£4.5 Million Raised in a Field: How IdeasFest Actually Works | Frankie James

Frankie James has spent 14 years building the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and now runs IdeasFest — a "Glastonbury for business" she's four years and 6,000 founders deep into. In this episode she's unusually honest with James Martin: she's the bottleneck in her own company, she's been diagnosed with ADHD, and she's quietly walked away from the "shiny exit" everyone treats as the goal. You'll come away with a real, unromantic look at building something that lasts — and why community, not a sale, might be the model that finally makes it safe. *00:00 — Becoming Frankie* *01:31 — "I'm the bottleneck"* *02:12 — From her dad's publication to a festival* *03:00 — The bit nobody markets about going solo* *04:55 — Four festivals in, still chasing profit* *06:20 — ADHD and the discipline of staying in your lane* *09:37 — One field, hatchlings to multi-million exits* *11:04 — The underrated power of just asking* *13:09 — The Goodwood membership playbook* *17:10 — A new home at Champneys* *19:30 — "You can't be what you can't see"* *22:52 — Is the exit even the goal anymore?* *27:20 — The 100,000-strong community* *29:46 — Pricing the pilgrimage* *34:55 — £4.5m raised in a field* *39:53 — Contingency and the best-worst festival* *42:35 — Dream guest: Dolly Parton* *51:44 — The marketing channel that actually pays* *1:04:32 — How to get involved* *Links* Guest: Frankie James | Frankie on Instagram — [@frankie_j4y] IdeasFest tickets — www.ideasfest.uk/https://ideasfest.uk/ | James Martin's mastermind — www.baddowpark.com Commercial Property — www.baddowpark.com/inside_commercial_property/ Newsletter — www.baddowpark.com/newsletter Instagram — www.instagram.com/jamesmartinentrepreneur LinkedIn — www.linkedin.com/in/james-martin-entrepreneur/