Transcription
So we're aiming for a billion-dollar valuation within the next 12 months.
What's the biggest business opportunity for 2025?
The biggest business opportunities, and then what's the most money you've made with the business?
12 million.
What's the biggest opportunity for 2025?
Yo, my people, welcome back to the Vent Room, the number one platform for entrepreneurs. Today, we're at High Street, one of the wealthiest parts of London.
What are we doing today, bro?
So today, we're hoping to speak to some successful business owners, ask them how they built their business, and discuss some business opportunities for 2025. So stay tuned; it's going to be a banger!
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Excuse me, guys! I love the car! Thank you. We're trying to inspire younger entrepreneurs. I'd love to know what you do for a living to get this car.
Real estate.
Real estate? Where about?
What kind of real estate?
Saudi.
Yeah? Is that a good opportunity?
Very good, absolutely.
How did you start out?
Started small, to be honest. Not big, very small, and just the business grew. You have to be patient.
Do you?
You do. You have to be very patient.
What's been the turnover of the company?
What's been like your best year?
Two years ago.
And what was the turnover in that year?
Over 10 million.
Over 10? Any last messages for the community, for the younger generation?
Get a job first, learn the business, and then move on to entrepreneurship. Do not get overwhelmed with what you hear on social media all the time about leaving your job and going for a business. You hit the wall like this, really.
Yeah?
No, no, no. Start a business while you are on the job, slowly, slowly. Five years' time minimum. Once you have three times the income of your salary, then you can check out.
Really? Last question: if you had £50,000, how would you invest that in property today?
Rent a property and rent again.
Thank you, man. Thank you very much. Take care!
Trying to inspire younger people, we had to stop someone looking so dapper. Man, what do you do for a living?
What is this?
What's going on?
So we've got an Instagram channel for young entrepreneurs to try and give them the gems and a secret system for success. You look successful, man!
Excuse me, bro! We're trying to inspire the next generation. Are you an entrepreneur?
Thank you!
Excuse me, excuse me, man! Love the outfit! What do you do for a living?
Entrepreneur.
Is it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're trying to inspire young entrepreneurs. What's your business, man?
AI Health.
AI Health tech? Oh my God! How long have you been doing it?
Uh, 10 years. So we've been in R&D for 10 years, no pay. I've put all my money in—5.5 million, no money. But now we've gone live with our first two or seven apps. We're forecasted to hit annual recurring revenue of about 7 million per app.
You got five apps?
Seven apps.
So walk Ally, Health Ally, HT Ally, Walk Ally, Health Ally, Sleep Ally, Coach Ally.
Oh my God! So we're basically trying to inspire the young generation of entrepreneurs. How did you start your business, man?
I've been an entrepreneur for quite some time. Since I was 21, I made my first million at 23 in property. I went through a whole phase of spending money. I was one of Britain's biggest spenders, and then I got hit in the recession. I realized that you shouldn't be focusing on money. I lost a huge amount of money in 2008, and I started to rethink my life.
We went into Health Tech, so I've learned from the ground up every element of software development. I do the coding, the design, and I'm driven by purpose. Our software is validated; it's there to help people. You have to be driven by purpose.
So what's the end goal for your AI app?
The end goal is to be software that actually helps and delivers on a global mechanism. You know, we are at a stage where every three minutes in the UK and every three seconds in the USA, someone is dying of cardiovascular disease, and people need to get measurably fitter.
So our overall purpose is to help people get fit. In terms of the company, for our investors and for myself, we have an exit strategy. So we're aiming for a billion-dollar valuation within the next 12 months. We've been very focused and strategized in what we're doing.
I love it, man! Before you go, I want to get some gems. So we talk to a young person at home; they want to start their first business. How do you make that first step? How did you go from zero to 10K?
There are two things: you have to have self-confidence and self-belief because when it gets hard, you need to dig in deep. Where a lot of people go wrong is when you're starting your business and trying to get traction. When it gets hard, that's the moment you go, "You know what? I'm going to go and drink. I'm going to go and party. I'm going to self-destruct."
That's the moment that you have to put the foot on the accelerator and work harder.
So in terms of someone young, you need to have the belief that you can do it because there's no reason that you can't. You have to realize it's going to get hard, but you have to persevere, and you have to sacrifice.
If you're not, you have to look at what goal you're trying to achieve and are you willing to sacrifice for it? If you haven't got that, you're going to fail. But if you have that, that's where you have to keep focused.
Yeah, I love it, man! Last question: what's the biggest business opportunity for 2025?
The biggest business opportunity is tech.
Yeah, I think it's AI.
Yeah, so everything's AI-driven. A lot of people are taking advantage of OpenAI through ChatGPT. It's a lot easier to set up an app and use that OpenAI source.
Yeah, and social media—social media is just crazy!
Is there a secret to finding investors for your first app?
So I had no experience in tech—zero. Not my background at all. Successful people will find you. If you're good at what you do, if you're the best at what you're doing, you're working hard, and you're making a noise, people will approach you.
So we've got billionaires who have approached us. When tech approached us, they were so impressed by our software. The connect base I've got now in tech has been generated by—it's not luck; it's you've worked hard to make the opportunity.
When people go, "How am I going to get that? How am I going to get that money?" You just have to keep working. If you keep working, the right people will find you. That's why they're successful because they're looking for people and companies that are growing.
See? That's how they obviously expand.
Yeah, I love it, man!
Mad interview! Scott Alexander, he's launched five AI health apps. The guy said he's estimated to do a billion by next year. Dropped some banging gems, man! What an episode! What an interview!
It started off a bit shaky today, not going to lie. It was a bit hit and miss, but we approached him. He was waiting for us, ready to go!
Yeah, man, it's coming out soon.
Can I ask you what you do for a living?
I'm involved in a company called Well Hydrate.
Well Hydrate? I've definitely seen you before! I've also got my own marketing company that does hair transplants.
Wait, Well Hydrate, is that like Prime?
Yeah, a bit like Prime.
So massive now!
Yeah, yeah!
So you started the company?
No, two of my friends started the company. I started with them about five years ago and then kind of just gone on a journey with them, really.
Do you know how they started the company?
They started the company by seeing a gap in the market for a sugar-free protein drink, a sugar-free electrolyte drink. They just really wanted to push it from there, really.
So we're talking to a young entrepreneur who might have just left university. How did they start their first business?
I think when you start your first business, you just want to find a niche in the market. You want to find something that's what people need. Or if you've had a bad experience yourself, like if you see something that's not good in the market, how can you improve it?
Yeah, I love it, man! Thanks for your time, bro!
No, appreciate it!
Excuse me, bro! Sorry to disturb you, man! Love the jumper!
Thank you! I'd love to know what you do for a living, man!
Nice!
Yeah, um, I scale businesses.
Grow and scale businesses, basically?
Yeah!
You enjoying it?
We've been doing it quite a while, so it's alright.
How long have you been doing it then?
Coming up to three years—three and a half years, something like that.
What's the most you've made in a year?
We've done over seven figures.
Yeah? Well, congratulations, man!
Thank you!
How did you start the business? It's not easy to go from zero to a million.
I was in corporate before at IBM, and I joined a startup that went mad—like under 200 employees, and it went to like 3,000. From there, they floated on the stock market, got out, and then started the agency from there.
I had my own brands beforehand, like e-commerce brands, and then the service stuff just sort of blew up. Now there's 17 of us, and we're still moving.
Yeah! How did you get your first client?
I literally was like, "Right, we're going to do it." So we'll start and try and find some clients. I live in Wandsworth, not far from there. I was sat there, Googled PTs in my area. I knew it was going to be something in fitness because my e-commerce brands were from fitness.
I got their mobile numbers and just messaged them all, saying, "Hey Rob, how are you? George here. Free for a quick call?" They all thought I was bare clients, so they were just all calling me back, and then I just sold—just kept selling.
So then that's how I got my first client. It was a fitness pro, a personal trainer. We scaled him, and it led to just like one lead, one lead, one lead.
We're talking to a young entrepreneur at home, probably just left university. If you had to start again, how would you make your first million?
Find something that I'm good at and genuinely passionate about. It doesn't need to be a specific thing; it can just be a soft skill. If you're good with people, if you're good at negotiation, good at sales, I would take that.
Service businesses are a lot easier to spin up than e-commerce companies because obviously, you need to go and find a product. Product is a lot harder if you're looking to scale fast.
Service is good, so I would then take that. I'd be like, "Okay, cool. Who do I know or who can I go after that I think will be a decent client?" And I'd just start doing outreach for that thing.
Make sure that they've got a big problem that I'm solving. Find one client, and if you do well, it will always lead to another client.
So as soon as you've got that one, I'll then get to probably like 10, 20 grand a month completely organically—referrals and building. Then I start to build my funnels out.
You can create AI generators pretty easily now. Let's say for a fitness influencer, if you'd be like, they struggle with content ideas, so you would create an AI generator that creates content ideas for fitness influencers.
So I'd have that as my lower ticket service, subscription service, and then on top, I'd have a managed service. So I would then say, "Okay, cool, that's your little intro into it," and then on top, I would be like, "I'll manage the whole thing for you if you want."
Sick! Love it! Thanks for your time, bro, man! Appreciate it!
Thank you very much!
Sorry, my man, quick question.
Yeah?
Good?
Yeah, good!
Then we're trying to inspire the next generation. Can I ask you what you do for a living?
I co-founded a vape company.
Oh, really?
Yeah, yeah!
How did you start your business?
We started around 10 years ago. My business partner and I saw an opportunity. A few of us started it, and then we grew it to 150 people.
That's incredible! Did you start out the business managing a vape brand, or did you create your own vape?
We created our own vape and then tried to sell it into stores for two years. It was really tough—saturated market, very difficult.
Then we pivoted the business model to become a distributor company.
Got you!
And a brand house, and then started bringing brands in from China and America and stuff like that. The number of vape shops started increasing, and then we became the one-stop shop supplier to all the vape stores.
We kind of expanded into then CBD and wellness and mushrooms and cannabis creams and oils and balms. So now we supply a lot of the health and wellness stores as well.
So what does it take to get a business from zero to 100 million?
I would just say the kind of mentality: don't take no for an answer. Drive, determination, ambition, and you've got to put in the hard work. Nothing comes easy in life. You've got to work the hours; you've got to put in the hard work; you've got to work smart.
But I think the main thing is always to never take no for an answer. A lot of people these days, if you go in, you know, open an account or you get knocked back, people get demoralized and kind of, you know, they haven't got that urge to keep going.
Keep going, keep going! So I think that's probably one of the main things.
How did you get your first customers?
We literally parked a car on the street and went door to door selling.
How did you deal with the rejections then?
Just don't take it personal, right? You leave your card; they say no, go to the next store. You go to the next door, next door, and then you just come back the next day and start again until they get sick and tired of you and then take it.
You know?
What's the biggest opportunity in 2025?
I think the wellness industry is booming. E-commerce is obviously booming right now. I think retail is really struggling, so I would focus a lot on kind of healthy e-commerce, vitamin supplement ideas, you know, wellness-style centers or brands or things. I think that's got a lot of longevity.
You know, man, what's your name?
Irin Kareim.
Nice to meet you! Really good interview, guys! They're doing 150 million selling vapes and distribution.
Key takeaway is be ready to get it, man! Just don't care what anyone says. Go knock on doors, do what you need to do to get your business going, and build the right team around you, man!
So yeah, let's keep it going!
No, so late! Sorry, guess not!
How you doing, man?
How you good?
Yeah, what you—?
I rate the hustle, man! What you doing?
We're putting an app today called Pyx. It's the UK's first self-assessment app.
What's the app do?
This way! So the biggest change in 100 years is coming to tax in the UK.
Yeah?
So if you have used the government gateway to file a tax return before, it's closing down in 18 months. No one knows about it!
Alright! I'm trying to get people to the app and make them aware of the changes. It's obviously hard to push tax; they hear the word and they run a mile, so it's hard.
But what do you do in the business?
I'm actually the founder. I like to get my hands dirty. I'm on the ground; I like to be on the front line and hear people's stories and get feedback.
And then what's the most money you've made with the business?
This business here is—previously, I've made about 1.2 million a month, and it's software, so it's all margin.
Okay, so you're doing around like 10 million, 12 million?
Wick, man! How did you start the business?
To be honest, it started 10 years ago. I read an article that HMRC was going to close down self-assessment. It's basically the privatization of tax.
So I did some research. I had different businesses, and I saw a big opportunity there. So building the app for about three or four years now, we've just got 30k downloads in our first year.
We've been downloaded in 169 countries worldwide, and it's totally free to use.
So why wouldn't you use us?
That's sick, man!
And we make money because three-quarters of users, when they submit, pay for a return check.
So it's a three-horse approach, right? Give away for free, but you want peace of mind, you pay us £59, and it's working really, really well.
Like what Gary V says: give, give, give, give, and then you give the right hook.
Value! Give value to people!
You know, it's competitive. Well, you speculate, you invest, you pay heavily.
Revue, right? 50 million customers, they say their reason for success is they spend out on customers. They get you in for free, and you look at the banking—they used to charge six quid a month, and now, you know, Monzo's free. All the banks are free!
So you've got to have something free. I call it a party—get them to your party, then sell them alcohol!
I like that!
What skill do you think it was that contributed to your success the most?
Well, that's hard work because of the motivation I had. At age nine, I came downstairs in the block of flats, and there was a port of red W on the floor.
We walked past it, and I looked back up and saw a warning sign—someone just killed himself. I was like, "This is the outcome for people in my area."
So I'm constantly worried about that outcome. If I don't make it, death is the option. People are smarter than me; they got more money than me, but no one will ever work harder than me.
Like I said to you before about leafing—we went to a station, and there were Jehovah's Witnesses there at 6:00 a.m. They've got the best SP station. I get there at half five; they're still there.
I work up at half four; I get there, I can't even open my eyes, and they're not there. And I'm there, and I beat them, and I will just work hard until I win.
D, what's the biggest opportunity for 2025?
Prompting! Prompt engineering!
Yeah, we live in an incredible time right now. 10% of Americans are millionaires. The growth rate of poverty is really exponentially growing now, and the opportunity there—if you've got personality, camera, and hard work, go online, get an audience, and you can become rich!
Like you guys! Kids are smarter now! My son's smarter than me!
I tell you a good story: my son went for work experience. I taught him how to prompt GPT.
He went on work experience to a big agency, and they asked him to do a task. He did so good with ChatGPT that they sacked his staff on the day he showed them up—a 15-year-old because he could prompt!
So that's the power of prompting. So I think that's a good area for people to get into—prompt engineering.
A, B, DQ: act as a social media expert, B: brief them on what T you want to do, D: describe what your goal is, and Q: ask any questions about the task you want to do.
If you get those four things right in your prompt, it'll give you everything you need to know, and you just sell it!
Where can people find you?
Visit the App Store—Pi Tax app! It's free to use! We have every feature you can have, and you can save money or make money guaranteed! Why not use us?
How you go, bro?
Guys, that was mad! So many gems!
So yeah, the gem that stood out to me that Tom said: throw a party for free, give value for free, and when they get there, you can sell as much as you want.
Deliver value, then give the ask after!
But yeah, guys, I don't know what to say. I'm speechless! Really good interview, and yeah, I'm out!
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