How To Build A Business In 2026 (From A Founder Who Sold For Millions)

Roei Samuels was nearly thrown out of school at 14. He was selling burned CDs in the schoolyard before most people knew what a side hustle was. Years later he grew the sports media company RealSport to 9.5 million monthly users and engineered the buyer into acquiring the whole business. Then he did something most founders never would: he walked on stage and tried stand up comedy.In this episode Roei breaks down the real blueprint for building a company in 2026. We get into the brutal truth about selling a business that nobody tells you, the £40k in the bank while burning £800k a month, the story behind Connected (now the 18th fastest growing company in the UK), the AI opportunity he would chase if he were 20 today, and why ADHD has been his single biggest advantage.ABOUT THE GUEST:Roei Samuels is a serial entrepreneur. He scaled and exited the sports media company RealSport and now runs Connected, ranked 18th by The Sunday Times for the fastest growing companies in the UK and 67th by the Financial Times across Europe.ABOUT IN THE BUSINESS:What's Your Step One? is the podcast from In The Business (ITB), where we sit down with founders to find the very first move that started it all.Subscribe so you never miss an episode.#WhatsYourStepOne #InTheBusiness #Entrepreneurship #StartupPodcast #RoySamuels #BusinessIn2026 #FoundersJourney