About the Show
VIB (Very Important Business) is the weekly podcast giving you the unvarnished truth — from two founders — about what it's really like running a business.
Each week, hosts Carl Partridge and Emily Bendell take an honest look at one of the key challenges every founder faces: hiring, firing, raising investment, being a good boss — and, in some cases, a bad one. They're joined by top founders, investors and partners for down-to-earth advice, and they're not shy about calling out the BS when they hear it.
No humblebragging. No polished takes. Just the stuff that actually happens when you're building a business — the war stories, the mistakes, the things nobody tells you until it's too late. With a cast-iron promise to never take themselves too seriously.
Episode one drops 30 June. Subscribe now so it hits your feed the moment it's live — and you can be involved.
Carl Partridge & Emily Bendell — your VIB hosts
More about the presenters
Emily Bendell
Emily is founder and CEO of Bluebella, the multi-award-winning lingerie brand on a mission to redefine sensuality, with an international footprint and a 40-strong team based in East London. A PPE graduate of Oxford University, Emily won the King's Award for Enterprise and is a committed mentor, women's advocate and campaigner.
MoreCarl Partridge
Carl is a two-time founder, broadcaster and content creator. He created Bus Checker — London's first live bus-times app — and founded transport-tech company UrbanThings, which was acquired by Paragon ID in 2022. He is currently co-founder of ThreadHound AI, a knowledge-indexing platform. Carl spent a decade in broadcasting at Capital Radio and Fox FM and is a former BBC comedy writer, with credits including The News Quiz, Armstrong & Miller and Dead Ringers.
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