Two letters are dominating business at the moment. A and I.

But what is it and more importantly, how can it help your business?

Today we speak to Jeremy Smith, Founder of Neural Voice about his AI business, how it came about, what it can do and the stresses and strains of raising the funding for it.

INTRODUCING JEREMY SMITH

Jeremy Smith is the founder and CEO of Neural Voice, a company redefining how businesses interact with customers through AI-driven voice technology. With a background in sales and business development, he understands the challenges of customer communication and saw an opportunity to make AI conversations feel more natural, responsive, and engaging.

He launched Neural Voice to bridge the gap between automation and human-like interaction, creating a solution that helps businesses scale support, improve customer satisfaction, and provide instant, accessible information. Under his leadership, the company continues to push the boundaries of conversational AI, making it more intuitive and effective for businesses and their customers alike.

Jeremy is passionate about technology, business strategy, and the future of AI-driven communication. When he’s not leading Neural Voice, he’s often exploring the latest trends in AI and innovation, or having real conversations over coffee.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:00:00] An idiot’s guide to AI

[00:06:00] The first, failed, start up

[00:10:30] Learnings from the first business

[00:14:00] The switch to Neural Voice and the problem it solves

[00:19:30] The investment raising journey – what is SEIS and EIS?

[00:21:45] The importance of investor feedback after pitches

[00:25:00] Refining the business case usage of the product

[00:30:00] Navigating the angel investment challenges

[00:33:00] Scaling the business efficiently

[00:35:00] How to lead, through ‘extreme ownership’

[00:41:00] The benefits of Neural Voice

4 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• Get your recruitment process right, to avoid hiring the wrong person

• Selling a product is very different from selling a business idea to get funding

• When you are looking for investment make sure you know all about SEIS and EIS

• Make sure you learn from investors who say ‘no’

3 MOMENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR

“Sales is not where you are meant to be – you should be doing what I’m doing”

“Let’s model the AI on my mum”

“02 put me through to 8 different teams”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Work with Phil - www.philfraser.co.uk

Website: https://www.neural-voice.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsmithsales/

Shout out: https://thewai.co.uk/

Get the book ‘Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win’

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https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/phil-fraser/

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.

As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.

As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.

Want to work with Phil to help you? See www.philfraser.co.uk.

LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Leeds, Business in Leeds, Leeds Business, Business in Leeds, Nous of Fraser, Business Sounding Board, Business Coach, Business Mentor,

Email: [email protected]