BACK OF THE NAPKIN — PRESS COPY

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
Back Of The Napkin is a weekly UK business podcast hosted by Mike Bandar and Amin Hamzianpour. Every episode gets beyond the polished success story to unpack how a business was actually built: the original idea, the wrong turns, the hard decisions and the handful of numbers that made the difference. With founders and operators who have done the work, Mike and Amin turn strategy, pricing, growth, systems and cash flow into practical lessons listeners can use on Monday. The signature is simple: one honest conversation, one useful idea and the napkin maths behind it.

MIKE BANDAR
Mike Bandar is Co-Founder of Waybook, the business playbook tool helping growing teams document their systems and knowledge so leaders can get their business on the same page. Waybook grew from Turn Partners, the startup studio Mike co-founded in 2013 to acquire, turn around and create digital businesses, including Hopper HQ, Toyboy Warehouse and Enterprise Academy.

A graduate of Aston Business School, Mike has been building businesses since the age of 15. His background spans sales, marketing and startup enterprise, from Head of New Business at a global advertising agency to consultancy work for PETRONAS, PwC and AXA. He is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at UCL, Chair of the Aston Business School advisory board, and an angel investor in companies including Monzo, Nothing and Grind. He has received a British Empire Medal for services to young entrepreneurs and an honorary Doctorate of Science from Aston University for his contribution to enterprise and entrepreneurship.

AMIN HAMZIANPOUR
Amin Hamzianpour is Founder and CEO of Qube, a members' club and studio network for music and content creators. Qube was born from Amin and co-founder Nicholas Sonuga's experience as neighbouring music producers working in expensive, isolated basement studios. They set out to build the flexible, professional and community-led creative home they wished existed.

Amin studied Human Sciences at Oxford before working at Morgan Stanley. He left finance to pursue music production as A-Minor, with records played on BBC Radio 1, before co-founding Qube. Today Qube gives musicians, podcasters and content creators access to purpose-built studios, premium equipment and a curated community across London. For Amin, the equipment is only half the story: the aim is to create a culture where ambitious creators meet, collaborate and push one another to make their best work.

KEY FACTS
Show: Back Of The Napkin
Hosts: Mike Bandar and Amin Hamzianpour
Format: Long-form founder and operator conversations with practical napkin maths
Schedule: New long-form episodes every Monday
Production: An IAM Podcasts production
Press contact: hello@backofthenapkin.co.uk
