Emma began designing at age of 13, launched her own clothing company at age 14. At 16, she currently runs a clothing company, a magazine and a discount card called ThriftPass. Emma is currently preparing for her GCSE’s this summer.

I recently spoke to Emma as she talks me through her businesses, proving doubters wrong despite her young age and her plans for her businesses in 2012.

Hi Emma, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

I’m great! Thanks for having me.

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself? Tell me about yourself growing up?

I’m only 16 so I guess I still am growing up! I was always a very determined growing up, always wanting to be the best at what every I was doing and I guess that has helped me get to where I am today. I use to play a lot of sport which has taught me a lot of skills that I have applied to my business including team work, patience and hard work.

As I said before I am still just 16, currently working towards my GCSEs this summer whilst running a number of businesses. I currently run a clothing line called Sketch&Stitch (www.sketchandstitch.com), a magazine about design called PixelBatch (www.pixelbatch.com), a discount card called ThriftPass (www.thriftpass.com/) and I also occasionally do some freelance design work.

How did you get into business?

Since a young age I was always selling old items on sites such as eBay and Amazon to fund new purchases. When I reached around 13, I had found my passion – design. I was frustrated as who was going to give a 13 year old design work so I decided that a great way to utilize my passion for design was to launch a clothing brand. And I did just so at the age of 14 – I launched SeamlessApparel. This soon progressed to be my main focus and at the beginning of 2012 was rebranded as Sketch&Stitch. I have also since then begun working on two new startups – PixelBatch and ThriftPass with both launching in the summer of 2012.

Who was your inspiration growing and why?

I never really had anyone that I looked up to or admired growing up but since starting my businesses I have met some amazing people in the last few years who have inspired me more than I could have imagined.

So tell me about Sketch&Stitch and how the idea came about?

I had found my passion which was design and wanted a platform for my work. Apparel just seemed the perfect way to do so. In 2011 I launched SeamlessApparel – I opened with just 4 tees designs but these quickly sold out and I went on to release a second line of 8 items. Near the end of 2011 I decided that I wanted to rebrand SeamlessApparel. I sold the remaining items and started work on Sketch&Stitch. I have just launched Sketch&Stitch this April with products ranging from tees, hoodies, cardigans, posters, mugs, notebooks, scarfs to necklaces. So far Sketch&Stitch has been great and lots more is to come!

What was your biggest challenge during the startup phase?

I would say one of the biggest challenges was getting people to believe in me. Many seemed to say that because I was 14/15/16 years old I couldn’t do it. I hope I have proved some of them wrong today!

How have you been able to fund the business?

I initially set up SeamlessApparel with my own money. Sketch&Stitch was launched of the profits from SeamlessApparel. Both ThriftPass and PixelBatch will also be funded by myself.

What would you say has been the highlight of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Again, it has to be the people I have met and the experiences I have had in such a short amount of time. I have got to talk to people I would never have thought I could have and I have been able to do things I couldn’t have even imagined a few years ago!

What can we be expecting from Sketch&Stitch in 2012?

We have only just launched but have already begun work on new products. Expect lots more designs, clothing and accessories.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

I would only have one piece of advice for entrepreneurs starting out and it is to follow your passion no matter what anyone says. If you find a passion, pursue it and you will be able to make it work – even if everyone on they way will tell you that you can’t do it.

Lately, I’ve been doing my fair share of things to help with energy consumption – like switching off my lights before I sleep, no more over-night charging of the phone, I now switch off my laptop before bedtime, I stopped playing music all night just to sleep. I’m proud to say It’s now a time of the past. I probably can be doing a lot more, hopefully that will happen sooner than later.

I recently spoke to someone that does more than switch off his laptop before bedtime, someone really hoping to make a difference in the world or at least starting from the UK. His company Onzo, helps consumers reduce energy consumption, curtail carbon emissions and in the process helping us reduce our bills.

Here is my interview with Joel Hagan, CEO and co-founder of Onzo.

Hi Joel, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

I’m good thank you. Hoping that I have some hidden potential.

Haha! of course you do.

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself? Tell me about yourself growing up?

I’m a scholarship boy, son of a state school teacher, who was lucky enough to get a very fine education pretty much for free. I only ever worked as hard as I could get away with though.

How did you get into business?

When I left university, the people I knew went into banking, the law and management consultancy. I went into management consultancy and it gave me an opportunity to look at a lot of different businesses and different departments within them.

Who was your inspiration growing up and why?

Doctor Who. Because he used his brain to solve problems and save the world. I’m very glad they brought him back, and in style. I now watch with my children.

What were you doing before you started working at Onzo?

I was running a barristers chambers, trying to change an area of business that time seems to have forgotten.

What is Onzo? What are you guys trying to solve?

It’s a company that takes information on home energy use and does as many useful things with that as possible. Like Doctor Who, we’re trying to save the world.

What was your biggest challenge during the starting up phase?

Raising money. It’s become a lot more difficult than it used to be. I’ve talked to literally hundreds of potential investors. At first I found some people who trusted me and put in small amounts of money. I then found a VC and an energy company. I’ve since found more VCs and energy companies and family offices.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Recruit excellent people. Build relationships with clients. Solve their business problems. Raise more money. Simple as that!

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

Not very much. Because the management team consists of people with commercial experience, rather than inventors, we were pretty clear early on what we were trying to achieve (rather than on developing a technology and looking for a problem to solve with it). We always felt that the long-term driver of value would be data. And everything that’s happened since supports that view.

What would you say has been the highlight of your journey so far?

Finding out that our products deliver the benefits we designed for, anticipated, and promised. People using our products have reduced their energy use by 8% on average, and shifted their usage off the peak by a further 5% (which means fewer emissions). People using our products also stay twice as long with their utility than the average customer. So everyone’s happy.

What can we be expecting from Onzo in 2012?

We’ll be expanding sales of our energy display for smart meters globally. And we’re working on v2 of our system that gathers, returns, and processes energy use data to deliver benefits to utilities and their customers. All hush hush for now. But it promises to do more and better things for more people than v1.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

Don’t start a small business, start a large one. If what you do is good then it deserves to be everywhere. Otherwise it’s a hobby.

Start by knowing what problem you’re trying to solve. It will tell you who will pay, why, how much they’ll pay, and what to build.

Be prepared for it to be tough, and don’t give up.

After getting into Oxford University, James realised there were other kids like himself who would love to study at some of the most prestigious universities in the UK, so he created Oxbridge Applications which helped bright people with their applications to top universities.

So it only made sense when he decided to take the next step, taking graduates from universities to employment but not just any kind of employment, but giving top graduates the opportunity to work with/for some of the biggest companies in the UK.

Bright Network, a membership-only network that works exclusively with the brightest graduates and undergraduates in the UK and Europe.

I recently spoke to him about the company, what they are trying to solve, their business model and advice for young entrepreneurs.

Hi James, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

Thanks for having me.

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself?

I studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at University of Oxford (1997 – 2000), and ever since I’ve been helping bright young people to achieve their potential – first by helping them with their applications to university, and, since I founded Bright Network in 2007, by helping connect them with remarkable career opportunities.

Tell me how you got into business? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child?

I founded my first start-up at 14. This business was selling sweets at school from my locker – against the rules but still a success!

So tell me about Bright Network and how the idea came about?

In 1999, while I was at university, I founded Oxbridge Applications – a start-up which helps bright people with their applications to top universities. Bright Network was the obvious next step – helping those people with their careers beyond university.

What is Bright Network and how does it work? What are you trying to solve?

Bright Network is where the brightest get noticed. We are a membership-only network that works exclusively with the brightest graduates and undergraduates in the UK and Europe. In order to join, members must have attended either a Times Top 20 or Russell Group university or have achieved at least AAB at A Level.. 

We are trying to solve two problems – firstly, the fact that, despite tough economic times which mean a lot of young people in the marketplace, firms are still struggling to find top quality candidates for their opportunities. We invest the time to get to know our members well and give our clients the opportunity to meet them face to face at networking events where they can find out more about them than they could from an online application form. Secondly, the fact that bright undergraduates, graduates and young professionals often struggle to differentiate themselves in the jobs market. At Bright Network we help them establish personal connections to get noticed for the right opportunities.

What is your business model?

We connect our members with exceptional job opportunities, remarkable organisations, and exclusive networking events to help them with their careers. And through our membership-only peer-to-peer bounty referral platform, our members work alongside our super in-house headhunters to identify and recommend bright minds who have the potential to work at some of the most sought-after organisations. 

From Goldman Sachs to Innocent Drinks, Slaughter & May to Mind Gym, we work with firms, big and small, blue chip and entrepreneurial – all united by one thing – the desire to find the best. 

In terms of our business model, our client firms pay us to help them access the people they need to find to grow their business, meaning our support is free for members.

What makes Bright Network different from any other Recruitment platform out there?

Firstly, as a membership-only platform with strict academic criteria, we have carved out a niche for giving firms access to the academic platform. Secondly, and most importantly, rather than being a recruitment consultancy, we are a social network which establishes long-term relationships with our members. Our ‘Bright Bounty’ referral system, where members earn money by referring their bright friends for our clients’ opportunities helps to keep them engaged even when they aren’t job hunting – and them keeping in touch helps us maintain the quality of the data we have.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

We are completely relationship driven and spend time with our members and our client partners so we know what they want and how we can help them.

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

All businesses develop over time. We started with London and we’re now covering the whole of UK.

You raised £300k last year – how was the whole fund raising process and what are some of the key things that you took away from that experience?

Raising money for your business can be time consuming, however it really makes think about what you’re doing, what resources you need and what you want to achieved. Our investors are superb – they are completely bought into our mission, have great experience and give us some fantastic connections.

What tips can you give upcoming entrepreneurs looking to raise money to grow their startups?

The key bit of advice is that investors back people more often than ideas. It’s common knowledge that an investor would rather invest in a ‘A-team’ with a ‘B-grade idea’ than vice versa. So if you’ve got a great track record of delivery to show potential investors what you’re capable of achieving when you put your mind to it, that will take you a long way.

Also, spend money on great people – sometimes they come with a high price tag, which may feel difficult when you’ve got limited financial resources, but ultimately having a great team in place means you’ll have a product and a client base that shows you are worth investing in.

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

Big things! We’ve just launched our new site, the culmination of a 14-month project… we expect to work with even more top-notch clients and attract more bright people on to the network. We’re also planning a huge careers festival (our Bright Festival) this September… watch this space.

What has been your most memorable moment so far?

Launching our new site! It was great to see the months and months of planning and hard work by the development team pay off. It was a big project with some challenging moments, but we got there.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

1. Manage your risk profile. All entrepreneurs have to take risk – i.e. going into ventures where they don’t know the outcome. However the good entrepreneurs always make sure that is things don’t work out as planned and hoped for, they survive. My motto is ‘never bet what you can’t afford to lose’. Take risks, but make sure you can live to fight another day if it doesn’t work out.

2. Get going! The best way to learn about a market is to get started. Sometimes bright graduates can be too analytical and delay for too long. Once you start trading you get a whole load of new information about your business (e.g. what do customers really like).

3. Hire great people. Trust your gut but don’t rush into things and be slow to hire and quick to fire if things don’t work out. Your business is only as good as the people who are working in it.

I’ve been trying to get hold of her, like forever, a few weeks ago she was at the Natural and Organic show in london and quickly apologised that she was all tied up and was too busy and couldn’t do the interview. Running a startup can be like that, especially when you are the only employee in it and you’re also raising two kids.

Fiona is someone I’ve been following since she won the £50,000 in Barclays take one small step competition in 2010 and have been so impressed with her progress, which was one of the reasons we named her in our YHP’s Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs to watch out for 2012.

Yesterday, I finally got the chance to speak to to Fiona Wood about her company – Naturally Cool Kids, being a mum, challenges she faced when starting up and advices for other mums out there.

Please introduce yourself to the YHP readers?

I’m Fiona Wood creator of Naturally Cool Kids, a natural winter and summer skincare for children.

I am married to David and we have two children Rhys 17 and Finlay 5 years old. I live in Cleckheaton West Yorkshire and in the last 12 months have gone from stay at home mum to business woman.

How were you able to fund the business at the start?

I won the Barclays take one small step competition in 2010 which provided me with £50,000 to make my business idea a reality. I created the whole business from formulas to branding. I pride myself on it been a wholly made in the UK business that cares about the environment and the little people within it.

Tell us about your products?

I wanted to create a range that were free from nasties, I was fine with my everyday skincare products for my children, but when it came to coughs and colds in winter and sun cream for protection in the summer, I felt let down by the lack of great products that don’t just appeal to mum but that the children actually want to use. The innovative stick packaging is great for little people and is fun and parents have the piece of mind that they are safe and less likely to react as with using a chemical version.

What was the next step for you after creating the products?

I launched in March 2011 and John Lewis were the first stockist to take the range. We only had two meetings with them and they loved it and placed an order straight away, then along came lots of independents and Tesco Nutri Centre and Amazon. After a whirlwind year I thought how do we top that in year two, we celebrated our birthday three weeks ago the big 1 year, and yes we continue with plenty of health food shops and now pharmacies stocking us. We have worked with the UKTI and we are now exporting and selling in Sweden, Malta, Gibraltor, Poland and South Africa are sights are now set on Australia where the British Embassy have taken a look at the range.

What can we be expecting next from you and Naturally Cool Kids this year and years to come?

We are working hard to take on as many retailers as possible in the UK and also setting ourselves in other countries too. I would love to see everyone using Naturally Cool Kids and will work hard to achieve it. I am still juggling the business alone and doing the school run but it’s the best decision I have ever made and wouldn’t change it.

What would you suggest other stay at home mums go about starting a business?

I think a lot of mums have ideas but feel there is no way they could ever follow it through and that is such a shame.  I would encourage anyone with a great idea to take the first step which is scary but every step after that becomes so much easier is to look at their competition visit consumer or trade shows, take photos of what you see, chat with people aske them what the industry is like or any tips they may have.

Is there a company in the industry that isn’t in direct competition that you can make friends with and ask advice and help from. Helen and Polly at Cuddle Dry were great with me I visited them at the trade shows and they gave me valuable advice about how to save money and the does and don’ts, we forget that people love helping others and by asking you can learn so much.

I would also suggest buying magazines about your idea and looking at websites and you tube at what other people are doing and how they have done it, there is a wealth of information only a click away.

The one thing I didn’t take on board which many people said was “just think how difficult it will be working for yourself and that you will put more hours in than any employed job” I didn’t believe anyone I thought it would fit in perfectly and I’d get round it.  I have worked around it but it’s a damn site harder than I ever imagined it would be don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t change it for the world but be prepared for some long long days.

You also need maximum support from your partner as there are times when you really do need someone to fall back on be it the house work, shows to attend etc and they need to be able to just take over from you.

What were your main challenges starting up and how have you managed to get around them?

Time and lack of it, I need an extra couple of days in a week just to get even.  It’s also difficult when you have meetings with manufacturers or retailers then its show time and you have to be out at different times of day and away for days at a time.  It is hard as I am very maternal and don’t like leaving home.  I do get around it by making sure we take the kids with us wherever possible or that I am not away for more than two evenings.  I would say this is one of the hardest parts of running your own business.

Another challenge I would say is juggling the amount of work there is to do, as my company is only 12 months old I still do the majority of the work myself, this is everything from marketing and PR to building our customer base both with consumers and retailers and then also arranging the orders and having them shipped, I then have all the follow ups and exhibitions to arrange too, it can be very demanding at times and you do think at extreme times how will I get through this or I can’t cope anymore but that is such a normal feeling and it does pass and you get back on with it.

How is your work/life balance now?

I am one year in and we are starting to get a routine flowing a little better than it has been.  I don’t think you can ever get the right balance but I try my best.  If I need an afternoon off for home life then I work my way up to it and prepare to cause as little disruption to work as possible, if we have a few days away then I will make sure that I work for an hour or so when the kids are in bed or if my husband takes them to do an activity, just so that I don’t fall behind.

I am always there to take the youngest to school and pick up, I would never miss a school pantomime or anything like that as you never get those precious moments again. You have to also remember to embrace them while they are young and growing as it doesn’t last very long then they are off doing their own thing and you wonder where the time went.

As an artist, Adam travelled a lot, he would travel extensively for his exhibitions. He would occasionally give talks at the local art or design schools about his profession, but after finding it difficult to connect with the audience, he decided he needed a better way to tell his story – he wanted them to see the big picture. He decided to do something about it, he created Prezi and that was over 10 years ago.

Today, Prezi has over 10 million users on its platform

Can you give you some background information about yourself, were you the entrepreneurial type growing up?

More like the innovator type. When I was five, I never ate any sweets I got right away. I wanted to eat a little every day – but my brother and dad always snuck up on my sweets! So, I built a small mechanical alarm system that protected my goods. In my studies in architectural design, I actually focused much more on possibilities of interactivity in architecture than on building plans. Later, I became an artist, and worked with radio waves and heat instead of traditional materials.

What were you doing before you founded the company?

I worked as a media artist. I was also a founding member of an innovation lab called Kitchen Budapest. Examples include Reorient, a space made of thousands of electronic toys, Ping Genius Loci- a field of outdoor analogue pixels, and Brainmirror- a mixed reality experience presenting MRI through a mirror..

Tell me how the idea for Prezi came about?

As an artist, I travelled for my exhibitions extensively, and, often, I would give talks at the local art or design schools about what I do. Frankly – I found it very hard to develop my story on slides— they felt so disconnected, it was hard to see the big picture, and to craft a good thread for the story. So, I built a simple zooming canvas, just for personal use for my presentations. This was about 10 years ago. So, Prezi really came about to answer a personal need.

Then, I met Peter Halacsy, now CTO of Prezi, who liked the idea, but wanted to create an easy-to-use tool for it. I think he was interested in it for himself actually, as he was teaching a lot. Then came Peter Arvai, CEO, who pushed us to become a global product, and SaaS, beyond our personal use

What is Prezi?

Prezis are zooming presentations, that were fun to create. People can create them on prezi.com for free, and already 10 million users have chosen to do so. Because you see you ideas next to each other, prezi helps you to think through what you want to say for the audience, prezis create memorable experiences. Beyond the 1st ‘wow-moment’, actually seeing texts, images, videos on a large canvas, helps you to memorize them much better.

It is like that old technique for learning words – you put them on stickies in your room, and your brain will associate them with a location. same happens in prezi. people associate ideas to location on the zooming canvas, and they remember more.

What are you trying to solve with Prezi?

Sharing of ideas should be both fun, engaging, and efficient. Today people present and email slides for this purpose. I really don’t think that is the best humanity can do.

Talk me through the first few months of running the business? What would you say was the hardest part of starting the business?

Understanding that some people don’t think exactly like we do – to keep track to this, we incorporate user research, user testing, and statistical data for the usage of our product tightly into our core values.

How were you able to fund the business?

Before we launched our product, and were running in private beta mode, we sold single prezi presentations for large events. We delivered the technology and the design too. Luckily after we unveiled prezi to the public, we have always been cash flow positive. Later, we raised capital investment with TED Conferences, in 2009, and then in 2011 with Accel Partners.

How has your market changed in the past few years? How has your business changed to keep pace?

The idea of zooming is becoming more common, people are more accustomed to it thanks to smartphone browsing. This really helps our learning curve.

Would you say the initial idea for the company, or that your business model has changed since starting the company?

Our business model is still the same, a freemium model where privacy of content sets the packages apart.

Our product has matured massively, and we understood that it does not only work great at ballroom presentations, but on daily meetings, and as a remote delivery as well. Prezi also has become very popular in education, given that it is really good for explaining complex matters.

What would you s has been some of the most crucial that you’ve done to build the company to this level now?

Sharing and thinking in a team. Now we are 70 people, and each one is fantastic professional— who know more than us, the founders, in their respective professions! Attracting this talent by giving them intellectual space was crucial.

Is the business profitable? What is your business model?

Yes, prezi is cash-flow positive. Our business model is Freemium. Anyone can use the public Prezi license for free. Paid (Prezi Pro) users receive the desktop app, as well as a private option for their online prezis.

What’s been your most memorable moment so far on your entrepreneurial journey?

Every fews days I receive an email, from someone I’ve never met, from the US or Asia, anywhere, thanking me for doing prezi. They say that they feel creative, happy, and became successful thanks to our tool. This fuels a never ending, and truly fantastic drive to work harder and make prezi better every day.

What pieces of advices could you give to aspiring entrepreneurs out there?

- Try your idea as early as you can. get feedback from people, reality.

- Don’t be afraid to change

- Believe in and respect others, who join your journey.

What can we be expecting from you and Prezi in 2012?

Lots of new features, with an even simpler workflow so you can create a fantastic prezi quickly– just before you need to give the talk. (I already do this for my conference talks )

A lot has changed for Rob since he began programming in QBasic, to starting his first business at age 15 calling local businesses with a offer to build them a simple brochure site.

All of which were successful, but he wasn’t until his time at Cambridge University where he graduated with a BA Hons in Computer Science that he started developing technology, some of which they currently use at his company FusePump today.

FusePump, like any successful business was born over beers one evening, Rob and his co-founder Lee brainstormed the idea for the business on a sheet of wallpaper. FusePump helps create a better online shopping experience for consumers by delivering a consistent user journey.

In my interview, we discuss some of the keys that has helped him build his business into a succesful company, his background, FusePump and his advices for less-experienced entrepreneurs.

Hi Rob, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

I’m good – thanks for inviting me to contribute to YHP. Hope you’ll be interested in my story so far!

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself? Tell me about yourself growing up?

I am Yorkshire born and bred and grew up in Bradford, where I went to the Grammar School. Thanks to one or two inspiring teachers, I became very interested in computers from a young age – but whilst all my friends were gaming, I was programming in QBasic!! It meant I was the butt of the jokes for a few years, but it served me well later in life as I eventually went on to study Computer Science at Cambridge and that is where I started developing the technology we use today.

How did you get into business? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child?

I have been an entrepreneur since a very young age. I started my first business when I was 15, calling local businesses from a directory that had no website listed and offering to build them a simple brochure site. After a while, I started to come across more and more businesses who not only wanted to have a presence online but wanted to sell online too and that was when I started building ecommerce websites.

After my first few experiences, I quickly learned there was no point in building an ecommerce site unless you could find a way to drive users to that site, so I became very interested in Digital Marketing and in particular the ability to leverage other websites as sales channels. At the age of 16 I decided to start my own ecommerce site to put to work some of the techniques I had used for other people’s sites, and by creating an innovative web site that used dynamic price comparison to create offers in real-time as users browsed the site, I was able to make really healthy margins selling DVDs online.

Who was your inspiration growing up and why?

I took a lot of inspiration from my family – my dad had his own small business as an Independent Financial Advisor which really highlighted to me the benefits of working for yourself. My uncle was an entrepreneur too and did some really exciting things in Information Technology. I still don’t fully understand what those things were, but he must have done them very well and it was his success that really got me interested in high growth businesses and the lifestyle that goes with them!

So tell me how the idea for FusePump came about?

Over beers one evening – my co-founder Lee and I were brainstorming on a sheet of wallpaper because he was having his kitchen decorated.

What were you doing before you founded FusePump?

I had been working on ecommerce websites, including the DVD web site of my own. During my time at Cambridge I used my dissertation project as an excuse to build a platform for web data extraction and I was lucky enough to meet Chris whilst I was there. Chris has remained one of my best mates and is now the other co-founder of FusePump and our CTO – he is a technical genius and has been instrumental to our success.

What is FusePump? What are you guys trying to solve?

Our aim is to make multi-channel ecommerce simple for online retailers who sell many different products. We improve the online shopping experience for consumers by delivering a consistent user journey, and make our clients more money in the process!

What was your biggest challenge during the starting up phase?

Our biggest challenge was balancing supply (or production capacity, for us) with demand. We always seemed to have more clients who wanted to buy our services than we were able to service at the time. It might sound silly to turn business away, but it’s not easy to find and train staff on-demand and we were not prepared to compromise on the quality of our service by taking on more than we knew we could handle. Perhaps we were victims of our own success.

How were you able to fund the business?

We didn’t raise any funding from VCs or investors at the start and kicked off with only a relatively small amount of cash that we borrowed from the bank. We must have had a great business plan as it was slap bang in the middle of the recession and their purse strings were terrifyingly tight, according to the press. This meant we had to grow completely organically, generating enough cash from sales to cover our overheads at all times. It’s really hard work to achieve the level of growth we have in this way, but it’s satisfying to know we did it on our own and managed to retain our valuable equity.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Businesses are all about people – you cannot grow a business on your own, so it is crucial to find the right people who you can inspire to share your motivation and drive in the early stages. It took an awful lot of work to grow out each area of the business in the early stages, but I am now fortunate enough to be surrounded by a fantastic management team who I can trust to manage and grow their own business areas. That’s why I would say hiring sensibly and strategically is one of the most crucial things we have done to grow the business.

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

Absolutely – any successful technology business needs to be prepared to evolve constantly as market conditions and client demands change. We did a great job of listening to our clients and keeping agile during the early stages, and this was a key factor in our success. Now that we are bigger, it’s about creating an environment where innovation is encouraged and new ideas can be realised with minimal resistance. It takes some getting used to, but innovation doesn’t last forever and it can’t continue to come from the founders alone – it’s really empowering now to see newer and better ideas being developed all the time within the business.

What would you say has been the highlight of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

I am a bit of sales person at heart, so signing our biggest deal to date was probably one of the highlights for me. Before that, my highlight was probably signing what was previously the biggest deal to date and if you ask me in a few months, it will hopefully be signing the next biggest deal to date! Seriously though, the buzz of growing a business is that the highlights keep coming. There are over 40 of us in the office now, but I still get a massive kick every time I am able to go into the office and introduce myself to a new employee – people are the physical evidence that we are getting bigger.

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

We are releasing some exciting new products, which are going to really shake things up for our new and existing clients. We are also entering some new markets – including France, Spain, Germany and possibly the US. On top of that, we will be doing plenty more of the same stuff we have always done to help us achieve our target of another 100% growth year on year.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

1.Make sure your idea rocks – don’t be secretive, talk to everyone you can and tell them what you are planning. It’s human nature to look for problems so don’t be disheartened when they inevitably pick your idea apart, just make sure you learn from their awkward questions. Once you have convinced yourself you are onto a winner, just go for it and don’t look back!

2.Surround yourself with the right people – you can’t do it on your own, even if you own the whole business you will need to hire if you want to get bigger! In the early stages, there is no substitute for enthusiasm so pick people who share your passion for the business above all else.

3.Always have a plan – your plan will probably need to change every 15 minutes so there is no point in writing it down, but always try to make sure you have one in your head. Entrepreneurs are takers of risks – but if you’re doing enough thinking, you should rarely encounter a situation that catches you off guard.

The dot-com bubble was a hard time for businesses, a lot of companies especially start-ups went from overnight success to bankruptcy, a few survived while others were left hanging to what was left of their companies.

Even though, millions or perhaps billions were lost during the dot-com bubble, a lot of entrepreneurs also made their name during this time.

One of those entrepreneurs is Nina Hampson, Nina was the founder of Myla, an international luxury lingerie brand founded in 2000 during the dot.com bubble and after 6 years of building the startup into a multi-million pound business decided it was time move on and sold the business.

I recently caught up with Nina as she shares her entrepreneurial story with me and also the story behind her latest startup, Zinc.

Hi Nina, thanks for doing this with me, how are you doing?

I’m well, thanks. Currently in Dusseldorf and I’ve just discovered that it has the highest Japanese population of any city in Germany – which explains why the sushi’s so good.

Can you give us some background information on yourself? How did you get into business?

I wanted to be a wildlife photographer but can’t sit still, so I started out as a management consultant and quickly became interested in customer (rather than animal) behaviour analytics. I moved to a customer intelligence consultancy, a (then) small outfit called dunnhumby and worked as an analyst on the Tesco account. It was the late-90s and we trialled and implemented ground-breaking insight work (such as customer segmented pricing) which had a dramatic effect on Tesco’s business (and on dunnhumby!). It was there that I caught the retail bug, and met both my first, and my current business partner, Charlotte and Susan.

Who was your inspiration growing up and why?

My dad. He ran his own business from the age of 20 and taught me that it’s possible to achieve your dreams, with hard work, some luck and a dose of imagination.

You started Myla in 2000 and sold it in 2006, tell me about that period in your life and your experience running the business? It was during the dot-com bubble, things must have been crazy then?

It was a rollercoaster! Typically, the dot.com bubble burst at the time we were raising money for Myla. Not surprisingly it was a tough market. But Charlotte and I were very focused on what we wanted to achieve- Armani meets Ann Summers – and it took off very quickly. A steep learning curve would have been an understatement! We taught ourselves product development, sourcing, buying & merchandising and retail/mail-order/web management. Inevitably we made a few mistakes on the way, but we worked well as a team and had a shared vision, which was key to Myla’s success.

Why did you decide to sell the company in 2006?

Myla had become a very strong brand. We had great product and had a good UK business, but cash flow is critical in retail. We’d opened our first store in the USA and realised that we were over-stretched. We needed investment from an experienced partner to help us roll out distribution. The plan was to stay and grow Myla with them, but that didn’t pan out….!

What would you say were some of the key things you learnt from that experience?

It’s really obvious but focus on getting the basics right. It’s not always the most exciting aspect of business but it’s easy to get distracted by exciting things that cost you money, rather than make you money.

Invest in your best people. Recruiting good people is hard so when you find a star then develop them. Once you’ve gained their trust, don’t let them down and if you make a recruitment mistake (easily done!) then end the relationship quickly.

Love your customers. They pay your salary! If you work in retail then the best way to learn about your customers is by serving them in-store, if you think you’re above working in a shop then you’re in the wrong job.

Looking back and comparing it to now, what are some of the things that have changed in running a business or in building a successful company?

On the upside, you don’t have to have grey hair and wear a suit to be taken. But, on the downside, I do think we suffer from ‘always-on’ syndrome! So, we insist on retro-meeting etiquette – you know – where everyone actually listens to what’s being said and contributes, rather than looking at emails on their phone or tapping away on their laptop….

Let’s talk about Zinc, tell me how the idea came about?

I was working with my business partners, Susan and Stephen Rose who co-founded the customer intelligence company, 5one. When they sold 5one, we decided to start afresh and launch Zinc with Stephen Jones who is an expert in Change Management.

So many companies collect data yet don’t necessarily have the systems, experience or culture to turn this into customer knowledge and profitable actions. Most consultancies specialise in providing a solution to one of these challenges. We recognise that many businesses struggle to identify what solutions they need (and would make them money!) in the first place, and this is where Zinc’s strength and value lies.

What were you doing before you founded Zinc?

Having a nap on a beach in Devon!

What is Zinc and how does it work?

We’re an advisory firm with a difference, as we believe that all businesses should be built on a strong foundation of customer knowledge. We help companies understand how they can translate their data into customer knowledge, turn this knowledge into real actions and support them through the cultural change needed to sustain this in the long term.

So in non-technical speak, we look at client’s data, show them what they can do with it, tell them what it means and how they make money from it. Then help them change their business processes and culture.

What is your business model?

Staying focused and happy – anything else is boring!

What makes Zinc different from any service out there?

We are world-class experts in our field who provide jargon-feel practical advice that drives bottom-line profitability. A rarity in consulting.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Developing our client relationships and delivering top quality work to them so that they continue to work with us, and refer us to others. We get a lot of word of mouth referral, so we must be doing something right!

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

Our initial idea of what Zinc would be remains the same, but we are constantly evolving the business. We like to stay ahead of the game so we put a lot of effort into enriching our methodologies and finding new, smarter ways of approaching our clients’ issues.

How have you been able to fund the business?

Our start-up costs were minimal (laptops and phones). We worked from home for the first year and paid ourselves when we had money, so Zinc has funded itself from inception. Having a client from day one also helped!

What has been the highlight of your entrepreneurial journey so far

So many highlights. Opening our first Myla store, winning various business awards (doing the photo-shoot for Vogue’s Superwomen of Fashion in 2005 always sticks in my mind) and more recently, Zinc winning projects over the big management consultancies – a great feeling!

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

More of the same. We’ll continue to build our client base, grow our team and get a bigger office. We also have a few exciting new projects in the pipeline but I’ll have to tell you about these in the future!

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

1. Be focused. Write a business plan with financials – then double the costs and halve the revenues and see if you are still making money

2. Work smarter, not harder. Running a business is hard work, so understanding when you are at your most productive is key. The same task can take me 15mins or 1.5hours depending on my mood. Knowing this helps me plan my day more effectively and now I don’t waste time staring at my Mac when I know I’d be better off in the gym…

3. Have the courage of your convictions. You know your business the best. Know your market. Know your customers. There will still be times when you feel like you’re winging it, this is all part of being an Entrepreneur so enjoy the ride!

Sarah Wood is the COO/CMO of Unruly Media. The Shoreditch-based company not too long ago raised $25m in Series A investment from Amadeus Capital Partners, Van den Ende & Deitmers and Business Growth Fund.

Unruly’s social video platform delivers and tracks active video views for major global brands and their media agencies including T-Mobile’s acclaimed Life’s for Sharing series, Evian’s global Roller Babies hit and Heineken’s Open Your World campaign.

I recently caught up with Sarah as we took a trip down memory lane, talking about her background to her inspirations growing up and finally speaking about how the idea for Unruly Media came about and her plans to grow the business even further.

Hi Sarah, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

Thanks for having me!

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself? Tell me about yourself growing up?

As a child, I was the archetypal bossy big sister – according to Mum, my younger brother didn’t learn to speak until he was 4 yrs old because I did the talking for both of us. At school, I worked very hard to be the best at everything I did, but when I fell short of my own expectations I would get way too upset. As a grown up, I try not to beat myself up so much when things don’t go to plan.

How did you get into business? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child?

Funnily enough, my father is a trade unionist, so my childhood and teenage years were spent on the other side of the fence – supporting workers and decrying the greed of big business. Both my parents have a very strong work ethic, though, and a stoic determination never to give up, no matter how tough things get. I’ve carried that with me.

Who was your inspiration growing up and why?

Anne Frank, The Famous Five and my teachers. My teachers used to let me hang around them at break times. We would talk politics and bash the Tories. I was a total geek and a political idealist. Robert Tressell’s Ragged Trousered Philanthropist made a deep impression.

So tell me about Unruly Media and how the idea came about?

There are 3 cofounders – myself (COO), Scott Button (CEO) and Matthew Cooke (CTO). Scott and I had been together since university and had run a couple of small businesses after graduating from uni – nothing serious, but we did have a lot of fun and were keen to work together again. I went on to become an academic and Scott joined an ad-serving start-up in the late nineties, at the height of the Internet boom. That’s where he met and got to know Matt Cooke.

When the company (Connextra) was sold in 2005, the three of us decided to join forces and build a technology business. The Web 2.0 phenomenon was getting underway and we were keen to build a business that made the most of the social web. The availability of open source software and the cheap office space we were able to sublet in the Truman Brewery meant that the barriers to entry were low so we started up without a business plan or a commercial model – just a lot of ideas! We hired another developer, built a bunch of stuff, failed fast and learned fast during the first half of 2006.

We became especially interested in the fragmentation of online media, the explosion of social networks and the emergence of the blogosphere – all of which created a problem for any online video junkie: how to decide what to watch and how to be the first to find great content.

In September 2006, we had our first taste of success with ViralVideoChart, a cool-hunting website powered by a proprietary blog-scanning engine that scoured the web for video links and identified the most shared videos on the web. Described by Will.I.Am as “the Billboard Hot 100 of our generation”, ViralVideoChart now maps the dissemination of 300 billion video streams and tracks over 2 million video shares each day.

When brands and agencies asked us to help them launch their own films across the social web, we spotted an opportunity to build a scalable video seeding platform that identified influential sites and bloggers, invited them to run branded content and enabled brands and agencies to launch, optimise and measure their own social video campaigns.

We’re now the leading social video business in the world, with 9 offices spanning the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. Since launching our proprietary platform in 2007, we’ve delivered over 1,400 campaigns, 1.34 billion views and worked with over 300 brands. We’ve had the privilege to distribute iconic campaigns such as Compare the Meerkat, Barclay’s Waterslide, Old Spice Guy, Evian Roller Babies and T-Mobile’s Royal Wedding spoof.

Sustainable advantage comes down, ultimately, to your company’s DNA and Unruly’s DNA combines a fascination with video content, a love of the random and demotic nature of the web, with a big data approach to understanding the who, how, and why of what makes content work.

What were you doing before you founded Unruly Media?

I was a lecturer in American culture at Sussex University. I’ve never lost the teaching bug – now I convene an MPhil course at Cambridge University on Online Video Culture.

Can you explain to me what Unruly Media is and what you guys do? What is the process?

Unruly’s social video platform delivers and tracks active video views for major global brands and their media agencies.  Our distribution network includes more than12,000 blogs, sites, social platforms and mobile apps globally across the social web. We have 9 offices and 120+ employees across three continents and 11 time zones.

We use our proprietary technology to target relevant audiences and identify the brand and content advocates that start conversations.  Our proprietary video player and robust sharing & tracking tools ensure delivery of desired brand engagement across key campaign metrics — Awareness, Attention, Advocacy, Action.

How have you been able to fund the business?

We bootstrapped the business up until the raise, using seed capital from the sale of Connextra to carry us through to profitability in 2009. From then on, we funded growth organically from cash flow.

The headlines reads “Unruly Media raises $25 million” and all of a sudden it seems like an overnight success story, I’m sure you guys have gone through a lot of intense moments since starting almost 6 years ago? What was your biggest challenge during the whole starting up phase?

We’ve doubled headcount every year since 2007, so preserving the Unruly culture that made us successful in the first place is an ongoing challenge. Maintaining focus can be difficult as there’s so much going on in the online video landscape and we’re compulsively drawn to new ideas. There are so many awesome new technologies, bringing with them new problems to solve and new digital ecosystems to solve them – it’s a great time to be an entrepreneur!

Why do you think you were very successful in raising that kind of amount and what was your experience and some of the key things you learnt during that process?

We’re a profitable company, we’re scaling revenues fast and we’re leading the field in a high-growth advertising sector. Industry experts predict that by 2015, half of all marketing campaigns will include video bought on a cost-per-view basis and 75% of video ads on the web will be social in nature. Operating at the intersect of social and video, Unruly is exceptionally well positioned to take advantage of this shift in advertising spend from offline to online.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Entered new markets – opening in New York was a significant milestone – and hired awesome people, with the aptitude to scale as the company grows.

What’s your business model?

We work on a cost-per-view basis. Brands pay us each time someone actively views their ad in the Unruly player and we share the revenue with the sites where the views occur.

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

Since we launched the platform in 2007, the social video format has certainly come a long way and our platform has rapidly developed to meet the changes in the social media landscape. As well as being a Facebook-whitelisted partner, Unruly’s player is integrated with Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest – platforms that were either nascent or non-existent five years ago.

What advice can you give to other entrepreneurs looking to raise money for their start-up?

Be clear about why your business is unique; be clear about your vision for the company and be sure to know your numbers inside out!

What would you say has been the highlight of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Ooh, that’s a difficult one to answer. Having the opportunity to spend lots of time in New York, making it into the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For, closing the Series A funding round were all highlights, but honestly, nothing beats the satisfaction I get from delivering kick-ass campaigns that exceed the client’s expectations.

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

We’ll be striving to live up to our mission statement – to deliver the most awesome social video campaigns on the planet, and we’ll be doing that from more offices and for more clients, reaching consumers across more devices and a greater number of emerging social video platforms.  We’ll be continuing to innovate our technology platform and products and working closely with the IAB to ensure we’re leading the sector as it matures.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

1. Choose cofounders you trust; high-integrity individuals who share your values and vision for the company

2. Talk to your customers as soon as possible – the sooner you get your product out to market, the sooner you’ll find out whether it has any legs.  If it doesn’t, at least you’ve failed fast. If it does, then you’ll benefit from having real customers making suggestions as to how you can improve the offering, iterate the product, or solve a larger problem.

3. Invest in a kitchen table – this is the most important piece of office furniture you will ever buy; it’s the ideal place for a team to swap ideas and spend time building friendships with their peers.

Steve Callanan is the CEO and co-founder at wireWAX. wireWAX is the first and only taggable video tool which allows users to add intuitive tracking tags to people and objects in video. So whilst watching a video, you can basically stop, click on anything that might interest you, something you want more information on or perhaps want to purchase – a two click process to the store.

I recently caught up with Steve as we took a trip down memory lane, talking about his background, earlier entrepreneurial ventures and how the idea for wireWAX came about.

Hi Steve, How are you doing, great to have you on YHP?

Thanks Joseph, I’m great, thank you. It’s an honour to be here.

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself?

Sure, my background is a strange combination of different visions. I’m a Bristol boy and studied an Electronic Engineering degree at Cardiff Uni. In my final year I set up my own TV production company and made a documentary series about first year students for ITV, not engineering related at all. This was followed by a another six-part series about graduates in limbo. I was the youngest TV producer in the UK at the time and I moved to London and continued producing TV content for the next 10 years.

During that time my company also produced commercial online video for brands and publishers and became the production house for all short-form video content for major digital publishers such at National Magazines and Hearst Digital. During that time it became acutely apparent that there was an obvious lack of interactivity in video; the brands whose products we featured grew frustrated by the failure to exploit obvious commercial opportunities. It was at this point that the concept for wireWAX was borne.

How did you get involved in entrepreneurship? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child?

I wasn’t exposed in the sense that neither of my parents were entrepreneurs but I guess I was always interested in building things and creating something from nothing and they always encouraged that. I suppose in many ways, that’s what entrepreneurship is all about – if you have enough desire to create something unique, you enjoy the challenge of making it work – no matter what – and you get a buzz from seeing others use something you’ve created; you have the makings of a budding entrepreneur.

I was lucky enough to have free rein of my dad’s garage – which was my ‘sweet shop’ – I would spend hours, days sometimes, building something useless. A good example was my first ‘business’ making long-boards for the local skate shop during the summer break – I spent all my time building them and by the time it came to selling them, summer was over. I sold nothing and it was a few years later I turned them all into free-standing bookshelves and gave them away, one of which we still have in the office. Not the best use of my time but a valuable lesson learnt nonetheless.

So tell me about wireWAX and how the idea came about?

Typical of any technology making ripples, wireWAX was a classic case of borne of necessity. Producing short-form video content for brands and publishers it was obvious there was a trick being missed. The products in the video were impossible to buy unless you heard a mention or could see a product name enough to search for that product yourself.

A huge ask for viewers and unless they were determined the opportunity to purchase on impulse is lost. For the first 6 months, wireWAX was a crude prototype being engineered in evenings and weekends but a eureka moment changed everything and we changed focus from production to creating what wireWAX is today. I’m very glad to say I have no plans to go back, production is hard work and I absolutely love what I’m doing now.

What is wireWAX and how does it work?

wireWAX is the first and only taggable video tool. What does this mean? Well, anyone with a video, whether on a desktop, tablet or mobile device can upload it – just like YouTube or Vimeo – but this time faces are automatically detected. Key to wireWAX is our motion-tracking engine which mean those faces are automatically tagged with clickable hotspots or ‘tags’ that lock onto those faces and stay with them as the move around.

You can even add your own tags to other people and objects by simply drawing a box around them. What you then do with that tag is also up to you – link to profiles, text, images, video or other web pages. You can also use any of our wireWAX apps; Amazon (for linking products), Facebook (display a friend’s profile), YouTube/Vimeo (play another video right there in your video), Instagram, Flickr, Qwiki, iTunes, etc., etc. – instantly creating an interactive experience for your viewers.

Just adding one tag makes your video infinitely more interactive and engaging. There is no reason why all video shouldn’t be ‘wireWAXed’. The experience it creates is undeniably powerful.

What is your business model?

Our business model is simple – we have two user types, anyone interested in recording and sharing interactive video with friends and; production companies, brands, publishers, broadcasters or movie studios who want to do something a bit special. We cater for both by offering a free service to everyone and when you want to do more, you pay for those ‘add-ons’.

How did you initially attract users to wireWAX , and how do you do it now?

We’ve not yet done any commercial marketing, every wireWAX video displays a subtle logo at the top right which marks the experience as ours – this is by far the biggest market driver and the start of how people discover us. We also invest a lot of time connecting to fans and, for want of a better term, ‘reaching out’ to potential users on a personal level.

Our first big project was with EMI, I managed to get a foot in the door and a ten minute presentation to the digital team. A week later we’d created an interactive promo for the Kooks where fans could click on the band and enter a competition. We gathered 3000 email address in a week and drove a tenfold increase in traffic to the fanpage – something, we were told, would normally take up to a year.

This was really the start for us, from there other record companies and brands started to show interest. It was the fashion houses such as Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Rip Curl, Oki-Ni and SSENSE that embraced wireWAX the quickest. The fashion industry has always been nurturing innovative and artistic promo methods and was one of the first sectors to discover that online video needs to be as polished as the products they represent.

So, having produced a beautifully crafted, well-executed and expensive video – where’s the return? Where are the results? Where are the sales? wireWAX has an obvious presence in this space – high-end video production, models wearing products, big online appeal and – until now – no method of engaging customers and exploiting commercial opportunities.

We really believe that everyone could benefit from wireWAX and with video playing such a major part in a connected world we feel that people just need to know about it. Therefore over the next few months we’re dramatically increasing our through-the-line marketing – we have a discrete strategy as well as national and international PR plans. Making the tool free to all will help push the technology out to a wider audience too.

What makes wireWAX different from any service out there? What problem does it solve?

wireWAX is the first and only tool for taggable video. And that is the key difference, while there are lots of companies that provide a service (you send them your video and their own backroom guys manually add basic, rarely moving, hotspots and return the video in a few days), we’ve always set out to make wireWAX a simple, self-provisioning and personal experience.

That last point is also what makes us standout. Users can choose there own tag type and most importantly create their own pop-up (what happens when a viewer interacts), in a style of their choosing and relate it to their project, campaign or brand aesthetic – not a fixed and restrictive template. Putting the power into the hands of the users not only means things are infinitely scalable for us but allow users to be more creative with their own interactive experiences.

wireWAX solves a very difficult problem, very easily. Video is the last of the digital assets to be interactive, a computer knows nothing of the content, just pixels. Adding tags and adding a digital reference point to people and objects instantly means that dumb, passive medium is now rich with metadata. All the other content relating to that person or object elsewhere in the web can now be linked to it.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

SEO, clarity and smart pricing are essential to attracting visitors. Keeping interest and then converting them into active users. We work hard at our SEO and do everything we can to let people searching for a tool like wireWAX know we exist. That traffic is essential to our business. Over the next couple of weeks we’re releasing our new ‘front of house’ – our website and most importantly our homepage – the first thing visitors see and make millisecond decisions on whether to pursue or not. We’re also making it much, much easier for users to get started with simple user procedural changes with clear and big calls-to-action.

We trialed a tiered-price subscription model for users based on a very similar model to Brightcove’s. We assumed our client base would be users familiar with video hosting and therefore familiar with a similar pricing strategy. We were wrong, while some appreciated it, a licencing option was just not right for the vast majority of users.

We underestimated how many people would want to experiment before signing-up to a subscription, wireWAX is a brand new technology not a well-understood video-hosting solution where it’s easy to quantify what your money will get you in return. Users look to create one-off solutions in the first instance where they can experiment, distribute and analyse results before committing to something more tiein. We’ve abandoned subscriptions altogether for a free solution with paid-for add-ons. We’re confident it’s a better way to go and we know our users will feel more comfortable and willing to do more.

What was the most challenging part of starting the business?

Staying determined, long hours, difficult clients, difficult employees and technology failure all play a part in everyday struggles but without money, it never would’ve happened. Sourcing that finance was by far the the most difficult thing and in the early days we took ‘bootstrapping’ to the extreme.

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

The idea was always to create something big, accessible and game-changing but the product is so much better than I would have ever imagined and the business is growing much faster than I expected. If someone had told me a couple of years ago that our product would be used by global power brands such as Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Rip Curl; and broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4, I don’t think I would’ve believed them.

Who are your competitors?

We have the privilege of being a world first which means our nearest competitors have either changed tack and focused elsewhere or abandoned the concept altogether. We used to be compared to companies such as VideoClix or Clikthrough but they both provide serviced solutions rather than a self-provisioning tagging tool so their business and customer base is very different. Some newcomers are showing some interesting tagging and recognition features such as Veenome but we’re yet to see a working demo and our tech is more advanced.

While we are in a great position, we never take that for granted and constantly strive to improve and evolve everyday. We have just completed a 9-month rebuild of our original tech and back-end infrastructure to make it so much easier for the technology to stay fresh and always adaptable.

What were you doing before you founded wireWAX ?

I ran Wiseguy Pictures for over 10 years producing a diverse range of TV programmes such as Freshers, Housemates, A Year at Kew and Paparazzi as well as hundreds of hours of online video – mainly fashion and beauty – for some of the biggest digital publishers. We also produced movie trailers and lots of motion graphics – the latter of which gave me a very good grounding for vision techniques and user-interface.

It was working with those brands and publishers that spawned the initial need to develop an interactive video tool.

How have you been able to fund the business?

As wireWAX started as an experiment while running the production company, I was able inject a lot of personal finance and channel production revenue to research and development. It grew increasingly obvious that wireWAX was bigger than production and required more time, people and resources; so reducing the amount of personal time on production and looking for investment was the first major step to taking things further. In June 2011 we received earlyround investment from Passion Capital, headed-up by Eileen Burbidge, Stefan Glaenzer and Robert Dighero.

Between ramping down production and successfully closing that early-round, I’d by lying if I said things were easy. Yes, I could redirect production profits but as my personal involvement in that business diminished so did those profits and there was increasing pressure on me to fund things personally and embark on a very hard period of ‘beg, borrow and steal’. I never doubting that wireWAX was worth the pain and when the tech was in good shape and people were paying to use it, there was an overwhelming sense of vindication and it all felt worthwhile.

We started door-knocking investors at the beginning of 2011 and having the opportunity to present at Mike Butcher’s GeeknRolla certainly allowed us to hit a lot of people at the same time and open doors. We were invited to Seedcamp Berlin and a few weeks later we were sat around a table with Eileen, Stefan and Robert from Passion bashing out the details.

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

2012 is a very exciting year for wireWAX. The investment from Passion came with a road-map to develop wireWAX to what it is now. A major overhaul of infrastructure, a complete rebuild of communications, a vast simplification revision of user-interface and user experience; and the start of the biggest commercial application of computer vision in Europe.

Our aim is to make wireWAX the first and only solution to make all video, everywhere, interactive. Doing that means we need the systems in place to cope and the automated functions to reduce almost all user effort.

We launched the first part of this earlier in the year and the new website and user management studio to be launched by the end of April. We’ll always be adding new automated features and improving the technology but as of next week you’ll start to see some incredible stuff, amazing things with video no one has done before.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

I wouldn’t say that I was a successful entrepreneur by any stretch and I can only pass on a few things that have worked for me so far…

1. Persevere. If you really believe in your idea and you believe that it has a genuine use for more than 10 people, work hard and work long – whatever it takes to get it working.

Whatever it takes to get it to your audience. Sometimes your designs or your code won’t work and it’ll feel like you’re killing yourself for a silly idea that never will, but stick at it. There is no substitute and no easy route. Be prepared to sacrifice to make it succeed, but be aware not everyone around you will like you for it.

2. Lists. This is probably an obvious one but make a list, no matter how big and silly it looks and never quit working through it, ignore anyone or anything that tells you to skip tasks or lose enthusiasm. Stay determined at all costs, set yourself a target and get there no matter what. The trick is to never be overwhelmed by the mountain left to climb, set yourself small goals and cross off achievements as you go. You’ll feel good as you work through it and keeping all your tasks in one place will free your mind of clutter and keep you creative. It’ll also ensure you get a good night’s sleep.

3. People. Surround yourself with very, very good people. People who you can rely on and who genuinely share your vision to make your idea happen. Get rid of those who don’t, fast – it may not be immediately obvious but they’ll drag you and the team down. There’s nothing better than coming to work, building something with guys who love it as much as you and having a proper giggle along the way

Liad Shababo is the founder of Shoply, a social shopping marketplace for small brands and local businesses. Prior to starting Shoply, he founded iStay.com, doof and MoneyGaming.com.

I recently caught up him as we spoke about his latest startup – Shoply.

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself?

Sure, I’m 34, born and bred in London. I’ve run internet companies for over 10 years. I founded MoneyGaming, a skill gaming network and doof.com, a social gaming platform. I’m now concentrating on social commerce and recently launched Shoply.com

You’re quite the serial entrepreneur, tell me how you got into business? Were you exposed to entrepreneurship as a child?

My father and grandfather were entrepreneurs. They both started their own businesses and worked terribly hard to make them succeed. From a young age I would work with my father on weekends and school holidays and loved it. My father instilled in me a ‘buck stops here’ attitude and that hard work is the foundation of success. Internalising you alone are responsible for your livelihood and possibly that of others is incredibly empowering.

So tell me about Shoply and how the idea came about?

We felt for a long time that selling online was far too expensive and complicated. We could feel the pain small brands and local businesses were going through trying to get a shop up and running and their subsequent frustration being unable to drive traffic to them. We built Shoply to help them out.

What is Shoply and how does it work?

Shoply is a social shopping marketplace which brings together small brands and local business with customers looking to discover and buy from them. We make it quick and easy to open an online shop, generate traffic and make sales. We take away the technical pain and expense of selling online, remove marketing costs by providing free promotion tools and help grow sales by giving sellers access to the Shoply Marketplace, a vibrant sales channel.

For buyers, Shoply is a quick and social way of discovering awesome products from thousands of sellers worldwide.

What is your business model?

We charge 10% commission on sales made through the marketplace. We also offer a premium plan at $29.99 a month which gives sellers tons of additional benefits such as Featured Marketplace Status and advanced analytics.

What makes Shoply different from any service out there?

By providing small brands and local businesses a soup-to-nuts service encompassing software, marketing tools and a strong sales channel we provide them value far above what they can get elsewhere.

For buyers, making it quick and easy to shop thousands of small businesses in one place and wrapping the entire experience in a socially engaging and fun environment offers them a unique online shopping experience.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Assembling a motivated and passionate team and putting our customers at the heart of decisions we make.

Would you say the business has changed from the first initial idea?

For sure. Our product has changed considerably based on feedback received. We follow the classic build, measure, learn, customer development loop. Whilst our product has changed our mission of empowering small business has stayed the same.

How have you been able to fund the business?

We bootstrapped the business initially and funded it from personal savings. We recently closed our first funding round with investors from Europe and the US.

What can we be expecting from your company in 2012?

We’re going to grow the number of businesses selling on Shoply considerably and broaden the kinds of products and services being sold. We will continue to innovate the social aspects of the marketplace and make the whole experience, simpler, more beautiful and more fun. We also have a few key partnerships in the pipeline which we will announce soon.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

1. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Have the courage of your convictions. Just do it.

2. Be a heat seeking missile. Seek constant feedback and use it to iterate and improve.

3. Don’t do it for the money. Find something you’re passionate about. Fix a problem which resonates with you.