This week, we speak to London-born tech entrepreneur and podcaster Lloyd Wahed who, over the last several years, has founded two search firms and has successfully helped scale a number of unicorn technology scale-ups. Lloyd shares the inspiration for launching the Searching For Mana podcast – interviewing some of the leading and influential men and women building the future in tech innovation and finance.
Can you tell us about Searching for Mana and what inspired you to start the podcast?
The term ‘mana’ means superpower so I launched the podcast to explore what superpowers drive successful business leaders. I’m really interested in the characteristics of those who are pushing innovation forward and feel that we can learn so much from listening to their stories in real time. I’ve always been a fan of biographies – but you usually only get one chapter on that moment when things come together in your career, and so I wanted to use the podcast to delve deeper into that chapter. We’ve had some brilliant guests on the podcast already including Julian Sawyer (co-founder of Starling Bank), Isabel Woodford (journalist at Sifted.eu) and Anna Brailsford (CEO of Code First: Girls).
What is your team’s superpower?
That we are able to transmit and inherit superpowers from everyone who talks to us…!
Who would be your dream guest on the podcast?
Satoshi Nakamoto – the phantom founder of bitcoin would be my dream guest. I would love him to come on to the show without revealing his true identity. In an ideal world, I’d ask him a probing question that indeed revealed an insight that leads to the uncovering of his true identity! Then, and only then, can we stop ‘searching for mana’!
What are your favourite business podcasts?
The Tim Ferriss Show for self development and productivity
Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman for the philosophy of truly disrupting scale ups
The Vaizey View by Ed Vaizey which is a new podcast on European technology policy from our longest serving minister of culture.
I’m also a fan of MoneyFox on YouTube which is hosted by Sasha Yanshin – helping people understand financial products better and become better at managing their money.
Your company Mana Search is conducting research in partnership with Imperial College London which investigates how teams work during the pandemic. Any tips for keeping us productive during this transition?
Businesses are having to look at their team’s productivity now that so many of us are working from home and so much of a team’s performance actually relates to our intrinsic motivation. I’d say that team activities are vital to improving trust levels during the pandemic – even facilitating informal encounters online will help boost morale! I’d also suggest regular check-ins with your team members (ideally with cameras turned on!) will ensure that communication continues throughout the day.
Searching for Mana podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.