Tough Cookies Podcast

The Podcast about Bristol and South West entrepreneurs

Welcome to the Tough Cookies podcasts where we interview individuals who build, scale and support startups in the South West of England.

Subscribe to the Tough Cookies Podcasts

Get the latest episode from the Tough Cookies Podcast and learn about the South West entrepreneurs and enablers

Identifying and overcoming burnout with Dr Becky Sage

This week Nic and Nat sit down with Dr Becky Sage (Director of Acceleration at EDUCATE and former CEO of Interactive Scientific) to share their personal experiences with identifying and overcoming entrepreneurial burnout.

Has society had enough of 'stuff'? (Dominic Mills from Yuup)

This week Nic and Nat sit down with Dominic Mills, co-founder of Yuup – one of CookiesHQ’s own clients. Yuup is an online marketplace for Bristol-based experiences that launched in September 2020.

From West End theatre to a West Country incubator - the Stornaway story with Kate Dimbleby & Ru Howe

This week Nic and Nat sit down with CookiesHQ’s own clients for the very first time: Rupert and Kate, co-founders of Stornaway – an interactive film production platform that’s taken them from West End theatre to a West Country startup incubator…

Lockdown & Homeschooling with Timmy and Alice - Behind the Screens #9

To kick-off 2021, Nic and Nat sit down with their home co-workers (ahem, kids) Timmy and Alice for a hilarious yet sincere look at how lockdowns and homeschooling are impacting working families.

A tale of two agencies with Atomic Smash - Behind the Screens #8

This week Nic and Nat sit down (remotely, of course) with Piers and Dave from Atomic Smash – a Bristol-based specialist WordPress and WooCommerce studio. CookiesHQ and Atomic Smash are nearly the same age and have had very similar journeys towards similar goals, so they dig deep into this alignment.

Don't Fear the F Word with Revoco

This week’s episode is a recording from 4th November when Nic & Nat were interviewed by the lovely bunch at Revoco for their ‘Don’t Fear the F Word’ webcast series – where startup founders share the fears, failures and f*** ups that have taught them a thing or two on their business journey.

Welcome Emily, we are CookiesHQ - Bitesize #1

This week Nic sits down with CookiesHQ’s new marketing manager Emily, to answer some of the questions she has about who we are and what we do.

Keeping Bristol weird (Marty Reid from Engine Shed)

To mark the re-opening of Engine Shed this week we’re releasing our Tough Cookies episode featuring Marty Reid, Head of Engine Shed, Bristol

Market research & customer feedback: 3 startup mistakes to avoid - Behind the Screens #7

This week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the 3 biggest mistakes we see startup founders make and how you can avoid them.

Beyond building apps - CookiesHQ and the community - Behind the Screens #6

This week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about getting involved in and giving back to the community as entrepreneurs. They look back at everything they’ve done, successfully or otherwise, over the last decade to cement their place in the Bristol ecosystem.

How setting personal goals can boost your business - Behind the Screens #5

This week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the benefits of setting both personal and business goals, and how they help you find routine and purpose.

Trust communication & collaboration: How we manage a remote team - Behind the Screens #4

This week Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the challenges and benefits of working and managing a team remotely. They’ve always embraced flexible remote working – but how do they feel about having been forced into managing a fully remote team by Covid-19?

Organising the chaos: How we manage a flexible project scope on a fixed budget - Behind the Screens #3

We pride ourselves on delivering projects for a fixed fee but staying as flexible and adaptable as clients need us to be. How do we do it?

Our job is to make other people happy, and it's addictive - Behind the Screens #2

This week, Nic and Nathalie sit down to talk about the challenges of starting, running and growing a service business. Well… that was the plan

Did we really have to think about closing Cookies because of a virus? - Behind the Screens #1

Nat and Nic reflect on the impact of Covid 19, the period of uncertainty triggered by lockdown and how they are juggling work and family life.

The past, present and future of the Bristol entrepreneurial scene - (Nick Sturge)

Nic shares his journey from entrepreneur in residence at SETsquared, to eventually running the incubator and helping form the Engine Shed in Bristol

Transparency and trust: We know there's a gender pay gap but what are you going to do about it? (Zara from GapSquare)

Listen to this Tough Cookies episode with Zara Nanu, all about the gender pay gap and how technology can innovate the way people are paid. .

The making of a performance growth agency (Ashley Wheeler from HdE)

Nic sits down with Ashley Wheeler, co-founder and CEO of HdE: A Bristol-based performance growth agency for the tech and digital sector.

How to shape innovative university students (Katie Martin from The University of Bristol)

Nic sits down with Katie Martin to talk about how The University of Bristol supports students to launch their own companies and chase their dream career.

Business development and Loop program (David Corlett from Workbrands)

This week Nic sits down with David Corlett – they discuss the new Bristol Loop programme, a growth programme for startups & scaleups.

Bristol startup ecosystem and a new investment programme (Ben Shorrock from TechSPARK)

Nic and Ben discuss the resources available in Bristol for startups, what it’s like to live in the city and how people can connect with one another.

The Podcast about Bristol and South West entrepreneurs

Subscribe to the Tough Cookies Podcasts

It all starts with a chat