Peter Gatt – CEO of EMANDA: 9x Founder, 6x Exits of Multi-Million Dollar Businesses

Peter Gatt, CEO of Emanda and a nine-time founder with six successful exits, joins The Leap to share his raw journey through the highs and lows of business. Growing up in St Albans in a tough environment, Peter quickly learned resilience. He worked odd jobs from a young age just to afford the basics, and that drive to build a better life never left him. Music and education shaped his early years, and by his teens he was already coding, automating, and carving a path that would later define his career.

But Peter’s story isn’t a straight line of success. His first startup at just 22 failed badly, leaving him shaken and wary of entrepreneurship for years. Even later, after building and selling companies, he admits there were still times when he wondered how he’d make the next pay run. He’s open about the emotional rollercoaster of competition, the trap of getting stuck in “busy work,” and the sheer energy it takes to start all over again—even when you’ve done it before.

Through these challenges came perspective. Peter learned the importance of “thinking about the end at the beginning” — shaping a business as if you were going to sell it, even if that’s not the goal. That mindset, combined with frameworks like Scaling Up and EOS, helped him build companies that could grow, scale, and exit successfully. Today, at Emanda, he’s using that experience to help other business owners understand their true value and avoid the blind spots that often cost them years of progress.

We also dive deep into Peter’s view of AI and the future of work. He doesn’t sugarcoat it—junior roles across law, accounting, and even recruitment are disappearing as automation takes over. His advice: map your processes, automate, then layer in AI. Done right, it creates efficiency and frees up space to innovate. Done wrong, it leaves you behind. Despite the challenges, he believes creativity, art, and music will be the skills that set the next generation apart—something he’s focused on instilling in his own kids.

What makes Peter’s story so powerful is the honesty. Behind the exits and successes, there’s self-doubt, tough calls, and plenty of lessons learned the hard way. This episode is packed with practical insights and blunt truths every entrepreneur can take away—whether you’re starting your first business, scaling fast, or thinking about what comes next. 

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