About | The ideaSpace Podcast: How Startups Actually Get Built

The ideaSpace Podcast: How Startups Actually Get Built

Hosted by

About the Show

Real stories from founders and operators on how companies actually get built — from idea to scale and exit.

Through interviews, talks and discussions, the ideaSpace Podcast explores the reality of building a business: the decisions, trade-offs, failures and successes.

Our Start-up Stories episodes focus on founder journeys, while Business Basics dives into specific topics - from sales and hiring to fundraising and product.

Recorded within ideaSpace, the University of Cambridge’s startup community, where founders support each other to build high-impact ventures.

Meet our Hosts

Ben Hartley

Ben Hartley has had an eclectic career to date; after a post-grad in music production and experience working in the music industry, Ben trained as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy. After a 16-year career, he left the Navy and co-founded a specialist casting agency, working on some of the world’s biggest film and television franchises, such as Star Wars, Mission Impossible, and The Crown. Ben subsequently started an events company which supported the launch of feature films by creating experiential events for social media influencers. During this time, Ben also co-founded Higgs & Crick, a high-end crystal barware brand, which is an official brand partner of the Kingsman film franchise. Ben took over as Head of ideaSpace in 2020; ideaSpace is an incubator at the University of Cambridge, helping start-ups and spinouts grow their high-impact ventures. Ben's claim to fame is that he played the Star Wars character Harb Binli (Red Seven) in Rogue One: A Star Wars story!