Monocle 24: The Entrepreneurs

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka’ is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. This week we hear the story of Jane Porter, founder of bespoke uniform design company Studio 104. For better or worse, first impressions count and in hospitality a quality uniform for a concierge or maître d is worth its weight in gold. So why are many uniforms so unappealing? Jane Porter had the same question, so she quit her job as a fashion buyer and did something about it.

In an age of digital distraction and constant interruption one company is taking a stand for minimalism through good design. Punkt. is a Swiss brand that creates products to simplify our frenetic lives. Their latest creation is a mobile phone that does just two things: make calls and send texts. But is this minimalism for the sake of minimalism or is Punkt. on to something deeper? We meet Petter Neby, the company’s CEO and founder to find out.

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka' is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind 'The Entrepreneurs’. If you’re a parent of a certain age you’re likely to know stylish baby-stroller brand Bugaboo. Designer Max Barenbrug was a student in Amsterdam in the mid-1990s when he formed the idea for the company. Bugaboo has since become a design icon and kickstarted a revolution in mobility products. Barenbrug explains how he spotted the opportunity and what happened next.

Not long ago Texas-born Mickey Ashmore was a 20-something finance graduate working for Microsoft. Now he’s affectionately known as the Sabah Dealer, the founder of a hugely popular and fast-growing brand that sells slip-on shoes based on an old-school Turkish design. Ashmore shares his tale. Meanwhile, we meet Simon Talling-Smith, the man overseeing the European launch of a disruptive airline called SurfAir. Think of it as the Netflix of the skies: pay a flat monthly fee and you can fly as much as you like. But will the business model take off?

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka' is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind 'The Entrepreneurs’. Tom Donald is an Australian composer and concert pianist whose work has been featured in award-winning films. He’s also the founder of the London Contemporary School of Piano. Tom tells us how he turned his passion for pianos into a business.

We visit God’s Own Junkyard, a family business in a quiet neighbourhood in London that has perfected the art of making signs. We also meet an Australian entrepreneur who set off for gelato school in Italy and returned to Melbourne with a delicious company: Pidapipó Gelateria. Plus: former airline pilot Roland Wehrle talks healthy food and building his company Not Guilty.

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka’ is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. Hannah Russell is the co-founder and CEO of Layer, a curated marketplace for pre-owned design and vintage furniture. In this episode she shares her early inspirations and the challenges she faced while launching the business.

Entrepreneurs find inspiration in unlikely places. For Danny Hodgson, founder and owner of Rivet & Hide, one of London’s premier shops for premium denim brands, inspiration arrived thousands of feet in the sky. For more than two decades Hodgson worked for British Airways as a cabin-services director on long-haul flights to places such as the US, Australia and Japan. Travelling the world spurred his obsession with rare denim brands and led him to launch Rivet & Hide in 2012. We meet the man and hear the highlights of his journey.

Two centuries ago John Cadbury set up a small chocolate business in the English city of Birmingham. He essentially invented the solid chocolate bar and his business grew into one of the world’s most famous chocolate empires and one of the UK’s most well-known brands. His descendant James Cadbury is following in the family footsteps, having launched his brand Love Cocoa in January. But it wasn’t always written in the stars that chocolate was his future. James shares his story.

Failure is an experience that no entrepreneur wants to encounter, yet one that pretty much every one will. This week we explore what happens when your luck runs out and the best ways to bounce back. Mark Jennings is the founder of Shaken Cocktails, a cocktail-subscription start-up. Shaken, however, no longer exists, having shipped their final box back in June. The company had a growing customer base, secured promising deals with spirits brands and went through a number of successful funding rounds. So what made the company go under? And what did Mark learn from the experience?

‘Eureka’ is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. In this episode Buffalo-based entrepreneur David Rivers shares some lessons he’s learnt as the founder of KegWorks, a multi-million dollar seller of beer equipment and bar supplies.

Amid paywalls, platforms and advertising woes, few media outlets have cracked the code required to create a successful, sustainable and profitable business model. The Aegean Summit, a new conference in Athens, is looking to the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean for guidance on best practice. We meet with the event’s organiser, talk to the founders of media start-ups from Cairo, Kuwait and Beirut and visit the office of independent Greek media company AthensLive.

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka’ is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. In this episode James Davidson of bespoke pet-food company Tails.com describes the company’s early challenges, why a bespoke approach to dog food beats one-size-fits-all and how his experience working at Innocent Drinks helped him in his new venture.

How do you build a profitable new brand in the world of spirits? Launched in 2013, Distill Ventures helps brands navigate those early years with investment and mentoring. Since then they’ve invested millions in promising new spirits companies. But what makes a drinks brand stand out? What’s more crucial: marketing or taste? And what’s the next big thing? Daniel Giacopelli speaks with the company’s partner and chief tasting officer Frank Lampen.

Presented by Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli, ‘Eureka’ is a weekly spotlight on business origins brought to you by the team behind ‘The Entrepreneurs’. In this episode Hayden Wood shares his journey from management consultant to co-founder of energy start-up Bulb. He explains how he met his co-founder on a boat at a Croatian music festival and why they’re shining a light on an old-school industry in need of disruption. Plus: the origins of their lightbulb moment.