Tech CEO Daniel Callaghan: My first job was in a sports shop with Rachel Reeves
Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, we speak to Daniel Callaghan, founder and CEO at one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech firms, Veremark, about his career in Square Mile and Me
CV
- Name: Daniel Callaghan
- Job title: Founder & CEO at Veremark
- Previous roles: Head of AGX APAC for Adecco Group
- Age: 44
- Born: London
- Lives: Dubai & London
- Studied: MBA at IESE Business School and French at Durham
- Talents: Finding the “yes” amongst a sea of “no’s”
- Motto: You miss 100 per cent of the shots you never take
- Biggest perk of the job? Getting to build the team you want and ensuring you work with awesome talent. This is a CEO’s primary function in the end.
- Coffee order: Flat white with oat milk
- Cocktail order: Espresso martini
- Favourite book: From Good to Great by Jim Collins
What was your first job?
Besides having attempted a number of school boy entrepreneurial ventures like selling cookies and attempting to trade internet domain names, my first after school and weekend job was working in a sports shop in Sydenham, alongside the now famous Rachel Reeves.
What was your first role in the City?
Post-university, I got on a Publicis group fast track graduate programme in the world of advertising and media strategy. I was assigned to the Procter & Gamble strategic planning account, which was a great experience. However, as a 23-year-old graduate, I didn’t quite resonate with the diaper and toilet paper brands I was working on.
When did you know you wanted to build a career in the business world?
I came from a very commercially minded family, so a career in business was always the natural path. Most of my family were entrepreneurs of sorts and it wasn’t a daunting idea to me. After deciding my current path wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to go quickly enough, I went to business school and launched a business.
What’s one thing you love about Canada?
The vibrancy and mix of people. It’s a place where you are forever reminded of the potential to walk with crowds and keep your virtue or walk with kings nor lose the common touch.
And one thing you would change?
It needs to recapture its social buzz. Remote and hybrid working offers huge benefits, but it has taken its toll on bars and restaurants over the years and we need to find a way to reinvigorate that aspect of the city.
What’s been your most memorable business lunch?
Not so long ago, Veremark, our global background screening platform, had just secured Series B funding, completed its first major acquisition and organically crossed a major revenue milestone. My two other fellow founders, Dan and Angus, and I went for dinner at Rules in Covent Garden to mark the moment. It was a wonderful mix of old world nostalgia with a great sense of optimism for the future.
And any business faux pas?
In my first week at Starcom Mediavest, I got a meeting room wrong and ended up walking into the CEO’s exec management meeting and then just sitting down not wanting to cause a disturbance. After about 10 minutes and some funny looks, I realised I wasn’t in the right place. Or perhaps I was, but was just 10 years too early.
What’s been your proudest moment?
I always like to think that it hasn’t happened yet and there is still lots more to come. However, seeing Veremark consistently get ranked as one of the fastest-growing businesses around EMEA and get market leading feedback scores on the likes of Trustpilot is certainly a great source of pride.
And who do you look up to?
Those who have quickly been able to shape and transform old industries into something new, like Revolut’s founder, Nikolay Storonsky. To have built that size of innovation machine so quickly and scaled it globally is incredible.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
It is not necessarily career advice but something that has always been a constant mantra in my life is that life is about progress and moving things forward. Put simply “You can’t move things forward if you don’t turn up or give up.”
And the worst?
That you should listen to someone just because they have been successful somewhere else or at a different stage of business. Advice is so contextual that sometimes it’s best just to say thank you for their opinion, but act on it with great caution.
Are you optimistic for the year ahead?
Absolutely – optimists live longer. It’s a very exciting time for Veremark and we have big plans for the future. As an entrepreneur you have to be excited and optimistic about the future otherwise the grind just doesn’t make sense.
We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going?
I always find that there is something super charming about Coq D’argent. The indoors is lovely and the terrace area on a summer’s day is one of the best spots in town.
And if we’re grabbing a drink after work?
Would likely head just across the bridge and go to Borough Market. The wide range of drinking spots and places to grab another snack are excellent. It also provides that sense of history and unique ambience that makes London so special.
Where’s home during the week?
During the week, my home is my desk or wherever else I am needed for work. We now have offices in other parts of the UK like Hull but also overseas in Singapore, UAE, Philippines and Australia so travel has become a frequent part of my weekly life.
And where might we find you at the weekend?
With a five-year-old and one-year-old at home, I like to make sure I am back with them doing all the usual necessities like building legos or reading and colouring.
You’ve got a well-deserved two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?
I am going away with my wife and family. The ideal scenario is somewhere quiet and beachy. I am usually allowed to work one hour a day on holiday so there will still need to be decent wifi.