Sixth form to £mm exited tech founder in 10 years – with Jordan Appleson, Founder, Hark
Jordan Appleson left school to go into employment at 17. He then went on to found, and sell, one of the most successful Leeds tech businesses.
Listen as a chance conversation sparks a business idea, how a pivot really changed the business, the reasons for an abandoned PE raise and how a cold email turned into a business sale.
Along with the undoubted successes there’s lots of ‘we didn’t do this so well’. There is so much in this episode to learn from. Despite being so successful, today’s guest Jordan is open enough to include of the things he didn’t get right on his journey so far.
If you’re looking for a business and entrepreneurship podcast that will inspire, motivate and educate you, through the personal business journeys and entrepreneurial lessons learnt of Leeds business owners then this is the podcast for you.
INTRODUCING JORDAN APPLESON
Jordan Appleson is the Founder & CEO of Hark, which was acquired by S&P500 tech company SolarEdge Inc. Jordan is an expert on Industrial IoT tech for Energy Transition with a background in software and hardware. He is now leading teams and deployments globally.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
[00:00:00] Leaving school at 17 and starting work full time
[00:15:30] The effect of the Branded3 sale
[00:19:00] The initial idea for Hark
[00:23:00] The pivot into energy and the difficulties of revenue v focus
[00:35:00] Business growth and lessons learnt
[00:42:00] The sale of Hark
[00:49:00] The investment round that didn’t happen
[00:55:00] How to build culture post-acquisition
5 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS
• If you’re starting up a business it’s not a part-time thing. You’re either in or out
• A ‘low price, high volume’ business needs a big sales team around it
• 80% of any good business idea is going to be execution
• Build the culture early on and recruit to fit that culture
• No-one believes in your business as much as you do
3 MOMENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR
“What on earth do they want with us? Is this a scam?
“This guy looked like he could crush me with his thumb”
“The deal was done on Christmas Day”
VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU
Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/
Work with Phil – www.philfraser.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-appleson-3848315b/
Shout out: https://castrooms.com/
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https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/phil-fraser/
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.
As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.
As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.
Want to work with Phil to help you? See www.philfraser.co.uk.
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