40 Minute Mentor – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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.

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 

Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Thomas Plantenga, the CEO of Vinted - Europe’s largest secondhand marketplace and Lithuania’s first-ever unicorn. 

What started as a small Lithuanian startup in 2008 has evolved into a fast-growth business with millions of users, 2,000+ employees and a €5 billion valuation. 

In today’s conversation, Thomas shares the ins and outs of his journey with Vinted, how it became such a global success, the biggest leadership lessons he learnt along the way and what’s next for the business with the launch of Vinted Ventures. 

If you’re a founder or operator navigating scaleup challenges, this episode is a masterclass in turnaround strategy, culture building and leading with humility. 

📚Episode Chapters:

➡️ Early years & the call that changed everything  [07:30]

➡️ Realising Vinted was in trouble [16:00] 

➡️ Spotting the first signs of growth [20:00] 

➡️ The hardest leadership lessons [23:00] 

➡️ The art of hiring at scale & psychological safety [27:00] 

➡️ Launching Vinted Ventures [36:40] 

🔍 Find out more: 

✨ Connect with Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-p-19651414/?originalSubdomain=lt 

✨ More about Vinted: https://www.vinted.co.uk/ 

⭐ 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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review at https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm

“People often say to me, sport is different from business, it's not. Business is about delivering results through people.” 
 

In our first episode of our 40 Minute Mentor Replay series, we’re re-visiting our episode with the brilliant Sir Clive Woodward, World Cup winning England Rugby coach and former Director of Sport for the London 2012 Olympics. 

After spending his childhood with big dreams of becoming a professional footballer, it was playing rugby at his local club as a kid that started Sir Clive down the path to becoming the first England Coach to lift the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

In today’s episode, you’ll discover: 

➡️ Sir Clive’s first ever job at Xerox [02:20]

➡️ The power of failures and setbacks [04:13]

➡️ The realities of being the first full time professional Rugby coach [05:34]

➡️ Delivering results through people, in business and in sport [07:03]

➡️ The moment that trumped England's World Cup win, at a pub in New Zealand [11:23]

➡️ Great teams are made of great individuals - the magic formula [14:29]

➡️ Managing a range of personalities when building team culture [16:51]

➡️ Ensuring people in your team feel safe to speak their mind [20:23]

➡️ CTUP - the framework needed for winning and handling pressure [22:29]

➡️ How Clive uses 3D learning to build high performing teams [26:29]

➡️ The simple but powerful habits to build a healthy lifestyle [29:32]

➡️ Staying hungry for learning and following what you love [33:15]

➡️ A leadership lesson: The best ideas come from the team [36:34]

➡️ The importance of creative abrasion [38:13]

➡️ Bringing successful people into a team, shining a light on mentorship [40:03]

➡️ Sir Clive’s legacy: Making it to the top, and being inclusive [43:16]

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Sir Clive: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirclivewoodward/
➡️ Find out more about his Apex2100 Ski Academy: https://www.apex2100.org/

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm

That's a wrap on Series 10! And what a 12 weeks it has been. 

We have been joined by some incredible Founders and leaders, who have been refreshingly vulnerable, sharing the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journeys, with lots of wisdom and mentorship shared along the way. 

From building the Uber of volunteering, to changing the world with ethical AI, we have covered SO much in our tenth series and hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. 

Thank you so much for all your support along the way - today your host, James Mitra, reflects on this latest series and what we have coming up next... 

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm

“Every business that I’ve founded has been on the brink of disaster, and one of the big lessons is that the business you started is never the business you end up with.”

And just like that, we have made it to the final episode of Series 10 of 40 Minute Mentor.

For our series finale, we’re joined by multi-exit Founder, Investor, board advisor and author - the brilliant Debbie Wosskow OBE. 

We cover a range of topics with Debbie, including her whirlwind journey as an entrepreneur - building and exiting incredible businesses, including PR and marketing consultancy Mantra (sold in 2007), Love Home Swap (sold in 2017) and AllBright (exit in 2022). 

All the way to today and her latest ventures - WJV LLP, a boutique investment and strategic innovation firm, championing diversity, wellness and economic empowerment, and The Better Menopause, empowering women’s performance at midlife through science-backed products. 

Debbie shares some truly candid insights from her journey as a Founder, including: 

➡️ Growing up in an entrepreneurial family [04:20]

➡️ Early beginnings selling scrunchies [06:30] 

➡️ The power of being a “simple” entrepreneur and controlling margins [07:07]

➡️ Bringing business & entrepreneurship into schools [08:33]

➡️ A brief stint in management consulting & building her first business at 25 [11:36]

➡️ How a Christmas film inspired the start of Love Home Swap [13:37]

➡️ Serendipity and combining purpose with profit [15:35]

➡️ Reflections on having fun, making money and not working with ar$eholes [17:17]

➡️ Finding the resilience to keep getting back into the Founder seat [19:55]

➡️ Making the shift from operational CEO to board advisor [21:34]

➡️ Self-doubt, exhaustion, relationship strains: Founder realities [22:55]

➡️ Finding comfort in a routine when things are falling apart [26:39]

➡️ Building a network for women, by women - the early days and growth of AllBright [29:00]

➡️ Building WJV LLP and going beyond angel investing [33:20]

➡️ Putting women’s health top of the agenda & building The Better Menopause [36:54]

➡️ Driving awareness at pace and supporting women through the menopause [40:22]

➡️ Realities of building a business to exit & the conflicting emotions you’re left with as a Founder  [41:45]

➡️ Audience question: Being remembered for the future of female entrepreneurs [46:45]
 

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Debbie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiewosskowobe/
➡️ Find out more about WJV LLP: https://www.wjv-llp.com/about-us
➡️ Find out more about The Better Menopause: https://thebettermenopause.com/

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm

“Paying people well and giving them lunches when they come to the office can be really good… but the best people are motivated by their growth and development.”

For the final Monday episode of Series 10, we're joined by Steve Coulson, Founder and CEO of Kitt - the business that creates and manages custom HQs for the world’s most vibrant brands. 

Before Kitt, Steve built B2B parking platform and B2C app, JustPark, to 50,000+ locations and 5m+ drivers. 

Today, we discuss Steve’s entrepreneurial journey and the lessons learned along the way, including: 

➡️  From investment banking to Startup life [1:12]

➡️  Entrepreneurial environment & his upside down career [04:35]

➡️  Leaving JustPark and Kitt’s origin story [07:50]

➡️  The deafening silence of entrepreneurship [11:12]

➡️  From serving startups to the biggest brands in the world [13:49] 

➡️  Building momentum & early lessons learned [14:55] 

➡️  Navigating the pandemic and finding silver linings [18:44]

➡️  The post-pandemic rush and revisiting fundraising [22:52]

➡️  Unpacking the future of the office [25:30]

➡️  Creating an amazing space for your team & culture [28:52] 

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-coulson-1521a743/

➡️ Find out more about Kitt: https://www.kittoffices.com/en/

➡️ Hear more from Kitt’s Co-Founder & COO, Lucy: https://jbmc.co.uk/insights/coo-secrets/coo-secrets-with-lucy-minton-co-founder-coo-at-kitt/

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on  https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm

“We live on an ocean planet, and we have this strange relationship where we assume it’s all been discovered, but it actually hasn’t…” 

For the penultimate week of this Series of 40 Minute Mentor, we’re joined by Steve Etherton, President EMEA of DEEP - an international research and development organisation who aim to become the NASA of the ocean. 

Having placed Steve Etherton with DEEP, when they were still in stealth mode, we’re so excited to finally be able to welcome him to the podcast and find out about DEEP’s mission to radically advance how humankind access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. 

Before joining DEEP, Steve spent 12 years in the British Army and a decade growing one of Africa’s fastest growing FinTechs. 

Tune in to discover:

➡️  Finding the balance between entrepreneurship and the rest of life [03:35] 

➡️  Starting his career in the Military & leadership lessons [06:51] 

➡️  Transitioning out of the Army [08:02] 

➡️  How Africa’s rocketship FinTech began and went on to raise $90 million [09:25] 

➡️  Figuring out what type of COO you want to be [10:59] 

➡️  DEEP’s mission to make humans aquatic [13:24] 

➡️  Coming out of stealth mode & learnings from early build [18:04] 

➡️  Tackling the climate crisis [21:10] 

➡️  Developing underwater habitats [24:46] 

➡️  Being driven, fearless and curious: an insight into DEEP’s culture & hiring practices [26:49] 

➡️  Evolution of leadership styles [30:24] 

➡️  Audience question: Understanding the oceans, a note for underwater living sceptics [32:48] 

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-etherton-91190a24/

➡️ Find out more about DEEP: https://www.deep.com/

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm
 

“I want to create my own space. I don't want to have to fit into someone else's whitewashed marketing… I want to create fashion that shows people like me.” 

In this week’s 40 Minute Mentor takeover, Samuel Tholley. Founder of Hidden Pages, is joined by Rosette Ale, Founder of Revival - a sustainable fashion label redesigning discarded clothes into contemporary designs for a cleaner and cooler planet. 

Samuel and Rosette know each other from university and have a really insightful and refreshing conversation in today’s episode, covering the following topics: 

➡️ The start of Revival and the mind of a young entrepreneur  [01:31]

➡️ Challenges of entering the fashion world [04:49]

➡️ Mentorship, crowdfunding and being bold [07:34]

➡️ Fostering a good mentor mentee relationship [12:06]

➡️ The importance of representation and breaking down barriers [15:02]

➡️ Diversifying the fashion industry [17:59]

➡️ Shifting diversity from a tick box exercise [19:52]

➡️ Accessibility to sustainability & mentality shifts [21:42]

➡️ Doing your part towards living more sustainably and saving the planet [25:46]

➡️ Where to follow Revival & Rosette’s journey [31:38]

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-tholley-758135105/ 
➡️ Connect with Rosette: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosette-ale/

➡️ Find out more about Hidden Pages: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hidden-pages/ and 

https://www.instagram.com/_hiddenpages/?hl=en

➡️ Find out more about Revival: https://www.revivalldn.com/

PLUS! If you want to hear more from Samuel and Hidden Pages, listen to his episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_-blY_kUQ

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm 

“You’ll make mistakes but that doesn’t matter - it’s all about speed and growth, but at some point you’ll have to go and clean up the room.” 

Today’s 40 Minute Mentor is Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder & CEO of BlaBlaCar - the world’s leading community-based travel app enabling 26 million active members a year to share a ride in 21 countries.

BlaBlaCar’s environmentally and human-friendly mobility network saves 1.6M tons of CO2 and enables 120M human connections every year.

On top of leading BlaBlaCar, Nicolas is also an investor in many mission-driven brands, such as Ankorstore, Home Exchange and Dust, to name a few, so there is plenty to unpack in today's episode, including: 

➡️ Becoming a father and closing a $10 million fundraising round [4:41] 
➡️ Missed opportunities and keeping up with competition [06:42] 
➡️ Bringing entrepreneurship into schools [09:55] 
➡️ From Physics to VC and Entrepreneurship [12:32] 
➡️ Rebuilding after mass layoffs [14:55] 
➡️ The main lesson from the ups and downs of startup life [17:03]
➡️ Advert: More about Kitt [25:29] 
➡️ The origin and evolution of BlaBlaCar [26:39] 
➡️ The shift in the sharing economy and building the ‘Airbnb for cars’ [29:00] 
➡️ Recognising and surviving different phases of the business [32:35] 
➡️ The danger in doing too many things, a turning point for BlaBlaCar [34:47] 
➡️ Becoming a multi-model platform, expanding the carpool idea [36:46] 
➡️ Navigating Covid without layoffs [37:39] 
➡️ Reshaping and evolving your company culture [40:30] 
➡️ ️Questioning company values and when they’re more than just a word on a wall [42:26] 
➡️ Creating a culture of mentorship [43:50] 
➡️ Audience question: The future of BlaBlaCar [46:54]

⛳ Helpful links:

➡️ Connect with Nicolas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolasbrusson/

➡️ Find out more about BlaBlaCar: https://www.blablacar.co.uk/

➡️ More about our sponsors, Kitt: https://www.kittoffices.com/en/
 

⭐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 the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review on https://ratethispodcast.com/40mm