FOUNDER DIARIES - Door-to-Door Sales to Multi-Business Investor: The Founder Mindset with Rich Evans
In this episode of Founder Diaries, host Nitin Sharma sits down with the brilliant and brutally honest Rich Evans — entrepreneur, investor, advisor, and the man with more pies than fingers. Rich’s journey is anything but typical. From wanting to be a PE teacher… to knocking doors selling TV packages… to running recruitment teams… to building and exiting Bold Group… and now advising and investing across B2B service businesses. His story is a masterclass in resilience, timing, people, and the real traits that matter in entrepreneurship. 🔥 In this episode, we dive into: * How Rich accidentally fell into sales, recruitment, entrepreneurship — and why “no master plan” can still win * The reality of building and exiting a service-led business (including when early offers aren’t enough) * How he used his exit to create long-term generational wealth * Why Rich backs founders, not products — and what traits he looks for before investing his own money and time * The importance of bias for action, resilience, resourcefulness, and “doing the basics well” * Why B2B service businesses win when they communicate better than everyone else * The future of recruitment tech, human vs. automated touchpoints, and why candidate care still sucks * Rich’s prediction for 2026 and the real impact of AI on business and employment * Founders’ psychology: mindset, positivity, ownership, controlling the controllables * His biggest lessons, biggest failures, and why showing up as a parent is his proudest achievement This is one of the most honest deep-dives into what real founders actually experience — the pivots, the hits to the face, the doubts, the wins, the mindset shifts, and the relentless work behind the scenes. 🎧 Who This Episode Is For * Founders and early-stage entrepreneurs * Recruitment agency owners and service-based business leaders * Investors/advisors who want to understand founder psychology * Anyone navigating AI, market uncertainty, or big strategic decisions * People who need a mindset reset and some raw, real talk from someone who’s lived it 🔗 Connect with the guest Rich Evans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarde1/ 🔗 Connect with the host Nitin Sharma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/ Discover recruitment tools and services: https://www.rectools.io/ New episodes of RecTalk, plus Founder Diaries and Talking Talent, drop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. New episodes of The Mixed Grill — the official podcast of the Recruitment Curry Club — dropping every Thursday. https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-recruitment-curry-club/ Listen on another platform: https://rectalk.co.uk/ 🔗 Get in touch with these recommended suppliers Ross Thompson — Infinity Staff Global: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossnthompson/ Matt Fox — Exitus Advisory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-fox-50b10311/ SourceFlow: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourceflow/ Robert Woodford — The Marketing Junction: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing4recs/ Carl Jones — Konquest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-jones-66093722/
