MDE 44: Bringing prosperity to the bottom of the economic pyramid, Jason Dudek of Mountain Lion Agriculture
Realising that charities were not really addressing the root of poverty led Jason Dudek to co-found Mountain Lion Agriculture with his local business partner based in Sierra Leone. Based on the premise that economic development is the key to increasing prosperity, Jason set up Mountain Lion to improve food security for small farmers and communities. By focussing on food Jason believes their business is able to benefit more people at the bottom of the pyramid. Now the largest producer…
MDE 43: Turning adversity into a profitable business, Kate Giles of Crewroom
Getting pneumonia was the end of Kate Giles's professional rowing career. Instead of stopping her in her tracks she turned this set back into an opportunity to found Crewroom and produce technical sports kit which performed much better than the kit she had been wearing when she got cold and wet in a training session resulting in her illness. This is the story of the evolution of a brand and the principles behind it; how she developed from being a distributor of a Californian brand and…
MDE 42: Exporting traditional crafts to a worldwide fashion audience, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi of AAKS Handcrafted Raffia Bags
After an early career gaining experience in all aspects of the fashion industry, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi followed her calling to bring the beautiful crafts of her native Ghana to a worldwide audience. The colourful raffia bags produced by her company, AAKS, are now stocked in prestigious stores such as Anthropologie only 8 months after launching. The bags, all designed by Akosua, are made in Ghana using traditional methods with each weaver putting his or her name on the swing tag. The bags…
MDE 41: Transforming chop stick offcuts to pet products, George Bramble of Beco Pets
When George and his co-founder Toby Massey founded their business the timing wasn't great, it was deep in the recession. So they asked themselves what do people not stop spending money on? The answer they came up with was children and pets, so this was where they decided to focus their business. Initially self-funded, George kept his job at Bacardi to support them while they set the company up. Although profitable from the end of the first year they knew they needed to scale, so they…
MDE 40: Inspiring children with Jedi mind tricks, Chris Burgess of CBiS Education
How do you capture the imagination of children who are disengaged? Show them how to move a remote control car using their mind, that’s how! A request from a teacher to go and show off some robotics the company had been developing for the military led to a whole new revenue stream and is now the sole focus of their business. What you will learn in this interview: What Chris has learnt in the ups and downs of business The mistakes he has made What his strategy has been for funding the…