I was very lucky to spend some time with industry legend Levent Yildizgoren on his Conquer New Markets podcast. He’s a great host, and I’m very grateful for a very open and honest conversation. It could have gone on for hours.
Conquer New Markets was a podcast for entrepreneurs and senior managers who want to grow their business abroad: practical tips, the personal stories that drive entrepreneurs, and debates about what makes international communication work. The original show page is no longer online. Levent, co-owner of the translation company TTC wetranslate, now hosts Thrive in Global Markets, which you can find on Apple Podcasts.
In my episode we talked about how I started my career and some of the things I learned along the way. It’s the story of someone who spent 30 years in the localisation industry, grew a localisation company, bought a localisation company, and now invests time and money in all sorts of other ventures. These were the points I came back to:
- Don’t sell Popeye the spinach. Sell him the outcome of eating the spinach.
- Without sales, nothing happens.
- It all makes sense looking backwards.
- Culture eats strategy for lunch. You can take a great product into a new region, but if you don’t get the culture right, at best it’s funny, and at worst it’s offensive and destroys brand value. (The line is usually credited to Peter Drucker, but Quote Investigator found no evidence he said it. The earliest version it found is from 2000, and Drucker’s name was attached by 2011.)
- The most successful salespeople are genuine, authentic and know their subject.
- Managing a multigenerational family business has its own challenges.
- Invest in yourself first, and always be learning. A successful business needs capital, resources and a successful entrepreneur.
- Digitally, there’s no excuse for a company not to be international from day one, as long as it plans for localisation early.
- We’re all on a journey. Be kind.
Can I come on your podcast?
Yes, please. I speak about entrepreneurship, B2B sales, key account management, AI and investing. All my contact details are on my contact page.
Which business podcasts are worth a listen?
There are thousands of podcasts about business and entrepreneurship, and if you’re new to them it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve listened to a lot. These five are a good place to begin.
- HBR IdeaCast. A weekly podcast with leading thinkers in business and management, hosted by Alison Beard and Adi Ignatius of the Harvard Business Review. It covers everything from sales and leadership to burnout, networking and family businesses.
- The Tim Ferriss Show. You’ve probably read The 4-Hour Workweek. Tim’s podcast is one of the most popular in the world, with a huge range of guests, and covers business tactics, routines, book recommendations and much more.
- The GaryVee Audio Experience. Gary Vaynerchuk can be annoying, but this is one of the most popular podcasts in the space: his best speeches, interviews, Q&As and thoughts on business. Listener advisory on this one.
- How I Built This. The stories behind some of the world’s best-known companies, told by their founders to Guy Raz. Always a good story about creating and building a business.
- The Strategy Hour. Practical advice for building an online business, hosted by Abagail Pumphrey of Boss Project. The show ended in November 2025 after 1,000 episodes, but the archive is still there and still useful.
Sources: Levent Yildizgoren, About and Thrive in Global Markets; Quote Investigator, Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast; HBR IdeaCast; The Tim Ferriss Show; The GaryVee Audio Experience; NPR, How I Built This; Boss Project, The Strategy Hour.