|
24th July 2003
 Have you ever been struck by the bold moves that some of the world's best entrepreneurs have taken? Or how unlikely some of them are? I'll bet that, if you could line up the top 100 most successful entrepreneurs of all time, they would say no one ever got wealthy by sitting on a fence. Keep that in mind the next time someone invites you to do something that you'd rather wait and see how it develops, and join in once all the risk is gone. This week Tony Perkins, founder of Red Herring, celebrates the always- on world that we live in by hosting the first-ever AlwaysOn Network conference at Stanford University. Always on. Can you remember when we had 'off' times? I can't. I go into withdrawal mode when I'm not 'on' - either online or on top of my workpile or on call. I never like to have my mobile phone off. There are hundreds of companies around the world that are now being founded to take advantage of the promise of not only broadband, but Wi-Fi and next-generation mobiles. I read about Sky Dayton the other day. He's the founder and chairman of Earthlink and the founder and CEO of Boingo Wireless. He's only 32. He was introduced to computers in 1980 when he was nine years old by his grandfather, an IBM fellow. He graduated from high school but forewent college to pursue his interest in technology. After two years managing the computer graphics departments of two advertising firms, he co-founded the Cafe Mocha coffee houses in West Hollywood, California. In 1992, while still managing the coffee house, he co-founded Dayton Walker Design, a computer graphics boutique catering to the entertainment industry. In 1994, he founded Earthlink, which is now the largest independent Internet service provider in the US, with 5m customers, over $1bn (GBP 627m) in annual revenue and thousands of employees. He launched Boingo Wireless in December 2001. This is a young man on a mission to shape the world in which he lives. I'll bet after the first two ventures, he learned that the biggest risk he could ever take is not driving his own future, moving forward in some capacity, allowing someone else to set the agenda for his life. At the same time that I try to encourage everyone I meet - whether they're my employees, my clients, colleagues in the industry or my investors - to step out, to do the inevitable and create the change they want to see in the world, I'm confronted with another reality. I'm vaguely aware that the European Commission is in the process of drafting and ratifying a European Constitution. I imagine this document might govern me in some capacity at some point. I hear bits of it in the media which scare me, but I think I must have it wrong. Granting employee benefits to freelancers, for example - now there's an idea that no one who has ever run their own business would ever think to do. But sure enough it seems to figure in how the European Commission wants to ensure none of us ever really gets ahead. If you want to create a growth story for Europe, create a culture of accountability. If you want to impoverish Europe for centuries to come, keep building that culture of entitlement. This market is tough, and I'm pleased every day to see firms like RecordStore, Bulldog, Intamac and JVTV, to name a few, making it happen, innovating and building counter-cyclically. Sometimes it takes longer and sometimes the company or its business model morph into something different than originally intended, but learning equals winning. It's the decision to own your life and your future, and that's the best thing to learn in a recession. And that doesn't come from Brussels. Julie Meyer is CEO of Ariadne Capital; julie@ariadnecapital.com New Media Age is the UK's leading weekly
on the Internet, iTV and wireless, comprising the latest news and
analysis on digital media developments, Internet market research,
exclusive sector reports, audience statistics and online advertising
data. For more information call 020 7292 3717 or visit
www.newmediazero.com |
 |
|
|
©
Copyright 2008 Ariadne Capital Ltd, All Rights Reserved | |
|