TopJaw turns 10: An interview with Jesse Burgess and Will Warr
It takes ten years to become an overnight success, they say. At the eight year mark, TopJaw’s Jesse Burgess and Will Warr very nearly tapped out. The pair had been making longish-form food-adjacent YouTube videos since 2015 — things like a 21-minute, three part series on the best burger in London. (“We haven’t exactly moved on,” laughs Will now.) It was going okay. It was going fine. It was even going quite well — which is a terrible way for anything to be going whatsoever.
“And then there came a moment when it was like, right: this has been a side project for so long,” says Jesse now. “Are we going to pack it in because it takes up a lot of time? Or are we going to carry it on — at which point we have to put our all into it. It was one or the other..."
Here, Jesse and Will discuss London's best restaurants, birthday celebrations, the problem with hype, and their admiration for the people behind the industry.
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Caspar Lee — founder, YouTuber and VC
Caspar Lee made his first YouTube video at the age of 16 and made his first million from the platform at the age of 21. Now, he is the founder of three businesses that have put some of what he learned in that world into action — an influencer marketing agency, a creator management company, and Creator Ventures, a VC fund with $65m under management, with his Caspar invests in the technologies behind internet culture.
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Caspar Lee — founder, YouTuber and VC
Caspar Lee made his first YouTube video at the age of 16 and made his first million from the platform at the age of 21. Now, he is the founder of three businesses that have put some of what he learned in that world into action — an influencer marketing agency, a creator management company, and Creator Ventures, a VC fund with $65m under management, with which Caspar invests in the technologies behind internet culture.
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Harry Stebbings, Podcaster and VC
“You really have to be unwaveringly obsessed..."
Harry Stebbings’ career began at the age of 13, when he watched The Social Network — David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s brooding portrayal of the earliest days of Facebook. But whereas many of us watched that film and thought: “I’d quite like to be a tech founder”, Harry watched it and thought: “Gosh. I want to be a venture capitalist.”
A few years later, and with £200 pounds in the bank and not a single contact in the VC world, Harry started his podcast, The Twenty Minute VC. Now, more than 10 years and 1400 episodes later, Harry has pivoted his juggernaut-like podcast into his very own VC fund — one that has backed 13 unicorns to-date. Here, in a beautifully candid interview, Harry tells the podcast about the AI start-up sphere; why he chooses to work nine-to-nine, six days a week; how his often lonely childhood formed his entrepreneurial mindset; the dangers of social media usage; and the things that make him optimistic about the future.
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In conversation with Daisy Knatchbull, Editor of Kultura
In this special episode of the Gentleman's Journal Podcast we sit down with Daisy Knatchbull and Harry Jarman to discuss the launch of Kultura — a new magazine about pioneering women redefining success on their own terms. The entrepreneurs talk about how the venture first came about; the struggle of coming up with a name; why Lauren Hutton, at the age of 81; was the best possible first cover star; and why it’s always worth paying more for shoes.
The Gentleman‘s Journal brings you exclusive interviews with the world‘s most interesting tastemakers, entrepreneurs and raconteurs. Hosted by Joseph Bullmore.
Ireland