Leeds-based Meeow is a 24/7 online networking solution founded at the beginning of the COVID pandemic when face-to-face events shut down.
It was launched by two Yorkshire entrepreneurs – Chris Rabbitt and Simon Glenn, formerly of One Red Kite and Shear Bespoke respectively – and matches four random businesspeople to share insights virtually.
Meeow also aims to remove some of the unconscious bias that can present itself in face-to-face networking through its randomised solution.
Co-founder Rabbitt has a broad range of sales and commercial experience, having also spent time at companies including MacComms, Golden Frog PR and GoodSense.
He shared some of the lessons he’s learnt…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
Espresso. I simply cannot function correctly without a couple of double espressos in the tank. We have an amazing coffee machine that routinely saves my life every morning.
What’s been your luckiest break?
Attending the “A Zoom a Day” meeting in April 2020 when Simon Glenn – my co-founder at Meeow – revealed he was thinking of turning AZAD into a business. I jumped in with both feet and the rest is history.
What’s your best failure?
I failed spectacularly in a job in my mid-twenties that I wasn’t ready for. The main reason I failed was that I didn’t ask for help when I needed it. A big life lesson and a wake-up call for the cocksure, 20-something eejit that I was.
Now, I routinely ask for help when I don’t know what I’m doing (which is often) and I look for the same behaviour in others. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness; something that society is only just waking up to.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
The easy answer is to say the seed money I staked on Meeow, but while that is undoubtedly true, it wouldn’t be entirely correct.
For me – and at the risk of sounding rather soppy – it has to be the decision I made when we started our family to step away from corporate life and invest much more time with my children.
The truest words ever spoken are that you do not get that magical time back, and I don’t regret it for one second – but my financial advisor despairs. They are now five and four and I can honestly say I couldn’t imagine a more profitable way to spend the time.
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
It has to be the diaries of Michael Palin. If you want an insight into what it takes to remain human, decent and real in the midst of truly world-changing events then read these books.
A true gentleman, and a lesson to all of us in how to live a better life. I’d also recommend ‘Roger’s Profanisaurus’, as the art of swearing creatively and with nuance is dying out. Unrefined profanity is ugly.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
The greasy pole is not where it’s at. Care less, enjoy more. Shit works itself out.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
Victoria Short, now CEO of Randstad UK, was my boss when I was running the Leeds office. She taught me what it was to manage people and I have still to encounter a finer leader or motivator.
I’d run through walls for that woman and her success is richly deserved.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
My dad is called Peter. If you haven’t clocked my surname yet check again at the top. Yes, that’s really true.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
COVID has been the catalyst that business needed to finally admit (yes, admit) that a workforce does not need to be monitored constantly in order to perform.
The tech has been there for years, but I think COVID accelerated the changes in the workplace by 10 years at least. The hybrid model is here to stay and I’m delighted by that.
However, engagement is the thing that suffers and that’s a challenge we’re working hard to address at Meeow. We’re based at Bruntwood SciTech’s Platform, a location perfectly set up for new, more flexible ways of working both in how you use your space and the types of space available. This is how tech and digital businesses in particular will all operate in the future.
What does success look like to you?
Success for me is continuing to run Meeow, a company that I truly love, where I can make sure the values by which we work are in line with my own and that is a great place for our people to be a part of.
I couldn’t imagine not doing this and I’ve striven my whole career to get to this point. I already feel successful but I also know there is a whole heap of work to do to make Meeow something that will have the impact we want it to.
Money doesn’t equate to success at all. The financial aspect is important but, to me, it’s a side-effect, albeit a very welcome one. Status doesn’t interest me as it’s based solely on other people’s perception of you.
