Business Without BS

Mark argues most SMEs fail at marketing because they misunderstand the customer, the market and the value they actually provide.
About this episode
Mark Palmer dismantles the modern marketing fog: founders often make stronger marketers than the marketers they hire, most values pages are fiction, and copying competitors is a reliable way to shrink margins.
He argues marketing’s core job has not changed: understand the customer, understand the market, then build something worth buying.
The conversation covers value propositions, brand positioning, why digital natives miss the bigger picture, how to hire a marketer, where partnerships create real leverage, and why some brands mutate beyond recognition. Practical, direct and grounded in real examples.
About the guest
Mark Palmer is a brand consultant and best-selling author of The Work Smarter Guide to Marketing. He runs Maverick Planet, advising global brands and high-growth UK businesses on positioning and growth. He has shaped brands for Google, Vodafone, Lego, English Cricket and more.
Key moments
00:00 - Why Facebook profits from scam adverts
00:54 - How marketing became fragmented and misunderstood
03:55 - How to tell if someone actually understands marketing
05:10 - Why founders often outperform hired marketers
07:56 - The Unilever brand key and nine-question process
09:59 - How Grey Goose changed the vodka market
14:45 - Guinness Zero and the rise of low-alcohol positioning
16:58 - Why company values drift and lose meaning
19:01 - How large platforms get away with poor service
22:57 - What startups must prove to investors
27:26 - Why most marketers confuse tactics for strategy
34:41 - The power and risk of brand partnerships
44:53 - Five practical rules every founder should follow

Mentioned in this episode
Airbnb - Example of redefining a market rather than competing narrowly
Aperol Spritz - Used to explain category expansion and cultural trends
Apple - Case study in consistent positioning and product-led brand building
BBC - Referenced in discussion on value drift and public trust
Ben Grubbs - Ex-YouTube leader investing in creator-driven brands
BMW - Example of brand stretch, mutation and positioning discipline
Boeing - Used to illustrate gaps between stated values and behaviour
Burberry - Case study on repositioning and over-extension
Channel 4 Paralympics - Example of exceptional brand-building
Diageo - Later purchaser of Grey Goose
Good Good Golf - Creator-led brand built from YouTube
Grey Goose - Demonstrates market reframing and super-premium creation
Guinness / Guinness Zero - Example of using consumer trends to reposition
Hermes / Evri - Renaming after reputation issues
Lego - Example of brand stretch from toys to entertainment
London Business School - Where Mark teaches founders
Mac vs PC campaign - Classic Apple positioning example
Meta / Facebook / Instagram - Discussion on fraud, values and regulation
NatWest - Used to highlight poor customer experience
OpenAI - Values drift example
Pimm’s - Seasonal brand trapped by narrow positioning
QuickBooks - Clear value proposition case
Serious Fraud Office - Referenced in discussion on corruption patterns
Smirnoff / Absolut - Vodka category comparisons
Thames Water - Monopoly behaviour and brand issues
Ticketmaster - Friction and reputation example
Virgin Media - Values vs behaviour mismatch

Find the guest
LinkedIn:
Website:
Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-without-bs/id1528844106
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6J1YMncmYCLODOKi8A0CFU
🎧 Business Without BS - straight talk from people who've actually built things.

Oury Clark partners lay out how new UK property rules reshape renting, leaseholds and development in 2026 and beyond.

### About this episode
Three major UK property reforms land at once — renters’ rights, leasehold reform and commonhold — and Jemma and Michael from Oury Clark explain why these shifts change timelines, cashflow and asset planning for founders far more than headlines suggest. The tension: clearer protections for tenants and leaseholders versus increased friction and uncertainty for landlords and developers.

They walk through how notice periods, court delays, marriage value abolition, 990‑year extensions, business rates and proposed rent review bans really operate in practice. Founders get a practical read on what to plan, what to expect and what to avoid.

### About the guest
Jemma Hotter and Michael La Fuente are partners at Oury Clark, advising UK and international businesses on property, commercial and regulatory matters. They specialise in translating complex UK real estate rules into practical decisions for founders, investors and operators.

### Key moments
- [00:00] — Why three reforms hit the UK property system at once.
- [02:53] — How renters’ reform redistributes power between landlords and tenants.
- [07:00] — Why four‑month notices and court delays reshape landlord cashflow.
- [09:57] — New restrictions on discrimination, deposits and bidding wars.
- [14:50] — Why yearly rent reviews may trigger annual increases, not stability.
- [18:04] — Leasehold explained: value, mortgages and the 80‑year cliff.
- [27:00] — How 990‑year extensions and scrapping marriage value change pricing.
- [36:05] — Ground rent caps and who loses out when premiums disappear.
- [43:01] — Commonhold: how it works, why it never took off and what changes next.
- [52:00] — Business rates overhaul and what multipliers actually mean.
- [59:02] — Commercial rent reviews and the push to end upwards‑only clauses.
- [01:05:43] — Winners, losers and the unintended effects across the market.

### Mentioned in this episode
- **Doomsday Book** — Historical reference when discussing 999‑year terms.
- **Metro / Evening Standard** — Examples of media reporting on rental pressures.
- **Valuation Office Agency** — Body calculating rateable values.

### Find the guest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oury-clark

### Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon

X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-without-bs/id1528844106

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6J1YMncmYCLODOKi8A0CFU

🎧 Business Without BS — straight talk from people who've actually built things.

Dave Birss says you won't be replaced by AI - you'll be replaced by a leader who's been told the wrong story about it.
About this episode
Dave Birss is back on Business Without BS - author of the Sensible AI Manifesto, co-founder of the Gen AI Academy, and a man who's taught a million-and-a-half people how to use AI without setting their business on fire. He walks Andy and Andrew through what he calls a "corporate poopocalypse" — what happens when you apply AI to a business that hasn't cleaned up its own mess.
The episode covers the Sensible AI Manifesto's six points, the CREATE prompting framework, the three Cs for checking AI output, the adequacy trap, why judgment is the most undervalued skill of the next decade, and the practical playbook for rolling out AI across a team without sending the whole organisation into a panic.
About the guest
Dave Birss co-founded the Gen AI Academy with Helena, where they run AI training across governments, the UN, and Fortune 500 companies. He wrote the Sensible AI Manifesto and GPT Junior, the kids' AI book and video course now in over 100 schools. Before all that he spent his career in advertising and creativity, which is where most of his frameworks come from.
Key moments
[02:46] The Roomba poopocalypse - why AI applied to a dysfunctional business spreads the mess, not the productivity.
[05:46] Corporate barnacles - the institutional plaque costing every business 40% in fuel and speed.
[08:04] Sensible AI Manifesto Point 1: use AI to augment skills, not to outsource tasks.
[09:15] The two-list exercise: tasks that piss you off vs tasks you wish you could do more of. Only the second list is the real opportunity.
[12:11] AI slap - 96% of leaders think AI raises productivity, 77% of staff feel buried by unrealistic expectations.
[13:48] The adequacy trap - why AI users get stuck at "good enough" and never break through.
[22:51] The other five Manifesto points: use data responsibly, support employees, assign AI leaders, keep learning, always add a human layer.
[26:40] The CREATE prompting framework — Character, Request, Examples, Adjustments, Type, Extras.
[37:59] The three Cs for checking AI output: Confirm, Check, Craft. Why most people skip the third one.
[55:14] How business owners keep their thinking sharp: do the work on paper before you open the laptop.
[1:01:03] What humans still beat AI at - conceptualisation, creative voice, and judgment. The judgment one matters most.
[1:14:17] The line that pisses Dave off: "you won't be replaced by AI, you'll be replaced by someone using AI." His correction is sharper.
[1:18:09] The three-stage AI value pyramid — cost cutting → skill amplification → unlocking what wasn't possible before. 80% of companies are stuck on stage one.
[1:24:18] How to roll out AI across a team in an afternoon: align with business strategy, declare an AI amnesty, pave the desire lines.

Mentioned in this episode
Sensible AI Manifesto — Dave's six-point framework for applying AI without breaking your business. Currently being turned into a book.
Gen AI Academy - the training company Dave co-founded with Helena, working with governments, the UN and Fortune 500s.
GPT Junior - Dave's book and video course teaching kids how to use AI properly, currently in over 100 schools.
Perplexity - Dave's preferred AI tool for fact-checking because it gives you the sources.
Cal Newport - referenced for the long-form-reading argument and the case that children reading for pleasure is the strongest predictor of life outcomes.
Range (David Epstein) - the case for generalists over hyper-specialists; Dave says the book describes him.
Yann LeCun - recently left Meta over the limits of next-token prediction; arguing AI needs world models, not just language.
Roomba poopocalypse - the family-and-the-dog metaphor that opens the episode and frames the whole thing.
Marc Andreessen / lump of labour fallacy — the framing for why we systematically underestimate the new jobs that emerge from disruption.
RAF desire lines - the Nissan-hut path-paving story; Dave's metaphor for letting staff show you how AI is already being used.
Combinedly - the AI tool Andrew's firm is testing for client-sentiment analysis and email drafting.

Find the guest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebirss/
Gen AI Academy: https://thegenaiacademy.com/
Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon
X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs
🎧 Business Without BS — straight talk from people who've actually built things.

Matt Hunt built a 300-million-ball business without a co-packer and without betting on supermarket shelves to do the work for him.
About this episode
Matt Hunt is 11 years into building The Protein Ball Company — 300 million balls sold, 14 export markets, 60,000 bags leaving Worthing every day. He's done it by manufacturing himself, hedging with private label and export, and — after Covid wiped out 80% of the business — rebuilding from the bottom up through gyms and coffee shops before going back to supermarkets.
Andy gets Matt into the detail: why private label is a hedge not a compromise, what a category buyer actually charges you for shelf space, and the graveyard exercise that Leeds agency Robot Foods ran to strip his branding down to "Ballsy by nature."
About the guest
Matt Hunt co-founded The Protein Ball Company with his wife Hayley in 2014. He also built OLUVS — the first olives-in-a-bag brand, sold live on QVC and supplied into airline catering with Ryanair, easyJet, Delta and United — and The Great British Porridge Company, which went on Dragon's Den, got offers from all five Dragons, and walked away on contractual terms. He specialises in scaling natural-ingredient food brands without handing control to a co-packer.
Key moments
[02:46] The single decision that built a 300-million-ball business: manufacture it yourself, don't hand it to a co-packer.
[07:04] "No one cares as much as you do" — why outsourcing production leaves your quality in someone else's hands.
[14:08] Cash flow is king. Money on the water, 90-day US terms, and why a million in receivables can still put payroll at risk.
[24:12] Building from the bottom up — gyms, coffee shops, office blocks (Cafe Nero, Nuffield, HSBC) before Tesco.
[27:10] How a category manager kills a challenger brand — the Organic Meltdown vs Lindt story at Waitrose.
[36:09] What a shopper decides in two seconds — colour, font, tone, not ingredient claims — and why the agency forced Matt to strip the front of pack.
[37:00] The graveyard exercise — Robot Foods' pre-mortem where Matt had to write his brand's obituary, list what killed it, and work backwards to stop it dying.
[39:55] Where "Ballsy by nature" came from — anger at the protein-bar category and pride in sourcing the best.
[52:34] When to say no to a private-label deal: conflict of interest, bad margin, or it dilutes your own brand. Why it's still 50% of the business.
[58:00] Plan A, Plan B, Plan C — why every ingredient now needs three sources, and olives are up 45% in a year.
[1:14:00] First-hire advice: keep your day job until the side hustle overtakes it. Hiring an office and staff too early is how you kill the thing.

Mentioned in this episode
Robot Foods — Leeds branding agency behind the "Ballsy by nature" rebrand and the graveyard exercise (a pre-mortem: imagine your brand has died, write its obituary, work out what killed it).
OLUVS — Matt's earlier brand. First olives-in-a-bag. Supplied into airline catering with Delta, United, Ryanair, easyJet.
The Great British Porridge Company — Matt's third brand. Went on Dragon's Den, got offers from all five Dragons, walked away on contractual terms.
QVC — where OLUVS sold live; older demographic, urgency-driven, better than people admit.
Whole Foods Market — US stockist, 600 stores, private-label arrangement.
Cafe Nero, Flying Coffee Bean, Black Sheep Coffee, Nuffield, Virgin Active — the bottom-up placement strategy.
Pets Corner — 150-store launch partner for the dog-treat line.
Joe Wicks' "Killer Bar" — parody protein bar exposing category additives; tailwind for natural brands like Matt's.
Perfect Ted, Trip Drinks — examples of brands that hit the shelf running with the right backing.
Stephen Bartlett — cited as the right-person-in-the-right-place factor behind Perfect Ted's scale.
Mr Beast — influencer chocolate bar, discussed as a cautionary tale on quality.
GLP-1 / Ozempic — why bite-sized dense-nutrition snacks are a growing category.

Find the guest
LinkedIn: [paste Matt Hunt's LinkedIn URL here — not stored in the Episodes sheet yet] The Protein Ball Company: https://theproteinballco.com
Follow Business Without BS
Website: https://withoutbs.com
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondon
X / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_london
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/business-without-bs
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/business-without-bs
🎧 Business Without BS — straight talk from people who've actually built things.

EP 416 - What if your biggest business risk isn’t the market .. but your own assumptions?
Former RAF Wing Commander Marcus Dimbleby reveals how leaders can use red teaming, applied critical thinking and pre-mortems to dramatically increase strategy success rates.
We cover:
Why most business plans fail
The hidden danger of unchecked assumptions
How to run a red team session (even in a small company)
The “pre-mortem” technique that exposes fatal flaws
How to build real psychological safety
If you lead a team, run strategy or make high-stakes decisions — this episode will change how you think.
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