Forget Cadbury, entrepreneurs will save UK

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 09:38

Occasionally on a Friday night as I review the remains of the week, I wonder why I put myself through it. Last week, one of my portfolio companies nearly hit a wall, and I had to coach the existing investors through their panic to send through an emergency bridge round. Another one of our companies secured funding, and a third closed £500,000 yesterday.

I am privileged to hang out with the big league hitters of entrepreneurship each week too. They had their near death moments too.

Also last week, I had dinner with Jay Fulcher, a Silicon Valley veteran, who is the chief executive of ooyala, a video monetisation company that just inked a deal with the Telegraph Media Group.

Jay has built and sold several giant IT stories. Why does a guy like Jay who has “made it” continue to take on the next challenge?

I also spoke at the launch of the Palm Pre at The Hospital last week. Palm is currently run by an old friend of mine, Jon Rubinstein, who built one of the early Mac Clone businesses, FirePowerSystems, in the early 90’s (where I knew him as I was advising Motorola on Power PC Marketing activities), and then went on to work directly for Steve Jobs in his transformation of Apple, delivering the iPod before he left in 2004. Why does a guy like Jon who has “done it” multiple times set out to do it again? The answer is – because they have to.

Entrepreneurs are people who go back into the burning building. Where others run away, they spot opportunity. They see the flames and smoke, and know that disruptive change breeds unparalleled opportunity.

A taxi driver said to me the other day, “Everything is cricket in England,” and went on to explain that it means that everything is a gentlemanly sport where nothing is shaken up too much.

I don’t recognise that place. The country I’ve fallen in love with has a growing band of merry entrepreneurs that have big audacious goals, and intend to lead the world in their ventures.

We don’t need to worry that Kraft is buying Cadbury. We would have cause to worry if the young British entrepreneurs weren’t up for the task of building the global powerhouses of the future. The under 30’s in this country are the most fearless, driven group you can imagine.

They know that Britain can do “big”. Indeed, it’s been doing “big” throughout its history.

Julie Meyer is chief executive of Ariadne Capital and a Dragon on the BBC’s Online Dragon’s Den.

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Comments (1)

Forget Cadbury....what next?...forget Team Great Britain???

Miss Julie Meyer, I do not find your optimism inspiring!.

Do you realise that the US, Europe and the United Kingdom are drowning in their own pools of artificially induced asset inflation? Do you realise that the last 30 years of synchronised expansion after expansion needs to be realised in Dollar and Cents? Do you realise that the only way to realise the last 30 years of economic progress, and I mean that the only way to realise the last 30 years compounded growth will require ATLEAST 10 years of selling / liquidation / consolidation, so that those that built business empires over the course of the last 30 years can report & realise hard and tangible gains.

I am afraid i disagree with you to a significant degree. I think your view is much too frothy & localised. If you were to take a macro view of the state of the world the situation may start to crystalise for you.

California is technically bankrupt, Greece is technically bankrupt, the UK is technically bankrupt, 75% of the UK finance houses are technically bankrupt, 50% of US finance houses are not worth their tangible book!...it would be fair to state the the western economies have peaked and will now need to consolidate.

Anybody under the illusion that this is the right time to start a business and fund its operations via traditional bank finance will be contributing to this 'mother' of all Ponzi schemes that has already started to unwind which will continue to unwind for atleast a decade. If you look historical data, go look at Japan, that is where we are headed, but it will be far worse for us in the UK, as we have given away our manufacturing businesses...Cadbury's being the latest.

Aspiring entrepreneurs must take the approach of going back to basics. The basics are to build technology or concepts that can grow as a result of REAL demand for services. Entrepreneurs need to go back to making products and delivering services for the morally right reasons, people need to go to work because they like to work, because it gives them pleasure in contributing to society. What happened to playing tennis simply for the love of the game? What happened to wanting to become a medical Doctor in the aim to help people overcome illness?....I say...play the game for the love of the game!!...aspiring entrepreneurs need to get back to basics and innovate for the right reasons....and wanting to innovate for reasons such as fame, financial wealth, chasing money and public acknowledgement is the reason why the western economies are now drowning in their own over inflated ego's!!!

Attention Entrepreneurs....!....play the game for the love of the game...whatever you do, don't let your prime goal be to make millions and gazillions of Dollaahs!!!...do the best you can do, and if your work is good you will not need to work so hard or burn so much cash marketing your product of service.

Miss Meyer!...the days of big are over....its time for entreprenurs to realise that being big is certainly not a measure of success, and that ideology of money being able to make money will not work so well for the next 10 years atleast....people make products...good products make money...Think small, and building organically will prevail as common sense always does in the end!

My view to budding entrepreneurs is crystal clear : - and that is to get your priorities straight. Question your own motives. Question the motives of those that try to sell you pipe dreams. Especially question those that shows interests in investing in your ventures. It is critically important to ensure that financiers are not scheming to enslave your business, your ideas and most importantly your time for the sole purpose of serving their insatiable appetite for profit.

Remember this...thinking big will blind you into a false economy....therefore think small and build good foundations before you plonk your BIG DREAM house on the SMALL foundations!...Peace!!!

seanys , January 31, 2010