Sarat Pediredla is the co-founder of Level5, a five-week-old AR-native digital product studio, and the former co-founder and CEO of Hedgehog Lab, which he built from two people into a 150+ person consultancy over two decades and two private equity journeys.

In this conversation with Andrew Tallents, Sarat talks candidly about swapping a childhood ambition to become a doctor for computer programming at 16, his first business failing at university, running Hedgehog Lab through a stage 3 bowel cancer diagnosis at 29, an "accidental" private equity deal, losing 70% of revenue during COVID, and the 2023 realisation that his identity had become entirely fused with his business.

He explains how that led him to build a succession plan, exit fully at the end of 2025, and start again — this time, he says, as a much more whole and integrated version of himself.

Topics covered: childhood in India and boarding school, choosing software engineering over medicine, founding Hedgehog Lab, the Northern Rock pivot, cancer and recovery, private equity lessons, COVID and burnout, therapy and self-coaching, succession planning, and why Sarat calls this chapter of his life a "midlife renaissance."

Confessions of a Successful Leader is hosted by Andrew Tallents, the self-coaching expert. New episodes every week.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction 01:41 Hobbies and life outside a 20-year career 03:14 Book recommendation: Good to Great by Jim Collins 03:55 Childhood in India and boarding school 07:04 Choosing computer engineering over medicine at 16 09:41 Teaching himself to code 11:07 Studying software engineering in the UK 13:58 University, independence and the entrepreneurial bug 16:22 First business fails — and an Innovator's Visa 18:04 The dream of building a software business 19:17 How Hedgehog Lab began 21:55 Founding Hedgehog Lab and the pivot after Northern Rock 24:19 Dividing roles with his co-founder 26:18 The financial crisis and a cancer diagnosis at 29 29:05 The accidental private equity deal 32:06 COVID, losing 70% of revenue, and therapy 35:37 2023: separating identity from the business 38:03 Exiting Hedgehog Lab and starting Level5 41:04 The 15 commitments of conscious leadership 42:17 Closing thoughts