Grant Thornton: Elevate - for business leaders

Life-changers: 11 business leaders, 11 big decisions

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: business, entrepreneurs, links, entrepreneur, David Cameron, podcasts, my big decision, interviews, EU, vodcasts, veto, My Big Decision, podcasts, business, decision, interviews, David Cameron, EU

In the week that Prime Minister David Cameron made the historic decision to veto a new European Union treaty, we review our blog interview series on the life-changing decisions made by world-famous leaders in business…

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My Big Decision: Guy Kawasaki on seeing a Mac for the first time

Friday, August 12, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: business, success, podcasts, My Big Decision, Apple, Guy Kawasaki, decision

The final interview in Grant Thornton’s My Big Decision series of life-changing business decisions is with tech entrepreneur and former Apple chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki, who talks about the moment he ‘wimped out’ of law college and went into the computer business instead.

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My Big Decision: Alan Webber’s defining moment

Thursday, February 24, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: business, podcasts, my big decision, Alan Webber, indecision

We celebrate our 10th My Big Decision podcast with a critical moment of indecision. We talk to former Harvard Business Review editor, Rules of Thumb author and business columnist Alan Webber on the weekend many years ago that sealed his fate.

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My Big Decision: Luke Johnson on taking over Pizza Express

Monday, December 06, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: business, entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, risk, retail, food, Luke Johnson, franchise, My Big Decision, Pizza Express, takeover, restaurant

Like many serial entrepreneurs, Luke Johnson believes in getting off your behind, facing down the risks and rising to a challenge. Never more so than in 1992, when he was living on an overdraft in order to help finance a reverse takeover of Pizza Express. It was a transformational moment, which he relives here as the latest subject of Grant Thornton’s My Big Decision series.

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Who is supporting Britain’s future entrepreneurs?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Business advice, My big decision, Economy | Tags: entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, Luke Johnson, networks, My Big Decision, mentors, forums, startups, community, Pizza Express, groups, clubs, support

Here on Elevate blog, we write for and about those dynamic entrepreneurs and business leaders who have already ‘made it’ and are heading up successful companies, many in the corporate mid-market. But our next My Big Decision interviewee has got us thinking about how these CEOs started out and how a new wave of entrepreneur clubs and support networks is supporting British enterprise.

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My Big Decision: Seth Godin on firing his biggest client

Thursday, July 15, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: business, entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, marketing, My Big Decision, crisis, customers, clients, Seth Godin, fired

Seth Godin has the top-ranked

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Purple cows, action figures and a new My Big Decision

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: innovation, entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, marketing, My Big Decision, brand, Seth Godin, action figure, purple cow, doll

We’re pleased to announce that our next My Big Decision interviewee will be the world-famous marketer and blogger, Seth Godin – coming shortly on Elevate. Interspersed with him talking about a critical decision he has made, however, are glimpses of the Kewpie Doll and figures collection he keeps in his office - ending on shot of a Seth Godin ‘Mini-Me’. Yes, it seems the man has his own action figure! Here’s the story of the doll…

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My Big Decision: Sahar Hashemi on why giving up Coffee Republic was a ‘great mistake’

Thursday, May 13, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision, Women in business | Tags: entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, women in business, CEO, My Big Decision, Sahar Hashemi, founder, Coffee Republic

She’s the woman who plugged the caffeine cravings of a nation when, together with her brother, Bobby, she founded Coffee Republic in 1995. Now in Grant Thornton’s

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How to be a corporate entrepreneur by Sahar Hashemi

Monday, May 10, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision, Women in business | Tags: entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, tips, corporate, My Big Decision, customers, Bobby Hashemi, Sahar Hashemi, Pret a Manger, Coffee Republic

Sahar Hashemi is the co-founder of Coffee Republic, one of the most powerful women in British business and author of new book for entrepreneurs, Switched On . She’s also the subject of Grant Thornton’s next

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My Big Decision: Julie Meyer on launching a tech firm during the dot com downturn

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision, Financing , Women in business | Tags: business, entrepreneurs, investment, entrepreneur, technology, digital, women in business, CEO, financing, My Big Decision, Julie Meyer, Ariadne Capital, First Tuesday, backing, dot com, Dragon’s Den

Setting up a technology-oriented investment firm just six months after the dot com bubble burst may sound like risky business. But as entrepreneur and BBC Dragon Julie Meyer explains, in Grant Thornton’s

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My Big Decision: George Davies on why launching GIVe was his toughest decision yet

Sunday, February 21, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision, Retail sector | Tags: entrepreneurs, retail, My Big Decision, business leaders, George, George Davies, Next, GIVe, per una

George Davies is big in women’s clothing – so to speak. He launched Next, George at Asda and per una at Marks & Spencer. But, says Britain’s ‘King of the High Street’ – the latest subject in Grant Thornton’s

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Stephen J Dubner’s Big Decision: ‘Why I gave up a life in rock ’n’ roll’

Thursday, December 10, 2009 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision, Media sector | Tags: my big decision, Tim Harford, Chris Anderson, economics, Fons Trompenaars, Stephen J Dubner, SuperFreakonomics, Freakonomics

The co-author of Freakonomics (and now SuperFreakonomics) reveals how he gave up a record deal and a career as a rock star to pursue a normal family life – only to become a famous author instead, thanks to his best-selling ‘rogue economics’ books. But as Stephen Dubner tells

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