The Refugee Who Led a Software Revolution - with Ben Walter
4/7/202628 min
Millionaire-making tech start-ups are most often associated with Silicon Valley. But this software revolution begins on a woman’s kitchen table in rural Britain in the 1960s. Steve Shirley faced extraordinary odds. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child, she later encountered workplace discrimination and endured deep personal tragedy. But she persevered to build a business decades ahead of its time, creating opportunities for hundreds of women.
Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, to explore the life, legacy and lessons of an overlooked titan of te...
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First 90 secondsTim Harford· Host0:00
[intro music] Pushkin. Hello, Tim Harford here with a bonus episode of Cautionary Tales. Today, I've got a story about someone I think everyone should know about, a trailblazing entrepreneur who changed the way we think about tech, redefined roles for working women, made many members of staff millionaires, and founded the first autism research charity in the UK. This episode is sponsored by Chase for Business, and joining me again is their CEO, Ben Wolter, who also hosts the very excellent podcast, The Unshakeables. Ben, welcome back to Cautionary Tales. How are you doing?
Ben Walter· Guest0:50
I'm great. Thanks for having me, Tim. Although I'm very cold. It's-- I'm in New York City. It's about, uh, nine degrees Fahrenheit, or for those of you across the pond, about minus 12. So it's, it's a bit chilly outside. There's ice on the Hudson.
Tim Harford· Host1:00
Nine Fahrenheit. You, you know, Ben, I discovered just today that the, you know, the Celsius scale begins with the freezing point of water. I did not know- Yeah ... that the Fahrenheit scale, zero is the freezing point of brine. You maybe knew that. I- I did not know that either.
Ben Walter· Guest1:16
So it is at least based on something as opposed to haphazard, which is what it seems like [chuckles] for everything else in the imperial system.
Tim Harford· Host1:22
It is based on something. But anyway, look, we're digressing already and, and we shouldn't. Last time we spoke, I