In this episode of Launchbase, John Radford sits down with Eddie Whittingham—ex-police officer, lawyer, and tech entrepreneur. Eddie bootstrapped The Defense Works, a cybersecurity training company, and successfully exited to Proofpoint, a NASDAQ-listed firm. Now, he’s building Ministry of Work, a premium co-working space for ambitious founders.

They discuss:

✅ Bootstrapping to exit—what worked and what didn’t ✅ The role of luck vs. hard work in startup success ✅ Why most online training is terrible—and how Eddie made it better ✅ The reality of selling a business—how Proofpoint found him through LinkedIn ✅ Why founder networks matter more than ever

Jonathan Keeling has seen fundraising from all angles—helping CrowdCube raise over £1B for 1,000 startups and now scaling Haatch from £50M to £250M AUM.

In this episode, we dive into the realities of startup fundraising, crowdfunding do’s and don’ts, and what investors really look for. We also explore how UK investors differ from their US counterparts, the rise of AI-powered startups, and why recycled capital is key to a thriving ecosystem. If you’re raising or investing, this one’s for you!

This week, we end off Season 1 with a bang as we sit down with Gabriela Hersham, Co-Founder and CEO of Huckletree. Huckletree is the home of conscious entrepreneurship across the UK and Ireland, providing a network of mentors, talent, investors and experts, along with the right services to help their members grow.

We discuss what the future of work may look like in a post-pandemic world, the role of community in facilitating growth and avoiding the founder trap of approaching the startup as a lifestyle, rather than a stackable business.

Sources:

Huckletree: https://www.huckletree.com/about