40 Minute Mentor

June 29, 2022

Where Are They Now: Tessa Clarke On Scaling OLIO & Investing In Diverse Founders

“If we were to see truly representative investment committees and truly diverse representation amongst the gatekeepers of power and capital, then we would solve this problem pretty much overnight.” 

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor instalment of our ‘Where Are They Now’ feature series, we’re joined by Tessa Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO of OLIO

OLIO is the number one sharing app, connecting neighbours with each other and local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. 

Over 6 million people have joined OLIO so far and they’re on an incredible mission to help create a world in which nothing of value goes to waste, and every single person has enough to eat – all without destroying our planet in the process. 

In today’s episode, Tessa shares some behind the scenes insights into OLIO’s scaling journey and some brilliant mentorship for any fellow Founders, including: 

  • Why OLIO exists [01:51] 
  • Tessa’s biggest learnings from scaling the business [03:54]
  • What makes OLIO’s culture so special and what Tessa looks for when hiring [06:19] 
  • Why it’s so important to take a step back from the day to day as a Founder [10:43] 
  • Tessa’s advice for any diverse Founders looking for investment [12:54] 
  • What she looks for when assessing businesses and their Founders [17:41] 
  • And what the rest of 2022 holds for her and the OLIO team [19:43] 


⛳️  Helpful links: 

➡️ The full 40 Minute Mentor episode with Tessa Clarke: https://jbmc.co.uk/insights/40-minute-mentor/tackling-the-food-waste-crisis-with-tessa-clarke/ 

➡️ More about Tessa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tecook/ 

➡️ More about Olio: https://olioex.com/ 


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