Growing together: Inflexion Women Business Leaders’ Breakfast

Inflexion recently invited its female leaders to come together and hear about challenges and successes of fast-growing businesses in today’s backdrop.

“There’s a real energy among people building businesses today,” enthuses Flor Kassai, Managing Partner at Inflexion. She explains it requires constant decision-making at pace, balancing high growth with stability, maintaining resilient teams, and always wondering what’s coming next.

“This is what we live and love at Inflexion. We spend our time working alongside businesses like yours,” she says, addressing the room. “There is real value in bringing leaders together, since however energising leadership can be, it is often surprisingly solitary. Sometimes the most useful conversations are with someone who has faced similar challenges and can share what has worked – and what has gone disastrously wrong.”

This morning brought together leaders who are scaling and stretching ambitious businesses. Inflexion was delighted to welcome the following women to address the portfolio, with the panel moderated by Swetha Gopinath, Private Equity Reporter at Bloomberg:

•    Dimple Patel – CEO of VC-backed NatureMetrics, a nature intelligence technology company, having previously sold a business to private equity in 2018
•    Fiona Bluck – part of the founding family of Nodor, a global market leader in premium darts, dartboards and accessories, backed by Inflexion since 2025
•    Lilia Santos – CFO of premium science-led skincare brand Medik8, which scaled with Inflexion between 2021 and 2025 before its purchase by L’Oreal

They discussed the evolution of Leadership, challenges of Scaling at pace, and the critical importance of People and culture. underlined bits anchor to sections below.

Leadership

What was a pivotal moment in your business where you realised its full potential?

Lilia: It’s been quite a journey over my 13 years with Medik8, with a few pivotal moments along the way. One of the most critical, particularly after Inflexion joined us, was realising that as leaders we needed to move out of the doing and into the thinking – becoming more strategic.
That shift comes with a lot of personal growth. It’s about taking your hands out of the detail, trusting the teams you build, and trusting the vision you set. But it’s also about communicating that vision clearly and consistently.

That’s a key transition for any leader, and perhaps especially for women, where imposter syndrome can creep in. Stepping back and leading through others can feel uncomfortable, but it’s essential to scaling successfully.

Fiona: For us, the pivotal moment came over a number of years rather than a single point in time. We had a very strong foundation from being a family business for over 50 years – deep manufacturing expertise, strong relationships, and a clear core skillset.

But we made a conscious decision to change our global distribution strategy, particularly in Europe and the US. That meant going back to retailers, building partnerships, and aligning ourselves with key organisations in darts.

Then Covid hit, and suddenly people wanted to play darts at home. That accelerated our move into D2C and Amazon. Around the same time, we saw cultural moments like Luke Littler coming through, which drove further demand.

Because we had already put the foundations in place, we were able to move quickly and capture that momentum. We’ve grown 5x in five years, but that only happened because the groundwork had been done beforehand.

Dimple: NatureMetrics started as a lab-based business – very niche, quite expensive, and with specific applications. The pivotal moment came about four years ago when we asked ourselves a simple question: what does the route to scale actually look like?

We could see regulatory changes coming, and we knew there was a growing need for what we were doing. But for it to become mainstream, something had to change.

At the same time, there was a broader shift happening with large language models and AI. That opened up the possibility of moving from a hardware-led business to one focused on data modelling and software.

That transition was not easy. A lot of our identity was rooted in scientific integrity, so moving towards a more scalable, software-led approach raised concerns internally about accuracy and quality. It required us to think very carefully about culture, impact, and how we communicated the change.

Over the past three years, we’ve worked through those challenges. There have been bumps along the way, but we are now seeing real adoption.

What are your top tips for leaders in the room today?

Lilia: The first is to know your path and define it clearly. It sounds obvious, but if you don’t write it down, believe in it, and commit to it, it becomes very difficult to execute.

Once you have that clarity, communication becomes critical. You need to bring your whole organisation with you. There can be a temptation to rush this, but building a clear communication framework – particularly within the executive team – is essential. Everyone needs to understand how they contribute.

Finally, it’s about building the right team around you. If you have clarity of direction and strong communication, you create a team that stands behind you, which is fundamental to success.

Fiona: For me, the first is prioritisation. There are always multiple demands on your time, but you need to focus on where you can create the most value each day, rather than constantly firefighting.

Second is to look ahead. It’s very easy to become absorbed in the here and now, but you need to be thinking about what’s coming next.

And third is relationships. That includes suppliers, customers, and your internal teams. Growth impacts everyone around you, and during periods of change, people can become uncertain. When Inflexion invested in our business, some of our customers were nervous, so communication and reassurance were critical.

Dimple: I’d build on the point around relationships and focus. One aspect is maintaining high standards at all times. As women, we often bring strong attention to detail, and that can be a real strength.

The second point is around boards. Your board can have a significant impact on whether your business succeeds or not. They can support you and set you up for success, but they only have the context you provide.

That means you need to ensure there are no information asymmetries. Boards tend to be forward-looking but don’t always have the day-to-day detail, so it’s important to back up ideas with data, run tests in areas of uncertainty, and provide the right level of transparency to enable good decision-making.

Scaling at pace

What was the catalyst for bringing in an external investor, and what has the experience been like?

Fiona: Our business was started by my in-laws over 50 years ago, and we had steady growth for decades. That allowed us to plan and evolve gradually.

But when rapid growth started, we realised that many of our systems and people had been developed internally. While that had been a strength, it also became a constraint. A small number of individuals were holding back progress simply because the business had outgrown its structure.

There was a clear opportunity, but we needed to move quickly to capture it. Private equity gave us that ability. Importantly, we weren’t just looking for capital – we wanted a partner who could come on the journey with us.

When we met Inflexion, it was immediately clear they were the right fit. Their value creation team brought the expertise we needed.

The pace of change since then has been significant. We’ve introduced a new structure, a new C-suite, interim roles, and much more formalised systems. It’s been challenging, particularly as different cultures come together, but we’re now coming through that transition.

In the first 12 months alone, we hired a large number of people and completed a major acquisition. Without that backing, it would likely have taken a decade.

Lilia: From a skincare perspective, we always saw private equity as a stepping stone to our long-term home, which is now L’Oréal.

Our initial interaction with Inflexion was critical. They believed in our business plan and trusted what we said we could deliver. That belief allowed us to move faster – we achieved our objectives around a year ahead of plan.

We had strong ideas and products, but what Inflexion brought was maturity and boldness. As a founder-led business, we didn’t always have the confidence to invest ahead of need.

They helped us build structure and think further ahead. One of the key messages was that if you wait until you need something, you’re already too late. Instead, you need to build capacity in advance so it’s embedded when you need it.

That mindset shift was fundamental to our success.

How do you make decisions when you don’t have the full picture?

Dimple: I started my career as a trader in 2008, which was not the easiest time. One of the key lessons was that you have to hedge every risk you take.

Buy-in is just as important as data. You need alignment across your team and your board. Everyone needs to understand that there is risk involved and be prepared to navigate through it.

One thing I learned later in my career is the importance of keeping a decision log. Recording what decisions were made, what worked, and what didn’t allows you to reflect and improve. The quality of a decision is independent of its outcome. You can make a good decision and still get a bad outcome. Having that record helps you analyse decisions more objectively.

How do you approach tough investment decisions?

Lilia: It comes down to data, vision and alignment. You need all three.

As a founder-led business, agility was one of our strengths, and it was important to retain that even as we became more structured. That requires constant review of objectives and clear expectations.

When expectations are clear, you can delegate responsibility effectively. Giving accountability to your team allows you to get the most out of your investments.

It’s also important not to invest too late. In fast-growing businesses, if you delay investment, you don’t fully capture the benefits. You need to have things in place ahead of time so they are embedded when needed.

How are you deploying AI tools and embedding it into the culture of firm?

Dimple: We think about AI as a way to accelerate our capabilities. One concern has been whether clients fully understand the data and can extract value from it.

The second is internal – how to drive efficiency. AI allows you to scale without increasing headcount at the same rate, which is critical in a VC-backed environment.

But even in a technology business, adoption is not straightforward. People worry about being replaced or about quality being diluted. Managing that cultural shift is key.

How do you approach M&A?

Fiona: M&A has been central to our strategy for decades. Each acquisition has brought something different – capabilities, market share, or technology.

Most recently, acquiring Autodarts brought a strong technology capability that we had struggled to build internally. Working with Inflexion allowed us to move faster and more effectively.

Dimple: We think about M&A across several dimensions: building product capability, expanding the client base, and acquiring talent.

It’s also an important tool for international expansion. In the current environment, it can be a more efficient way to grow than relying solely on organic growth.

People and culture

How do you navigate relationships when everything is changing at pace?

Dimple: Having built my own business, it was very different stepping into a new one. I spent the first three weeks focusing almost entirely on relationships – getting to know people, building trust, and understanding the dynamics.

When you enter a new organisation, you receive a lot of information, but it often comes with bias. You need to be able to recognise and filter that.

Externally, the same principle applies. People do business with people. You can take a very hard-edged approach, but if the person on the other side doesn’t trust or like you, it won’t work.

So it’s important to think not just about what you want to achieve, but what the other party wants as well. What does success look like for them? How can you create a mutually beneficial outcome?

Ultimately, you are on a journey together. The most successful relationships are those where both sides grow.

Does diversity genuinely make a difference to business performance?

Lilia: It has to be embedded, not treated as an add-on. It shouldn’t be something that only appears in board meetings. It needs to be owned by the entire executive team.

It’s also broader than gender – it’s about diversity in all forms. It can enhance brand equity and help attract talent.

You also need to create the right environment. If you build a flexible, inclusive culture and are clear about what you expect from individuals, people can bring their own perspectives without needing to be micromanaged.

That’s how you build diversity naturally, rather than forcing it.

When do you decide to upgrade your leadership team for the next phase of growth?

Fiona: We reached a point where growth was being constrained. Too much was flowing through a small group of people, and the business was outpacing the development of the team.

That’s when we knew we needed to bring in external capability.

Dimple: As a business scales, the required skillsets change. Some people will grow with the business, and others won’t. That’s a natural progression.

Scaling a business requires individuals to develop at the same pace as the organisation. If they can’t, you need to bring in people who have seen similar challenges before.

External talent can also bring fresh energy and perspective. At the same time, it’s important that those who leave do so on good terms – they can become strong advocates for the business.

How do you balance loyalty with bringing in external capability?

Lilia: It’s a challenge, particularly when people have been with the business for a long time. Transparency helps.

You need to clearly articulate the gap you’re trying to fill and what the new individual will bring. At the same time, roles within the existing team will evolve.

In a fast-growing business, your role today will not be the same as it was last year, and it will change again next year. Being open to that is important.

Dimple: Loyalty is important, but it needs to be balanced with objectivity. Blind loyalty can skew decision-making.

You need data and external perspectives to ensure decisions remain grounded. Emotional attachment to a business can sometimes hold it back.

Wrapping up the session, Inflexion Talent Managing Director Freddy West said, “What has come through clearly is the speed and pace of change, and the need for agility to make it work.''