What if your boldest vision is years ahead of its time—so far ahead that the world laughs you out of the room?

In this deeply personal and provocative conversation, Richard Medcalf speaks with Benjamin Rubin, serial entrepreneur and founder of both Sirenum and Insectika. Benjamin has a rare gift: creating businesses that challenge entrenched paradigms—from transforming the invisible workforce to reinventing how we feed the world. His journey is one of relentless vision, deep humanity, and surprising leadership insights.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How to lead when your vision is misunderstood—and still get your team onboard
• Why a deep understanding of the problem beats brilliant solutions
• A simple but radical way to create true belonging and loyalty in your team
• The hidden cost of relying on money to motivate people—and what to do instead
• How Benjamin plans to scale impact without losing himself in the process

This one’s for the visionary leaders who’ve ever felt alone with a world-changing idea.

Resources/sources mentioned:

The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast(https://xquadrant.com/podcast/)

Sirenum (

SirenumSirenum Staff Management Software for Agencies and Hourly Workers

Sirenum Staff Management Software for Agencies and Hourly Workers

sirenum.com

 )

Insectika Biotech (

https://www.linkedin.com/company/insectika-biotechnologies-israel/)

Join the Crucible (https://xquadrant.com/crucible), our exponential programme for elite CEOs dedicated to transforming themselves, their businesses, and the world.

Ready for a big leap forward in your own leadership? Elevate your leadership forever with Richard's book "Making time for Strategy: How to be less busy and more successful". Buy your book here: https://xquadrant.com/time/

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/benjamin-rubin

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:01 Welcome to the Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast

01:44 Benjamin Rubin's Early Ventures and Challenges

02:25 The Mission and Vision of Insecta

03:22 Revolutionizing the Food System with Insect Meal

04:33 Challenges and Innovations in the Insect Meal Industry

05:36 The Importance of Understanding the Problem

06:42 Building and Leading a Visionary Team

15:05 Navigating Rejection and Persevering Through Challenges

21:16 Building High-Performing Teams with Meaning and Belonging

23:51 Questioning the Purpose of Life

24:45 Building a Team with Meaning and Belonging

25:33 Innovative Bonus Schemes and Interdependence

26:44 Finding Deep Meaning in Business

28:28 Understanding Employee Aspirations

38:05 Balancing Leadership and Personal Life

41:47 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

Why would an entrepreneur decide that hiring C-grade students is the way forward?

Today Richard speaks with Aditya Siripragada, founder of Fountane. Fountane is digital product studio and venture lab changing the traditional consulting model, with 125 people across US and India. The company doubled revenue annually for 6 years and won the Inc. Top 5000 award in 2024.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• The mindset advantage that C-grade students bring to the table (and that A-grade students don't)
• How and why Fountaine moved away from a pure consulting model
• The one-line reframe that helped Aditya see the true opportunity and reinvent the business.
• The two "Ds" that help you discern "founder/market fit" and likely future success.

Resources/sources mentioned:

• The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast(https://xquadrant.com/podcast/)
• Fountane (https://www.fountane.com/)
• Join Rivendell (https://xquadrant.com/rivendell/), our exponential programme for elite CEOs dedicated to transforming themselves, their businesses, and the world.
• Ready for a big leap forward in your own leadership? Elevate your leadership forever with Richard's book "Making time for Strategy: How to be less busy and more successful". Buy your book here: https://xquadrant.com/time/

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/aditya-siripragada

Do you need to have a super power to be an effective CEO? What happens if you don't? How can you build a pan-continental business with zero experience? And how can you empower your managers to lead effectively?

In this episode Richard speaks with Rebecca Harrison, who has spent the last decade building the African Management Institute (AMI), Africa’s leading provider of business and management learning, supporting 37,000 businesses in 39 African countries, impacting 1.5 million livelihoods and contributing more than $130M to the continent’s economies.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• What caused Rebecca to pursue a impact business in a sector and market she had almost no experience of, and what she had to learn the hard way.
• Why Rebecca doesn't think she has a particular super power - what she says is important instead -- and a helpful reframe of the topic by Richard
• Rebecca's three hard-won tips on building an effective middle management, even in a hierarchical culture sometimes where often the assumption is that "obedience" than "ownership" is required.

Resources/sources mentioned:

• African Management Institute - https://africanmanagers.com
• The Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast (https://xquadrant.com/podcast/)
• Join Rivendell (https://xquadrant.com/rivendell/), our exponential programme for elite CEOs dedicated to transforming themselves, their businesses, and the world.
• Ready for a big leap forward in your own leadership? Elevate your leadership forever with Richard's book "Making time for Strategy: How to be less busy and more successful". Buy your book here: https://xquadrant.com/time/

For full show notes, head to https://xquadrant.com/rebecca-harrison

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:36 How to make an impact in Africa

13:05 Align business vision with impactful purpose

16:33 How to enjoy the entrepreneurial journey

18:13 Founder CEO: Care drives progress, not brilliance

26:40 Define management expectations for cultural clarity

34:44 Monthly cash flow and team meetings checklist

38:03 Facing fear, accepting leadership to innovate forward.