We Booked 3 Big-Name Founders in One Day | Week 8 Founder Vlog

Founder Journey

About this week's journey

Week 8 of the Founder Journey is a rare one where almost everything seems to click. Chris and Helen start by addressing something they have heard about the series: that the weekly vlogs can sometimes feel negative. Their answer is simple. The point of the Founder Journey is to show what running businesses actually feels like, not just the polished wins that make it onto social media. After several tougher weeks, this one gives them plenty to celebrate and becomes a reminder of how quickly founders can move past a win without stopping to recognise it.

The week begins with a 3am start and a drive to London, where Chris and Helen record three Built Not Born In Business conversations in a new studio. They sit down with Mike Soutar, Heather Mills and Simon Woodroffe, three people with very different stories and experiences. What stands out to Chris and Helen is not simply the scale of the names, but the chance to spend meaningful time hearing the stories behind the public image. It reinforces why they have kept pushing the podcast beyond surface-level success stories and towards more honest conversations about what people have actually built, learned and lived through.

From London, the week moves straight into client filming and then Ideas Fest. The contrast with the previous year is striking. Twelve months earlier, Chris and Helen arrived knowing almost nobody. This time, they describe walking around the event and repeatedly bumping into people they had already met, interviewed or built relationships with. Instead of a room full of strangers, it felt more like meeting friends. That experience becomes one of the strongest lessons of the week: relationships compound. One conversation can lead to another introduction, another opportunity and eventually a network that changes how a room feels when you walk into it.

Ideas Fest also gives Chris and Helen their first opportunity to speak on stage together. Rather than trying to deliver a polished corporate presentation, they approach it much more like one of their own conversations: relaxed, funny, honest and open. They notice people moving across from neighbouring tents, stay talking to attendees after the session and have several useful conversations that lead to enquiries and possible future podcast guests. Helen reflects that being yourself helps attract the people you naturally connect with, while Chris comes back to the idea that a good talk should be enjoyable, honest and useful at the same time.

By the end of the week, the bigger shift is about Built Not Born itself. Chris and Helen have spent recent weeks trying to work out what the future should look like, how they can enjoy the journey more and what Built Not Born could become beyond the podcast. The combination of the London interviews, Ideas Fest, their stage session and the relationships around them makes those ideas feel more real. They do not reveal the next move yet, but they finish the episode with renewed excitement and one clear message for other founders: being in the room matters, and sometimes the opportunity starts with simply going over and speaking to someone.