In this new age of entrepreneurship, young innovators are leading the way in industries all over the UK. Notably, individuals such as Lee Broders, Rosie Skuse, Arnau Ayerbe, Pablo Jiménez de Parga Ramos, Bergen Merey, and Sarah Skelton are transforming traditional business models with their unique approaches and fresh perspectives.
At 53, a notable young entrepreneur, Lee Broders is one of those stellar entrepreneurs. He started his first business at 26 years old, after spending 10 years serving in the military. Using these experiences as a jumping-off point, Broders shares his view that creating sustainable business growth should be the focus. He feels that speed is no guarantee of stability. He beautifully articulated this concept by saying, “Speed can sometimes obscure the most delicate underpinnings. Just because we can grow something super fast, doesn’t mean that it’s sustainable or a great robust solution.”
29-year-old Rosie Skuse has rapidly established herself as a significant player in the music industry with her company, Molto Music Group. The firm has been awarded prominent clients such as The Dorchester, The Savoy, Soho House and Raffles. It hasn’t been an easy road. Skuse fondly remembers the fight she often faced to be accepted in a male dominated industry.
“Some people wouldn’t even shake my hand. It was really tough, and I used to struggle loads with it. It’s frustrating when people don’t assume it’s your company,” – Rosie Skuse.
Even with these challenges though, Skuse used her age as an advantage to get clients and keep them interested.
“Then they’d say, ‘wow, you must be so proud – but you’re so young’. That shock factor was almost like a secret weapon, because I would catch people off guard, and they would end up actually listening,” – Rosie Skuse.
The young founders of Throxy, Ayerbe, Jiménez de Parga Ramos, and Merey are all only 24 years old. They are really shaking things up in the tech sector creating industry-specific AI agents tailored for sales teams. Their smart, innovative, creative company is booming! They have fundraised close to £5 million through two rounds of investor funding and reached yearly sales of close to £1.2 million.
Ayerbe’s journey is an impressive success story. He’s secured a coveted AI engineer job with JP Morgan which he’ll start before graduating in spring 2024 from the University of Bath. Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Ayerbe candidly stated:
“If I had known the amount of effort and work I needed to do to take the company to this point, I would probably have never started it,” – Arnau Ayerbe.
Jiménez de Parga Ramos characterized their mindset as a “9-9-6” model of maximum working hours. This reveals a dedication that extends far past the usual nine to five workday.
Far from the wide-eyed idealism on display by many of these entrepreneurs, Sarah Skelton provides a voice tempered with experience. At 46, she started Flourish, a recruitment firm that specializes in placing women in sales roles. Skelton underscores the value of lived experiences in leadership roles, stating:
“It’s great that in this day and age you can set up a business quite quickly. But I think you have to have lived experiences to be really strong at that leadership piece, which is the quite critical bit here,” – Sarah Skelton.
Skelton is the first to admit that segregated networks can stifle young entrepreneurs of any color. Most importantly she talks about how to leverage that intangible relationship capital you’ve built up over decades in business.
“My network is 25 years of placing candidates, selling to different businesses, working across different countries. It’s really tough when you’re that young. How do you know who to lean on and where to find those people?” – Sarah Skelton.
In Rosie Skuse’s case, being business school–free created a different set of obstacles. She reflects on her learning process with humility:
“I have no business education. It’s all been trial by fire and learning as we go,” – Rosie Skuse.
Skuse is certain that her age can be a breath of fresh air to clients who are looking for creative solutions. She acknowledges the need for personal growth in her professional interactions:
“I’ve had to work a lot on my tone and delivery – and my handshake – but being young and fostering a young company can be a breath of fresh air compared with our competitors. It’s more memorable,” – Rosie Skuse.
Second, Broders gets to an even more central quality of being aware of and maintaining financial health to business operations. He points out that generating revenue alone does not equate to profitability:
“It’s great if you’re turning over a million pounds, but if it’s costing £990,000, and you’re actually making £10,000 a year, that’s very different,” – Lee Broders.
The journeys of these young entrepreneurs exemplify the explosive combination of youth and experience that is redefining business today. And they shine a spotlight on the fact that resilience, innovation, and adaptability are the best traits that anyone can cultivate in today’s market.