Business Leader

He leads a US tech firm valued at $8bn, but Sanjay Poonen puts his success down to a major career setback. Poonen is CEO of US cybersecurity and AI company Cohesity, based in Silicon Valley. He grew up in Bangalore, India, but a scholarship to Dartmouth College in the US to study computer science brought him to the US. On graduation, he rose up the ranks of a Who’s Who of Silicon Valley tech companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Symantec, SAP and VMware. It was while he was vice president of marketing at Informatica that he suffered his first major career setback – he was fired. Poonen explains to Dougal Shaw why this moment of rejection ultimately made him a better, more mature and compassionate leader. He also gives advice on how to hire the best talent in the competitive world of tech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Josh Dornbrack speaks with Bob Skinstad, former Springbok and Rugby World Cup winner, about leadership, elite performance and transitioning from professional sport into business. He shares lessons from rugby, venture capital, consulting and building winning teams in high-pressure environments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The department store chain Debenhams was founded in 1778 but went bust in 2020, leading to thousands of job losses and the disappearance of one of Britain's best-known high street names. But now it is back, reimagined for the digital age. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Debenhams chief executive Dan Finley tells the story behind this turnaround. Dan Finley was appointed the boss of Debenhams in 2022 after the brand was bought by Boohoo. Now he is chief executive of the whole Boohoo group, which has been renamed Debenhams. That has brought its own unique challenges... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a magnet for side hustlers around Europe. The CoCreate event was held this November in London, the first time it’s come to Europe. It’s an event run by Alibaba.com, a global online marketplace for b2b wholesale trade. Small businesses use it to source in bulk products from manufacturers and trading companies to then sell to consumers themselves. Alibaba.com is part of Alibaba Group founded by Jack Ma in China in 1999. Alibaba.com now connects 50 million buyers with 200,000 global suppliers, many of them based in China. At CoCreate there are suppliers showing off their wares, including everything from robot vacuum cleaners to skincare products and fashion items. Dougal Shaw spoke to the entrepreneurs who flocked to this event before catching up with Kuo Zhang, the president of Alibaba.com, to find out how small companies can access global supply chains, with AI making the task increasingly sophisticated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many prime ministers don’t make it to 10 years in office. US presidents only get eight at most to secure their legacy. Katharine Viner has had a decade and counting as editor-in-chief at the Guardian newspaper. She is also the first woman to hold the role. She’s made radical changes to an institution more than two centuries old, while returning it to profit. Dougal Shaw took a trip to the Guardian HQ in London to learn about the reader revenue model that took everyone by surprise, commercial innovations like The Filter and how she plans to attract younger audiences while navigating the perils of social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.