Will Stirrup is the Co-Founder of Maeving, the UK’s first electric motorcycle manufacturer, but after going totally bankrupt in his first year as an entrepreneur, Will’s journey is one of honesty, realism and business burnout. Raised in South Africa, Will came to the UK for university and quickly found himself on a career trajectory to working in finance. After becoming the youngest person ever to become double ACA CFA qualified, and securing a role within the M&A team of a top tier investment bank, Will packed it all in and chose his dream of being an entrepreneur. He didn’t have a business idea, only the knowledge that whatever it was had to have a positive impact on the climate crisis. Fast forward 4 years, and his business Maeving have developed an affordable, lightweight urban motorcycle with removable batteries you can charge at a standard plug socket, selling out their first production run almost immediately. Will’s story is one of toxic work cultures, intense burnout and of someone who is still looking for the right way to do it all – if such a thing exists.
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in this video
00:01 – Trailer
00:49 – introduction into having an honest conversation about entrepreneurship
1:42 – a brief overview into the start of Will’s career
6:10 – what Will learnt from his career in finance
9:20 – Will’s experience with burning out and feeling out of his depth
14:21 – going from corporate careers to starting a business
18:57 – how to handle financially starting a business
21:33 – the side hustles that you can do whilst beginning a business
23:27 – why his business felt like passion project
24:30 – the 1st year of Maeving
31:00 – getting to the point of ‘can we keep doing this?’
33:00 – what would Will do if his business fails now?
34:30 – how has Will become so resilient?
35:56 – how the pandemic nearly bankrupted Maeving
39:20 – how Will has hired well
44:50 – who is entrepreneurship for?
52:08 – what is this Entrepreneur’s biggest mistake?
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