40 Minute Mentor

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by James Lo, Co-Founder of Ethos, and Anish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, for a conversation about building the most human AI tech in a crowded market. Since their Series A just three months ago, Ethos has grown 84x, scaled to eight figures per month in revenue, and onboarded hundreds of thousands of experts joining the platform weekly. Not to mention, they’ve done all of this with a lean team of eight people. In this episode, we dig into what it actually takes to build an AI-native company from Day One, why differentiation emerges through shipping (not strategy), and the genuine strategic tension of choosing London over Silicon Valley to build. Episode Chapters: ➡️ The origin story of Ethos & why Anish decided to invest in them [04:00]  ➡️ Growing 84x in just three months [14:15]➡️ Differentiation in a crowded market [20:00]  ➡️ Mistakes Founders make when scaling fast [23:15] ➡️ London vs San Francisco [29:00]  Enjoyed this episode?Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Sujata Bhatia, former COO of Monzo and Executive in Residence at Index Ventures, for an honest conversation about what it actually takes to step into a business at its toughest moment and rebuild it from the inside. Sujata joined Monzo in 2020, when the company was burning £10 million a month, had seen its founder step back, and hadn't shipped a new product in nearly a year. Over five years, she helped take it from a loss-making challenger bank with 3 million customers to a profitable business with over 11 million.  In this episode, we dive into the real story of refounding Monzo, the momentum killers that quietly slow scaling companies down, why she believes going back into founder mode is increasingly relevant for any business navigating AI, and why setting out to hire a COO is almost always the wrong starting point. Episode Chapters:  ➡️ Sujata’s career story & why she joined Monzo [01:50]  ➡️ Defining what ‘winning’ looks like [03:00] ➡️ Going back into Founder mode  [08:00]   ➡️ Hiring, raising the bar and knowing when to move on  [18:40]  ➡️ The COO role & what makes it actually work [27:30]  Enjoyed this episode?Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, we’re joined by Joe McDonald, Co-Founder and CEO of tem., and Adam Chirkowski, Partner at Albion VC, to hear the unfiltered story of building one of Europe's fastest-growing energy companies and what it really takes to back, build and scale a mission-driven startup. Joe has spent over a decade in the energy industry and has seen first-hand how broken the infrastructure underpinning it all really is. After selling his previous startup in 2019, he’s back in the Founder seat building the fix through an AI-native energy transaction infrastructure built for the way modern businesses actually operate - from Premier League clubs and Formula 1 circuits to local cafes and independent retailers.  Adam was one of the earliest believers, spotting Joe at an online demo day and backing the team before almost anyone else would. Although ultimately a generalist investor, he has a particular focus on EnergyTech and has invested, advised, and sat on the board of companies across a broad range of sectors, including raising and deploying over £150m of funds into Renewable Energy.  Together, they share a candid and honest account of the inception moment that launched tem., the early mistakes that nearly derailed it, the philosophy behind closing a $75 million Series B in two weeks, and why Joe spends 70% of his time on culture.  Whether you're a founder, operator or investor, this episode is full of hard-won lessons on hiring, fundraising, mission, and what it actually looks like to build a generational company. Episode Chapters:  ➡️ The origin story [05:45] ➡️ Early mistakes and what Adam saw in Joe and the team [09:15]  ➡️ Fundraising lessons [17:50]  ➡️ Building a people-first company [23:00]  ➡️  What the modern company stack actually looks like [26:20]  Enjoyed this episode?Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

In this 40 Minute Mentor episode, James is joined by two leading voices in the talent ecosystem to unpack one of the biggest make-or-break factors in startup success: building high-performing teams in the AI era. Between them, Sandra Schwarzer from Index Ventures and Charles Guillemet from Lovable have worked with some of the most ambitious Founders and fastest-scaling businesses in the world.  Together, they share a candid and practical look at what hiring and team-building really looks like in 2026: How the best Founders attract exceptional talent, why speed matters more than ever, what companies get wrong when scaling, and how AI is changing the way high-performing organisations hire, operate and grow. Whether you’re a Founder, Operator, Investor or Talent Leader, this episode is packed with actionable insight on hiring, culture, performance and leadership in a fast-changing market. 📚 Episode Chapters:  ➡️ 03:50 - Lessons from Elon Musk and what exceptional Founders look for in talent ➡️ 09:30 - Building AI-native teams and why speed is now a competitive advantage ➡️ 18:15 -  How to avoid expensive hiring mistakes ➡️ 31:15 - Predictions for 2026: AI, talent strategy and the future of high-performing teams   🤝A big thank you to our episode sponsors:  To bring this conversation and event to life, we partnered with the team at Penfold - a modern workplace pension designed for today’s growing companies and their teams. While traditional pension providers often see engagement as low as 5-10%, resulting in a benefit that does almost nothing for your team’s financial wellbeing, Penfold is built to make pensions clear, intuitive, and genuinely useful, with over 80% employee engagement.  Trusted by thousands of companies including the likes of Anthropic, Airwallex, Lendable and Capital on Tap, Penfold helps employees easily consolidate old pensions, choose funds that actually fit them, and understand how today’s decisions shape their retirement.. Companies benefit from dedicated support with fewer questions and less admin.   Switching to Penfold only takes minutes, so take a look at how you can offer a pension that’s truly a benefit. Enjoyed this episode?Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Season 14 of 40 Minute Mentor has been one of our most special seasons yet, and in this short wrap-up episode, James reflects on the pocket-sized mentorship moments throughout this season and over the last 14 seasons.  In this season alone, we’ve had some incredible guests joining us, and we covered everything from Co-Founder dynamics, High Performance, the realities of hyper-growth, AI and the importance of diversity in leadership.  If you haven’t caught up on Season 14 yet, or you’re new to the podcast, make sure you dig through the archives of over 310 episodes.  In today’s episode, you’ll also find out more about what’s next for 40 Minute Mentor and how you can get even more involved and benefit from our pocket-sized mentorship  in 2026…. 🔍 Find out more:  ✨ Subscribe to our 40 Minute Mentor emails ✨ Follow JBM on LinkedIn ✨ Subscribe to the 40 Minute Mentor YouTube channel 🎧 You may also like: Alex Depledge MBE on taking a Founder’s Mind into the Government & why the UK is a great place to scale Shimona Mehta on scaling Shopify Plus to $1B & transitioning into the CEO role at F11 Murvah Iqbal on scaling one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups and disruption a billion dollar industry with Hived  Enjoyed this episode?Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.