Founder Profile
Frankie James
Co-Founder · Ideas Community
Frankie James is co-founder of the Ideas Community, home to IdeasFest and a portfolio of UK entrepreneur, startup, growth and industry awards programmes.
EntrepreneurshipCommunity BuildingEventsAwardsBusiness GrowthNetworking
About Frankie James
Founder story & expertise
Frankie James is co-founder of the Ideas Community, which she describes as including IdeasFest, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, the UK Startup Awards, the UK Fast Growth Index and the Great British Industry Awards. From Cardiff, Frankie runs the business with her partner Dylan and describes their contrasting working styles as part of what makes the partnership work. In the episode, she explains how IdeasFest emerged from the need to rethink events after the pandemic and how years of relationships, community trust and entrepreneurial networks helped the first festival attract around 1,250 people without an established festival track record. Her work centres on creating environments where founders can connect, share experience and support one another. Frankie also discusses the role of awards in recognising progress, the importance of social capital and referrals, and why founder conversations are more useful when they include uncertainty as well as success. She also talks about adventure based fundraising trips in India and the value of stepping outside day to day business to reconnect with identity, challenge and community.
Podcast appearances
Watch Frankie James on Built Not Born.
Practical resources
Resources linked to Frankie James.
Useful tools created from the conversations and ideas featured in Frankie James's Built Not Born appearances.
Workbook
The Founder Reality Check
A guided reflection workbook for founders who are ambitious but tired of measuring themselves against the polished version of entrepreneurship. It helps separate facts from self doubt, record real progress, rethink what success means now and test one practical change over the next 30 days.
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Workbook
The Trust Capital Playbook
A practical workbook for turning trust from a vague brand promise into repeatable business behaviour. It explains how consistency, follow through, recovery and warm introductions shape reputation, then helps you audit trust gaps and build a 30 day improvement plan.
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