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The Ascent

The Ascent

Written by: Tenzing
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 The Ascent lifts the lid on the inner world and workings of the top tech entrepreneurs and CEOs. Tune in as we get under the skin of what motivates these inspiring Founders, and what drives them to push through adversity into success and back again.

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Tenzing Private Equity LLP 2021 Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Stella Donoghue talks kismet, hotel secrets and multiple exits

    Stella Donoghue talks kismet, hotel secrets and multiple exits
    Feb 10 2022

    Kicking off Season Two is Guy’s conversation with super-exiter Stella Donoghue, who, as CEO of Phlexglobal, took the company through three private equity sales in five and a half years, exiting the business herself in 2016.


    Stella is one of those leaders who’s lived many different lives in business, starting at age 17 when she won UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year with her own restaurant in Ireland. However, in spite of her success, coming from a prominent family of high-achievers and academics, it wasn’t the route her parents had imagined for her, and marked her out as something of a black sheep, compounded three years later when she sold the restaurant and moved to London to undertake a degree in hotel management and accountancy.


    A period at London’s finest hotels culminated in a few high-octane years at Claridge’s, tending to the needs and whims, not just of the super-rich and famous, but potential targets of terrorism, too. However, it was after leaving the heady world of hotels behind to study for an MBA, that Stella found herself – almost by chance, after a random conversation on a treadmill at the gym – landing a role as part-time CFO, and then very quickly full-time CEO, of Phlexglobal. What followed was a period of rapid growth, both at home and internationally, together with big career milestones, giving Stella a deep understanding of private equity, and a raft of invaluable insight and experiences.

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    54 mins
  • Bill Collis talks The Matrix, MBOs and software piracy

    Bill Collis talks The Matrix, MBOs and software piracy
    Jan 14 2021
    Bill Collis, former CEO and President of visual effects software behemoth Foundry, one-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and Tenzing Entrepreneurs Panel member, tells Guy about unwittingly finding himself creating FX for one of the most iconic films of all time… his passion for using maths and algorithms to solve real-world problems… how to take on software pirates and emerge victorious… the value gained from working with multiple private equity backers… and the joys of stepping back from CEO to take up chairperson roles.

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    35 mins
  • Titus Sharpe talks sales science and being saved by Tony Robbins

    Titus Sharpe talks sales science and being saved by Tony Robbins
    Jan 14 2021
    Titus Sharpe, lead generation and ad tech pioneer, former CEO of MVF – winner of The Sunday Times Best Company to Work For award – and member of Tenzing’s Entrepreneur’s Panel, tells Guy how he’s been in business since day one (if selling home-made slime in jam jars in primary school counts…), how he almost invented social media… how being at the bleeding edge of his industry means access to new Google, Facebook and Instagram products way in advance of the competition… and how Tony Robbins helped him transform his tough start in life into an insatiable drive for success.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    37 mins
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