Stuart Sunderland, Founder of City Pantry, tells us what has inspired him to drive the company to impressive growth of 29 per cent a month.
The service currently delivers over 5,000 meals to London offices every week, with regular orders from giants like Google, Buzzfeed and Spotify, but what would he do differently?
What do you currently do?
I am the founder and CEO at City Pantry, a London based start-up set on disrupting the UK’s catering market. We make it possible for companies to easily cater lunches, meetings and events from London’s most amazing food vendors.
What is your inspiration in business?
It’s the contribution to changing stuff. I worked in finance when I first left university and though well paid and lots of perks I felt very much like a passenger sitting on the sidelines almost. Being an entrepreneur has that feeling of being in the driving seat and it’s really fun!
Who do you admire?
My (business) hero is Felix Dennis who sadly passed away last year and I only knew him from his writing but I got a real sense of an extremely creative and pragmatic person who ultimately got the joke.
Looking back, would you have done things differently?
Ha! I look back and think, man, I really made some strange decisions, had some bizarre priorities and was doing most things completely wrong, but I was also having a huge amount of fun so no, looking back I would not have done things differently. The future is a different matter though and yes that will be done differently.
What defines your way of doing business?
I’m not really sure I have “a way” just yet, it’s a pretty huge learning curve that I am on and can honestly say that I go about my job differently this week compared to last. Maybe that flexibility and ability to adapt is “a way” in its own right.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Firstly, good for you. Next, go find someone now that has done a little bit more than you and ask them for help and try to listen as much as you can even though lots won’t make sense till a little bit later. Finally in the words of Felix, don’t forget that ultimately “It’s just a game, chum.”
