Bath alumnus Louis Bollard describes himself as a serial entrepreneur. Having launched both a heath food brand and two peer-to-peer hosting communities, he is having great success with his latest venture, Elevate Pitch Decks: a start-up consultancy that’s helped over 200 entrepreneurs shape, pitch and elevate their start-ups. Louis launched this venture after graduating from his MBA in 2021.
Read on to learn more about Louis’ journey from Bath to business.
Why did you choose to study at Bath?
I’d originally been accepted to study history at York but the inner entrepreneur in me had a change of heart and so I deferred a year and reapplied to do business. It came down to Bath, Durham or Warwick; Bath was ranked highest.
I’d never been to the city before, but when I asked people about Bath, the popularity of the place and the location of the campus swung it for me, as both other options didn’t have the same proximity to their respective cities.
Did you have a particular career in mind when you chose your course?
Yes; I knew I didn’t want to go down the traditional corporate route. I’m a massive football fan so my ambition was to either work in the commercial and business side of sport, or to further my education to one day run my own business. I’ve ended up doing the latter!
Can you tell us about your experience of studying here?
Due to the nature of the business course, I only had one full year at Bath, and that was my first year. I was on placement in Switzerland and Portsmouth for my other years and then on an international exchange where I spent six months in a partner university, HEC Montreal, with a team of five BBA students. I absolutely loved the exchange and it was definitely one of the highlights of the course and a real attraction as there are 20+ universities across the world that students can go to.
While I spent some time away from the campus during my degree, one of my strongest memories of my time at Bath itself is cycling up the hill most days, as well as entering three different leagues with my five-a-side team and playing a lot of sport in between lectures! We actually won all three as well!
Since graduating, you've launched several startups. Can you tell us a little bit about these and what led you to start them?
The first venture was a healthy, natural protein brand; I became a co-founder very soon after graduation. The industry was booming and very competitive, but the initial launch product that my co-founder had formulated wasn’t up to scratch so we did a whole revamp including branding, packaging, recipe, positioning and everything else you can think of. There were only two of us and initially and we were making the product ourselves spending hours on the production line – so it really was an absolute whirlwind and incredible learning curve.
From there, I had the idea for a fan-to-fan hosting community for sports supporters, inspired by a similar community I’d used for cyclists. I started hostafan with some angel investment and, even though it was a very popular concept and well liked, it was just a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic and it never really took off. However, it did help me create a sister community for Christians, hostachristian, which has more long-term potential.
Finally, my existing business, Elevate Pitch Decks is a start-up strategy consultancy that’s been born out of my frustration as an entrepreneur. I predominantly create compelling investor pitch decks for entrepreneurs and startups which can be a very time-consuming and distracting task when you’re trying to run a business. Since launching in 2022, I’ve created over 200 investor pitch decks for early stage and Series A startups, worth a total of $785M USD, for clients from all over the world and all manner of industries.
How did your studies help you to develop and influence your entrepreneurial side?
I like to think that my work now encompasses all aspects of the course, so it’s definitely helped! In working with my clients, I’ll touch upon everything from financial modelling to branding, and marketing tactics to overall wider strategy, without going too deeply into any particular aspect – and that’s exactly what the business course at Bath taught us!
What is a typical day like in your current role?
It’s really fascinating because I work across a number of sectors and industries, some of which I’m learning about as I work with the client. This week, I’ve worked with a finance and bridging loans company in the UK, an innovative diabetes medical device company in the USA and a multi-millionaire logistics founder looking to start a new logistics and trucking brokerage in the US. It’s very exciting and I am always learning. I love it!
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