20VC: From Penniless Printing Shop Offices to Public Company and One of the Largest Entertainment Companies: The Story of LADbible | The Future of Content & Social Media | US vs Europe: Is Europe F****** with Solly Solomou
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 693 Ratings
🗓️ 14 February 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Founder and CEO of LADbible Group, Solly Solomou has built one of the largest and most engaged digital media entertainment companies in the world. Under his leadership, LADbible has grown to reach two-thirds of 18-34-year-olds in the UK, with a global audience of over 494 million followers, including 141 million in the US. The company's content now has a total reach of over 1 billion people worldwide.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
From Printer Shop Office to Ringing the IPO Bell:
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How did Solly start LADbible with no money and no experience?
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How did a moment with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube show Solly that he had something special with LADbible?
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In the expansion of the business, what new products did not work? What did Solly learn from the failures of products?
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Why did Solly always want to build the business without an external funding?
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What are the top 3 pieces of advice Solly gives to young entrepreneurs starting a business today?
The Future of Content and Social Media:
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How does Solly see wearables changing the future of media and social?
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Does Solly agree that the friendship graph has been eradicated by interest graphs?
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Does Solly think TikTok should be banned?
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Why does Solly think TikTok Shop is the most interesting product in social today?
Europe vs US: Is Europe F******:
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What are the single biggest differences between doing business in the US vs Europe?
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Why did Solly decide to go public in London on The London Stock Exchange?
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How tough is it being a public company in London?
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How important are local liquidity markets if Europe is to regain competitiveness?
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If Solly were advising Keir Starmer on how to stimulate growth in the UK, what would he say and advise?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | All I knew was I had to make more money than I spent. |
| 0:04.4 | And that was what I had to create. |
| 0:06.1 | I didn't really understand the concept of taking on investment and growing a business. |
| 0:10.8 | So from day one, we were profitable. |
| 0:13.7 | If I was to rewrite the script, I definitely would have started the business in the US, |
| 0:20.0 | the size and scale of the market. |
| 0:22.2 | It's huge. |
| 0:22.7 | As we grow and build our US business, a dual listing might be the way to go. |
| 0:28.6 | I mean, I am so excited for this episode today. |
| 0:31.0 | Our guest has gone from founding the company with a small office above a printing shop |
| 0:35.5 | with no money to being one of the largest and most engaged |
| 0:38.9 | digital media entertainment businesses in the world and a public company. |
| 0:43.7 | Solly Solemieux is the founder and CEO of Ladd Bible, which under his leadership has grown to |
| 0:48.8 | reach two thirds of 18 to 34 year olds in the UK with a global audience. |
| 0:53.8 | Check this out of almost half a billion |
| 0:56.2 | followers, including 141 million in the US. The company's content now has a total reach of over |
| 1:03.7 | a billion people worldwide. This is such an incredible success story. But before we dive into the show |
| 1:09.9 | today, Secureframe empowers businesses to build trust with customers by simplifying information security and compliance through AI and automation. |
| 1:17.6 | Thousands of fast-growing businesses including NASDAQ, Angel List, Doodle and Coda, trust Secureframe to expedite their compliance journey for global security and privacy standards, |
| 1:28.3 | such as SOC2 and ISO-271, CMMC, MIST standards and more. |
| 1:34.3 | Backed by top-tier investors and corporations like Google and Kleiner Perkins, the company |
| 1:38.7 | is among Forbes's list of the top 100 startup employers for 2024. |
... |
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