Adrian Blair talks to Sir Richard Harpin about taking over from Trustpilot's founder in 2023 and how discipline turned a loss-making EBITDA position into a business now targeting 30% margins by 2030. Drawing on lessons from Just Eat and running Dext as a non-founder CEO, Blair reflects on what it takes to succeed a founder — respecting their ambition while building on the culture they left behind. He explains how Trustpilot has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI search era and why \"genuine human feedback\" has become essential to AI answer-engine strategies. Blair also lives by the mantra \"never let a good crisis go to waste\": he rebuilt confidence after a short-seller report wiped 30% off the share price in a single day, and he shares his hiring philosophy for senior teams — including why you should always meet a candidate in person before hiring them.
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