20VC: The Scaling Story of Soho House: Overcoming Dyslexia, Building a Global Brand, Scaling into The US, Retaining Exclusivity with Scale and The Journey to Going Public with Nick Jones, Founder & CEO @ Soho House

Leadership Evolution

Nick Jones's leadership style has undergone significant evolution since his early days at Cafe Boheme. He describes his current approach as both challenging and motivational, emphasizing the importance of passion and care among his team members. "High performance to me is people with passion who care, who care about people, who care about the product," he explains, highlighting the connection between these values and achieving profitability 1.

   

Team Motivation

Motivating a team in a public company setting presents unique challenges, according to Nick. He believes that creating an environment where team members feel safe to admit mistakes is crucial for maintaining respect and trust. "When you do make a mistake, put your hand up, admit it. Admit it to the team," he advises, underscoring the importance of transparency and learning from errors 2.

   

Hiring Insights

Nick Jones shares his insights on hiring, emphasizing honesty and clarity during the recruitment process. He acknowledges the difficulty of interviews, describing them as "a play act," and stresses the value of promoting from within to foster growth and motivation. "If you end up having to go to the outside to bring in rather than promote within, it means that the person isn't right," he states, advocating for transparency in communicating hiring decisions 3 4.