoin, Oleg founded music streaming company BloomFm which he grew to 1.2 million users in the UK and raised £16m in funding before unforeseen circumstances forced him to close the company. We talk about how he channelled this disappointment into Sweatcoin. We also discuss his formative years in the Soviet Union/Russia, evolutionary biases and ethics in tech, the potential of the blockchain and why mountain excursions and silent retreats are an excellent antidote to the modern world. Oleg is a fascinating blue-sky thinker with incredible insights to share.

In this episode, we speak to the inimitable, Pip Jamieson. After stints in the British civil service, then with MTV (actually launching MTV in New Zealand aged just 24), Pip founded a ‘LinkedIn for creatives’ called The Loop in Australia. After exiting this, she returned to the UK and its £76bn creative sector to replicate that success. From her houseboat by King’s Cross, she started ‘The Dots’ which is on a mission to connect 1 million creatives this year and is now going viral across the sector. The conversation ranges from river-dwelling and persuading Dizzee Rascal to play the first ever inflight gig, to LinkedIn’s failing current model and its potential shift towards becoming a media company. We talk about the importance of creativity not only as a bottom-line force for success, but also as a vehicle to finding meaningful and fulfilling work. Pip is a Sunday Times Top 100 Entrepreneur, an outspoken advocate for diversity in the workplace and a champion for dyslexics worldwide. We have a good discussion on diversity issues in the work place, on its important role in the creative process, on avoiding unconscious cultural biases and on how companies like The Dots are working to create more equality of opportunity. Pip is a lively talker with great stories; and her mission is impactful with the potential to change the way we work and collaborate.

Anthony Rose is the Founder of multiple successful companies; his most recent, SeedLegals, was named the UKTN Startup of the Year 2017; he is also the genius behind BBC iPlayer at a time when on-demand TV represented a paradigm shift in the industry - he compares the build process to the British building an exocet missile in two months during the Falklands War. We talk a fair amount about how the SeedLegals platform works and the benefits it brings (in cost and time) to entrepreneurs raising money. Anthony also divulges some great industry-specific wisdom on the new rules for SEIS & EIS tax relief assurance for UK companies. (This episode will be particularly useful to anyone thinking about or going through the funding process.) There’s a lot too for those listening from general interest - his anecdotes about billion dollar lawsuits in the music industry and his notion of the ‘hybrid ICO’ make for an edifying listen… Anthony is the quintessence of serial entrepreneur and a charismatic well of wisdom besides. We came out of the conversation having talked little but learned a lot!

Hamish Grierson is the CEO and Founder of personalised healthcare platform, Thriva. Hamish cut his teeth as an entrepreneur through a varied early career in advertising, hospitality and a mentoring period at Travelex thanks to the New Entrepreneurs Foundation. A serendipitous beer with Co-Founder-to-be Eliot Brooks (who has a cholesterol condition requiring regular blood tests) led to the birth of Thriva – the world’s first preventative health service. Easy-to-use blood test kits are posted to you for testing. Once submitted, your results are published to you on the platform’s beautiful interface with GP explanations and recommendations based on your results. The data built up over time will allow predictive analytics to suggest powerful, data-driven solutions to people’s health problems. The conversation digs into the Thriva solution and their plans to introduce products relating to the Microbiome and the Endocrine system. We also move into general topics including: functional medicine, genomics, the diabetes epidemic and the power of predictive data. Self-administered stool transplants and robot leeches even come up! Hamish impressed us not only with the sophistication of his knowledge regarding the healthcare space, but also his genuine concern for improving the system and empowering people to live better lives.

When the UK tech scene started to come online in the late noughties, Oxford-grad Alex left traditional careers in corporate law and management consultancy to join Anthony Eskinazi’s startup, Parkatmyhouse, which soon became JustPark. As CEO of JustPark from 2012-5 Alex oversaw several high-profile funding rounds including the largest equity crowdfunding round for a startup in history. In 3 years, he grew revenues 10-fold and set the company on a path towards its current user base of 1.5million drivers. He is also a published author with his book on the sharing economy “The Business of Sharing” and is an active mentor for TechStars. His latest project, Beam, is a social impact startup backed by the Mayor of London. The company leverages the crowdfunding model to empower people out of homelessness. The focus is on giving each member “person-centred” support in the form of finance, training and social ties while empowering the public to lend their help in the most effective and beneficial way possible. We talk in depth about Beam and the homelessness crisis in the UK. We discuss the triggers that cause homelessness and the isolation and diminishing sense of self-worth which makes escaping the downward spiral so hard. We discuss appropriate ways for people to help and how technology like Beam is empowering people and institutions to provide the personalised “scaffolding” required to beat homelessness.

Despite his 23 years, Tim Armoo’s reputation for ingenuity and audacious business plays precedes him, most recently as the founder and CEO of influencer marketing platform, FanBytes. A company described by the BBC as “…[owning] the mind of Generation Z”. We discuss his Tedx talk in which he describes the different manifestations of his identity from his early failures as a swimmer turned magician to his first company at 14 and his second which was acquired when he was 17. We dive into the exciting space of influencer marketing from both a brand and influencer perspective. Tim evaluates the inexorable development of SnapChat as the heir apparent of on-demand TV for the new generation. He recounts his phone blowing up with angry fan engagement after one slightly off-key campaign. And in light of this, we examine the rise, fall and possible resurgence of infamous YouTube super-influencer, Logan Paul. We then get onto Tim’s interesting approach to the entrepreneurial existence including the Eisenhower productivity matrix, Alexa-powered mornings and intermittent fasting. There’s even a recruitment plug for a cool role at FanBytes at the end… Tim has an easy manner which made for a very conversational interview. We’ve really enjoyed listening to it back!