What Does It Take To Win? – Détails, épisodes et analyse

What drives us to endure pain, to wake up before dawn, or to keep working toward our goals when progress feels painstakingly slow?

In this conversation with Alistair Brownlee and Ben Marrel, we explore the heartbeat of high performance - motivation. We'll explore how ingrained habits of hard work and embracing discomfort are not just the bedrock of athletic achievement but also entrepreneurial success.

BIOS

Ben's experience as a founder and his passion for entrepreneurship led him to co-found Breega, a pan-European founder-led VC backing tech startups from PreSeed to Series B stage.

Ben has built Breega to provide founders with the help he wished he had when he launched his own ventures. He debuted his entrepreneurial journey by launching Rugby Division, a disruptive rugbywear brand, and FiftyFor, the first financial rating platform for SMEs in Africa.

Ben began his career in M&A, working on large cross-border deals and Series D+ in Tech for Macquarie Bank in London and Sydney.

Ben is also a referenced thought leader and invited speaker on venture capital, digital transformation, emerging market investment, climate tech, the future of fintech...

Today, Ben sits at the Board and advises major tech scaleups such as Moneybox, 011h, Cuvva, GoJob to propel them to global success.

Alistair Brownlee MBE is a triathlete. He has achieved great success in his career and is the only male athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals in the individual triathlon event. He won the gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Alistair was introduced to triathlon at a young age by his uncle Simon Hearnshaw, who regularly competed in the sport. As a junior, he was a successful fell and cross country runner, coming second in the Junior English Cross Country Championships and winning the Yorkshire County title on several occasions.

The leap from a secure job to the rollercoaster world of startups might seem daunting, but it was a challenge worth taking for Sandrine and Monika. With a shared spirit of resilience, they recount the personal hurdles that sparked their entrepreneurial flames.

Sandrine unveils her transformation from finance to founder of a vintage furniture marketplace, while Monika discusses her pivot from advertising to creating an app that revolutionises mental health access. 

Navigating the startup ecosystem requires a blend of intuition and expertise. Sandrine and Monika reveal that trusting your gut isn't just about internal hunches; it's about weighing those instincts against the advice of seasoned investors and advisors.

Embrace the uncomfortable as we explore why conflict can catalyse innovation and the mindset shifts founders face as their companies scale.

BIOS

Monika is the Founder of OMA Mind, a platform for instant access to mental health support focused on the startup ecosystem. Before Oma, Monika led global brand teams at BlaBlaCar, OYO and Ankorstore, living between London, Paris and India. Back in Poland she worked with Saatchi & Saatchi and Isobar in the early days of social media.

Sandrine founded Vinterior in 2016, coding the marketplace's first version herself. Seedcamp funding in 2016 supported growth, and sales of £1m were achieved in 2017 with 500 sellers. Fast forward to 2021 and a series A funding round of £8 million was secured to further invest in the platform and make Vinterior the UK's market leader. In 2023 the platform was opened up to non-professional sellers and now has 400K listings from over 5,000 sellers, consolidating its position as largest supplier of pre-owned premium furniture and homeware in Europe. Prior to founding Vinterior, Sandrine worked in financial services - latterly 3 years in the investment team of fa family office. In her earlier career she worked in structured products at TFS and audit at Ernst & Young. Sandrine holds a masters degree in Finance from the ESSEC Business School.

What Does It Take To Win is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

In this episode we talk to Jon Schofield, British Olympian, Olympic silver and bronze medalist for Men's kayak double 200m sprint, now head of performance with Scottish Canoeing and Dan Shellard, CEO and Founder of Fiit.tv, number 1 rated on-demand fitness app, on a mission to make fitness a habit for everybody.

We discuss how being wrong can be a performance advantage, using feedback to build trust and how role modelling performance habits and disciplines are an essential part of the role as a leader.

The attributes of courage, perseverance and adaptability are all essential for individual success and impactful leadership.

"I’ve had moments when I have recognised I’ve been on a path and I’ve looked ahead and I’ve realised I am on this path and I can do it but do I really want to get to the destination point?"

In this episode we talk to Louise O’Shea, CEO of Confused.com and Amy Williams, Olympic Gold Medalist in the Skelton, about how they have applied these attributes to step out of their comfort zone, break the mould and pave the way for others to do the same.

Links mentioned in the episode: Benjamin Zander - Shining Eyes

The current environment has made us all take stock of how we manage wellbeing and mental health. This applies to individuals as much as it offers a challenge to leaders on how to create a environment that is conducive to supporting positive mental health and resilience.

“One of the great untapped performance opportunities is investing in the wellbeing of our people. Most organisations will say somewhere that our people are our greatest assets but yet they will invest more in servicing the photocopier”

In this episode we speak to leading mental health campaigner Rob Stephenson and gold medal winning hockey player Helen Richardson Walsh on their experiences of the impact of mental Health on individual and team performance and how the environment you are in can turn this into a performance advantage.

What does it take to drive change in an ever changing world? We speak with Brendan Purcell, Director of Performance at British Rowing and Ismail Asmla, Chief Growth Officer at Capita, at an incredibly fascinating time as they explain how their world is changing, with setting up of the nightingale hospital, supporting the cabinet office and what the postponement of Olympics  2020 means to the athletes and coaches. They share how the purpose is more important than ever. 

How do you balance the pursuit of lifetime goals with the rigours of daily life? Champion rower Alex Gregory MBE is a two time Olympic Gold medallist, has faced elite international competition and braved the Arctic Ocean - but he’s all too aware that his most important experiences are those he has with his family.

Alex discuss the importance of purpose and how realising the ‘why’ is often the crucial step in achieving the win.

Losing three limbs when your purpose in life is to become part of the SAS would be devastating to anyone. Jon White talks to Track Record about finding his new direction after such a life changing event.

“I’m just an average person thrown into extraordinary situations.”

Jon White is a Leadership Consultant who has experience delivering talks, training and coaching internationally and across the private, public and third sectors. He draws on his personal experience from over a decade’s service as a commissioned Officer in the Royal Marines and overcoming the injuries he sustained in Afghanistan.

Discovering what it really takes to win in sport and business, this podcast explores what genuine confidence looks like and how to attain it.

“Confidence comes from knowing your purpose and how you can genuinely contribute towards that.”

Keri-anne Payne is Double World Champion, Olympic Silver medalist and triple Olympian in 10km Open Water Swimming. Founder of two businesses Triscape, a luxury swim retreat, and Straight-line Swimming, which teaches those interested in the open water how to coach through qualifications and online CPDs.

Richard Pybus is a world renowned cricket coach and one of the most successful coaches in South African first-class cricket having led both Titans & Cape Cobras to numerous titles over the years.

He’s also coached the Pakistan, Indian and Bangladeshy National Teams and is a world renowned coach with a clear understanding on how to win.

What does it take for leaders to fulfill their potential? How can they be resilient in the face of change and inspire their team to follow them as they shape and change their businesses from the top. Claire Korcyzan and Andrew Tarver share their insights in this podcast. 

“People buy because of your why, your belief, your passion. They buy belief not the What.” 

Andrew Tarver, founder of Jigsaw  He has spent his career designing and delivering complex financial services solutions, from algorithmic trading systems to derivatives trading. Recently, he has worked in digital retail banking, insurance and startups.

Claire Korcyzan, founding  MD of Decoded, an accomplished leader, with nearly twenty years of experience spanning startups, tech, brand consultancies, and creative agencies, works in partnership with C-suite and Senior HR/L&D Leaders of FTSE 100 companies.