Why This Non-profit Started Accepting Bitcoin Dr Sheela Sharma #219

A nonprofit in West London is accepting Bitcoin donations to fund the next generation of entrepreneurs — and it all started with one conversation at a judging panel. Sheela Sharma is CEO of Portobello Business Centre, a 30-year-old nonprofit that helps underserved entrepreneurs — 70% of them women — start and grow their own businesses. Before that, she spent 14 years in investment banking, including as an equity analyst at Merrill Lynch covering medical devices and pharma. She came in knowing nothing about finance. She left as a COO. 🇬🇧 Portobello Business Centre are members of BBN. Join the UK Bitcoin Business Network here: Contact Sheela: Linkedin: Website: 00:00 Opening clip — Bitcoin donations for entrepreneurs 00:40 Introduction and welcome 01:30 From Oxford DPhil to Merrill Lynch — the unlikely pivot 03:30 Learning to value medical technology companies 05:30 "What is a share price?" — the interview moment 06:30 14 years in investment banking: analyst to COO 07:30 Why she left — and what pushed her out 08:30 Joining Portobello Business Centre as chair, then CEO 10:00 The brands PBC has supported — Innocent Drinks, Charlie Bigham's, Karen Millen 12:00 Why PBC started accepting Bitcoin 14:00 Getting set up: Strike, Coin Corner and the Sustainable Society Trust 16:30 Understanding Bitcoin six months in 19:00 The utility of Bitcoin as a payment and store of value 21:00 Financial education in the UK — what's missing 24:00 Should entrepreneurship be taught in schools? 27:30 The scrunchie business — born at age 11 31:00 Roberta Huntington, Vinted and the power of simple ideas 34:00 Entrepreneurship as mindset — can it be taught? 39:00 The businesses PBC supports today 44:00 Why storytelling wins pitches 45:00 B Corp certification explained 48:00 The Bitcoin and B Corp community overlap 53:00 Bitcoin's future role in funding early-stage entrepreneurs 59:00 One piece of advice for anyone thinking about starting a business LISTEN /

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Why This Non-profit Started Accepting Bitcoin Dr Sheela Sharma #219 is an episode from The Crypto Standard by Jordan Walker.

This episode is 01:03:22 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

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