Screw It Just Do It: Lessons from the Festival of Entrepreneurs

0:00Music

0:09Jeannette:Don't assume that you have all the answers. The answers are really coming back from what the consumer's expectation of what you're creating for them and being flexible with that. The theme is start as you intend to carry on. A lot of, I think, smaller businesses that are in regulated industries like food and BMS, which is what we are in, will start and they will seriously underestimate the amount of time and investment that you need to put in for compliance. Putting the right foundations in in the beginning so that you can then scale up rather than having to unpick it later. We were in product development for three years, which was never the intention, it just happened.

0:47Jeannette:so we're pre-selling this product that essentially doesn't exist and you know people don't really buy products but they buy the brand they buy the story and everything focus on building really

0:56panel of entrepreneurs:great business you know being lean kiss enough frogs and you'll find the right partner welcome back to screw just do it this episode is going to be a little bit different so this was one recorded live at my event the festival of entrepreneurs at the nse in birmingham in october 2025 in a room full of founders, investors, and operators all grappling with the same question. How do you go from startup to scale and build a real brand along the way? You'll hear from a panel of exceptional founders and leaders who've done exactly that, building category-defining businesses across consumer, health, sustainability, and technology, and navigating everything that comes with growth, product, brand, funding, compliance, and leadership.

1:40panel of entrepreneurs:This conversation is about what it actually takes to scale. The foundations you need to put in place early, the mistakes you don't see coming, and the mindset required to keep backing yourself as the stakes get higher. It's honest, practical, and full of real world insight from people who are in it or have already been through it. This is Screw It, Just Do It live from the Festival of Entrepreneurs.

2:03Jeannette:We're going to be talking about how do you go from a startup to a national brand? And actually, I'd go further than that and say international as well, which is what some of the guys here have done. So I'm Jeanette Linfoot. I have got the pleasure of moderating this session today. So make sure you keep some questions as well, because we want to give these guys a good grilling as well at the end. So if you've got any questions, make some notes. But I'm the founder of Brave Bold Brilliant, which is a business where we work with organizations to help them scale up their leadership, their teams, and their strategy.

2:39Jeannette:I spent 25 years in the travel industry as the CEO of the travel division for Saga, which is their FTSE 250, and the MD of the emerging markets for TUI. So I now take what I learned in the world of big business corporate to smaller organizations to help them scale up. And I have a podcast called Brave Bold Brilliant as well, so check that out. But we're going to do introductions this way. So Mark, we're going to start with you. Give us a little bit of an introduction, then we'll go down the line and get stuck into some questions. Does that sound all right, everyone? Can I have a nod and a yes?

3:11Jeannette:Does that sound all right? Amazing. Right, Mark, over to you.

3:14panel of entrepreneurs:Can I just say, I love the audience participation. I'm going to get you to do that in two seconds. My name is Mark Rushmore. I am the co-founder of a brand called Suri. We make the most highly rated and sustainable electric toothbrush in the world. Just a quick show of hands, who here brushes their teeth? Yeah. Who here uses an electric toothbrush? Okay, and who here loves that gunk on the bottom? Oh, there's always one. Well, anyway, Artbrush gives a really great performance, has a beautiful design with features that people like, like a 40-day battery, an aluminium body, a magnetic mirrorment so you don't get the gunk, a travel case, a UV light, and that's some of the reasons why we now have 13 ,000 reviews at a 4.7 rating on Trustpilot, and one of the reasons why we're the seventh fastest growing company in the UK and expanding quickly abroad.

4:06panel of entrepreneurs:So I look forward to answering your questions.

4:08Jeannette:Amazing. Over to you, Claire. Thanks, everyone. Hello, everyone. I'm Claire Warner. Keep still. Sorry, keep doing me. Hang on. Always one, isn't there? There's always one. Thank you. Hello, everyone. I'm Claire Warner. I'm co-founder of Acorn Imperatives, which is the sister brand to Seedlip, which revolutionized the way we drink. So who here drinks? Who here loves to drink alcohol? Who here would sometimes like to not drink when they're drinking? Yeah, okay, so hello. So we kind of kicked off the non-alcoholic revolution about 10 years ago and Seedlip and Acorn were acquired by Diageo in 2020.

4:51Jeannette:And so for the last five years we've been kind of really working very hard to ensure that you've got delicious, available, yummy drinks that don't contain any alcohol. So happy to answer any questions that you might have about drinking, but maybe not if you're drinking too much. That's for somebody else perhaps to tackle, not me. Yeah, can you hear? Oh, perfect. So I'm Laura, the founder of Monk, and our mission is to be the most transformative two minutes of your day, and we do that through cold exposure. So is anyone here a fan of ice baths? A couple. Okay, normally you really over index with founders.

5:26Jeannette:We're the weird people that you know prepared to do hard things But anyway, we make beautiful tools for uncomfortable growth Wonderful, can you hear me? Oh wonderful. See only one you're okay. My name is Melissa Snover I'm the CEO and founder at remedy health. We are a Birmingham based technology developer That's building additive and advanced manufacturing Technology that we use to personalize both preventative and curative health our flagship brand is nourished started as a D2C concept, the world's first personalized gummy vitamin, and it's now launched in close to 40 ,000 stores across the globe in retail and pharmacy.

6:05Jeannette:Amazing. So what a great panel we've got, ladies and gentlemen. Should we give them all a round of applause for their intros? I think we should. Okay, so let's get stuck into this. So I really want to start off around scaling up, and what has been the sort of one big secret or the big ingredients that's made the difference for you in terms of going from starting to scaling. So Claire, I'm going to come to you first, if that's all right. Yeah, thank you. I think, look, when Seedlip was launched in 2015, it was introduced to a consumer that didn't yet understand how to drink when we're not drinking.

6:44Jeannette:And so we introduced Seedlip and then a few years later Acorn. and I think the secret for us was to really clarify the message around what to drink when you're not drinking and that was quite a functional message. It's kind of, you know, we all understand that alcohol is fantastic, it's very social but perhaps we would enjoy other ways to consume delicious drinks. So the what to drink when you're not drinking message was very clear, very targeted but then for Acorn we took that into a much more celebratory space So it was much more about what to drink when you're enjoying food, how to spritz with us, how to be social, as well as being moderate.

7:25Jeannette:So for us, it was about being very laser-focused on the issue, on the challenge, and then addressing that challenge with some delicious drinks. Wonderful. That's great. Laura, what has been your secret to success in scaling up? Do you know what? There hasn't been one single thing. I think for us, we've made a lot of strategic bets, and it's just those layering up. But also, we're not at a point where I would say we've really fully scaled. We only fully launched at the beginning of this year. And I think one of the things we realize is you have to have the right product. And our first generation one product wasn't suitable to scale.

8:00Jeannette:We're working on Gen 2, and I think that is going to be the biggest unlock for us. I actually listened to this podcast, which was like three years of therapy. It was the episode with Will Ahmed, the founder of Whoop, on how I built this. And he was talking about hardware, particularly connected hardware. And he was saying, you know, so many founders think generation one, you're going to sell 100 ,000 units. And actually, that's the wrong goal. The point of your Gen 1 is just buy you time to learn about the market, get the product right for Gen 2. And that's kind of where we are at the moment. Although we are, you know, national, we're in, we're throughout Europe in a few countries, but again, on a quite small scale.

8:36Jeannette:But with our new products, we're gearing up to go out to the Middle East later this year. So, yeah. Amazing. So watch this space. So, yeah, because scaling it means different things at different times, doesn't it? And so, Melissa, for you with Nourished, what's the sort of the one big thing that's really stood out as you've scaled the brand, would you say? Yeah, I think, you know, everyone's scale of journey will be different depending on how you have set up your business. We are a full stack manufacturer. So I think the single biggest thing that I'm glad we did and has been really crucial to our success is that we started from day one being fully compliant with the rules that we knew we would need to be compliant with if we wanted to be big.

9:18Jeannette:So I guess the theme is start as you intend to carry on. A lot of, I think, smaller businesses that are in regulated industries like food and VMS, which is what we are in, will start and they will seriously underestimate the amount of time and investment that you need to put in for compliance. And at the end of the day, if you can't be compliant and scalable, you can't grow your business past a certain point. Yeah, so it's a really interesting point there, Melissa, around putting the right foundations in in the beginning so that you can then scale up rather than having to unpick it later, which is a lot harder and probably cost you a lot more money.

9:57Jeannette:Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, great piece of advice. And Mark, for you, with Suri, I mean, you're on a very fast-track journey. What's the standout thing that's making a difference for you and starting to scale in?

10:09panel of entrepreneurs:I am just a very basic person, I think, and this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous probably compared to these much better answers, but just lots of people brush their teeth. I mean, it is a genuinely enormous market. You know, there's not many categories. You know, I think everyone here brushes their teeth. dare I say not everyone takes vitamins every day or non-alcoholic drinks or you know what I mean and so we just we're sort of lucky in that we have this absolutely enormous market the electric toothbrush portion of it is in double digit growth so you've kind of got this organic momentum and then just when you look at the market dynamics there's also really only two players who've got an 80 % market share and so you know we don't have to have a huge market share in the market to have a sizable business.

10:56panel of entrepreneurs:You take a 10 % share of a$13 billion category, you can build a sizable business. So that's kind of the core. But then absolutely the scalable systems. From day one we knew that given the size of the business, if we're going to build this so that everyone in the world can buy one of our products, what does that look like from a systems perspective, from a compliance perspective, from a scaling operations, finance, team, everything. And so we had some experience in building and selling companies before this. And so I think we basically made a lot of errors and continue every day to make errors.

11:34panel of entrepreneurs:And it's sort of through those very painful moments that you learn how not to do things. Fortunately, we've got some great partners as well. There's Troy, if you put your hand up, coming here to support us. you know, iFulfillment are our 3PL and you know, when I remember going down and they didn't want to necessarily work with us to begin with because we just had an idea, we hadn't sold a single product but fortunately you know, given that they were, you know, a decent sized 3PL they took a risk on us and you know, from day one I think actually sold out like immediately and they went from zero sales to 5 ,000 units in the first week.

12:13panel of entrepreneurs:And so fortunately, we've had a good partner who's been able to scale with us.

12:17Jeannette:And we're going to talk about the power of relationships and how important that has been in all of our business journeys over time. So good shout out to Troy over there. Well done.

12:26panel of entrepreneurs:You can tell you a thing or two about relationships as well.

12:29Jeannette:What type? No, we'll come to you later, Troy. That's off the stage conversation. But before we continue, you, I want to speak directly to those of you who are listening and thinking, I know I'm capable of more, but I need structure. I need some help. Because here's what I've actually learned after, gosh, more than three decades in business. You know, ambition without clarity creates frustration and motivation without structure. It really does fade very, very fast. So that's exactly why we creative Rise Academy. And Rise Academy is not theory. It isn't fluffy motivation, although you will be motivated.

13:16Jeannette:And it certainly isn't another online course that you never finish. It's actually a fully structured growth environment for ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders and founders who absolutely are ready to do all of these things, sharpen their strategy, elevate their leadership, increase revenue with intention, and build businesses that actually support the life that they want. And inside Rise Academy, we focus on the foundations most people skip, leading yourself, leading your teams, and leading the business. It's about clarity, standards, decision making, commercial intelligence, and execution. Because scaling, it really isn't about doing more.

14:01Jeannette:It's actually about doing the right things and doing the things right consistently. So if you're serious about stepping up into your next level of your leadership, your business life, you know, and not just consuming content, but actually implementing it, then Rise Academy was absolutely built for you. So you can find all the details on our website, go to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. And now, let's get back to the show. Mark, you mentioned about that, you know, this isn't the first business that you've been in. Everyone here on the stage had live prior to their existing business today. And I think sometimes we forget how transferable our skills are, actually, from our previous sort of experiences, whether it it was in corporate, whether it was with other startups.

14:55Jeannette:So for you, with your background, what have been the things from your earlier career that you kind of brought into Surrey that have really helped you in terms of transferable skills from life pre-Surrey, if you like?

15:11panel of entrepreneurs:So interesting, you know, because definitely there's things I brought from business. But actually, like a key message I'd say to anyone is like, there's also a lot of lessons from outside of business. Like, I mean, God, if you want to be humble, try looking after two children on your own who are under the age of six. You know, I learned, you know, a lot about, you know, sleep deprivation, extreme stress, anger, emotional issues, just from, you know, this morning. But actually, like, an example who, you know, in my life is my mother was a stay-at-home mother, and then she became a marriage counsellor for Relate, which is a charity, and she spent 20 years working for not for money.

15:57panel of entrepreneurs:And through that, she kind of learned, you know, about asking me interesting questions. You know, if someone would act in a certain way, she'd say, oh, why do you think they did that? And I'd be like, I don't know, because they're a dick. But she'd say, well, you know, what's about their day? What's happening? And it's sort of just those questions got me to think in a slightly different way. You know, like, oh, maybe there's another reason. or I wonder why or like actually how can I respond differently how can I adapt my response and then I think she then went on to work in business and was very successful but I think my point is it doesn't matter if you don't come from a big company background if you haven't worked before I think you know the fact that you know my mother can do it you know from the age of 40 having never worked before or you know I really just think anyone can be an entrepreneur

16:40Jeannette:Yeah, and great example of a role model actually there and those important questions of start with why. Simon Sinek, start with why. Why do you exist? What's the purpose of your business? So yeah, some great advice there. And Claire, for you, you've been on a journey as well over the years. Anything that you carried from your sort of earlier professional life into the businesses and where you are today actually within that Diageo world, shall we say? Yeah, so I spent, so I studied law, and then I didn't want to be a lawyer, so I became a bartender instead, which still upsets my father today. That was 25 years ago.

17:27Jeannette:And I became a bartender because I just thought I'd stay in hospitality until I figure out what I'm going to do. And that's how many people get into hospitality, which is fundamentally an industry built on relationships. and from there I then joined LVMH and I spent 15 years at LVMH so very much in the business of luxury spirits, luxury brands and we were instilled with an entrepreneurial spirit so that was how we did business to be imaginative, to be innovative, to work with smaller budgets to think about how you can take legacy brands and interpret them for generations of new consumers So I was already sort of taught how to be entrepreneurial, but with brands that already had a legacy.

18:16Jeannette:And so when I wanted to create my own brand, I assumed wrongly that whatever we created would automatically be attracted to a consumer because that's the way that Dom Perignon works or Crude works or Veve Clico works. You know, from a luxury brand perspective, you're already ahead of what the consumer is looking for. But when you're creating something in the non-out space, in a category that's nascent and actually probably really didn't even exist, the humble moment for me was whatever we created needed to really meet the consumer's need. That perhaps they weren't aware that they needed, but still needed to kind of tap into some emotional need around wanting to feel part of the party, feel part of the social engagement.

19:05Jeannette:And so the first iteration of Acorn we created and we shared it with our bartender friends. And they were like, this is delicious. And then we shared it with consumers and they said, this tastes awful. And I don't know if everyone remembers during COVID when we were all drinking Negronis. When was the first time you had a Negroni? Does anybody remember? And who here has had a Negroni? What was your thought the first time you had a Negroni? It's disgusting. Why am I drinking this? It tastes like medicine. And that's the first feedback we got from Acorn. It's so bitter. Oh, my God, how do I drink this?

19:42Jeannette:And we had to do a big job of education, big job of kind of building confidence around why Acorn was relevant. And I think that, for me, was a long learning journey. Don't assume that you have all the answers. The answers are really coming back from what the consumer's expectation of what you're creating for them and being flexible with that. From a luxury perspective, there's less flexibility. From a new consumer brand perspective, you have to be much more flexible and reactive. So that's the journey I'm still going on, I think. Yeah, amazing. So we're going to talk about brand and products and distribution in a little bit more detail.

20:20Jeannette:But for you, Laura, what sort of stood out for you in terms of your lessons from early business to the business you're in now with Monk? I think probably two things that really came from like previous career one of those being branding and marketing like back when I had like a real career I was working in advertising for agencies like Saatchi and just building brands was something I loved and that was so important for Monk because we were in product development for three years which was never the intention it just happened so we're pre-selling this product that essentially doesn't exist and you know people don't really buy products but they buy the brand they buy the story and everything and also So it's interesting with a product like an ice bath because very few people actually enjoy using it.

21:04Jeannette:You know, if you're saying to someone, hey, do you want to use this product? You're going to hate it. Every cell in your body is screaming at you to get out. So we're not selling that, but we're selling like the transformation that comes with cold water therapy. So the storytelling was such a cool part of it. And then the second thing, it sounds so cliche, but it's network. I think in the two previous businesses I had, I spent a lot of time and effort really building up network. and you know even if you can always buy access to them like Mark and I actually met on an island in Croatia as part of this um this group called Baby Bathwater and they used to hire out this whole island it was just like what one two hundred founders just partying for three days but like it's the connections you just get from that you know there are there's another one in London I joined called Dorian which again was brilliant met loads of my investors there uh but yeah I'd say branding and network were two big factors yeah amazing and Melissa from your point of view you You obviously have multiple businesses.

22:00Jeannette:You've started, exited, started again. Absolutely. Yeah, I think my only employed job in my life was being a waitress, which I loved, by the way, when I was in university. I started my first company when I was still in my MBA. And I have had four very different businesses, actually. The first one was in finance. that was extremely good as was my university education in accounting and finance if you can't understand your numbers doesn't matter how good your idea is unfortunately that is the facts you will not be able to make it and so many great ideas fail because the entrepreneur does not understand the cost to get to market or the customers propensity to spend so that's something that is foundational for any business, I think.