Photobox: Graham Hobson (Co-Founder) on how he built a £400m business

In this episode you will learn; Why he started Photobox, and what it was like running a startup over the dotcom boom and bust, within the first year of it’s inception. The complexity of their raising funds, from trying and failing; from growing fast to scaling all the way back, what that felt like for them at the time. The process of buying and selling companies as a means to grow How to manage culture when absorbing other companies What it’s like starting as CEO, then hiring someone to replace you, and becoming CTO. And lots more of course... Key Quotes I don’t see myself as an Entrepreneur because to me, they feel more like the types that do it repeatedly, and perhaps I just got lucky. I’m one startup away from feeling like I’ve earned that title You dont manage one football club and get called a ‘football manager’ so to me the same is true about an entrepreneur. Top Advice: Sit back, assess a situation, and decide what to do next, instead of making a knee jerk reaction. Figure out why you want to be an entrepreneur - do you have a problem to solve, or do you want to be your own boss, if it’s the latter, don’t go sit in WeWork - get a normal job, build up your experience and contacts, and be patient until a real problem comes up that you need to solve. Other Fun Facts: He was cautioned by US naval intelligence for hacking He worked next to Nick Leeson - the infamous Rogue Trader who brought down a whole bank -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/ You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes