Photobox: Graham Hobson (Co-Founder) on how he built a £400m business

Secret Leaders
Secret Leaders
Episode • Apr 24, 2017 • 1h 11m

In this episode you will learn;

  • Why he started Photobox, and what it was like running a startup over the dotcom boom and bust, within the first year of it’s inception.
  • The complexity of their raising funds, from trying and failing; from growing fast to scaling all the way back, what that felt like for them at the time.
  • The process of buying and selling companies as a means to grow
  • How to manage culture when absorbing other companies
  • What it’s like starting as CEO, then hiring someone to replace you, and becoming CTO.

And lots more of course...

Key Quotes

  • I don’t see myself as an Entrepreneur because to me, they feel more like the types that do it repeatedly, and perhaps I just got lucky. I’m one startup away from feeling like I’ve earned that title
  • You dont manage one football club and get called a ‘football manager’ so to me the same is true about an entrepreneur.

Top Advice:

  • Sit back, assess a situation, and decide what to do next, instead of making a knee jerk reaction.
  • Figure out why you want to be an entrepreneur - do you have a problem to solve, or do you want to be your own boss, if it’s the latter, don’t go sit in WeWork - get a normal job, build up your experience and contacts, and be patient until a real problem comes up that you need to solve.

Other Fun Facts:

  • He was cautioned by US naval intelligence for hacking
  • He worked next to Nick Leeson - the infamous Rogue Trader who brought down a whole bank

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