Latest episode
Is 2026 the Worst Year to Start a Business? The Truth
Would Chris and Helen start a business again in 2026? Their answer challenges the usual obsession with turnover, headcount and a big exit.
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For founders who are still building
Great businesses are Built, Not Born.
Founder stories, practical business lessons and podcast strategy from people who have built, scaled, sold and still figuring it out.
Founder interviewsBusiness lessonsPodcast growth
FOUNDERS●GROWTH●SALES●LEADERSHIP●PODCASTING●PERSONAL BRAND●EXITS
The podcast
Learn from founders who've lived it.
Honest conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners and founders . From early-stage builders to people who have scaled and exited for 10 figures.
Latest episode
Why He Walked Away From a Guaranteed $1M Bonus Mike Soutar
Mike Soutar explains why he chose a new career opportunity over a huge bonus and what building businesses taught him.
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The Real Cost of AI Nobody Is Talking About
AI can save time, but what does it cost in accuracy, originality, privacy and human connection? Chris and Helen explore where businesses should draw the line.
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Why Amelia Sordell Shut Down Her £4M Agency She Built a Prison, Not a Business
Amelia Sordell on building Klowt, realising the agency had become a prison, and redesigning a growing business around margin, responsibility and founder freedom.
Watch now →Founder Journey
We're not teaching from the finish line.
We're building multiple businesses in real time. Sharing the decisions, mistakes, pressure, wins and course corrections as they happen.
Follow Chris & Helen's Founder JourneyRunning three businesses: We share the honest verion
Let's celebrate together the highs
We'll share the lows and what didn't work
Founder Lessons
Practical answers to real business problems.
Shorter, focused videos built from our own experience and the lessons we've learned from the founders we've interviewed.
How to grow a business from £0k to £250k
Practical choices, systems and mistakes from the messy middle.
How to get more from your team without burning them out
Lessons from founders who built high-performing teams.
The sales system that changed our business
A focused breakdown of the process, not generic motivation.
What we'd do differently if we started again
Experience turned into practical decisions for the next founder.
Build a Business Podcast
Turn a podcast into a business asset.
Learn how to plan, record, grow and monetise a podcast that builds authority, relationships, leads and content, without needing a huge audience first.
- Start with the right format and positioning
- Get better guests, even with a small audience
- Build a repeatable content system
- Use your podcast to create business opportunities
Built Not Born Community
Stop piecing it together on your own.
A practical community for people building a business, with structured training, templates, support and the lessons we've learned from doing it ourselves.
Inside the membership
- Full podcast training libraryFrom idea to launch, growth and monetisation
- Templates & frameworksPractical tools you can use immediately
- Live supportQ&As, community feedback and new lessons
- Ask ADAPlanned AI access to the Built Not Born knowledge bank
- And way moreWe have loads of features we can't wait to share with you
Free Business Newsletter
Useful advice without a sales pitch.
Join our free Built Not Born In Business newsletter for practical hints, ideas and lessons to help you grow a stronger business.
We’ll share genuinely useful advice from our own experience, conversations with successful founders and the things we’re learning along the way.
Chris & Helen Butler
Built from experience. Shared without the polish.
We're serial entrepreneurs building businesses while interviewing people who have done extraordinary things. Built Not Born exists to share what works, what doesn't and what we'd do differently.
Our StoryKeep building