Are entrepreneurs born or made? Alexis Prenn, Co-Founder and Chairman of Receipt Bank shares his experience as an entrepreneur with Jeff Skinner, the Executive Director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship as part of the LBS TELL Series. The interview covers what it means to be a growing start-up, hurdles of entrepreneurship and Alexis’ experience with Receipt Bank.  

Some key learnings from Alexis:

Solve a problem with your business.

The idea for Receipt Bank was born from challenges Alexis faced in previous ventures and so he created an entirely new category.

Be ambitious.

Setting big goals is core to embarking on a start-up mission.

Always find a way to learn.

Mistakes come with the territory, but if you’re continually learning, your knowledge will always be relevant.

Convey the joy of what you’re doing.

At the end of the day, you are playing a game, so have fun with it.

Say no regularly.

“Yes” should be a deliberate choice, especially when you have limited time and resources.

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About the author: Alexis is Chairman of Receipt Bank which he co-founded in 2010. He served as CEO until February 2019 and helped the company raise $75m across 3 rounds. Receipt Bank placed 7th on the Deloitte UK Fast 50 in 2017 with a growth rate of 2,967%. Their mission is to reimagine small business bookkeeping. Today, 500,000 small businesses and tens of thousands of accountants rely on Receipt Bank.

About the author: Jeff Skinner is Executive Director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at LBS. He teaches on several entrepreneurship courses at the School and leads many of the co-curricular activities supported by the Institute, including all competitions, and the TELL Series.