Simon Rogerson - Octopus Group - The importance of culture Part 2

Jimmy's Jobs of the Future

Boxlight Creative Studio

Technology, Business, Careers

5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2021

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the second part of our interview with Octopus co-founder Simon Rogerson.If you haven't listened to it already, do check out the first half which is quickly becoming one of our most downloaded episodes yet.In this episode, we talk about how Octopus grew and how you maintain an entrepreneurial culture as a business grows from 0 employees to over 750. Keeping that special disruption and entrepreneurial nature that Octopus is so well known for has been no mean feat over 20 years but especially during the pandemic.Listen on to find out what exactly Simon means by 'the Amazon of Energy" as well as a new feature at the end of the episode. You can find out more on our website or get in touch via [email protected] You can follow us on social media: Instagram: @Jimmysjobs Twitter: @Jimmysjobs And most importantly on LinkedIn Subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's Substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here.Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift, you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to Jimmy's Jobs of the Future, for the second half of our interview with
0:11.7	the co-founder of octopus group Simon Rodgerson. It's worth checking out the first half as it's
0:18.0	been one of our most ever listened to episodes if this is your first time listening to Jimmy's
0:23.2	Jobs of the Future. In this episode we focus on how octopus group and how you keep a culture
0:30.0	when over the course of 20 years you go from zero employees to 750. How do you keep that special
0:38.4	disruption, that entrepreneurial nature that octopus is so well renowned for? It's not a simple process
0:45.4	and it typically hasn't been during the pandemic so it's worth listening to what Simon thinks about
0:51.5	and also what the future of energy holds in particular when it comes to the octopus group
0:57.4	and why he thinks octopus energy could become the amazum of the energy industry. We also have a new
1:04.0	feature at the end of this show which I'm sure you'll find really interesting and it's worth
1:08.4	sticking around for the credits at the end. Simon you've scaled a company from three founders
1:18.5	to the outset to 750 plus now. What are your reflections on having done that and what were the
1:27.5	sort of significant key moments of change in that in terms of culture and hiring people?
1:38.3	Oh that's a tough one. So I'd say that when the company to write down right at the very
1:46.2	beginning, so back in March 2000 when we said the business up for probably the first year,
1:50.8	18 months, it's just about survival. So it definitely wasn't a grand vision. We thought the
1:55.8	financial service industry was broken and we wanted to change that but it was literally about
2:00.1	survival. It was about raising the money. It's about becoming regulated, launching your first
2:05.4	product, getting your first customer. I still remember our first customer who was a guy called Mr. Gower.
2:10.4	He said we used to get the check sent to us directly so I opened the check in our office and it was
2:15.4	our first check we received from this guy and I thought I'm going to call him up and say thank you
2:19.3	and tell them all about octopus because I'm so excited. So in Hansai, that was a mistake. You
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