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Route 101 On Building Resilient Businesses Through Uncertain Times · Startup Builders & Backers

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.com slash browser. But now it's time for me
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to introduce you to today's guest. What does
1:01
success really look like after you've already
1:03
bought and sold a multi -million pound company?
1:06
Well, for many founders, the dream is the exit.
1:09
But my guest today chose a very different path.
1:13
because after navigating the brutal realities
1:15
of the 2008 financial crisis, rebuilding his
1:19
business under immense pressure and ultimately
1:22
selling it successfully, he could have comfortably
1:25
stepped away from the world of entrepreneurship
1:27
for good. But instead Russell Atwood decided
1:30
to start again from scratch and in today's episode
1:34
he will share the start -up story behind building
1:37
Route 101. A company now delivering customer
1:40
experience tech to major UK government departments
1:44
and household brands including Southwestern Railway,
1:47
Centreparks and so many others. But the conversation
1:50
today goes far deeper than growth metrics and
1:54
enterprise deals because we're going to talk
1:56
about resilience, survival, leadership under
1:59
pressure and why some entrepreneurs are wired
2:02
to keep building no matter how many scars they
2:04
may have collected along the way. and we'll also
2:07
talk about where AI can genuinely improve operations
2:10
today, and of course, why human connection still
2:14
matters more than any boardrooms would like to
2:16
admit. So if you're building a business, recovering
2:19
from setbacks, wrestling with AI strategy, or
2:22
simply curious about what leadership looks like
2:24
after decades in the game, this conversation
2:27
has plenty of hard -earned lessons worth hearing.
2:30
But enough from me, let me introduce you to my
2:32
guest now. So a massive warm welcome to the show.
2:36
Can you tell everyone listening a little about
2:38
who you are and what you do? Yeah, sure. Yeah,
2:41
I'm Russell Atwood and the CEO of Roo101. We're
2:44
a cloud -based SI. We focus our efforts around,
2:51
specifically around customer experience and delivering
2:54
contact center solutions to organizations who
2:57
are principally headquartered in the UK but have
3:01
presence globally. Business has been going now
3:05
for 14 years and yeah, having lots of fun. Awesome.
3:10
Is there a story behind the name there? Obviously,
3:12
I'm going to leap to a few conclusions, but what's
3:15
the story behind the company name? Is there one?
3:17
Yeah, there is. When I sold my first business,
3:21
my family was quite young and I took six months
3:25
out and we hired an RV and we went down Highway
3:30
101 or Route 101. from the very very top of the
3:33
US right to the well I finished in Vegas actually
3:36
but um but had the most amazing time so for me
3:40
that that name always resonated and then I can
3:43
remember I sat sat with a bottle of wine once
3:46
wondering what the name of the business could
3:48
be and I went online try and find a website whether
3:51
the .com for route101 .com was available and
3:54
bingo it was so that that made the decision it
3:57
was it was an easy one Wow, an incredible story
4:00
behind it. I'm surprised you got the domain so
4:02
easy as well. Fantastic, you managed to pick
4:04
that. It cost a few quid, but it was worth it.
4:08
Brilliant, yeah, and it is worth it when you've
4:10
got that rich story behind it as well. Absolutely
4:12
brilliant. Obviously, you're someone that's lived
4:15
through multiple versions of entrepreneurship
4:18
from launching a company in a cupboard room to
4:21
selling a multi -million pound business, then
4:23
starting over again from scratch. For people
4:26
listening, they're going to want to follow in
4:28
your footsteps. It really is an inspiring story
4:30
and a great journey you've been on. What drives
4:33
someone to take that leap a second time when
4:35
they could comfortably walk away or sit drinking
4:38
cocktails on a beach? I suspect you can only
4:41
do that for so long, but tell me more about that.
4:44
Yeah, I mean, that's the first thing, isn't it?
4:46
I like to think I am an entrepreneur. I am incredibly
4:50
competitive and I love what I do. I love the
4:54
industry. So for me, I mean, I certainly with
4:57
the six months we took out, that was awesome.
5:00
But obviously, when you get home, and the stark
5:03
reality of life hits home, managing your list
5:08
of things to do, coming up with a list of things
5:10
that you need to collaborate with the wife on.
5:15
It's not too long before you really need to start
5:19
thinking about what you're going to do next and
5:20
I was not ready to hang my boots up. For me,
5:24
it was obvious we've got to go again. And I had
5:27
great relationships with the company that I sold
5:30
the business to they were quite supportive of
5:32
me Moving back into the industry and actually
5:35
pretty shortly afterwards. They became a client
5:38
of mine So yeah, and we were ready to go and
5:41
I built some great relationships up and we started
5:45
the foundations with some really really good
5:48
Some great people from the from the get -go so
5:51
that that made that made life a little easier
5:54
Wow, incredible. Love it. And a lot of founders
5:57
that I talk to often speak about growth, but
6:01
not too many talk so openly about survival. And
6:04
looking at your backstory there, how did that
6:07
2008 financial crisis maybe reshape your thinking
6:11
around things like cash flow, financial discipline,
6:14
and building a company that can withstand turbulence?
6:17
Because right now we're all obsessed with growth,
6:19
et cetera, but it's a bit of a rollercoaster
6:22
ride, isn't it, the startup love? Oh yeah, look,
6:25
2008 was brutal and we had a great business.
6:29
We were one of the largest providers of what
6:31
was call centre technology at the time. We employed
6:35
180, 190 people. We were a big family. We're
6:41
a very, very close business. But the reality
6:44
of the situation was that the volume of business
6:48
literally dropped off a cliff. And of course,
6:51
back in those days, much of what we did was premise
6:54
-based, project -based. And so from a cash flow
6:58
perspective, obviously you were living from the
7:02
proceeds, from the revenue that you were generating
7:04
from the projects that you were completing, and
7:06
you had a sort of a long late -flee pipeline.
7:10
That disappeared. So we needed to make some pretty
7:13
tough decisions. And the reality was we needed
7:17
to cut back the business. We made a significant
7:21
loss in 2008. And we were staring down the barrel
7:26
of a gun. We needed to make some tough decisions.
7:28
We had to let quite a few people go. But the
7:31
reality of it was that that was that was the
7:34
right thing to do to make sure we protected the
7:36
interests of the business moving forward and
7:38
obviously the livelihood of a lot of people moving
7:41
forward. We employ great people so we knew that
7:45
those individuals would find employment and actually
7:49
some of those individuals that we had to let
7:52
go, we've re -employed in the new business. So
7:55
that shows that they understood what was going
7:59
on and the need. the tough decision we needed
8:03
to take. We turned that business around from
8:06
a significant loss to break even to a significant
8:09
profit inside three years, which was an amazing
8:13
achievement. And at that point, I think we kind
8:17
of realized that as an entrepreneur, and I'm
8:20
sure I'm no different to many other entrepreneurs
8:24
who have invested everything. in that business.
8:28
The concept of saving money, building a pension
8:31
and all that, that was out the window. All I
8:33
was interested in was obviously building my businesses
8:36
at some point that would turn into some sort
8:39
of capital event. So we worked 15 years I was
8:43
running that business. We could have lost the
8:46
law. So when we turned the business into a significant
8:49
healthy profit and we soon attracted the interests
8:53
of potential acquirers, we felt the time was
8:56
right to to do that and then and cash in as it
9:00
were. And that was the right thing to do. Yeah,
9:03
I mean, just looking at that timeline there,
9:05
successfully rebuilding and selling that first
9:08
business by 2011, which is an incredibly short
9:12
recovery window after, let's face it, a global
9:15
financial crash and some tough decisions along
9:18
the way. Well, I'm curious, what did it teach
9:20
you about leadership under pressure in startup
9:23
life there? Because you probably look back now,
9:27
fond memories, but obviously it was an incredibly
9:28
tough time. What did you learn back from that
9:30
experience? Well, definitely resilience and also
9:34
you had to underline leadership. You were responsible
9:39
for the livelihood of quite a number of people
9:44
and they're looking to you to help guide that
9:47
business through those really, really difficult
9:49
times. What it also taught me was really lean
9:53
into the team that you have in the organization.
9:57
There were some really experienced individuals
10:01
that they knew and understood the challenges
10:04
that we faced. We also took the opportunity to
10:08
bring in some additional support, particularly
10:11
actually from some senior finance resourcing,
10:15
to be able to just make sure that we made the
10:19
right decisions as we made that transition from
10:23
significant loss to significant profit. So I
10:27
guess in summary, yeah, you've got to show leadership.
10:31
But you've also got to really lean into your
10:34
team because they're the ones that can really,
10:36
really help you navigate the choppy waters. Yeah.
10:41
Yeah. And from there, starting a second company
10:44
after a successful exit, that must come with
10:46
a different relationship to risk. So how was
10:49
your attitude towards decision making, investment
10:52
and personal accountability? How's that changed
10:55
this second time around where you took that time
10:57
out? You look in a bounce, but it changed this
10:59
time around. I mean, I guess the first thing
11:01
is that after what we had been through over those
11:04
that sort of three year period, people thought
11:07
I was completely mad doing it all over again,
11:11
a glutton for punishment. But I think that what
11:14
I realized was that the market was changing and
11:19
that there was this new thing called software
11:23
as a service that was coming to the fore. And
11:28
for me, what it represented was the sort of panacea
11:32
of business and operations where you're building
11:36
a recurring revenue base that can incrementally
11:41
grow. And as long as you keep adding more clients
11:45
and you ensure that you keep those clients rather
11:49
than the leaky bucket that sees a higher level
11:52
of attrition, then you can scale a business reasonably
11:56
quickly. So for me, that was really, really attractive.
12:01
And also, there was a lot of real excitement
12:04
around some of the tech that was coming to the
12:07
market that we could see could have absolute
12:10
fundamental change, business impact to organizations
12:14
that were running these call centers that I felt
12:19
could offer some significant differentiation.
12:21
So I did sit back and think to myself, do I want
12:25
Do I want to move into something outside of what
12:29
I know best? And I think that's probably a mistake
12:31
a lot of people can make, because you kind of
12:34
think, well, I've built a successful business,
12:37
sold a successful business. That must mean I
12:39
can do anything. And of course, there are people
12:44
that can do that. But for me, it was, now look,
12:48
I know this market really, really well. I've
12:51
got great connections. I've got good contacts,
12:54
both potential resources that I could draw on
12:57
and customers I can approach again and vendors
13:01
who know and trust me. Why make life difficult?
13:07
Just lean into that and get going. And fast forward
13:12
to present day Route 101 now works with major
13:15
organizations including UK government departments,
13:18
rail operators and hospitality brands. What have
13:22
you learned about customer experience that many
13:24
businesses maybe still underestimate especially
13:27
as another big change that you've found yourself
13:29
now is in the eye of the storm of this AI driven
13:32
world too. Yeah, I think that customer experience
13:39
is simple really. Right. Or customers, consumers,
13:43
you and I, all we're looking for is a frictionless
13:49
experience. When we contact our suppliers is
13:55
generally because we've got a problem that needs
13:59
a resolution. And the real knack is being able
14:06
to do that in the most expedient way possible.
14:10
But understanding the customer that you're dealing
14:14
with, making sure that the journey that you're
14:17
taking them on is one that they're comfortable
14:19
with. That I think for me underpins everything
14:27
that we do. Recognizing that AI is not the answer
14:31
to everything. Maybe we'll explore that in the
14:35
time that we've got remaining. that ultimately
14:41
a human touch and human contact is still incredibly
14:44
important. So a special thank you to Denodo for
14:48
supporting the Teptalks Network and helping us
14:50
keep these conversations going because moving
14:53
beyond AI pilots all starts with connecting your
14:57
models to trusted enterprise data. So if you're
15:00
ready to move beyond AI pilots, Denodo can help
15:03
you connect your AI models to trusted enterprise
15:06
data in real time. So you can scale faster and
15:11
reduce risk. So if you're interested in turning
15:13
AI into business value, simply visit denodo .com.
15:18
No matter what you and I think, AI is transforming
15:22
contact centers, customer engagement, service
15:25
automation, incredibly quickly, sometimes for
15:28
the good, but very often the bad. And from your
15:30
perspective, what are companies getting wrong
15:33
when they're rushing into introduce AI, be a
15:35
part of that AI narrative and push it into customer
15:38
experience strategies? What are the biggest mistakes
15:40
you're seeing there? I think your first thing
15:42
you hit the nail on the head rushing into it.
15:45
Yeah. Yeah. So actually trying to trying to go
15:49
too hard too early. I think there's some fundamentals
15:54
that you've got to get right. And the first thing
15:58
is you've got to make sure that you've got the
16:01
knowledge that underpins, that absolutely is
16:06
one of the cornerstones of AI, is making sure
16:10
that you have the knowledge of your customer
16:14
and your organization. and making sure that that's
16:18
in a structure that the AI tools that you deploy
16:22
can leverage to be able to surface the right
16:25
information to those customers based on the journey
16:30
that they're taking and of course the answers
16:33
that they're seeking. So I see a lot of organizations
16:37
going straight in, deploying these chat bots.
16:42
without the guardrails that you really, really
16:45
need to have and the consequences can be disastrous
16:51
or certainly embarrassing and certainly some
16:53
well -known cases. For us, there are some quick
17:00
wins in the deployment of AI in customer experience
17:05
in Contact Center. Things like, for example,
17:09
auto summary, the ability for the agent to engage
17:14
with the customer, to focus their efforts on
17:17
listening to what the customer's asking and helping
17:21
them through that journey. And then at the end
17:24
of the call, rather than they've had to sit and
17:26
scribble and make notes and not really listening
17:28
to what they're being told, actually the AI platform
17:33
is already listening to the conversation and
17:34
the journey and it's providing the summary to
17:38
the agent at the end of the call. the agent reviews
17:42
that call and then that's the summary done. That's
17:47
a brilliant way of deploying AI and loads of
17:51
us are using Copilot in Microsoft Teams and whatever.
17:54
We know what that experience feels like. Other
17:58
things are our true Copilot. capabilities. So
18:03
I'm listening to my to my customer asking me
18:05
what I need to do and what it's providing me
18:08
with is a guide, a step -by -step guide on what
18:11
action I need to take next. Now what that means
18:14
is that you don't necessarily have to lean into
18:18
high levels of expertise within the customer
18:22
contact center because actually a lot of that
18:26
is built into the guidance that the the platforms
18:29
provided to the agent. So very, very quickly,
18:32
the ramp up for new starters is much quicker
18:35
rather than having to lean into people that have
18:39
a lot greater depth of expertise. You start deploying
18:43
those sorts of things. And the last example is
18:47
the quality assurance, making sure that the experience
18:51
that customers are getting from all of the agents
18:54
and resources is the very, very best it can be.
18:59
Whereas before in a contact center, you might
19:02
do that four times for one person each month.
19:06
That probably represents about half a percent
19:08
of their call or contact. Now we can deploy AI
19:12
to do that literally at 100 percent of all calls.
19:15
That provides unbelievable insight into the reasons
19:19
why customers are contacting you. There's a massive
19:22
amount that you can then do to really revolutionize
19:25
the journey that you're providing to your customer.
19:27
sorry a bit of a waffle there but listen hopefully
19:30
that was those just three examples of those those
19:33
are quick wins you don't need to go into a full
19:36
-blown voice bot etc if you don't want to you
19:40
can you can dip your toe in the water and start
19:42
building confidence up and then and then work
19:45
with people like ourselves to be able to then
19:47
take you to the next level They were great examples,
19:51
and I think one of the reasons that make your
19:53
insights so valuable is that this isn't your
19:56
first rodeo. You've built businesses through
19:58
multiple technology ways, from traditional communications
20:02
infrastructure, then the move to cloud, automation
20:05
now, of course, conversational AI. How do you
20:08
separate the genuine long -term innovation from
20:11
hype when deciding where to invest time, where
20:14
to invest your resources? Because right now everybody's
20:17
talking and excited about AI, about generative
20:20
AI, conversational AI, and it's easy to get lost
20:23
in all that hype and the shiny promises there.
20:27
But as you've been through this before, how do
20:30
you navigate that hype? Well, I spend a lot of
20:35
time talking to customers. I spend a lot of time
20:39
talking to suppliers and vendors and of course
20:42
they will have a very one -sided view on where
20:48
they see the real market activity. But I think
20:54
that the reality of the situation is you've got
20:57
to make sure that you know your customers and
21:01
what they're looking for and then make sure that
21:03
you've got the solutions of the services that
21:07
meet those requirements. It was inevitable. I
21:11
mean, if we look back when Amazon Alexa was first
21:16
launched, and people were very, very reticent
21:20
of using that as a concept, but the reality of
21:23
it now is that it's just become the norm. And
21:27
so therefore, I mean, voice self -service has
21:32
been available for 15 years. It's really only
21:36
accelerated in the last two to three because
21:40
people have become more accepting of it. But
21:43
equally, we also knew that generative AI would
21:48
really, really accelerate its adoption because
21:51
all of a sudden, the experiences that you can
21:55
gain from engaging from a really well -executed
22:00
conversational AI platform is incredible. I'm
22:03
not joking. It is like talking to a human with
22:07
empathy, understanding the nuances of our languages,
22:12
and getting to the root of what the ask is nowadays
22:17
is incredibly powerful. We're seeing conversational
22:21
AI platforms handling 60%, 70%. of inbound customer
22:26
contact for okay granted more often than not
22:30
the obvious areas to deploy it are sort of lower
22:33
value but higher volume contact but increasingly
22:36
we're seeing it deployed for the higher value
22:40
lower volume contact but remembering that you
22:43
keep the agents you keep your people for the
22:47
more complex contact or to be available for the
22:51
more vulnerable members of our community that
22:54
that maybe not necessarily is confident to be
22:58
able to engage with a bot as maybe you or I might.
23:03
So yeah, look, it's basically just get out there
23:06
and keep talking to your customers and make sure
23:09
that what the vendors are telling you, what the
23:12
analysts are telling you are really what your
23:14
customers are looking for too. And looking back
23:18
across your entrepreneurial journey now from
23:21
that cupboard room startup to a leading a large
23:25
scale enterprise deals today, what advice would
23:28
you give to that founder listening today at the
23:31
beginning of their journey about things that
23:33
they are going to need to pick up like resilience,
23:35
reinvention and knowing when to bet on themselves
23:38
again. Any advice that you would offer there?
23:41
Yeah, sure. I think Recognize of course that
23:47
if you're starting a business and you're running
23:50
a business and you're the CEO of that business,
23:52
it can be a lonely place if you want to make
23:56
it a lonely place. So you've got to make sure
23:59
that you have really built yourself some great
24:03
relationships, both vendor, both client, but
24:07
also within your own organization. And don't
24:10
underestimate the experience that they can bring
24:14
to bear. in terms of helping you shape the direction
24:18
of your business moving forward. So definitely
24:21
don't think that you've got the answers to everything.
24:25
But at the same time, you've got to make the
24:28
ultimate calls on what you do. Along the way,
24:33
we've made decisions to bid for business that
24:40
nobody in their right mind thought that we as
24:43
the organization of the scale of organization
24:46
that we were would have any chance whatsoever
24:49
in being able to win but you've got to back yourself
24:52
and and ultimately you're the shareholder the
24:55
ultimate shareholder you're the one who you're
24:59
accountable if it if it doesn't go the right
25:02
way and so therefore rightfully so you've got
25:05
to get there get in there and make that decision
25:07
for yourself so having the bold confidence to
25:10
be able to ultimately make make a call even if
25:14
everybody else is telling you that's not the
25:17
right decision. So that sounds like a bit of
25:19
a contradiction that I guess maybe but you know
25:23
you've got to choose the right times when ultimately
25:25
you've got to make that final call. So have the
25:28
confidence to do it. I love that, and I think
25:32
it's a great moment to end on. But before I do
25:34
let you to go, Route 101, there might be people
25:37
listening that you might be able to help there.
25:40
I know your technology reduces operational costs,
25:43
enhance efficiency, and helps deliver next generation
25:46
customer experience. A lot of great tech there.
25:49
For people listening wanting to find out more
25:51
about that, or indeed connect with you if they
25:54
feel inspired by your story, want to run a few
25:56
ideas by you, where would you like me to point
25:58
everyone listening to? Probably the best places
26:01
on LinkedIn. Yeah So, you know, and you can connect
26:05
to me directly. There's a there's a ton of stuff
26:08
available there We're pretty active in terms
26:11
of posting posting content also on the website
26:15
route 101 comm There's a there's a there's a
26:18
ton of interesting stuff on there and there's
26:20
a contact us page as well So again depending
26:22
upon what what your interest or inquiry is? either
26:26
one of those and you'll get to the right place.
26:29
But yeah, we'd love to hear from any client,
26:33
prospective client who's maybe wrestling with
26:35
some of those challenges about how they respond
26:39
to AI ask from their CEO or anyone else from
26:44
a business challenge point of view. If I could
26:46
help, I'd love to help. Awesome. Well, I'll include
26:49
links to everything there. Make it nice and easy
26:52
for people to get hold of you. Pop over to techtalksnetwork
26:55
.com. There'll be a blog post associated with
26:57
this interview, all the links that you need.
27:00
And I'd love to hear from you as well. What did
27:02
you take away from this conversation? Keep it
27:05
going and please, by all means, contact your
27:07
good self. I'd love to hear more about that and
27:10
keep this conversation going. But more than anything,
27:12
thank you for joining me today, sharing your
27:14
inspiring story. Hopefully it will resonate with
27:16
people listening all around the world, especially
27:18
other founders. But thank you. Cheers, Neil.
27:21
Thank you. So much I learned about the conversation
27:25
we had today. I think one of the things that
27:27
really stood out was the honesty behind the success
27:30
story. because so often we hear entrepreneurs
27:33
talk about scaling, disruption and growth, but
27:37
not enough about the people that talk openly
27:39
about survival. And Russell has lived through
27:42
the highs of successful exits and the pressure
27:45
of staring down financials' uncertainty during
27:48
one of the toughest economic periods in recent
27:51
history. And I think it's these experiences that
27:54
clearly shape the leader that he is today. But
27:56
perhaps the biggest takeaway from the episode
27:58
there, whether we're talking about entrepreneurship,
28:01
leadership, customer experience or even AI adoption,
28:04
the takeaway is there are very few shortcuts
28:07
that replace experience, resilience and human
28:11
relationships. So if you enjoyed today's conversation,
28:14
please check out techtalksnetwork .com. I'll
28:16
be back again real soon. Thanks for listening.
28:18
Bye for now.