Matt Wallace - Building your own business – and knowing the value of a good podcast

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders

Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast

Episode 48

Matt Wallace: Building your own business – and knowing the value of a good podcast

Summary

Fifteen years ago, entrepreneur Matt Wallace was an iMovie hobbyist in a university press office, trying to persuade his boss of the value of video.

Today he runs his own company, Janno Media – making videos, creating podcasts and live streaming for dozens of commercial clients across Britain.

In Episode 48 of the Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast, Matt tells Visiting Honorary Professor Mike Sassi how he turned his hobby into a business – and how lockdown paved the way for his expansion into podcasts.

Introduction

• In 2012, Matt Wallace founded Janno Media – a company that provides podcasts, live streaming, video, graphics and photography for commercial clients.

• Matt is an alumnus of Nottingham Trent University and served as President of the NTU Student Union in 2004.

• He went on to work in the press office at NTU.

• Matt started Janno Media, aged 30, with a £3000 compensation windfall from being miss-sold a Payment Protection Insurance plan. He bought an iMac, DSLR camera, audio recorder and plug-in microphone.

• Having initially rented an office, Janno started remote working in 2016 (four years before lockdown).

• Janno now has eight staff members and 50 clients, including Santander.

• In collaboration with NTU’s Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism – Janno offers the annual Janno Media Award £5,000 bursary, to a student podcaster who shows promise.

Key leadership takeaways

Matt Wallace said:

On the importance of leading from the front...

“There can be no better way of understanding how your business is evolving than being on the ground, meeting the clients and seeing your staff in action – seeing what works, and what doesn’t.”

On building a business based around video…

“Video used to be something that you wheeled into a room, in a steel cabinet TV with a VHS machine underneath… Once the iPhone became the device, it was clear to me how big video was going to be.”

On the effects of lockdown…

“Everyone had their hand forced in some way by lockdown. As a business owner you had a choice of sitting and taking the furlough payments, waiting for it to blow over… or leaning into the situation and capitalising on an opportunity.”

On creating a podcast for a customer…

“You can’t just assume it will become viral, instantly likeable or highly shareable. You have to understand what the intention is for your customer.”

On the value of a well-crafted podcast…

“It’s not the number of people who listen to it, but rather what you’re able to convey. Even if you only have ten people listening… but they’re all stakeholders or clients… and they understand what you’re saying… and it reinforces why you have value to them… then people appreciate it.”

On the challenges of managing an online, remote workforce…

“Our industry changes daily, with new means and methods of working. We have to keep teams excited about the industry they work in by constantly being responsive to those changes.”

On entrepreneurs seeking a Higher Purpose for their business…

“If your only motivation for running a business is pounds and pence then you’ll very quickly become unmotivated. Because cash ebbs and flows. You need a vision. [You have to ask] what is the wider contribution of what we do?”

On the importance of using your time well…

“Be generous with your time – to yourself, and to other people. Use your time to listen and learn, to develop and grow. Invest your time… and it will reap its own rewards.”