Monocle 24: The Entrepreneurs

Jacob Wedderburn-Day is the co-founder and CEO of Stasher, a welcome storage solution for tourists and day-trippers across Europe. Conceived during a brainstorming session among three friends at Oxford University, the technology start-up links people with convenient luggage facilities, often creating extra revenue for independent businesses with extra space. In three years, more than 50,000 bags have been stored using the platform across the UK, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, with plans to expand to the whole of Europe.

John Schoolcraft is head of creative at Oatly, the oat-milk company based in Sweden. Its product can now be found around the world – including at Monocle cafés. In this week’s episode, Schoolcraft talks about how he helped to create a stronger identity for the 25-year-old company and take it global, making the product a favourite among baristas, as well as healthy and environmentally conscious connoisseurs.

Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo are the women behind New York-based Of a Kind, an online marketplace with a focus on emerging designers in fashion, homeware and jewellery. They met in university, bonding over their keen eye for fashion. Both moved to the Big Apple, Mazur working in art and Cerulo in the magazine industry. A good idea and a long email chain in 2010 led to the pair creating Of a Kind, a business that remains true to its original concept today.

Alice Walsh is the founder of Alice Made This, a London-based design company that makes men’s accessories and women’s jewellery. What began in 2012 with a set of four minimalist cufflinks has evolved over the past six years into a collection spanning everything from shirt studs and tie bars to necklaces and bracelets. In this week’s episode Walsh talks us through how she built the brand and how she teams up with factories across the UK to create her unique pieces.

Angel investor Pip Wilson sold her successful consultancy Bluefin in order to look for a new venture in tech. After a friend went through a difficult divorce, Wilson decided to set up Amicable, a platform that uses technology to help couples divorce more easily, enabling both parties to reach a fairer outcome.

What does it take to say goodbye to a safe monthly salary and strike out on your own? This week we hear from company founders who left high-powered jobs to head off into the uncharted waters of entrepreneurship. First, Peter Milne, who left finance to start The Nunhead Gardener. We also meet Bryce Gracey, who set aside a career in architecture to co-found No. 22 Bicycle Company, a bespoke titanium manufacturer. We’ll also hear why Jackie Fast left her media-marketing business Slingshot Sponsorship to launch a vineyard and wine brand in her native Canada.

Sleep expert Christopher Lindholst puts his success down to the fact that he frequently snoozes during the working day – and he’s not alone. His company MetroNaps builds and operates EnergyPods, the world’s first chairs designed specifically for napping in the workplace. The recliners are now installed in 30 countries and used by companies such as Nasa and Google. Lindholst shares his story.

Sleep expert Christopher Lindholst puts his success down to the fact that he frequently snoozes during the working day – and he’s not alone. His company MetroNaps builds and operates EnergyPods, the world’s first chairs designed specifically for napping in the workplace. The recliners are now installed in 30 countries and used by companies such as Nasa and Google. Lindholst shares his story.

Tom Broughton has always been an eyewear obsessive – ever since he started wearing glasses at the age of seven. In 2012 he began designing and making frames on his kitchen table, not to make money but out of sheer passion. Eventually he garnered a loyal fanbase and what began as a hobby quickly grew into Cubitts, a new London-based eyewear brand that boasts a smart multi-channel model with five bricks-and-mortar shops across the city.

Catherine Ellis is the founder of Hill & Ellis, a London-based maker of handsome, handmade bike bags. As a cyclist herself, Catherine noticed both the growing popularity of cycling and the dearth of well-designed, beautifully made bags on the market. So she set out to create them herself.

New Zealand-based Xero is a world-leader in accounting software. The cloud-based programme was designed to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their finances – a tedious and time-consuming task for any entrepreneur. Since its launch in 2006, Xero has spread to about 180 countries worldwide, enabling business owners everywhere to dedicate more time to the important stuff. Co-founder Gary Turner tells us how to build a global brand and how you create “beautiful” software.

Having tired of mass-market eyewear, optician Jordan Paul founded Opticianado, a Toronto-based shop specialising in vintage specs sourced from across the globe.

Chris Stang is a co-founder of The Infatuation, a restaurant-discovery platform that has become the guide of choice for discerning diners across the US. Founded in 2009, the platform has just made headlines around the world by agreeing to acquire the Zagat brand from Google, which many will know for its respected drinking and dining guides. In this episode Stang tells us how he and co-founder Andrew Steinthal came up with the idea and how they have grown evolved it in a fast-moving and highly competitive market.

For lawyer-turned-designer Mark Johnson, the dream of launching a menswear brand was inspired by an anorak worn by his father in the 1960s. That ambition was realised in 2010 with the founding of Kovalum. While a modernised take on that very jacket remains an anchor of the brand’s product line, it has since expanded to include a collection of button downs, T-shirts and accessories – all manufactured in Toronto.

Matthew Corrin’s idea to create a brand around healthy eating has seen his business go from a single shop to one of the fastest-growing food franchises in the world. Corrin is the Canadian founder behind Freshii, a takeaway chain which aims to make healthy options affordable and convenient. Launched in 2005, Freshii now has more than 300 locations in 85 cities around the world. Matt Alagiah talks to Corrin about how he came up with the idea and how he has built the business into the global brand it is today.