Born Scrappy
Born Scrappy
Stu Kagan
Growing Through Adversity with Michael Lion
46 minutes Posted May 13, 2026 at 1:00 pm.
Michael Returns
Career Origins
Philipp & Lion
Second Act with Sims
Why Mistakes Matter
Worst Week 1991
How It All Collapsed
Risk and Controls
Greed, Fear, Ego
Too Good Deals
Sucker Deal Setup
China Defaults And Prepay
Trust And Loyalty Lessons
Friendly Versus Friends
First 24 Hours Crisis
Advice To Younger Self
Learning From Mistakes
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Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Born Scrappy I sit down with Michael Lion, Former Owner of Philipp & Lion and Former Consultant & Chairman at Sims Metal Management, for a masterclass in what really happens when it all goes wrong and what you can learn from it. Michael's career is one of the industry's most extraordinary stories. He entered the business at 17, built Philipp & Lion into one of the world's largest non-ferrous scrap traders, pioneered copper trade routes into Chi...