From £2K To Startup Executive Recruitment Firm And Top UK Podcast

James Mitra: [00:00:00] Most people told me it fell miserably. That just spurred me on even more. For me, that's what it's all about, a startup, it's about disrupting incumbent. I started with really nothing and, and it was really about trying to make a fee quick enough to pay, pay my rent and keep going. And it was like that hand to mouth for, for two years.

James Mitra: And I found a life is definitely not for most people, but there's, there's something incredible about it. Uh, because you are charting your own path. You are the, the master of  your destiny. What J B M is today is helping to build the most disruptive, most purpose-driven startups in the world, and hopefully to leave a lasting legacy and impact.

Amardeep Parmar: Hello, hello and welcome to The BAE HQ where we inspire connecting guide the next generation of British Asians. If you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe button. and leave us a five star review if you're watching on Apple or Spotify. Today, we have here with us James Mitra, who's the CEO and founder of J B M.

Amardeep Parmar: I'm the host of 40 Minute Mentor. How are you doing today? 

James Mitra: I'm very good. How are you? 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, good. [00:01:00] So we  had a good chat before we started recording today. 

James Mitra: Yeah, lovely, lovely. You warm me up nicely. 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, and we've been comparing notes about  our podcast as well. So indeed, big fan of your podcast. 

James Mitra: Thank you very much.

James Mitra: The feeling is mutual. 

Amardeep Parmar: If you  dive back into your like childhood, right? When you're growing up, did you think you'd be doing what you're doing today? Like did you have those? Sort of ambitions?

James Mitra: No, not at all. I think you'll struggle to find any headhunter or recruiter who, who sort of woke up one day as a five-year-old and said, ah, that's what I want to do.

James Mitra: I think, yeah. I, I, I was mad about sport. Uh, my dad played cricket. Uh, I, I. Loved football, I loved rugby. Um, Aston Villa fan for, for my sins. And so, if I'm honest, all I wanted to do was play sport when I was a kid. I wasn't good enough to take that any further. And then I ended up doing a history degree at Leeds, uh, which I loved, but didn't want to become a teacher 'cause my parents were teachers.

James Mitra: I thought I can't do the same thing. I didn't wanna work in a museum. And yeah, I just kind of fell into recruitment. I joined the grad scheme of a international recruitment business and the rest is [00:02:00] history. funny '

Amardeep Parmar: It's  cause my little sister did history at university and they went into recruitment as well.

Amardeep Parmar: 

James Mitra: Oh really? Maybe  it's a common path. It really is. I think with history, I mean it's a, it's a great degree. I loved it. But I guess with a lot of degrees, and we're seeing this increasingly right. It doesn't necessarily dictate the, the future course of your life. And for me, I learned tons. I really enjoyed it.

James Mitra: And it also opened the doors to lots of different things. You know, I, I did some internships in banking. You know, I dabbled in, well, I did the standard bar bar jobs and waiting, and I did some music stuff for a bit, and I, I really wasn't sure. I I, I actually interviewed for some sports agent roles. Um, but the truth is, I, I love people.

James Mitra: As soon as I realized you could, you know, there was a job where you could make money out of getting people jobs. I, I was really interested and then I met some great people and had some amazing training and although there was some. Really challenging parts of, uh, working for an international recruitment business on a grad scheme.

James Mitra: It's very competitive. You know, it's, it's very, very target driven. There were definitely bits I, I found harder, but, [00:03:00] you know, getting a sales i'd, I'd encourage most people to, to get some sales training, 'cause it's a, it's a really good grounding and it can set you up in different ways. You know, you can take, you can go in lots of different directions and I've

James Mitra: despite many times wanting to leave recruitment, I have ended up staying the course for the vast majority of my career. 

Amardeep Parmar: When you joined recruiting, right? So you said like it was interesting because you'll want to help people get jobs.

James Mitra: Hmm. 

Amardeep Parmar: But the reality of the job  itself and like working for other people and being in that environment obviously is very competitive.

Amardeep Parmar: And I think it's also that in some ways there's some kind of competition amongst your  colleagues, right? 

James Mitra: Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. 

Amardeep Parmar: And what made you  like, 'cause obviously you left that world, right? What made you leave that world?

James Mitra: The truth is, the company I was at was actually a very, it gave fantastic training.

James Mitra: I met some amazing people. I'm still good friends with quite a few. And compared to other environments I've heard of, it probably wasn't that bad, but it was, it was very, very, uh, you know, target driven and, you know, used to have BD power hours. We used to, you know, have to cold call people. Um, [00:04:00] and they looked, you know, regularly reminding you of your numbers and, and, and, you know, if you hadn't sent enough CVS or done this, that and the other, and in the early days you just kind of crack on with it.

James Mitra: But I think over time that wears a little thin and, and the truth is, my style has always been about people. It's always been about building those, building rapport and you know, I really love that process of, interviewing somebody to really understand what makes 'em tick, what they're good at, you know, where they want to go in their life.

James Mitra: What, what, what is it in their personal life that is, uh, is playing into the reason that they're sat at a table looking for a job. And then that matchmaking process of talking to a, a, a client and taking a brief and then kind of finding that perfect match. Uh, it may be a bit idealistic, but that for me is like warm and fuzzy feelings.

James Mitra: And I think quite quickly my, my bosses realized that I was better at the, working with the more senior candidates, the more strategic things, the, you know, I really loved that and that that tends to be a bit more conversational, a bit more consultative. The problem [00:05:00] is, when I was in that environment, it is really comes down to numbers.

James Mitra: And if you are having lots of lovely conversations, you aren't necessarily bringing in the big bucks. And although, you know, I did pretty well, um, I just kept finding, I was finding it really frustrating that I couldn't just, it was, I'd tell people not to take jobs if I'm honest. I would genuinely say this isn't right for you.

James Mitra: And that didn't always land particularly well. And frankly, if I'm totally on when I look back at it, I was working really long hours. I was pretty stressed, I think, I dunno if I was depressed, but I was pretty down. I think I lost myself a little bit 'cause I was working really hard. It was really like Sunday night Blues.

James Mitra: Every weekend I was losing the, the love that I initially had of finding people job. I was starting to lose the passion for it. And, and that's why I left. I, I kind of woke up one day, I'd broken my leg actually playing rugby. I was holed up in bed and I just like, I can't keep doing this. And I handed in my notice.

James Mitra: Uh, I ended up going to work for a, for a startup, um, sort of consultancy for a year. And that was a amazing experience to [00:06:00] entrepreneurship. I was completely outta my depth, and I'll be honest, I was really, really rubbish at business development for, for sort of consulting solutions. But what it did show me is there is another world out there outside of the corporate world, outside of like transactional recruitment, and that's sort of.

James Mitra: Sort of took me on the path of setting up J B M a year later. 

Amardeep Parmar: It's like one of the things I think is interesting, right? And I think I have the same problem, is that, 'cause I like talking to people and getting their stories, but then sometimes you realize you can't actually help them. Or you say, okay, this is a lovely person, but they didn't really understand their job, or they don't really understand this.

Amardeep Parmar: And then it's like, ah, I wanna help you. But say if I get the same thing with decks, right? 'cause we're looking at people's investment decks. Like I love your story, I love the belief behind it, but this business idea is not gonna work. 

James Mitra:  Yeah. 

Amardeep Parmar: And I just feel like it's kind of a struggle for me internally, like how do I deal with that?

Amardeep Parmar: 'cause I don't wanna crush their hopes, but at the same time I can't help them. And how, how did you deal with that aspect? I guess you still have to deal with it sometimes.

James Mitra: I mean, I think one of the big criticisms of, of recruitment is there are a lot of, a lot of salespeople that sell, sell, sell, don't always listen.

James Mitra: [00:07:00] And on as honest or transparent as they should be. And that might be just because they don't wanna let people down, right? My view is the opposite. It's really, really important to be honest, transparent, give feedback, even if it's difficult to hear, you know, you know, challenge thinking. So if somebody's saying, I really want to do X, Y, and Z, the classic one back in the day was I used to recruit into management consultancy firms.

James Mitra: A lot of people back then, this is sort of 10 plus years ago, wanted to go work at McKinsey or Bain Obesity. And realistically, that is a very small proportion of the population. I definitely am not smart enough to go work there that could actually achieve it. And therefore a lot of our sort of banking clients would want people that have been in those companies.

James Mitra: And we'd get people so annoyed that they weren't being considered for roles. And I get that it wasn't very inclusive, but the reality was they just didn't have the right experience. And so rather than sugarcoating it or saying, no, I'll still send you CV up, she like, look. Realistically, this is not the right fit for you, but there's so many other amazing opportunities and actually the fact that [00:08:00] you are more operational is a fantastic thing because you'll, you know, it'll open up the doors to do X, Y, and Z.

James Mitra: So I think. I think that landed well with people. I think that sort of, I've always, I just, I love getting to know people on a level and by being honest and being more transparent and and consultative, then actually I didn't feel too bad about saying, 'cause actually I knew they'd be better off for hearing it, even if it was a bit awkward.

James Mitra: And that's been a mantra. I stuck true to my whole life. And when I set J B M up, I was 25. Most people told me it fell miserably. That just spurred me on even more, and at the heart of the mission was. You know, being really honest, being all the things that everyone kind of has this perception of recruiters being sharky, dishonest, salesy, like money grabbing.

James Mitra: And our, our, our business was all about the total opposite of that. It was, we are gonna work tirelessly hard to connect the best talent to the most, you know, purpose driven, uh, sort of startups and companies, but we're gonna do it in a [00:09:00] way where we won't compromise on value. So, you know, if we ca, if we can't help because we're not qualified, we'll tell you.

James Mitra: And we'll probably recommend you to another recruiter, you know, and we, we will ask the difficult questions and we'll try and really get under the bonnet of business system, really understand the culture. We'll call out stuff if we don't think it's fair or right. And that, what that does is that builds trust, it builds respect, it builds a partnership.

James Mitra: And that is, for me, the, the key word in our world as a headhunter, you need to have a partnership with who you're working with that's a candidate or client, and that typically will lead to a long-term fruitful partnership, which is good for everybody. Whereas if it's transactional, if it's just slam CVs, it will make some quick buck like that that wears thin pretty quickly and you see it through it.

James Mitra: And I think that we are in this new era with our, our industry where, you know, I think that style I, I know it will still exist, but I think clients, candidates, the whole industry, [00:10:00] they're ready for something different. And I think over the last 10 years we've been trying to create something that's all about relationships.

Amardeep Parmar: I think it's sometimes people with that very transactional nature, they're alone. People being naive and it's, it's tough, right? 'Cause you're own morals and how you think for yourself, right? It's like if that's, you're okay with doing that. Then you can be successful doing it that way and you can probably get away with it until it eventually get found out and sooner or later somebody will find you out, right?

James Mitra: True. 

Amardeep Parmar: If you are using people, if you're doing things that way. And I always say as well, right? It's like if I think somebody's using me, I'm then not gonna recommend it to my friends because then what they're gonna do to my friends the same thing. 

James Mitra: No, exactly. 

Amardeep Parmar:And they'll never realize that, that I haven't done their recommendation I might have done otherwise.

James Mitra: Word of mouth is king, right? And I think that's from day one of J B M for two, two and a half years. It was just me. 

Amardeep Parmar: How was those early days? 'cause when you first and 25 years old, And people didn't believe in you and. Did you ever think like, have I made the right decision? Have I done something a bit stupid here?

James Mitra: Well, there were certain people that didn't believe in me from like basically old companies or, or big, you know, big. There were other [00:11:00] recruitment companies that were trying to hire me and they were like, when I told 'em my plan, they were like, yeah, you, you're crazy. You don't have enough experience. But actually I also had lots of people that did and they were the clients again that I worked with before and one of my.

James Mitra: Clients said, we will come with you, we will back you because, and maybe they felt sorry for me, but they, they, they definitely believed in the mission and the, and, and the vibe, but it was hard graft. I  mean, I'm a, I spend most of my career now talking to people that are looking to move into startups, might love the tech ecosystem, and I, I'm a big 

James Mitra: big believer in, it's an amazing place to spend your career, but it is not right for everyone. And uh, uh, and I know this first hand because I was a founder who started a business from the ground up and spent two and a half years, you know, I started with really nothing. I had two grand and it was really about trying to make a fee quick enough to pay, pay my rent and keep going.

James Mitra: And it was like that hand to mouth for, for two years. And I was so lucky. My wife, my girlfriend at the time, who I've known since I was 11, we were, she was just amazingly supportive and like an amazing kind [00:12:00] of sounding board and kept me going on those difficult days. And then I had amazing mentors and I had amazing clients and candidates that, that that kind of kept, yeah, kept me going, but it was a grind.

James Mitra: And I, and anyone that says otherwise is lying. Data life is not for, actually, for most people and found a life is definitely not for most people, but there's, there's something incredible about it. Uh, because you are charting your own path. You are the, the master of your destiny. And I loved the fact that I had this blank sheet of paper and I could go out there and I could build it in the way that I wanted to.

James Mitra: And that was probably for some people. Yeah, probably a lot of people thought, well, no, this isn't how it's done, but for me, that's what it's all about, a startup. It's about disrupting incumbents and disrupting industries that need that are ripe for it. And so, yeah. So I was just like, I was sitting in coffee shops for like 12 hours trying to milk one coffee for hours and hours and pretending, well, I didn't really pretend it was my office, but I, I, I didn't have an office.

James Mitra: It was my kitchen in Clapham and we didn't have a [00:13:00] website. Um, and I think, and this is my point about word of mouth. I always said, if we are doing our job, if we are. If we are giving an amazing service, if we are being honest and really consultative and giving great, credible advice to candidates, and then if we're connecting those candidates to companies that have an amazing service and they feel that partnership, then they will tell their friends.

James Mitra: Clients will tell other clients, founders will tell other founders, VCs will hotel portfolio companies, and that is how JBM has grown over the last 10 years and we've stopped really true to it. We now have a website, of course we now have social media. We do of course, promote the work we do, but at its core, that is still the ethos of the business.

James Mitra: And so I take say to the team, we want to give a 10 star service, 11 star service. And if you keep doing that, and if you stick true to those kind of principles, of going above and beyond thinking long-term. It's not all about the revenue. It's about, you know, is this the right thing for this person? Are we listening to what people need and what our [00:14:00] clients need?

James Mitra: Yeah. You'll find that organic story just kind of keeps going and I guess it compounds over time. So, you know, in the first few days it was so nice to get the, you know, the odd email in of a candidate or a client, and now that's a weekly thing. It's a daily thing in many ways. And we've been quite deliberate in that because it's authentic.

James Mitra: And that for me is really the, the joy of entrepreneurship. It's, it's, you know, you can do your own thing. And don't get me wrong, been many failures, many pivots along the way, but to have had to kind of build it from the ground up and see, you know, how far we've come and yeah, I'm very proud of that. 

Amardeep Parmar: It's, well you mentioned as well, like becoming an entrepreneur is a terrible way to make money for most people.

James Mitra: Yes. Yeah.

Amardeep Parmar: And that's why I always say to like, don't get into it. 'cause you think you're gonna make loads of money very quickly. Because usually there's always some kid didn't think of, there's always a hurdle that you didn't expect. 

James Mitra: Yeah, 

Amardeep Parmar: It's always, it always sounds easier on paper than it is in real life, and you've gotta really care about what you're doing

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Amardeep Parmar: 'cause if you don't, then you're not gonna get anywhere. And I think one of the hard things probably for you is you are working for yourself for two [00:15:00] and a half years before you head in real song. And if so much was driven by these ideals and making it so people driven in doing those first hires must have been really difficult because you've got this measuring stick.

Amardeep Parmar: They're so high. How did you find those first people for yourself?

James Mitra: Well, the truth is, I, for, for a long time I didn't tell anyone what I was doing 'cause I was worried it was gonna fail. And then once we kind of got over that first year hurdle, I thought, how could I ever afford to bring anyone else in?

James Mitra: Like, we're not making enough revenue. Then basically I got to breaking point. I think there's something to be said for this. I think there's, in the early days of sort of building a business, when you're looking to get product market fit, when you are looking to kind of get it to a sustainable point, there's something to be said for getting to breaking point before you. 

James Mitra: Then invest in hires or certain tools or infrastructure because you're kind of taking it as far as you can and then it's the, it's the right time to do it. Now, if I was a bit smarter, I probably would've planned it a bit better and been a bit more, maybe brought in someone earlier. But the truth is, at first [00:16:00] hire, and I've always said it, I've said it many times on podcasts before, hiring is the thing I find the hardest.

James Mitra: Which is so ridiculous 'cause that's what I do at all my clients. But it personal, 

Amardeep Parmar: It's easiest to give advice to other people.

James Mitra: Of course. 

Amardeep Parmar: You don't have the emotion involved. Right? You can give objective advice.

James Mitra: Exactly. It's, it's my baby. And, you know, it was difficult. And, and the truth is, I, I copped out of that first hire, 'cause it was one of my best friends and he was, you know, he, he was, uh, you know, Shawandi great friend.

James Mitra: He was a, a lawyer actually. He was, he was pivoting his own career and he was just staying with me. And I was about to go on honeymoon and I was like, I will probably be divorced if I, if I go on honeymoon and continue to work as, as much as i’m working. You know? And so I just sort of said to him, look, 

James Mitra: do you fancy following me around for a week in London, seeing what we do. And just if you like it, you know, maybe you could just hold the reins for a, for a few weeks and then, you know, Shawandi  stayed with me for over a year. It was amazing to have like somebody that I trust implicitly at the Helms. Somebody amazingly smart, brilliant with clients, [00:17:00] he's gone on to have a really successful career in recruitment.

James Mitra: And, and then the second hire was one of my former colleagues. Tim, you know, one of my, are the best friends. So yeah, in the early days, uh, I wouldn't say sometimes, sometimes hiring friends could go very wrong, but for me, having those trusted people around me who were very self-sufficient, who got the hustle, understood what entrepreneurialism was really all about, not the,

James Mitra: not the unicorns. I mean the grind and the, the work ethic required and the resilience needed. So having that, I mean, it was a very special time. It was a very hard time. It was, you know, worked longer hours than I've ever worked in my life, and there was tons of difficulties, if I'm honest. There was, there was loads of stuff that went wrong, but having them there..

Amardeep Parmar: What, what some of the stuff that went wrong?

James Mitra: Oh, so many things like in, in the early days, I mean, it's a bit of a blind eye so long ago, but, you know, we had, so we had many, we had many candidates reject offers. We had, yeah, we had clients that went under, you know, we had startup clients went under, we, we owe 80 grand at one point. [00:18:00] We almost didn't make payroll as we'd started to grow the team.

James Mitra: You know, we've, we've, we've made every mistake in the book, if I'm honest. Um, and I burnt out numerous times in the first few years, We've hired the wrong people, um, hired some fantastic recruiters, but it's completely wrong for a three fourth person business. And, and I guess at the time it feels terminal, it feels like, you know, we've had to let people go.

James Mitra: Um, yeah, this, this one point, we pivoted the business about five years ago, and we would just realize that we were, we were recruiting into a lot of corporates and consultancies, and that's what we'd always done. But where we got our energy from and where we were having the most impact was with startups.

James Mitra: And frankly, as a founder, I loved working with founders. I saw it as a future, but I think in my head, I didn't want to admit that. But it was the right thing to do. And all of our team were, or the vast majority of our team, were well suited to recruited for corporate, but they take forever to pay you if they pay you at all.

James Mitra: It's a race to the bottom 'cause your competing againsts everyone else. And we just had this kind of moment of clarity after a [00:19:00] board meeting, just like we are, we are going the down the wrong path here. Business is not set up for success because we have the wrong people focusing on the wrong types of roles.

James Mitra: And we had to restructure the business and it was a worst few weeks of my life, but we, we managed to help the team get jobs elsewhere. We went from eight to three, and that was like the start of JBM 2.0 where we, we basically doubled down on working with founders and we've never looked back and, and almost it was out of the hardest moment where I thought we would run out of cash and I was ruining all the lives of our, our team.

James Mitra: To, to a point where we are now, where we are bigger than we were then and we've had our record years back to back. And um, you know, I think really found the love again for what we do. And you know, what J B M is today is, is, is helping to build the most disruptive, most purpose driven startups in the world.

James Mitra: And yeah, as a huge amount of enjoyment that comes to that. 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. 'cause I remember hearing about this pivot that you made, and I think what a lot of people don't realize is that, The [00:20:00] first idea often isn't the idea that ends up being the, the huge business later on. Like Slack, for example, is just a messaging system for another company, and they said, actually this is actual business.

Amardeep Parmar: And it's, you've got to be smart enough and also have that emotional attachment enough to let go of whatever you were doing before and move on something new. 

Amardeep Parmar: And as part of that pivot, right, is where you created  40 Minute Mentor, right? 

James Mitra: Yeah.. 

Amardeep Parmar: So, For the audience who don't know the is yet, can you explain like what was the idea behind that?

Amardeep Parmar: Why did you start  it? What's it about?

James Mitra: Yeah, of course. Well, 40 Minute Mentor is our is our podcast. It's all about raising aspirations and sharing incredible stories of, of basically mentors, um, world leaders, tech, tech founders, entrepreneurs, investors, olympians. But it started as a very much as part of this, this, yeah, this business pivot, as you said.

James Mitra: So we had like, we'd gone, right? We're gonna work with startups exclusively. And then we, as part of that, we looked at our brand and we're like, this is crazy. Our website, we, we've, [00:21:00] we are very like creative entrepreneurial types and yet our website is like every other recruitment business in the world. No people, skyscrapers are so boring.

James Mitra: And our friend helped us kind of, cut through that. It was quite a savage uh, uh, session where she just said, this is ridiculous. You're a people business and everyone loves you for the way you are with people, and there's no people on your website. So it's part of this big rebranding exercise. We thought, well, how can we show our authentic voice?

James Mitra: How can we also pay it forward? And, you know, share some of the things that we talk about daily is in our role as headhunters and career advisors. And at the time there weren't many podcasts. There certainly weren't many exec search firms with, with podcasts, and so we decided it would be an amazing vehicle to one showcase our, our network of incredible entrepreneurs.

James Mitra: Uh, two, open up the conversations. We are privileged enough to have every day to a bigger audience. Well, in the early days, not a big audience tool, but hopefully a bigger audience and with a view to promoting the power of mentorship, which we've all benefited from and [00:22:00] talked a lot about to candidates about how important it's to have them and hopefully to kind of, yeah, leave us sort of lasting legacy and impact.

James Mitra: But it started off as a side hustle. You know, it was very budget, very much like mates. Our board advisors came on, our clients came on, you know, managed to hustle to get some, some other people on. But it has been undeniably one of the most important moves of our career because of my career. And, and I think for J B M, because it, it got across that authentic voice.

James Mitra: It has, you know, we are now 200 episodes in and, you know, it's, it's, it's uh, one of the top career podcasts in the country and I'm incredibly proud of that. And that's not 'cause of me, that's 'cause of the incredible guests we've been able to get. And it's that kind of ripple effect. And took a long time.

James Mitra: We learned a lot of, we made a lot of mistakes. We were doing it monthly, really ad hoc, and we realized the importance of consistency and, but yeah, it's been, it's been brilliant and, and, and it has stuck very true to that, that idea. And I, and I take huge pride from the [00:23:00] message you get where somebody heard a, an episode, whether it's with Mo Gawdat, or, or a founder of Beam or the founder of Anchorstore or Chippercast.

James Mitra: And they've, they've been sitting on a idea for a while and they said, you know, people have written and said, I decided to give it a go at starting my own business after hearing this episode. Or I didn't realize that so many purpose driven companies existed and I've applied for one of them that I've heard, or you know, or I didn't realize how much I've been struggling with my mental health.

James Mitra: And by talking about these sorts of important topics, it's, you know, it is those sorts of things that, uh, are really rewarding and I guess we can have an impact in the world. And I've always said this to my team, that, you know, we can change people's lives by getting them incredible jobs. We can build startups that are helping tackle climate change, we can have a real impact in the world.

James Mitra: But actually, yeah. There's only so many people you can do that on the day-to-day, right? Um, whereas through the podcast, when you're getting thousands of listeners, you can really have an exponential impact on [00:24:00] lives. And again, that's, uh, that's been something that we'll, we'll continue to do. Uh, you know, the challenge is almost like how do you keep the bars high and keep, keep inspiring people?

James Mitra: But, um, it's, it's, it's something that frankly I learn. More from that than anything else because I just have the privilege of talking to incredible leaders, you know, every week. And that's like my mini MBA, to be honest with you.

Amardeep Parmar: Same thing with me. Like I don't read books anymore. I don't even that, I just listen to, like I've learned from today's episode. I listened to like every episode I do, I'm taught to different people from different backgrounds and you're always learning a hundred percent.

Amardeep Parmar: And it's one of the funny things I didn't think I listened. So I've done across podcasts. I'm 180 now, so I'm slightly behind you. 

James Mitra: Oh man. Good effort. 

Amardeep Parmar: I don't think I listened to one of your podcasts until like maybe. I'd done like 120, 130. And then I realized like, I was like, you are fairly similar in the style to I am.

James Mitra: Yeah. Yeah.

Amardeep Parmar: I was like, I never knew about this. Like, we're gonna get into quickfire questions now, and I know you have that too. It's like, I didn't copy that from you. It's like I was just like, what? Like why has he got such to like, ah, 

James Mitra: Mad Spirits. 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah. Yeah. 

James Mitra: Spirits. 

Amardeep Parmar: It's like sometimes, 'cause like a lot of podcasts, I didn't enjoy a lot of podcasts because [00:25:00] of, I think sometimes the guests, the host can always make it about them.

Amardeep Parmar: It can be quite toxic. They're trying to get the controversy out there. Whereas I think we both have quite a similar mentality of like, let's get the actual like lessons out of this. Like show people at their best and the inspirational side of things. Whereas a lot of people go for the how can I like make this a bit edgy?

Amardeep Parmar: And it's, it's entertainment, it's controversial, but is it really helping people? And I think we both have the idea of like, let's make this actually help people.

James Mitra: Agreed. Agreed. And I think, yeah, I, look, I have huge admiration for, for what you are doing because, um, you know, these, these are platforms that can really help, you know, they can help a lot of people, whether it's promoting incredible entrepreneurs or, or missions or companies or 

James Mitra: giving a voice to people that just have something really important to say. Not that I necessarily have something important to say, but um, I'm always happy to come on and talk about careers and entrepreneurship and, you know, things that I'm passionate about. And I think that's a, that's a joyful experience, you know, to be able to talk to somebody that is passionate about something.

James Mitra: And that's why I love the podcast. I love it. And I'm sure [00:26:00] you get a lot out of it too. And yeah, I think, I, I don't think everyone should have a podcast 'cause it's a very saturated market, but if you do have one, I think it's me personally, it's not about the clickbait stuff, it's about, you know, creating great content consistently that has a purpose.

James Mitra: Uh, and yeah, I think it's a, it's been a good thing for us.

Amardeep Parmar: Like as I mentioned there. We're gonna go to the quick fire questions now. First one is, who are three British Asians you'd love to shout out? They think could be doing incredible work and people listening should be paying attention to. 

James Mitra: There. There are so many.

James Mitra: I'll try and keep it brief. So Simmy Dhillon at Simmer. Amazing guy. He came on the podcast recently. Love what he's doing. Yeah. Healthy Meals to Your Door. Three minutes. Bish Bosh Bash. Great entrepreneur, bootstrap, founder, big fan. Dhruvin. He came on from Ocushield. Really love what he's doing. He, my eyes are so much better as a result of using his products.

James Mitra: And Sanjay Lobo actually, who I haven't had the chance of meeting yet, but we're gonna get him on the podcast. He's just come on Dragons Den. And I love, I [00:27:00] love mission-driven companies and he's created an app called On Hand, which, um, gives us chance to, to help locally with. Social good or, or, or eco Good.

James Mitra: Um, it just seems like a really cool business that's doing some good in the world. And, uh, yeah, I, I, I'm looking forward to delving more into that, but those are three. There's so many more that. 

Amardeep Parmar: Love all those people. Now, next question. So if people listen right now can reach out to you for help or guidance, what should it be about?

James Mitra: Look, I'm always happy to help. So if you've got something that I can help with, whether it's careers, whether it's hiring a C O A or whether it's the power of mentorship, whether it's podcasting, feel free to reach out. Um, you know, I always wanna be supportive. I think probably where I can most add value is anyone that's looking to start a business, particularly in the talent space.

James Mitra: I've done a lot of mentoring for, uh, for, for people like myself 10 years ago. Uh, and that's probably where I can add the most value, but the genuine. You know, I, I, even if it's just listening, I think, you know, being a mentor to somebody is, is, is something that I spend a lot of my life talking about. And even if it's just a [00:28:00] sa, a sparring partner, a sounding board, that I'm happy to, happy to help, but obviously, uh, given what my job is, if you need to hire any amazing talent, then do gimme a shout.

Amardeep Parmar: But on the flip side then,  is there anything that you need help with right now or J B M needs help with? 

James Mitra: No, to be honest with you, for us it's about, we want. We want everyone to hear about our podcast, 40 Minute Mentor, we believe it's, uh, you know, we get to showcase the stories of some incredible leaders, and we'd love you to check it out if you haven't heard it already.

James Mitra: I know. Genuinely, I mean, we, we love what we do, and alongside the podcast, our job is as headhunters in the tech space. So if you are a founder of a, of a disruptive and purpose-driven company looking for COOs or commercial leaders, Then please do shout because, you know, uh, uh, uh, humble brag. But I think we are really good at what we do and our team are very passionate.

James Mitra: And even if it's just, uh, to, to bounce ideas off each other, you know, we're always here to help. 

Amardeep Parmar: And then finally,  thanks so much for coming on. Have you got any final words for audience ?

James Mitra: If you haven't got to mentor? Then I would encourage you all to go get one. [00:29:00] Uh, it's changed my life having incredible mentors and they come in all different forms, whether it's through podcasts like this or ours, or whether it's a sort of more formalized mentorship relationship.

James Mitra: It's really good to have somebody that, you know, holds you to account. That gives you great advice. That is that critical friend that asks difficult questions. And I think if you, you've, you've got a mentor, it can really change your life. And I think also we all have something that we can give mentorship, you know, to others as well.

James Mitra: So I think don't just get a mentor, be a mentor to somebody else that needs it and pay it forward.

Amardeep Parmar: Hello? Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. It, it's a huge amount to us and we don't think you realize how important you are. Because if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you leave us a five star review, it makes the world of difference. And if you believe in what we're trying to do here to inspire, connect, and guide the next generation of British Asians, if you do those things, you can help us achieve that mission and you can help us make a bigger impact.[00:30:00] 

Amardeep Parmar: And by doing that, it means we can get bigger guests, we can host more events, we can do more for the community. So you can play a huge part. 

Amardeep Parmar: So thank you so much for supporting us.

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