Metadata
- Author: Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal
- Full Title: E1 Delivering Pizzas to Managing a Billion Dollar Business | Ben Francis Gymshark CEO
- Category:
- URL: https://www.airr.io/episode/615147f00de4c0000f428717
Highlights
Speaker 0: sort of like I dropped out of uni like the week before. Um you know, I was, I was starting to really dig into. I felt like I was then taken, albeit not massive. I didn’t feel like massive financial risk, albeit you know, the stand cost everything that we had to fly the Youtubers over everything we had, we’d we’ve risked everything. We had several times. Um but it was, you know, I just felt really excited about it and the thing that we did well which I’m really proud of is we didn’t rest at that point, we did one great event. So then the next year we did to the next year we did five and we just went and went and went and we kept spending everything we had on punts that we thought might come off. But stuff that got told us was the right thing to do. Speaker 1: So between (Time 0:27:48)
Speaker 1: of questions and we kind of on that white board over there, just like drafted out this structure, which just made so much sense and brought so much clarity. Yeah, I was like, I can’t believe how much clarity I’ve now got in my mind from just drawing this diagram on the board, Speaker 0: so it makes such a difference, but you’ll find like when you work with genuinely brilliant people like that, they revolutionized like teams, businesses, brands, everything like so many people talk about all the different nuts and bolts of businesses and brands, but ultimately it’s literally just people, it comes down to people and it’s so important that you understand how to work with people and you know, work with great people. I am similarly, I was chatting to someone the other week and I was talking about that he was, he worked with one of the most successful business people have sort of like my parents generation and I just said, (Time 0:49:07)
Speaker 0: they revolutionized like teams, businesses, brands, everything like so many people talk about all the different nuts and bolts of businesses and brands, but ultimately it’s literally just people, it comes down to people and it’s so important that you understand how to work with people and you know, work with great people. I am similarly, I was chatting to someone the other week and I was talking about that he was, he worked with one of the most successful business people have sort of like my parents generation and I just said, all right, what do they do it in a sentence? Like cut all the bullshit. So I think one sentence, what do they do really well? And they said they attracted great people and then left them alone and I just thought that was so cool and I think, you know, in its most simplistic form, that’s what any great entrepreneurial business person does and they do it in different (Time 0:49:25)
Speaker 0: you need to be, he genuinely thought I was the right person and incompetent enough to do the role, but I needed to really prove it. Um and the alternative was to hire someone else. Now, fortunately I got to the level of being able to do the role. So two years of making sure I could speak publicly, talk to camera, understand a profit and loss properly understand, you know, long term strategic decisions and working with teams and all that sort of stuff, which again, going to the different chiefs roles that I’ve done, it gave me incredible grounding across the business, which really helps. And then more recently the official transition started May 1st and it completes august 1st and we’re, we’re what july now, middle of july. So I’m about two or three weeks away from like officially completing that handover, Speaker 1: so two years worth of kind of like training to be the (Time 0:52:44)
Speaker 0: I need to do X, y and z and then I would, I wouldn’t, I’ve never been good at just like Battering something for like 12 hours straight. I would have to do is just a little thing every single day and then having that goal in my head, like the best example I can give was I want to be Ceo, I’m terrible at public speaking, so I need to be, I need to get that Republic speakers, like one of my things was literally public speaking and then I was sort of navigate through life and as I’m an event, whatever on the tube, chatting to people as you go, what do you do for a living? I spoke to someone and they’re like, oh, I’m a public speaking coach and normally I’d be like, if I didn’t have the goal, it would be nice to have a lovely day, see you soon. But because I had this goal and it was in my list, I’m like, oh my God, I’d love to be great public speaking, Can I take your number? Can we chat some more? Can I learn from you? So this is why I think it’s so important to have that goal because then I think it helps yourself (Time 1:08:38)
Speaker 1: in that when you manifest, when you, when you have a goal, like I want to become the Ceo you start seeing the opportunities that you want to seen. Speaker 0: Otherwise you see what you look for. Don’t you like the public Speaker 1: speaking thing or you know, when I decided I wanted to buy a Tesla, suddenly I started seeing Tesla’s everyone everywhere because you just have that thing and so your brain turns onto the various options here. So I think that’s really Speaker 0: cool. Honestly, I’m a massive, massive advocate for that. I think just whatever it is just set a name and the thing is that it’s been really powerful for me is I haven’t gone, I want to be a ceo, so I’m gonna do these massive things like set the bar so low and it’s only now looking back I realized everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I’ve set the bar low so jim sharp was started because I wanted to be involved in fitness. The website was built because I wanted the website that would transact, I didn’t (Time 1:10:24)
Speaker 1: and talking points and then I would look through them with Angus and we would give them the green light. But like really like that one, don’t really like this one. Here’s some feedback about that one and they would work on the video idea the concept for the next week. And the following monday, we’d have like the full video basically ready. And then I would kind of go through it to be like, okay, if I were actually filming this based on these points, you know, I’d add a story about my life over there, harry potter reference over there, we’ll put a story from medicine over there and then the video is ready to film so that when it comes to thursday we can bang bang film for videos Speaker 0: in a day. So when you say bang bang bang, are you talking, would they would, what would you, what would it look like to you? So someone else has come up with an idea you have in a script, you have in key messages that you just having a title, what does that? Yeah, Speaker 1: so title thumbnail and talking points. So bullet points, I don’t like reading from a script. It (Time 1:26:14)
Speaker 1: that one and they would work on the video idea the concept for the next week. And the following monday, we’d have like the full video basically ready. And then I would kind of go through it to be like, okay, if I were actually filming this based on these points, you know, I’d add a story about my life over there, harry potter reference over there, we’ll put a story from medicine over there and then the video is ready to film so that when it comes to thursday we can bang bang film for videos Speaker 0: in a day. So when you say bang bang bang, are you talking, would they would, what would you, what would it look like to you? So someone else has come up with an idea you have in a script, you have in key messages that you just having a title, what does that? Yeah, Speaker 1: so title thumbnail and talking points. So bullet points, I don’t like reading from a script. It feels very authentic and a Speaker 0: nightmare. Impossible. So Speaker 1: I just like bullet points and the team like overtime, (Time 1:26:22)
Speaker 0: a load of different angles in a low different ways. And it’s exactly the way that we and I try and solve problems that jim shakin in life. So I found that book massively inspiring. And then moving around Youtube, I love your channel. You introduced me to notion notion life like genuinely life changing. We I mean we’ve run almost everything on notion now. Don’t wait from a creative point in the entire the entire business by the way, not just as a person. I run. I think you you coined it like a life. Os I have my life O. S. I have a professional life. Different jim shark stuff. Everything from the notion. So that was a life changing to thank you for that. You’re very welcome. Yeah, that’s it. I just all around the internet Jordan Peterson, I love jane Peterson, a massive, massive fan of him. I think he’s brilliant. He’s really helped me as well. (Time 1:32:57)
Speaker 0: jane Peterson, a massive, massive fan of him. I think he’s brilliant. He’s really helped me as well. Speaker 1: I’d love to check out your notion. Set up behind Speaker 0: scenes. That’s one of the things that as we’re driving out. Yeah, it’s Speaker 1: really cool. That Speaker 0: would be, it would be pretty Speaker 1: sick. Um Cool. And any sort of, let’s say someone’s watching this and they’re thinking they’re they want to get started being an entrepreneur. Maybe they’re sort of Late teens, early 20s haven’t really started anything yet, but really inspired by you and your journey. Any kind of Speaker 0: advice you give? Yeah, I mean it’s fairly standard, right? You have to do what you love because otherwise you’ll end up, you’ll end up giving up. I’m a firm believer now that there’s no niche too small, especially with the internet being so vast, I always think, and it sounds stupid saying it now, if I’d have said (Time 1:33:37)
Speaker 0: just think there’s no need to small. So I think whatever it is double down on it and just genuinely give it a go. Like, Jim Sharp was the seventh business website product that I’ve made and the other six failed miserably now. Unfortunately, that’s not a sexy story. So no one talks about the failed apps, the failed websites, they only talk about the one that did well and it’s a consistent theme on everyone else that successful that I’ve met. They failed miserably so many times and they’ve been endlessly optimistic about it and they’ve just gone again and again and again. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that’s one of the things that, like, I, I see this a lot with people starting YouTube channels where there’s this sense of, I have to get it right first time. Yeah. And if you look at the stats, like the average YouTube channel takes 152 videos to get to 1000 subscribers. I get messages from people being like, you know, like (Time 1:34:37)