Billionaire Business Podcast
Welcome to Billionaire Business. In this series we will be popping the myth that you cannot create a billion pound business in the UK - that’s simply not true
• Inspirational interviews • Advice on how to raise equity and debt • Mistakes to avoid • How to scale rapidly • Create the next billionaire business
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Co-hosts: Chris Godsmark & Ian Fishwick
Hello I’m Ian Fishwick (on the right), I’m a technology entrepreneur who started a business in a spare bedroom with little money and eventually sold it in a £100 million transaction. I've been listed on the stock market and done over 40 acquisitions along the way. I had the honour of reporting 29 consecutive years of rising EBITDA, and was named UK CEO of the Year on 3 occasions. I wrote 'The Street-Smart MBA' - I’ve been in business for over 30 years and I’ve got all the war stories to prove it.
And I’m Chris Godsmark (on the left) and for over two decades I’ve been advising technology led companies with valuations of up to a billion pounds and more on mergers and acquisitions. And along the way I helped to create an advisory business which we scaled and sold.
Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
This is probably Scotland’s greatest ever technology story. How do you take a software app (for booking flights) and turn it from a startup to a $1.75 billion sale?
Shane Corstorphine played many C-suite roles at Skyscanner, including CFO, and explains clearly how they did it. Some of the lessons are not what you expect.
At the end in the section called ‘Ian and Chris’s Takeaway’, the hosts discuss the key lessons to learn from this remarkable interview.
Shane explains:
▪️ The type of leadership team you will need
▪️ How employee share ownership can play a part
▪️ How you tackle international expansion on an incredibly rapid scale
▪️ How they attracted the greatest ever investor name from Silicon Valley - Sequoia
▪️ At the time this was the largest fundraise by a privately-owned UK tech company in history – but the record only lasted weeks
00:00 Welcome & hosts intro
00:01:07 Guest background: startup → banker; execution mindset
00:05:30 Joining early stage Skyscanner & founder vision
00:08:40 Execution v strategy; COO cadence & weekly reviews
00:11:00 Travel’s frequency problem & tracking PMF (product market fit) metrics (AARRR)
00:13:40 Sequoia joins: valuation, fundraising & dilution
00:16:30 Sponsor: NETS International
00:17:40 Equity that retains staff: options, buybacks & secondaries
00:23:08 Scale cultures: UK prudence vs US/China speed
00:28:45 Go to market playbook: test and learn
00:33:10 The exit (2016): sale process, buyer & lessons
00:36:00 Closing: What’s next and Key takeaways
Follow Shane Corstorphine:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanecorstorphine/
Blog – com/@shanecorstorphine/
Billionaire Business:
Website: billionairebusiness.net
Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/billionaire-business-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
Buy the book “The Street-Smart MBA – Mastering Business Acumen Without Going to School” by Ian Fishwick
HARDBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B0FLD5Q8Z5/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
PAPERBACK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without/dp/B08735HP2W/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
KINDLE https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Smart-MBA-Mastering-Business-Without-ebook/dp/B08738NVS8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2VOX3UKOWGT6R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jGqkZxFG3WEufxz7M-1iVgGElqr83rgD-VAM-9WLfXz4fii5xR10ZsWDNVlnOGAfLdZG4lksR0cCtaRyzjKlwxD8Gh4WKr2ZP8TuayLmYBiPqNWQi66IAM3QDfoxZeEa.ZUymM2LEtrzNGeYhyP9yoJQknWJe8w7LOx6GDaS6ano&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+street-smart+mba&qid=1755704706&sprefix=the+street-smart+mba%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-2
Sponsors for Series 1:
NETS International - https://nets-international.com