Value Added Partner Stories

Value Added Partner Bruce Bignell, of Evolve, shares his story. 

Tell us your story

I’m happily married with a beautiful wife and dog, living in Costa del Worthing. Having grown up in Kent, I went on to graduate from Brighton University where I fell in love with the city. Working many jobs, I also supported the growth of a local charity where I led a team of youths and IT professionals in delivering the first international conference in rural Kenya.

I then spent over six years in London working for an outdoor media owner, which grew from 10 people to 30-plus. This, I’ve come to realise, was where my passion for small and scaling businesses comes from, as you get to see lessons on “How-to” and “How not to do” when scaling.

I now run, row, swim, dance, and generally love an adventure. Evolve (started during lockdown) is on a mission to empower small and scaling businesses with easy-to-use salestech the team and business owners actually want to use.

What has been your biggest business challenge to date?

Getting the right people on the bus. We’re trying to build a world-class service business for the Pipedrive Community, and finding the right people is tough.

What has been your greatest or proudest business achievement to date?

Probably a Christmas card I received from one of my staff a year ago that said: “I’ve never felt happier in a job.” About 20 years ago, I said to myself that I wanted to build a business that people wanted to work for. That card showed me that I could, and did.

What type of clients do you currently work with and who are you looking to meet?

We work with small and scaling businesses who are just getting started with CRM (moving away from spreadsheets), all the way up to £2 billion a year businesses migrating from SalesForce to Pipedrive. I am looking to meet businesses who are tired of their current CRM or need to move away from spreadsheets.

Tell us a story/fact about yourself that people might not know

My wife and I cycled from Hove to Champagne on a tandem bicycle, towing our dog Betsy. Our test ride was the cycle from home to Newhaven – 45 minutes before our ferry crossing!

How do you define success?

Healthy, wealthy and wise are the three key areas I think about when it comes to success. Is my lifestyle reflecting the active, strong and mobile life I want to live? Is my family financially free from the burden of bills and capable of multiple adventures a year? What lessons did I learn this week, last month, last year to change my future actions?