Callum Laing: The Shades of Entrepreneurship

Callum Laing's entrepreneurial journey @ 0:00

Callum Laing shares his background as an entrepreneur, starting in recruitment during the dot-com boom and then focusing on helping small businesses access capital markets and public listings over the past 10 years. He also discusses his work setting up the Veblan Director Program to help women, minorities, and first-time directors get board seats.

The value of board experience @ 1:44

Callum emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurs gaining board experience, either through advisory boards or serving on other company boards. He explains how this can be incredibly valuable for learning and accessing new opportunities, despite the traditional exclusivity of corporate boards.

Connecting small businesses with capital @ 4:30

Callum discusses his work at MBH Corporation, which acquires and groups together small businesses to take them public, providing access to capital markets that is typically unavailable to smaller companies. He highlights the mismatch between the large portion of the economy represented by small businesses and the lack of financial products catered to them.

Strategies for successful partnerships @ 9:25

Callum shares his "progressive partnerships" approach, which involves starting small with partnerships that are easy to obtain, even if they don't immediately provide significant value. He explains how this can build momentum and credibility to then pursue larger, more impactful partnerships over time.

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs @ 44:12

Callum advises aspiring entrepreneurs to thoroughly test their ideas and get customer validation before fully committing to building a business. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on generating actual sales and revenue, rather than just building a product based on assumptions.

Recap and resources @ 47:52

Callum provides information on how to connect with him further, including his LinkedIn profile and website, where his books are available for free. The host also promotes the Shades of Entrepreneurship newsletter and Patreon community.