The Engine - Founders Stories

Scaling Passion: Building a Multi-Sport Empire With Asher Smith & Jack Pearce

How do you turn a shared passion for sport into a rapidly scaling business that reaches thousands of children every week? In this episode of Founder Stories, Donna Owen sits down with Asher Smith and Jack Pearce, the co-founders of The Athlete Group. From their early days as teenage sports coaches to building a multi-brand organization, Asher and Jack share the raw reality of scaling a service-based business while staying true to their core mission: finding the right sport for every child. They dive into the "machinery" behind their partnership, discussing how they transitioned from being "on the tools" as coaches to becoming strategic leaders. They also explore the importance of diverse sports exposure, the challenges of hiring the right team, and why having a "blue hexagon" mindset is key to their success. In this episode, you’ll learn: * The "Find Your Sport" Philosophy: Why exposing children to a wide variety of activities is more important than early specialization. * Transitioning from Coach to Founder: The difficult journey of stepping away from the daily delivery to focus on scaling the business. * The Power of Partnership: How Asher and Jack balance their different strengths to drive The Athlete Group forward. * Building a Culture: The challenges of recruitment in the sports education sector and finding staff who share the "Athlete" DNA. * Beyond Football: Why offering everything from tennis to dodgeball creates a more inclusive and successful business model. 🕒 Timestamps: * 00:00 – Finding the sport every child loves. * 00:20 – Introducing Asher Smith & Jack Pearce: Co-founders of The Athlete Group. * 05:15 – The early days: From teenage coaches to business partners. * 12:40 – The "Find Your Sport" mission and why it drives everything. * 22:10 – The pivot: Moving from "coaching" to "running a business." * 30:35 – Recruitment & Culture: Finding the right people for the "blue hexagon." * 42:15 – Advice for young entrepreneurs starting in the service sector. * 46:40 – Where to find The Athlete Group and how to join the movement.

Inventing an Industry: 20 Years of B2B Marketing Secrets with Joel Harrison

In this episode of Founder Stories, Joel Harrison discusses launching B2B Marketing in 2004 to fill a gap in the marketing media that largely ignored business-to-business marketing, and how the company helped shape an ecosystem where agencies and marketers now identify as B2B. He explains the evolution from a print magazine (which stopped publishing a few years ago) to Propolis, a peer-to-peer advisory platform serving major brands, alongside flagship events like Ignite, the Global ABM Conference, and the B2B Marketing Awards, while noting he has stepped back operationally but remains a co-owner and board director. Joel shares his background in journalism and publishing, family influences in marketing, and how his mother’s cancer prompted him to pursue what mattered. He advises startups to clarify brand and customer pain points, leverage founders/CEOs as authentic ambassadors, and persist through volatility, embracing pivots as reality diverges from plans. 00:00 Life Is Short Mindset 00:36 Founder Stories Intro 02:02 Why B2B Marketing Existed 03:38 Building The B2B Ecosystem 04:51 B2B vs B2C Buying 07:13 Marketing Maturity In Startups 08:48 From Magazine To Propolis 10:52 Joel Early Career Origins 12:39 Why Marketing Became The Topic 15:06 Becoming A Founder At 30 16:23 Cancer Catalyst And Legacy 17:51 Founders Are Not One Type 19:26 Choosing the Leap 20:01 The 28-29 Sweet Spot 21:30 Content Not for Everyone 23:09 Stop Spray and Pray 25:02 Founder Led Trust 26:00 Formats and Authenticity 27:53 Stepping Back as Founder 30:21 New Chapter After Exit 31:04 Where to Follow Joel 33:06 Life Balance and Ambition 34:57 Advice for Early Founders 35:23 Keep Going and Pivot 37:13 Closing Thanks and Future

The AI Reality Check: Why Human Connection Still Closes the Deal With Andy Hallett

Is AI the "silver bullet" for your business, or is it just creating more noise? In this episode of Founder Stories, Donna Owen sits down with her close friend and serial entrepreneur Andy Hallett. With a career spanning recruitment, technology, and executive coaching, Andy cuts through the current tech hype to discuss the immutable fundamentals of building a successful business. Andy shares why he believes the best performers will always rise to the top and why "human-in-the-loop" remains the most critical factor in high-stakes sales and recruitment. They also dive into the psychological transition from "proper jobs" to prolific foundership and the importance of hitting targets before spending your capital. In this episode, you’ll learn: The AI Reality Check: Why technology is a tool for enhancement, not a replacement for basic business fundamentals. Rising Above the Noise: How the top 1% of recruiters and founders thrive when the market is flooded with automated content. The Human Closer: Why agents and bots can't replace the trust required to close a major deal. Proving the Model: The importance of hitting your internal targets before investing heavily in expansion. Serial Foundership: Andy’s journey through multiple ventures and what it really takes to be a "prolific" guest on the founder couch. 🕒 Timestamps: 00:00 – Will AI be a "silver bullet" for your business?  00:44 – Introducing the "Prolific Founder": Andy Hallett  01:04 – Why Donna saved the "Proper Guests" for later in the series  25:30 – The transition from a corporate career to entrepreneurship  42:15 – Why the best recruiters will always rise above the AI noise  51:19 – Target setting and knowing when to spend your money  #FounderStories #Recruitment #AI #Entrepreneurship #AndyHallett #TheEngine #BusinessFundamentals #SalesTips

The Prophecy of the Story: Why 90% of Businesses Fail at Demand With George Terry

Is the story you’re telling yourself about your business actually a prophecy for its failure? In this episode of Founder Stories, Donna Owen sits down with George Terry, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Winbox. George pulls back the curtain on the psychological "mental game" of being a founder, exploring how our internal narratives can either lead us to "weird places" or act as a roadmap for massive success. Together, they dive into the harsh reality of demand generation, explaining why the majority of business struggles are actually just pipeline problems in disguise. If you’ve ever felt like your business is a series of "ups and downs" without a clear direction, George provides the framework to tune back into the story that matters. In this episode, you’ll learn: * The Prophecy of the Story: Why the narrative you embrace during the hard times determines where your company ends up. * The 90% Pipeline Rule: Why most founders are misdiagnosing their business problems when they actually just have a demand issue. * Guiding the Internal Voice: How to manage the "version of yourself" in your head to avoid negative tangents and stay conscious. * The Reality of Hard Work: Why everything worth doing is difficult and how to lean into the struggle rather than running from it. * Avoiding "Weird Places": The importance of self-awareness and listening to your guiding voice to keep your business on track. 🕒 Timestamps: * 00:00 – Why the story you tell yourself is a prophecy. * 00:24 – The 90% Rule: Why you probably have a demand problem. * 05:45 – Everything worth doing is hard: Navigating the ups and downs. * 15:30 – The Internal Voice: Managing the version of yourself in your head. * 28:12 – Consciousness and awareness in leadership. * 42:05 – Guiding your business away from "negative tangents." * 46:20 – How to stay tuned in when the journey gets tough.

The Science of Selling with Leo Rogers

How does a "rebellious" student who failed his A-Levels go on to build a 25-person agency by age 22 and later launch a market-defining AI company? In this episode of Founder Stories, Donna Owen sits down with Leo Rogers, the founder of Curvo. Leo shares his unconventional journey from fixing corporate IT servers at 16 using nothing but a Google search bar to revolutionizing the sales industry with real-time AI coaching. This is a deep dive into the grit, "naive optimism," and the rigorous science required to scale a high-performance sales organization. In this episode, you’ll learn: The "Naive Optimism" Factor: Why the certainty to tackle challenges you don't yet understand is a prerequisite for survival in the early days. Managing "Gray Hair" at 22: Leo’s experience hiring and leading a senior leadership team with decades more experience than him. The $1 Million Founder Rule: Why founders must stay in the trenches and hit the first £1M in revenue before hiring an AE function. Gamifying MEDDPICC: How to move away from laborious "check-box" deal reviews and turn sales methodology into a live, fun, and high-adoption experience. The Future of Sales Tech: Why the trend for 2026 is moving away from annoying meeting bots toward seamless, on-device AI copilots. 🕒 Timestamps: 00:00 – The 75% jump in meeting Notetaker adoption in 2025. 01:55 – What is Kvo? Giving sellers a "second brain" in 500 milliseconds. 05:12 – The Science of Selling: Why MEDDPICC and Gap Selling are non-negotiable. 07:51 – Turning a "weaponized" methodology into a gamified experience. 11:24 – The "Lobby Bot" Fatigue: Why on-device recording is the future. 14:02 – Failing A-Levels and the "nail in the coffin" of academia. 17:15 – Naive Optimism: Fixing architecture servers at age 16. 21:11 – Respect in the Boardroom: Leading a senior team at age 22. 27:23 – Solving the Demand Problem: Why the founder must lead the first million in sales. 31:22 – Network Effects: Building a cap table of 18 top sales leaders. 38:00 – The Knowledge-Performance Gap: Selling complex tech to CTOs. 45:47 – Launching Kvo Self-Serve: The 2026 roadmap. 47:40 – Work-Life Integration: From the office to salsa dancing.