From £-20k to £50m Turnover: The Brutal, Practical Truth About Rapid Growth (and What You Can Copy)
Most “overnight success” stories skip the messy bits.
This one doesn’t.
In this ActionCOACH Podcast episode, Jordan Brompton (co-founder of green-tech brand MyEnergi) lays out a proper founder journey: the confidence wobbles, the hard conversations, the investor pressure, the market shocks… and the very real decisions that took her from £-20k in the bank to £50m turnover in 5–6 years.
If you’re a business owner trying to scale without losing your mind (or your culture), this is the watch that will both fire you up and ground you in reality.
Why you should watch (even if you’re not raising money)
Jordan’s story isn’t just “rah-rah motivation.” It’s packed with growth lessons that apply to any SME trying to move from founder hustle into a real business.
Here are the big takeaways you’ll steal immediately:
1) The real scaling truth: the hardest part is believing you can do it
Jordan’s most honest line is also the one most founders won’t admit out loud:
The hardest truth I’ve learned about scaling? That I can do it.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re “faking it” while building something serious, you’ll recognise yourself in this conversation.
2) Product belief beats pitch-deck polish
Jordan didn’t start with pedigree, connections, or a perfect funding strategy. She started with conviction.
She talks about physically holding their first product (a solar power diverter called the Eddi) and seeing an entire industry unfold from it. That level of belief becomes contagious—customers feel it, and investors can sense it.
3) The growth flywheel: product → identity → selling → funding
This is the part most owners miss.
Jordan didn’t just build products. She named them (Eddi, Zappy), made them feel like characters, and built a brand people could remember and talk about. Then she did the unglamorous part: fell in love with selling.
And that combination is what opened bigger doors:
- First raise: £1.8m (with the right people)
- Second raise: £30m (private equity, after serious turbulence)
4) “Look bigger than you are” (without lying)
She shares a practical mindset shift: don’t wait to be “ready” or “big enough” before you act like a serious operator.
It’s not about pretending. It’s about showing up with:
- clarity
- confidence
- proof (orders, commitments, traction)
5) The bit nobody glamorises: when the market turns, it hurts
This episode is refreshingly raw about what happens after the headlines.
Subsidies changed. Markets flooded. A factory had been built. IPO plans were on the table… and then the world moved.
Jordan talks about:
- redundancy rounds
- criticism when you’re the “face”
- why you need an experienced board
- the emotional toll of leading through chaos
If you’ve ever had a year where it felt like the rug got pulled, you’ll find this strangely comforting—and oddly instructive.
The line every business owner needs to hear right now
At the end, Jordan is asked: “What’s the first action listeners should take in their business?”
Her answer is basically a slap (in the best way):
Get sales. Get commitments. Build an order book.
No fluff. No fancy deck. No “brand refresh” as procrastination.
If you’re raising money, pitching partnerships, hiring, or trying to scale… this is the core: proof you’ve got a real business.
Watch it if you’re any of these:
- You’re scaling and feel like you’re carrying everything
- You’re considering funding but don’t want to get rinsed on terms
- You’ve built something great and need to improve sales confidence
- You’ve grown fast and are worried about the “snap back”
- You want a real founder story, not a highlight reel
After you watch: steal this 3-step action from the episode
- Write your “belief statement”: what do you know is true about your product and why it matters?
- Get a commitment: one customer, one signed intent, one pre-order, one clear “yes when ready.”
- Simplify your pitch: traction + problem solved + route to market. Keep it brutally real.
👉 Watch the video below .
