Stephen Kelly, Company Builder & Entrepreneur, how to add billions of Dollars of value, Investing Matters Podcast - Episode 24

Welcome to this brand-new investing podcast from the London South East. My name is Peter Higgins, you can find me on Twitter @conkers3 and I will be your host for this series of Investing Matters podcasts. What can you expect from the Investing Matters podcasts? A great question. You will find long form interviews with noteworthy veterans and experts from the investment and fund management industry. During these interviews each interviewee will share and impart their knowledge, learning and insights on what aspects of Investing truly matters to them and what in their view should matter to investors. We hope this knowledge exchange benefits all and enables all those accessing and listening to these podcasts to achieve even greater investing success. With that in mind, welcome to episode twenty-four, which is with the hugely talented, former CEO of global tech firms Sage, Micro Focus and Chordiant, serial entrepreneur, senior advisor to Blackrock and* Chair of Tech Nation; the UK’s leading growth platform for tech scaleups and entrepreneurs, Stephen Kelly. *Stephen wears many more hats and more roles. In June 2020, Stephen Kelly was appointed Chair of Tech Nation; the UK’s leading growth platform for tech scaleups and entrepreneurs. Stephen’s personal commitment to the UK tech sector spans many roles. He is currently Chair of the Science & Technology Honours Committee, Board member of the No 10 Innovation Fellowships programme, a Director at Locum’s Nest, Chair at The Algorithm People, senior advisor to BlackRock, as well as an investor in a portfolio of high-growth companies.  Stephen is the former CEO of global tech firms Sage, Micro Focus and Chordiant. Stephen was one of the early leaders at Oracle, before joining the start-up team at Chordiant and growing the business to $100m revenues. Chordiant became a tech unicorn in four years, IPO’ing on Nasdaq during Stephen’s tenure as CEO. Stephen went on to scale more global technology companies and is unique as a CEO who successfully grew NASDAQ, FTSE100 and FTSE250 listed companies.  Stephen has also worked for the UK Government, in the capacity of Business Ambassador for Technology to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as well as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing digital transformation for the UK Government. An established Chair, Board Director, mentor and investor to many digital businesses and entrepreneurs, Stephen is passionate about building a thriving, diverse UK tech ecosystem, with strong social purpose, that creates opportunities for everyone and solves pressing socioeconomic challenges on a regional, national and global scale. In this Investing Matters podcast, I discuss with Stephen, how he added approximately $10 billion of value collectively to the companies he led, whilst their CEO. His long-held focus on the quality product, customer satisfaction and investing in people. His humble beginnings, that drive his passion for giving back, paying it forward and working with disadvantaged communities, brilliantly encapsulated in the formation and growth the Sage Foundation during his tenure as CEO. As a smart, shrewd entrepreneur Stephen also continues investing in start-ups, entrepreneurs, women led businesses and innovation. Stephen tells us why he thinks the UK can be a future global technology superpower and much more. We hope you enjoy this podcast, and we look forward to hearing your feedback. Please subscribe to this podcast on your platform of choice and follow the @InvMattPodcast on Twitter.