Dan Murray-Serter 🧠

Co-Founder of Heights I Angel Investor | Over 100 Startups I Follow For Daily Posts on Health, Business & Personal growth from UK’s #1 ranked health creator (apparently)

Serial entrepreneur and Angel investor in 100+ startups with over 10 years experience starting, scaling and failing multiple startups.

Co Founder of Heights - Europe's leading brain and gut health company.

I also started and help run Foundrs - A not for profit community of the best, most ambitious and compassionate founders in UK.

I recently stepped away from Leaders Media - A media company making the top business podcasts in Europe, Secret Leaders - at the top of the charts, to focus on much more important things with my time - being a dad to 2 awesome daughters.

Angel/Advisor

Beam (www.beam.org)
ATAI Life Sciences (https://www.atai.life)
Allplants (www.allplants.com)
Humanity (https://humanity.health)
BYP (www.byp-network.com)
Goss (https://www.goss.media)
Tribe VR (www.tribevr.io)
Thrift (www.wearethrift.com)
THIS (www.this.co)
The Sports Edit (www.thesportsedit.com)
Faction (www.factionskis.com)
Runway East (http://runwayea.st/)
London Union/Dinerama (http://londonunion.com/)
Neardesk (https://www2.neardesk.com/)


Tailored.to (https://tailored.to/)
Motivii (http://motivii.com/)
Earlybird (https://earlybird.fm/)
Upshot (http://www.upshotapp.co/)
Togethera (www.togethera.com)
Repairly (www.repairly.co.uk)
Zaboo (www.zabooapp.com)
Lissom (www.lissom.com)
Bloom (www.hellobloom.io)

Dan Murray

100-year-old productivity hack. Still works. Still simple.

1918. Charles Schwab runs Bethlehem Steel. Hires productivity consultant Ivy Lee. Lee's offer: give me 15 minutes with each executive, pay me what it's worth in 3 months. 3 months later, Schwab writes a cheque for $25,000, equivalent to $400,000 today. The method was that effective.

The Ivy Lee Method. Five steps. At the end of each workday, write down the 6 most important tasks for tomorrow. Not 7, not 10, six. Rank them in order of true importance. Tomorrow morning, start with task 1, work until complete. Move to task 2, then 3, one at a time in order. Unfinished tasks move to tomorrow's list. Repeat daily.

Why 6 tasks? Forces prioritisation. With unlimited tasks, everything feels important, nothing gets done. Six is manageable, ambitious but achievable.

Why rank them? Most people work on whatever feels urgent or easy. Ranking forces you to confront true importance. Task 1 should be the thing that, if completed alone, makes tomorrow successful.

Why one task at a time? Multitasking is a myth. Task switching reduces productivity by 40%. Takes 23 minutes to regain focus after interruption. Doing one thing until complete equals deep work.

Why plan the night before? Decision fatigue compounds throughout the day. By 4pm, decision-making quality is 40% worse than 9am. Planning tonight means decisions made when not depleted. Wake up, no decision required, just execute task 1.

Six tasks, ranked, one at a time. Decide tonight, execute tomorrow.

-------------------------------------------------

Follow me Dan Murray for more on habits and leadership.

P.S. If you want 2026 to feel different, don’t start with goals.
Start with clarity.

Most people don’t need more discipline.
They need to understand what’s been draining them and what deserves their energy.

I’ve spent years refining a simple process to help you with exactly that.

Download my short PDF guide https://lnkd.in/eniDNptW

I'll see you there.

The Ivy Lee Method 100-Year-Old Productivity Hack 

One thing I’ve learned after building multiple teams: the most valuable people are rarely the loudest.

They’re the ones who quietly upskill when no one’s watching.

You can’t teach that level of internal drive.
You can’t force someone to care about their growth more than the company requires.

That has to come from within.

And from a neuroscience perspective, people who self-educate build something incredibly powerful:
a plastic brain.

Every new skill, every book, every online course, it all strengthens their neural pathways for adaptability, problem - solving, and creative thinking.

Those traits compound.

They become faster learners.
Better decision-makers.
More resourceful under pressure.
And over time, they outgrow people who rely only on formal training.

When I hire, I look for curiosity.
Not credentials.
Not polished answers.
Curiosity.

Because someone who reads, experiments, builds, tinkers, or studies on their own time will eventually outpace almost everyone else.
They don’t wait to be told what to learn.
They choose it.

And that choice is what makes them dangerous, in the best way possible.

If you’re that person, keep going.
Even if no one notices right now.
Your effort is compounding quietly.
You’ll feel the gap before anyone else sees it.


-------------------------------------------------

Follow me Dan Murray🧠 for more on habits and leadership.

P.S. If you want 2026 to feel different, don’t start with goals.
Start with clarity.

Most people don’t need more discipline.
They need to understand what’s been draining them and what deserves their energy.

I’ve spent years refining a simple process to help you with exactly that.

Download my short PDF guide

https://lnkd.in/eniDNptW

I'll see you there.

When Simon Squibb invested in our company we had done a thousand orders, fast forward a few years we have now done our 1 millionth order 

believed in what we was building and invested before it was obvious.

Since then, we’ve grown it into a $30M business. 

The best founders don’t stand still. They adapt.

I sat down down with Simon Squibb and break down exactly how I’d use AI to build a $30M business from scratch in 2026, and what actually matters when you’re starting from zero.

https://lnkd.in/dVh_9PKH

Gut health is everywhere right now.

Every influencer has a gut protocol. Every brand has a gut product. Everyone's talking about the microbiome like they have a PhD in it.

Some of it is real. Some of it is astrology in a lab coat.

Here's what actually holds up.

The gut-brain axis is real. Your gut produces 90% of your serotonin. The vagus nerve connects your gut to your brain. When your gut struggles, your mood often follows. This research goes back 30 years.

Probiotics for specific conditions are real. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG helps with digestive issues. Bifidobacterium longum helps with anxiety symptoms. But it's strain-specific. Random probiotics don't work the same way.

Fibre matters. Your gut bacteria feed on it. Most people need 25-30g per day. Most get around 15g. The research on this is overwhelming.

Here's what doesn't hold up.

Gut detoxes aren't real. Your liver and kidneys already do that. "Detox teas" are marketing, not medicine.

Fermented foods are healthy. But they're not the same as probiotics. The strains are different. The amounts are inconsistent. Most don't survive your stomach acid.

Leaky gut syndrome isn't a recognised diagnosis. Increased intestinal permeability is real and being studied. But selling you a cure for "leaky gut" is premature.

The pattern is simple. Real gut health science is specific. It names strains, cites studies, explains mechanisms.

Fake gut health science is vague. Buzzwords, big promises, no details.

Certainty sells. Accuracy wins long term.

-------------------------------------------------

Follow me Dan Murray🧠 for more on habits and leadership.

P.S. If you want 2026 to feel different, don’t start with goals.
Start with clarity.

Most people don’t need more discipline.
They need to understand what’s been draining them and what deserves their energy.

I’ve spent years refining a simple process to help you with exactly that.

Download my short PDF guide https://lnkd.in/eniDNptW

I'll see you there.

Gut health audit

Your gut health isn't just about digestion.

It's the reason you wake up tired. Or struggle to focus by 3pm. Or feel anxious for no clear reason.

Your gut affects how your brain works every single day.

Five stages control this. When they're working, you perform better. When even one is broken, everything gets harder.

Stage 1: Microbiome diversity. You need 1,000+ bacterial species. Low diversity means more inflammation and unstable energy. Eat 30+ different plants per week.

Stage 2: Gut barrier integrity. When it's damaged, toxins leak into your bloodstream. That's brain fog and chronic fatigue. Reduce processed foods and manage stress.

Stage 3: Serotonin production. 90% of it is made in your gut. Low serotonin means poor sleep and mood swings. Take probiotics with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains.

Stage 4: SCFA production. Your gut bacteria digest fibre and produce SCFAs. They fuel your gut lining and reduce inflammation. Hit 25-30g of fibre daily.

Stage 5: Vagus nerve function. It connects your gut to your brain. Poor tone means constant stress signals. Improve it with deep breathing and cold exposure.

When all five work together, you wake up with energy, focus holds, mood stays stable, and you sleep deeply.

When even one is broken, you hit the 3pm crash, brain fog makes decisions harder, and small stress feels overwhelming.

Your gut is the foundation for how your brain functions.

Fix your gut. Perform better.

-------------------------------------------------

Follow me Dan Murray🧠 for more on habits and leadership.

P.S. If you want 2026 to feel different, don’t start with goals.
Start with clarity.

Most people don’t need more discipline.
They need to understand what’s been draining them and what deserves their energy.

I’ve spent years refining a simple process to help you with exactly that.

Download my short PDF guide https://lnkd.in/eniDNptW

I'll see you there.

Five gut health markers that predict burnout.

These aren't just digestive issues. They're warning signs your body is breaking down.

Marker 1: Chronic bloating. Poor nutrient absorption. Even if you're eating well, nutrients aren't getting into your system. Poor absorption leads to deficiency, chronic fatigue, inability to recover from stress, and burnout.

Marker 2: Irregular bowel movements. Going 3+ days without or 4+ times per day means toxin buildup. Toxins recirculate instead of leaving. This causes brain fog, poor decision-making, more stress, and burnout. Normal is 1-2 times daily.

Marker 3: Food sensitivities that appeared recently. Gut inflammation and leaky gut. Undigested food leaks into your bloodstream. Your immune system attacks it. This creates inflammation, dysregulated stress response, inability to handle normal stressors, and burnout.

Marker 4: Sugar cravings, especially mid-afternoon. Blood sugar instability from poor gut bacteria. Unhealthy bacteria drive sugar cravings and prevent stable glucose regulation. Every crash depletes stress resilience. Blood sugar crashes lead to energy crashes, inability to sustain focus, falling behind, and burnout.

Marker 5: Poor sleep even when exhausted. Gut barrier damage and inflammation. Your gut produces melatonin and regulates circadian rhythm. Poor sleep damages gut lining. Damaged gut worsens sleep. This creates chronic inflammation, inability to recover, and burnout.

When all 5 are present, you wake up exhausted, brain fog makes decisions harder, small stressors feel overwhelming, you need caffeine and sugar to function, and recovery takes longer.

This isn't laziness. This is your body telling you the foundation is broken.

Fix your gut before you burn out. Not after.

-------------------------------------------------

Follow me Dan Murray🧠 for more on habits and leadership.

P.S. If you want 2026 to feel different, don’t start with goals.
Start with clarity.

Most people don’t need more discipline.
They need to understand what’s been draining them and what deserves their energy.

I’ve spent years refining a simple process to help you with exactly that.

Download my short PDF guide https://lnkd.in/eniDNptW

I'll see you there.

The 5 gut health markers that predict burnout

I’m a firm believer that every child should enjoy school. And that it’s possible for every child to enjoy school. It’s just a matter of discovering what kind of school works best for your child.This belief has led to two businesses:💡 Minerva Virtual Academy: An online independent school for 11-18-year-olds🦉 MVA Tutors: A world-class homeschooling &amp; private tutoring agency for 5-18-year-oldsKeen to learn more? Hit Follow + Alternatively, my DMs are always open for anyone wanting to chat ⚡

Hugh Viney

Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA) has been nominated for both Online School of the Year AND Secondary School of the Year at 2026’s Edufuturists Awards! But it’s not the awards I’m (most) excited about.

Edufuturists events are always a hotbed of big thinkers, passionate changemakers, and roomfulls of people who are determined to make education better for all.

It’s my kind of people, and my kind of conversations.

If you’ll be joining us in Liverpool, be sure to grab me for a chat.

Founder & CEO of the UK’s fastest growing school @ Minerva Virtual Academy | Education Innovator | Speaker | Dad

No alternative text description for this image

Last month, the government released their 2026 International Education Strategy, and it’s extremely frustrating.

The strategy sets out a plan to increase education exports to £40 billion by the end of the decade. It’s an admirable goal, and one I fully believe can be achieved – but why try to do it like this?

The word ‘online’ appears just 6 times in the entire 54-page report, largely just in a section talking about online students at the University of London. ‘Hybrid’ appears just once, in a sentence that just acknowledges that it exists.

This is a baffling attitude, particularly when looking to export UK education around the world, because online and hybrid approaches are THE way to do that. At any one time, Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA) has full time students in more than 50 countries around the world, including our new thriving Gulf Community, where we are quite literally exporting British education with massive success. 

The report even highlights the UK’s thriving EdTech sector, but focuses mainly on AI, and technological improvements to classrooms, still seeming to hold to the old, stubborn ideas that, ultimately, learning should take place in a physical location. 

And, look, I get it.

Governments want to make safe bets and rely on what has already worked before. I’m sure this strategy will probably go a long way towards the goals it has set. Great.

But more of the same isn’t where the future of education is heading. The future is in re-thinking school from the ground up.

We could get there faster with the right support.

There is a crisis in UK education that cost £1.7 BILLION last year, a number that has risen 170% in 8 years, and we simply aren’t speaking about it.

Last year, this staggering amount of money was spent on transporting children with SEND needs to and from school.

That’s it. £1.7 billion, with a B, all to transport kids (in some cases hundreds of miles) to schools that may not even properly meet their needs.

At some local authorities, these costs are almost a quarter of the entire education budget.

And look, I’m not blaming them. LAs are often in a desperate position, under pressure from the government to bring student numbers back up, and SEND kids are a prime demographic to target.

But this, much like the huge amounts of cash the government has been pouring into school buildings to make them more ‘SEND-friendly’, is missing the point.

What SEND kids need is schooling that meets them where they are and supports them, not being dragged halfway across the country to a building that may leave them overwhelmed, stressed, and struggling before quality of teaching is even taken into account.

This does not need to be happening.

Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA)'s results for SEND students last year blew the national averages away, and it’s not hard to see why.

Flexible, adaptable environments, 1:1 mentoring support, a fully trained SEND team, and zero need to be taxied halfway across the country every day.

If that £1.7 billion was instead spent on setting up a range of online state schools, this crisis, and the wider SEND education crisis, would disappear overnight.

We have to stop treating the symptoms and start looking at the root systems that have not worked for a long time – otherwise, the multiple crises we face will not go anywhere, and the bill will simply keep on rising.

Read the full report here: https://zurl.co/75LIr

At events like No Fluff Fest, people always want to know the same thing:

How has MVA grown so fast?

The boring answer is, of course, that we’ve worked very hard to provide a world-class school experience that caters as best as we can to every family and child at every step of the way.

The simple answer is that we’re different.

In an educational landscape that has changed very little since the industrial revolution, different is good. It’s exciting, it’s refreshing, and it promises change.

Obviously, we would never have grown if we didn’t follow through on that promise, but the initial pull for parents is clear.

More of the same just isn’t viable.

Look, I’ll be honest, when we launched Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), I was not sure we would see good exam results. Maybe ever.

We were built on a philosophy of happiness above all, and many of the kids turning to us were happy just to pass if it meant they could enjoy school again – and that was enough for me.

But now, with a few years of GCSEs under our belt, the trends are blowing those admittedly cautious expectations out of the water.

In core subjects, we’re outperforming the national average, and our results for students with SEND needs are beating out the national trends across the board.

The conclusion is clear – alternatives like MVA are not just last resorts for children who’ve been failed by the mainstream. Sometimes, it’s objectively the better option.

I’m seriously hoping that this year, with this proof in hand, we can begin to change minds and effect wider change beyond just our virtual halls.

Fantastic to speak to Rachael Wilding recently for Quantum Media ME’s QtheVoices Podcast, alongside MVA Student Ambassador Bethan, who has been a phenomenal asset to MVA in the Middle East and beyond.

I’ve gotten pretty good over the years at telling the story of MVA, and what we do for kids who previously struggled in the mainstream, but there is nothing like hearing it from the students’ themselves.

There is no such thing as a school refuser – only a child who hasn’t yet found the school that works for them.

As soon as they find that place, they fly.

Definitely one to look out for, and thank you again to Rachael and the team for having us on.

taplio

The Battle

Dan Murray

Hugh Viney

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDan Murray's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreHugh Viney's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Dan Murray

Hugh Viney

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dan Murray's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreHugh Viney's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDan Murray's LinkedIn Performance