Business Without Bullsh-t

Andra Nicolau gives us an all-round breakdown of what decentralised finance is. Why (and why not) to get involved in it. And what she envisages as the future of blockchain technology.

Andra is Head of Business Development and Strategy at Origin Protocol powering NFT ecosystems providing creators with branded storefronts and secondary marketplaces.

Andra’s prior positions have included Head of Growth at 1inch where she raised over $250M and helped the project become the second fastest growing DeFi network. She also spent over 8 years in Silicon Valley and studied Economics at UC Berkeley.

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Mark tells us how he navigated himself through the toughest periods of his life and how they influenced him to create the meaningful work life balance he enjoys today.

From working in finance to losing his job, dealing with family illness to then start his own consultancy, go back to university at 50 and even become a pro-cyclist (riding the equivalent of Tour de France!) 

This week's BWB Extra gets to know the highs and lows of Mark Pittacco's life story a little better. 

Mark’s recommendations:

Thinking. Fast & Slow - Daniel Kahneman (book)

Led Zeppelin (music)

Marvellous (film)

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Mark Pittaccio has spoken extensively on the psychology of money, on wellbeing and happiness and on the dangers of a failed retirement. Our chat with him explains why it's important to consider more than just the numbers when making financial decisions, both personally and professionally, by applying Behavioural Economics and financial psychology.

Be it retirement plans or M&As, 'what's the money for?' is just as important question to ask as 'how much money do you want to make?'

Mark is a Behavioural Economist and Psychologist at Quilter, a wealth management firm where he helps financial advisors give better client advice through his practice.

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BWB Extra this week says hello to Robin Butler, Head of Impact at Sturgeon Capital who we get to know a little better both personally and professionally. Robin tell us about how he came to be working in emerging markets, the challenges he faces around bridging the gap between the perception and reality of countries that Sturgeon Capital are investing in, as well as hearing about his charity work with Horatio's Garden who build bespoke gardens for spinal injury units .. all that plus lots more.

Robin's Recommendation:

Acquired Podcast: LVMH - The Complete History and Strategy

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Our chat with Robin Butler, Partner and Head of Impact at Sturgeon Capital is an all-round 101 on the reality of investing in emerging markets. We hear Robin's thoughts on a range of topics including why Sturgeon Capital are focusing on emerging markets, the potential upside on investments, advice on how to structure a company in an emerging market and best practice to avoid local corruption entanglement.

Sturgeon Capital is a London-based VC investing in frontier and emerging market startups that are solving the key problems affecting the day to day lives of businesses and consumers. And Robin is at the helm of it all.

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In the BWB Extra hot seat this week is Darren Webber UK & Europe CEO of TTC who talks about everything from why he thinks data centres are a huge factor in climate change, his passion for classic Minis and why his advice to his younger self would be to "spend less time with dickheads" .. which Andy heard as "spend less time with the kids" .. it'll all make sense when you hear it. Major LOLs.

Darren's recommendation:

Leadership Decanted podcast - Paul Garcia & KG Butler

BWB Extra where we take it down a notch and get to know our guests a little better both personally and professionally by asking them our staple list of BWB questions.

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Darren Webber, CEO of TTC joins us to explain what he means by that and why there’s a need for software companies whose sole purpose is to test software made by other companies. He also shares his career journey from picking garlic to entering the C-Suite and tells us why he thinks lazy "desk hugging" heads in big organisations are utter bullshit.

TTC is a global IT services and consulting firm based in New Zealand that helps big organisations undergo digital transformation as a competitive advantage.

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On this week’s BWB Extra where we get to know Steve Keen a little better. Steve's a Professor of Economics, an Author and winner of the Revere Award from the Real World Economics Review for being the economist “who first anticipated and gave public warning of the Global Financial Collapse in 2008, and whose work is most likely to prevent another one in the future.”

If you fancy hearing about why Steve is hell bent on eliminating economics before it eliminates society, then you're in the right place.

Steve’s Recommendations:

The New Economics: A Manifesto - Steve Keen

Dynamic Economic Systems - John M. Blatt

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Steve Keen wants to "eliminate economics before it eliminates society". He talks to us about how mainstream economics is directly linked to climate change. We also chat about the current state of UK politics and society, and why Steve thinks 'stockholder value' is utter bullshit. (that’s shareholder value to us Brits).

A Professor of Economics and Author - his latest book being 'The New Economics’ Steve was the winner of the Revere Award from the Real World Economics Review for being the economist “who first anticipated and gave public warning of the Global Financial Collapse in 2008, and whose work is most likely to prevent another one in the future.”

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On this week's BWB Extra we get to know Ciaran Burke a little better. Ciaran is the co-founder of Swoop, a platform which helps small businesses secure finance without having to go grovelling to banks. We hear about how they managed to raise a whopping £5 million fund for the company, plus Swoop's action plan for going fully global .. all that plus more

Ciaran’s Recommendations:

Bank of Dave (film)

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This week’s episode is essential listening for small business owners looking for ways to raise capital without having to grovel to HSBC.

We chat to Ciaran Burke, COO & Co-Founder of Swoop, a financing platform which helps small businesses secure finance.

We talk about the range of alternative financing options available to SMEs in the UK outside of traditional bank lending including the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the government-backed Startup Loan scheme. Ciaran also explains how Swoop's credit eligibility and financing model works, and advises on the fine art of writing grant pitches.

To date, Swoop has helped over 100,000 SMEs obtain over £1bn in financing across its businesses in the UK, Ireland, Canada, US and Australia.

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