In this episode of the Curious Business podcast, we meet Ella McKay, founder of Fatso. The provocatively named chocolate brand is bringing unapologetic indulgence to dark chocolate and putting ethical sourcing at its core. Ella shares the story of her journey from corporate marketeer to entrepreneurial risk-taker, and provides invaluable insights into effective business strategy and how to use consumer research.

If you’re building a brand in a crowded market, you’ll learn how being provocative and staying true to your values helps you cut through the noise. Sometimes you need to break the rules to make an impact. Hear how Ella established partnerships with cacao farmers in Colombia and why she believes gut instinct, learning by doing, and calculated risk-taking trumps analytics, especially for small businesses trying to innovate and challenge.

Tune in to hear all about:

• The story behind the provocative brand name
• Building ethical supply chains with Colombian cacao farmers
• Navigating retailer relationships and learning when not to take ‘no’ as an answer
• The production disaster that nearly derailed everything
• Plans for new formats and products, and making the dark chocolate category sexy
• The skills and training that best prepared her for the challenges

This episode is perfect for founders, brand builders, food entrepreneurs, and anyone who believes business should be built on passion, ethics, and a healthy disregard for doing things the conventional way.

Buy online from Delli Market: https://delli.market/collections/fatso

Buy online from Holly & Co: https://holly.co/storefront/fatso

Buy online and read more about Fatso ‘from farm to face’: https://sofatso.com/shop/

Find your nearest retailer : https://sofatso.com/stockists/

To buy the book ‘Thanks For The Feedback’ (recommended in the podcast): https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15792/9780670922635 (affiliate link)

And visit the Curious Business bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/curiousbusiness (affiliate link)

How do you turn a 15-person tech shop into a £300m global powerhouse? Is it instinct – or experience? What are the tough calls that fuel B2B growth? And how do you keep ahead and keep pushing forward?

Over the last 15 years, Simon Haighton-Williams, CEO of The Adaptavist Group, has led the company to annual revenues over £300 million. On a mission to make business work better, the Group now comprises over 1,000 employees in more than 15 countries, helping companies gain a competitive edge through its software and consultancy services. A staggering 57 million users work with its products, solutions, and services, including more than half of the Fortune 500.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• The formative experiences that shaped Simon’s personal vision of business
• The key transitions in scaling from 15 people to a £300m group
• Why calculated risks are the only path to growth
• How systems thinking and empathy are the fundamentals
• Why thriving means being comfortable outside your comfort zone

Learn more about The Adaptavist Group and check the Digital Etiquette reports: www.theadaptavistgroup.com/

Connect with Simon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonwilliams/

How do we move beyond AI hype to take advantage of the real opportunities for business strategy? Who’s using AI well already, how does it reshape reality and who can we learn from? What happens when AI upsets your value chain and how can you maintain your competitive advantage?

In this episode of Curious Business, Stephen Morris welcomes Sangeet Paul Choudary, renowned author and business strategist to Fortune 500 companies. They explore the themes in Sangeet’s latest book - Reshuffle - and dive into what AI really means for individuals, businesses and industries. Fuelled by keen insights and profound understanding, Sangeet highlights the foundational shifts occurring from task-centric to system-centric views, and gives leaders a framework to rethink their strategies and reimagine their organisations to take advantage.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• How AI is shifting focus and why we should be looking beyond optimising tasks to reimagining entire systems
• Why the hype around GenAI isn’t unique but why it might, however, be distracting us from what really matters
• The often surprising exemplars who are using AI to restack the odds in their favour, and the two reasons imcumbents typically struggle
• How AI turns previously scarce information into abundant knowledge, and how to find value in what is scarce and defensible
• What skills are crucial for the transition to an AI-driven economy - and what can we learn about commoditisation from performing magicians?

Buy the book (affiliate link):

https://amzn.eu/d/dw4CfN4

Connect with Sangeet on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sangeetpaul

Sign-up for updates on Reshuffle and Sangeet’s thinking on Substack:

https://platforms.substack.com/