Monocle
133 episodes listed below
From airships to Savile Row tailoring, Monocle interviews founders reshaping global business.
The Entrepreneurs follows business stories where product, place and provenance matter. Recent conversations move from tailoring and Paris bistros to Australian perfume, emerging wine regions, luxury travel and sensory branding for hotels.
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The Entrepreneurs is a weekly interview show produced by Monocle Radio that runs roughly 28 to 30 minutes per episode. Most episodes are split into two guest segments, pairing a business owner or founder in one field with another in a related or contrasting one. Tom Edwards and Laura Kramer are the show's most frequent presenters, conducting the majority of interviews, with Tom Webb and Andrew Mueller filling in on some episodes. Guests are almost always founders, CEOs or creative directors of independent or heritage brands who appear for a single episode rather than as recurring voices. Past guests profiled include the founder of Australian perfume house Goldfield and Banks, the CEO of Savile Row tailor Knatchbull, the founders of merino wool brand Sheep Inc, and executives from airship maker Kelluu and private aviation firm Mayfair Jets. Recurring themes include how heritage or craft-based businesses modernize without losing their identity, how brands build provenance and storytelling into their products, and how sustainability and supply-chain traceability are marketed to customers. Aviation, private travel and hospitality also recur regularly, with segments on airline crew networks, private jet firms, luxury hotel groups and airshow business deals. The tone throughout is measured and explanatory rather than promotional, with hosts asking guests to walk through company origins, growth decisions and day-to-day operations. Episodes carry Monocle Radio sponsor mentions and are credited to an audio editor in the closing segment. Listeners interested in how small and mid-sized brands are built in hospitality, fashion, travel and luxury goods are the show's core audience, more than those seeking general startup or tech-founder advice.
Made for: Listeners interested in entrepreneurship, brand-building and the business side of hospitality, luxury goods, fashion and travel.
What sets it apart: Unlike general startup or tech-founder interview shows, it stays inside hospitality, luxury, fashion and travel, produced with Monocle's magazine-style focus on design and craft.
Monocle Radio’s weekly tour of the most inspiring people, companies and ideas in global business, from startups to heritage brands, covering the best in hospitality, design, fashion and retail.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Founder interviews connect product character and customer experience to the practical decisions that shape growing businesses.
The Entrepreneurs turns founder interviews into close readings of how distinctive businesses operate. Tom Edwards and the wider Monocle team move from merino knitwear and women's bespoke tailoring to emerging wine regions, hotel sound design and private aviation, keeping…
A merino sweater, an underwater nightclub and a UFO-like airship walk into your business education.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused hospitality-business listen on sound, hotel atmosphere and the management work behind a distinctive stay.
This episode treats hospitality as a business of atmosphere, with sound doing more than filling silence. Rob is the stronger draw: his examples give sensory branding a real commercial setting, from music at the Burj Khalifa and underwater nightclubs in the Indian Ocean to…
A brisk drinks-business episode on emerging wine regions, younger consumers, and the value of making premium taste feel accessible.
The Entrepreneurs turns a drinks episode into a compact business study, moving from lesser-covered wine regions such as Uruguay and Moldova to Sorate, a New York-based Japanese tea company founded by Sylvia Mellor. The wine segment is the sharper commercial case.
A polished founder-led look at Australian fragrance and Parisian chocolate as luxury businesses built on place, materials, and simplicity.
Dimitri Weber makes a clear business case for Australian perfume: a country with extraordinary native flora and major sandalwood exports has more to offer luxury fragrance than borrowed European cues. The strongest section is about how geography becomes brand identity.
A sharp founder-led look at women's tailoring, British heritage and Savile Row's wider commercial shift.
This episode treats Knatchbull Savile Row as a case study in how a heritage British trade can broaden its customer without pretending the old rules never mattered.
A sharp aviation-business listen on crew communities, travel disruption and Kelluu's strange autonomous airship bet.
This Entrepreneurs episode treats aviation as a market built on networks as much as machines. The first half makes the cleaner business case: an aviation professionals' club aimed at a workforce the guest puts at 11 million people, with 42 airline staff already signed up by word…
A compact business read on 2026 travel demand, private aviation, and why hospitality-minded talent still matters.
This episode reads 2026 travel through two premium operators: Mayfair Jets, the private aviation business co-founded by Ahmed Al-Hawari, and Leading Hotels of the World, led by Shannon Knapp. Al-Hawari gives the more direct commercial signal.
A sharp apparel-business listen on provenance, outdoor performance, and making sustainability claims easier to trust.
Winter warmth becomes a neat business case in how apparel brands turn provenance into customer trust. Sheep Inc is the stronger half: the company links animal welfare on New Zealand merino farms to better fibre, then makes that story visible through its Connected Dock, an NFC…
A tight aviation-business briefing on Boeing, Dubai Air Show dealmaking, and aircraft demand in the Middle East.
The Entrepreneurs uses the Dubai Air Show to read the Middle East aviation boom through Boeing's order book and regional strategy. The most useful stretch is practical: demand is strong, aircraft backlogs run into the early 2030s, and Boeing is leaning on leasing companies and…
Rob Walling on bootstrapped SaaS growth, plateaus, and exits — with founders who lived them.
Abbey Ashley's playbook for turning your job skills into a virtual assistant business.
Naval Ravikant on epistemology, startups, and crypto, from David Deutsch to Vitalik Buterin.
Alex Theuma interviews SaaS founders and investors on scaling to $10M-plus ARR.
Guy Raz traces founders' origin stories and fields live advice-line calls from entrepreneurs.
Alex Blumberg interviews guests like Megan Phelps-Roper and Shane McAnally about failure and reinvention.
Hospitality sounds before it says a word.
Charge your glasses.
Australia gets a turn at the perfume counter.
Savile Row is changing.
This episode explores how dyslexia and thinking differently can fuel creativity and innovation in business, featuring designer Jim Rokos.
Maggie Dracot says Club Aviator began during COVID, took a year of research, and has already signed up 42 airlines by word of mouth.
This episode features an interview with Dan Ruff, CEO of LVMH-owned luxury travel brand Belmond, discussing the company's 'slow luxury' philosophy and its evolution under LVMH's guidance.
This episode profiles an American expat opening a bistro in Paris and a perfume studio celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
This episode explores business innovation in the UAE, featuring smart glasses startup Even Realities and Harrods' luxury retail expansion.
This episode explores how businesses understand and adapt to changing customer demands, featuring a Swiss watchmaker CEO and a Nordic hospitality group co-owner.
This episode features interviews with founders of a hospitality tech company and a Saudi tourism development project, focusing on business growth and innovation.
This episode explores the business advantages of rest and craftsmanship, featuring interviews with a luxury bed maker and a global strategist.
This episode explores business opportunities in Greenland's tourism and European defense technology, featuring interviews with founders of an Arctic adventure travel company and a NATO-backed underwater drone firm.
This episode profiles a serial entrepreneur using aluminium cans for sustainable packaging and a wealth manager serving entrepreneurs.
This episode explores sustainability in retail and hospitality, featuring interviews with a luxury aftercare service founder and a hotel industry leader.
Travel gives the programme its horizon.
This episode features an interview with Laurent Kleitman, CEO of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, discussing the hotel's opening in Vienna and its expansion strategy.
This episode explores how a wooden stacking game, created as a design student project, has evolved into an international business offering a physical alternative to digital entertainment for families during Christmas.
This episode of The Entrepreneurs features interviews with founders of innovative ventures, including a hospitality concept reimagining food and a nomadic showcase bringing collectible design to global destinations.
Winter essentials get a careful, quietly interesting look.
Dubai brings aviation back to the business side of travel.
This episode explores how Synhelion, a Swiss green technology company, is developing solar-powered sustainable jet fuel and its potential impact on aviation and infrastructure.
An interview with entrepreneur Joanna Jensen about her new book sharing lessons from building Child's Farm skincare brand.
This episode explores building successful businesses through strong foundations, featuring an interview with the CEO of La Petite Maison and a segment on entrepreneurial education in Finland.
A weekly business show featuring interviews with founders and leaders of inspiring companies, covering startups to heritage brands in design, hospitality, fashion, and retail.
An interview with the CEO of Amarim, the world's leading cork producer, discussing cork's role in wine and its expanding applications in other industries.
This episode explores how savvy collaborations help brands flourish, featuring a luxury cashmere house and the president of Sanrio.
An interview with architect Olli Schieren about his unconventional designs and the role of buildings in bridging social and cultural divides.
Host Tom Edwards interviews adventure entrepreneur Jasper Smith about his company Arxen, which builds expedition vessels and vehicles, and discusses how he lowers barriers to adventure.
An interview with Roxanne Vaza, director of Station F, the world's largest startup campus, discussing its mission, diversity programs, and impact on entrepreneurs.
Interview with Adam Brinkworth and Nick Roberts celebrating Brinkworth's 35th anniversary, discussing design details and brand connections.
This episode features entrepreneurs who see opportunity in challenges, including an Australian founder reviving UK ceramics and a CEO growing premium coffee in Japan.
This episode features interviews with the founders of two Swedish brands, Pure Effects and Morjas, discussing their innovative products and business growth in sustainable fashion.
This episode explores how a sonic branding agency expands into scent branding, and features a British audio company focused on design-led high-performance systems.
An interview with Shalini Goyal-Bhala, India's leading voice on the circular economy, discussing its definition, market opportunities, and global adoption.