Abadesi Osunsade

Hosting your first offsite takes most founders a long time to get to. But this one did it in under 2 years. Patrick Cleary, President and Co-Founder of Paul Street and a key member of the founding team at Wayflyer, shared the BTS of building not 1, but 2 transformative businesses on our latest episode. From driving partnerships and growth strategies at Wayflyer to scaling Paul Street into a leading affiliate-focused marketing agency, Patrick's not scared to redefine how brands grow and scale. In this episode of Turning Pro Podcast, Patrick unpacks how it all went down hosting his first team offsite with over 20 employees, how to balance profitability with growth, the power of compounding networks, and more. Don't miss out on hearing from the Director of Partnerships of a billion-dollar company. We breakdown... → How a simple conversation turned into a multi-billion-dollar company. → How Wayflyer became the fastest-growing Irish startup ever. → Why Patrick left Wayflyer to launch Paul Street. → How networking built Patrick's career and 2 companies. → The one thing most agencies get wrong when trying to scale. → How to delegate and build a high-trust team that operates without you. → Why Paul Street is obsessed with retention. → How a company offsite made Patrick realize he had built something special. And much, much more. Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gS_3rdki

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One reason there aren’t more huge UK Tech Companies is simple: Most UK investors start by asking “how do you avoid downside?” while US investors ask “how big could this be if everything goes right?” We tried to build @Firstbase in the UK “Leading” voices told me I was "too ambitious" “Can’t be done from here” “Someone in the US will do it” So I moved to the US and did it But That mentality sticks. It’s why there are so few UK founders who other UK founders can emulate or learn from. US investors being in London is progress. More UK founders building VC backed startups helps. But it’s belief that is it possible – and proof points that show people it is – and ambition. On ambition, the lack of proof points lead to early acquisitions in the $200M-$2B range. We moved @Firstbase to the US the week after we were told we were too ambitious. I have a bunch of EU friends who would tell the same story. We wanted to build our company in the UK – We couldn’t We moved our company to the US because it was the only way it would survive

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Girls just wanna have funding! Today the Startup Coalition has released a sobering and well-researched report on the state of investment for female founders in the UK. 🚨 For every all-female founding team that raises over £1 million, 12 all-male teams do the same. At £10 million+, that jumps to 36:1 🚨 As a female co-founder, I’ve been lucky to work with some incredibly supportive male colleagues who have championed me from day one. But from the stories I've heard, I KNOW how lucky I have been. I’ve also never been so aware of my gender in my professional life as sharply as I have when engaging with the VC community. Of course, not everyone is part of the problem, and unconscious bias is... unconscious... But the data is clear: this is real. This is about a system that continues to shut too many women out. And that’s not just unfair, it’s economically damaging. The highlights clear recommendations for government and funders to create a fairer, more inclusive investment landscape. Read the report (it's very good) and spread the word👇 https://lnkd.in/d3EErgtg

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This is getting ridiculous. Look, I talk a lot about running an innovative school, but I’m also the Founder and CEO of one of the top 50 fastest growing businesses in the UK – and we’re 100% remote. It works. Minerva's Virtual Academy is proof. It enables us to find the absolute best talent wherever it may be. It enables us to send people almost anywhere in the world with ease and flexibility. It means we can adapt to almost any situation with minimal disruption. We do actually have an office in Brixton – it can fit about 5 people max and it’s the headquarters of a business with 160+ employees in 10+ countries and customers around the globe. If remote workers are not getting work done, it’s not because they’re remote. It’s because you’re not managing them correctly. And if you think the only way to do that is to physically be in the same building – you probably never were. This push for a return to the office is a step back and, I think, a sign of poor leadership (or at the very least an unwillingness to adapt). I know you’re not supposed to call remote work a benefit anymore, but when every big corporation is demanding a return to office, and even my colleagues in the startup/scaleup space are moving to 2-3 days in-office per week, how is it not a benefit? Employees are happier, healthier, and more in control of their own lives - sounds like a real benefit to me. And not one I’m about to drop.

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