He Lost a £15M Deal at 25 and Slept on His Mum's Floor - How He Built It Back

He Lost a £15M Deal at 25 and Slept on His Mum's Floor - How He Built It Back

September 2, 2026 · 1h 26m · Episode 24

About this episode

Andrew Coulson shares his story of business failure and how he rebuilt his life and career from scratch.

How do you build a business from scratch with no assets, no backing and no safety net - twice? In this episode of Building The Brand, Andrew Coulson shares his brutal, tactical business failure story and comeback. From packing sandwiches at 8 years old after his father’s breakdown, to walking out of school at 15 to become a commodity trader, to building a design agency to 45 staff by age 25 - and then losing it all when his bank pulled a £2.5m overdraft days before a £15M deal. This is not a motivational story. It’s a playbook on how to rebuild after business failure, start again with nothing, and build a second business from his mum’s kitchen table. Want more from Building The Brand? Connect here: https://buildingthebrand.co.uk/newsletter Check out the very delicious Novo via https://novosnacks.com/ IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: → How to start a business with no money or qualifications - and why sales skill beats credentials → The scaling mistake that nearly killed a 45-person packaging design business → Why a £15M reverse takeover collapsed: the overdraft trap every UK founder must understand → What to do when you have no assets: how Andrew rebuilt from zero after losing…

People in this episode

Host: James Burtt

Guest: Andrew Coulson

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Novo

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Building The Brand, Phonic Content

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