Christiaan's 6 figure talent business

Hey, it’s Guy & Farzan.

Had a lovely surf this weekend. My 50-year-old body felt sore after. Been watching a great Turkish murder mystery series on Netflix. Strange to think we all speak so differently but mean the same things. Anyway, here's this week's founder stories.

Reading time: 9 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 1 bit of founder advice, 1 quote

 Founder story 1 

Christiaan Trahms: From surf school to six-figure embedded talent business

From South African surf town to global talent infrastructure: How Christiaan Trahms built In Motion into a six-figure revenue business transforming hgiring for PE and VC-backed tech companies."

The Journey
- Grew up in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, a small surf town
- Started first venture at 13 - a surf school called "Guaranteed Stand First Surf"
- Left South Africa at 18 for London with minimal resources but maximum ambition
- Began career in agency recruitment before moving to fintech consultancy GFT
- Founded In Motion after delivering a major hiring project and realizing he wanted ownership
- Built and exited two other startups: Object Astra (a sweat-equity marketplace) and Airshield Mini (a wearable air purifier)
- Relocated to Melbourne, Australia with his wife Claire
- Now operates globally across London, Geneva, New York, Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, and Singapore

The Evolution of Vision
- 2015: Started In Motion to build high-performance hiring engines inside tech companies.
- 2016: First major breakthrough with Excelian, building a team of 40 in Warsaw within six month.
- 2017-2020: Expanded services to global PE firms and VC-backed scaleups
- 2021-2023: Refined the embedded talent acquisition model across international markets.
- 2024: Exited Airshield Mini to focus on In Motion's growth in Australia
- 2025: Established six-figure annual revenue with specialized focus on PE and VC portfolios

Overcoming Obstacles
- Started with no playbook, marketing, warm leads, or real website
- Faced the challenge of breaking into tight-knit ecosystems as an outsider
- Had to distinguish In Motion from traditional recruitment agencies
- Navigated the high-stakes PE/VC world where "if you f*ck it up once, you're done"
- Balanced global delivery demands with maintaining consistent quality
- Adapted to different regional business cultures across UK, US, and APAC

Today's Impact
- Six-figure annual revenue in AUD
- 4 employees with a lean, high-output team structure
- Saved clients millions through optimized hiring strategies:
- £5M saved at Excelian
- 200+ hires at JP Morgan with seven-figure savings
- 90% offer acceptance at SonarSource with €2M saved
- Zero agency usage across all major projects by design
- Built lasting hiring infrastructure across multiple PE and VC portfolios

Growth strategies that worked
- Reputation and referrals: Delivered results that spoke for themselves
- Tailored outbound: Insight-led outreach to founders, Heads of Talent, and PE ops teams
- Strategic content: Used LinkedIn to demonstrate thinking and build familiarity
- Pilot projects: Quickly built local case studies in new markets
- Strategic partnerships: Aligned with respected operators in each ecosystem

Key milestones
- First break with Excelian: 40 hires in 6 months, £5M saved, £8M in new revenue
- Expanded globally based on client demand across multiple continents
- Developed codified playbooks for post-acquisition, scale-up, and international expansion
- Refined the operator-only model with founder-led execution
- Established In Motion in Australia, betting big on the local market

The philosophy

"I don't believe in leadership theater. There's no posturing or hierarchy for the sake of it. I lead by example through delivery, sharp thinking, and high standards that are felt, not announced."

"Delivery isn't enough. You need discretion, consistency, calm, and clarity—every. Single. Time. In a market like Australia, reputation is everything. People move quietly. Backchannels matter. You're being assessed long before the first meeting, and long after it ends."

Founder story 2

See how Kazi Abidur built a $15M/year fragrance business

"We literally got £600 together and just decided to start one day."

This is Abid from Sunnamusk describing how he and his four brothers launched their fragrance business from the streets of East London. Today, their business generates £50 million in annual revenue. But this "overnight success" took years of grinding.

Here's the remarkable journey:
→ Started selling fragrances from their car boot with £600
→ Expanded to market stalls making £500-600/day
→ Got into Westfield Stratford in 2011 with £30K family loans (no bank loans due to Islamic finance principles)
→ Now operating 20+ stores worldwide with plans for 10 more this year
→ Currently making £15M in annual revenue with 10-25% profit margins

But the fascinating part isn't just the numbers, it's how they built it:
- 2009: "Let's sell fragrances from our car boot in East London"
- 2011: "We need to be in major shopping centers"
- 2019: "Time to scale beyond £1M revenue"
- 2025: "We're building a global brand with premium positioning"

The journey had unique challenges:
- Started with zero capital and avoided interest-bearing loans (haram in Islam)
- Raised £30K from family and friends to get first shopping centre kiosk
- Self-funded growth from profits rather than external investment
- Maintained Islamic principles in marketing (no sexual/inappropriate content)
- Managed a complex supply chain across multiple countries

Today's results:
- £15M in revenue (projected)
- Multiple stores across UK and Europe
- 50% year-on-year growth
- Plans to hit £100M revenue in 5-7 years
- Expansion into US market coming soon

Key insight about fragrance business:

Success isn't just about scents. It's about quality, storytelling, and creating an authentic brand experience. "Make sure the quality of the product is absolute maximum and make sure you have a story."

The best part?

They've done it all while staying true to their Muslim faith - no interest-bearing loans, no compromising on values, and building a business that honors their heritage and beliefs.

Founder story 3

Wang Chuanfu: From orphan to founder of electric vehicle giant BYD

"How a Rural Chinese Orphan Built a $152B Global EV Powerhouse Through Confucian Values, Outworking the Competition, and Proving Elon Musk Wrong"

The Journey
- Born in 1966 in impoverished Anhui Province during China's Cultural Revolution
- Lost both parents as a teenager - father to liver cancer, mother collapsed in the fields
- Pursued education despite hardship, with brother and sister-in-law selling jewelry to fund his schooling
- Graduated from Central South University in Metallurgical Physical Chemistry
- Started career at Beijing's top metals research institute, rising to executive level
- Founded BYD in 1994 with borrowed money in a rented Shenzhen workshop
- Expanded from batteries to automobiles in 2003 by acquiring failing state-run carmaker
- Transformed BYD into the world's largest EV manufacturer by 2023

The Evolution of Vision
- 1994: "Create better batteries than Japanese giants using China's workforce advantage"
- 2003: "Transform from battery maker to full automotive manufacturer"
- 2009: "Lead the electric vehicle revolution while others are still focusing on gas"
- 2020: "Convert manufacturing might to help fight COVID with mask production"
- 2024: "Build a global EV powerhouse that outcompetes Tesla on world stage"

Overcoming Obstacles
- Started with no capital - relied on family loans when banks refused
- First car attempt (the "Flyer") flopped completely
- Stock plummeted when entering auto industry without experience
- Faced mockery from Elon Musk who laughed at BYD's early vehicles
- Struggled with perception as a "copycat" manufacturer in early years
- Pivoted too quickly to EVs in 2009, causing major business disruption
- Hit political resistance when expanding to Western markets

Today's Impact
- $152 billion market valuation
- $107 billion in annual revenue (2024)
- Over 3 million electric vehicles produced annually
- World's largest EV manufacturer by volume
- Operations across global markets including Europe, Asia, Latin America
- Partnerships with Toyota and supplies batteries to Tesla
- 72% market share in Brazil's EV market

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Labor-Driven Model: Used human workers instead of automation to cut costs and increase flexibility
- Equity Distribution: Shared 22% of company ownership with original 34 executives
- Global Expansion: Hired determined leaders like Stella Li who broke into international markets
- Crisis Innovation: Converted production lines to masks during COVID rather than laying off workers
- Hands-On Leadership: Wang lived with workers, ate at same tables, and led by example
- Reverse Engineering: Famously scratched a new Mercedes and had engineers take it apart to learn
- Strategic Pivoting: Shifted focus to Global South markets when facing Western resistance

Key Milestones
- 1994: Founded BYD in tiny Shenzhen workshop with borrowed money
- 1997: Became China's top battery manufacturer with 150 million units
- 2002: Went public, making original team millionaires
- 2003: Overtook Japan's Sanyo as world's largest battery manufacturer
- 2003: Entered auto industry by acquiring Qinchuan Automobile
- 2008: Received $230 million investment from Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger)
- 2009: Launched first pure EV, the E6
- 2020: Became world's largest mask producer during COVID pandemic
- 2023: Overtook Tesla in global EV sales volume

The Philosophy "After work, we are all equal."

"Real leadership isn't loud—it's consistent. Vision matters, but sacrifice matters more. Loyalty to your people builds loyalty to your brand."

"The future isn't inherited. It's built."

Founder advice from James Routledge 

When you start a business, you’re solving a problem you had.

You’re not an industry expert, you become one.

For the first couple of years you’re deep in the market. You know the customer, because you were once in their shoes.

You get traction, revenue, maybe the early signs of “success” Some press. Some hype.

Then, you silently enter an echo chamber. Without knowing it. You’re no longer in the market. You’re in the “industry”

You spend more time talking to fellow founders or industry experts than you do customers. It feels so good up there on that panel at that industry conference.

You’ve gone deep on your solution and you’ve left the problem and the market behind.

Now you’re out of touch and you’ve got a problem.

Maybe you got your first 100 b2b customers but you forgot there are 1000s more who still have that same problem you had many years ago now. But you’re leaving them behind.

I did this with Sanctus in mental health. 1000s more people and businesses needed to hear “we all have mental health” but I’d been saying that message for 5 years. I’d moved on and I was getting technical and deep on coaching and other products. I drifted from the market and got caught in the industry of mental health.

As you’re scaling you have to be careful not to get caught in your industry echo chamber. Stay in touch with the market. Reconnect to who you were when you started the business and the problem you were solving.

Founders should never be at the centre of your startup concealed behind leadership teams and layers of employees.

Founders have to stay at the edge where you meet the market head on.

 A quote we loved

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See you in next week.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo