Describing itself as ‘the Facebook for people who haven’t met yet’, members share over 8 million interactions every day, with Global Personals gaining a new member every six seconds. The business creates a platform for thousands of online dating sites to be built, the majority of which are privately owned and managed by website owners.

Founder and CEO Ross Williams created his first agency during his time at university in 1997. In 2003, armed with just a credit card, Ross alongside Steve Pammenter created Global Personals. Since then the business has grown a tremendous amount, resulting in Ross being shortlisted for Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, selected for Top 10 to Watch in 2007, and nominated in two categories in the Fast Growth Business Awards in 2008.

Global Personals has a very impressive portfolio of over 7,500 sites with over 1,500 brand name partners internationally, such as FHM, Magic and The Independent. Partners benefit from Global Personals by using White Label Dating, a fully supported free to set up platform created by Steve Pammenter, which enables any organisation to run their own dating website regardless of their size. Branded as ‘the simplest way to break into the dating industry’, White Label Dating allows an individual to set up their own dating site or an established brand to monetise its existing customer base – all you have to do is attract traffic to your site.

Members benefit from Global Personals’ mobile web platform; designed for speed and performance, customers are able to use geolocation services in order to find people in their area, whilst also having the opportunity to ‘flirt’ with people on the other side of the world.

The business has used its inherent tech capabilities to continually adapt in order to keep up with social media trends; the development of a new API has allowed for app development and links GP’s services to sites such as Facebook, a key strategy for growth and innovation through the sharing of information between members.

Founded in Windsor, Global Personals now has offices in London, New York and Melbourne, and has reported an annual revenue of $50m in 2011. In January 2012 Global Personals celebrated their 10 millionth member. Their easy-to-use, ready-made dating platform has attracted a huge number of partners at this stage, and the ever-changing technology embedded within the platform will continue to attract partners, both big and small.

Beulah London is a unique company that combines high-end fashion with ethically sourced products, maintaining its elegance and beauty whilst promoting social justice. The company was started by Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan, two young women with an inherent ability to help others without sacrificing the quality of their product.

Before the establishment of Beulah London the pair spent a large amount of time in India where they worked alongside numerous charities and organisations to promote justice, but the women found their passion after spending two months in the southern slums of Delhi helping women who had been rescued from the sex trade. Natasha and Lavinia worked in an aftercare home called ‘Atulya’ which provided a refuge for these women whilst also teaching them relevant skills which would allow them to be financially independent and prevent the women from falling back into the underworld from which they had been saved.

Their harrowing yet inspiring experiences in India created the momentum needed for the women to create their own company which could continue to deal with the issues presented to them both abroad and at home in the UK; thus Beulah London was born, the aim of which is to provide a new life to victims of the slave trade whilst creating a luxury brand of clothing which is both easy to wear and naturally elegant.

The production of the clothes takes place in a small cottage industry in Kolkata which creates employment in the area and also teaches important and sustainable skills. Although currently the women are not sufficiently skilled to create the garments themselves, they are making accessories such as scarves and bags in order to gain the necessary experience so that one day they will be involved in the whole production process along with members of local communities.

Their first collection ‘Amazing Grace’ which launched in the summer of 2011 represents the transformation and the potential for women to change their situations; Lavinia explains: ‘Our goal is to produce beautiful clothes that empower the women who wear them and the women who make them’.

Although neither Natasha nor Lavinia have any background of fashion, their brand has grown dramatically, with the likes of Kate Middleton being seen wearing their garments. Both women studied history of art, Natasha at Oxford Brookes and Lavinia at Durham, and then went on to gain experience in PR and at an art auction house whilst also being involved with social projects at Holy Trinity Brompton. The company received funding from bank loans and family and friends, plus the supervision of a mentor at TiE UK (The Indus Entrepreneurs) which helped the company to grow in the right direction. The pair admit that it has at times been a struggle and that they were heavily dependent on their parents throughout the establishment of the company, but that their motivation comes from the people at the heart of what they’re doing, the people that need their help.

Jason Stockwood is the CEO of Simply Business the UK’s largest business insurance provider which was launched in 2005. When Jason joined the company he wanted to create an innovative, agile entrepreneurial culture, helping create an atmosphere that employees would want to work in and one that can help serve their customers better.

Having previously worked with Lastminute.com and Match.com, he has experience of being at the forefront of the internet boom and at two of the biggest players in respective industries.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing him, see what Jason had to say below:

- Can you give us a bit of background to yourself?

I spent most of my life until I was 30 following my instincts and just doing things that I found interesting or personally fulfilling. I went to school on a scholarship in America, worked at Disney World in Florida, went on a Kibbutz in Israel, worked as a holiday rep in Greece and studied Philosophy at Bolton University. The travel was educational and the education was fun; both set me up with the intellectual curiosity, tools and the drive to make the most out of every day.

- Why did the move into the insurance industry interest you? Do you see a market you can disrupt here much like the travel and dating industries you previously worked in?

It was based on two insights. Firstly I wanted to work in another industry that I knew nothing about so I could feed my own curiosity and personal development and secondly I saw the opportunity to disrupt a £6bn market where technology has up until now had little to no impact.

- How do you keep your company staying flexible & adaptable enough to keep ahead of the game, as you grow?

It’s a cliché because it’s true but it’s all about hiring great people and then getting out of their way. We’ve got an entrepreneurial management team who are all functional experts who believe in Agile/Lean methodologies as the most productive and fun ways to work. If you have those things you will create value for everyone.

-  I know that you promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the company; why is this and how do you think it helps the business?

For a few reasons but mainly that in growth businesses, you need to have an agility to react and respond to the journey you are on. It’s not simply moving things from A to B like in large corporates. If there’s no one going before you there’s no one to follow, so you need the right entrepreneurial spirit in the business to find the way and define how to get there.

Entirely selfishly, I find it a more interesting way of working as well. It allows for creativity and inspiration from everyone on the team. I enjoy the spaces between certainty and knowledge that sparks creative thinking.

- How important do you feel it is for the company to keep the feel of a startup rather than corporate feel, as it grows?  

It’s less about the growth stage and more about the overall culture, you can be big and be entrepreneurial or small and corporate. It’s more about wanting to do things differently for everyone’s benefit – the customer, the team and your shareholders

- What is your biggest motivation in business?

Curiosity and the need to keep learning.

- What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?

Listen to all the advice you can and then make your own mind up about everything.

–

Follow @rishi_chowdhury

Be sure to check out the YHP magazine and subscribe for news and the latest articles from YHP.

l-r Adam Balon, Richard Reed and Jon Wright

The Innocent story starts in Cambridge, where three friends met whilst working towards their degrees. The recent graduates Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright then moved to London where they started the process of coming up with a variety of smoothie recipes and buying £500 worth of fruit to get them started.

In the summer of 1998 the three friends travelled nervously tothe‘Jazz on the Green’ Festival in Parsons Green; a spot full of the kind of people that would drink their smoothies. It was here that they would receive public feedback on their recipes which would determine whether they would proceed with the huge but exciting task of giving up their day jobs to start a business, or whether they would dump the fruit and rush back to their careers in consulting and advertising. Originally the trio had designed a feedback form but traded it in for a less corporate approach.

The idea was simple and succinct: people would try their smoothie and dispose of the (hopefully) empty bottle in one of two bins; one labelled ‘YES’ and the other ‘NO’. Above their stall was the question ‘Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?’ At the end of the weekend the ‘YES’ bin was full with only three bottles in the ‘NO’ bin, so the boys went home, flipped a coin for some last minute reassurance, and quit their jobs the next day to go to work on the building of what would become the UK and Europe’s favourite smoothie brand.

Next was the problem that all start-up businesses face; the issue of funding. The boys applied to, and got turned down by, 20 different banks. They pitched at an event for entrepreneurs only to find that nobody was interested in hearing any more about them. On paper the trio were a risky investment; they were friends, they had no experience in their field, they would be competing against massive companies, and they’d never set up a business. This realisation, however ‘soul destroying’#, did not deter the trio. They continued on their path to funding by emailing everyone they knew hoping to find somebody rich, until they got an email back from Maurice Pinto, who they’d heard sometimes made investments. Despite the fact that Pinto thought the idea was ‘dumb’, he agreed to invest £50,000 in the company, which then grew to £250,000 when the other investors he usually works with refused to invest.

The trio then found a manufacturing partner Mike Lord, who had been manufacturing orange juice. He said to the boys “I don’t think it’s going to work, but there’s something in your eyes that reminds me of myself when I was your age, so I’ll do it.”

Advertising was the next step, and with no money to afford it, the trio had to come up with inspired (and cheap) ways to spread the Innocent name. After over-producing, they handed out their smoothies for free to around 50 different shops with the hope that they would call and order more; which they did. They also wrote little nonsensical messages on the products themselves about their natural origin; the idea behind their brand was ‘to make it easy for people to do themselves some good. And to make it taste nice too. We wanted people to think of innocent drinks as their one healthy habit; like going to the gym’#. They also left smoothies on every floor of a building packed full of journalists which again earned them a large amount of phone calls in return for their hard work.

Innocent Drinks continued to grow and grow, with their staff size growing from just three to two hundred and fifty between 1999 and 2010, with their market share growing from 0% to 77.5% within the same time period#. On April 6th 2009 Innocent Drinks announced its decision to sell a stake of 18% to The Coca-Cola Company which was then increased in April 2010 to 58% with the three founders retaining full operational control over the company.

However, Reed maintains that it wasn’t until around 2007 that he reached full confidence with their idea: “Every time something good happened I still didn’t believe – it was just temporary respite from the paranoia that it was destined to fail”

Information taken from:
An interview with Courtney Rubin, July 26 2010 featured: [http://www.inc.com/articles/2010/07/building-englands-favorite-smoothie-company.html]

[http://innocentdrinks.co.uk/]
# Market share source: IRI Infoscan 2006

From Paris to New York City back to Paris and finally London, I chat to one of the graduates on the NEF programme, Joséphine Goube as she tells me her story navigating the entrepreneurial and corporate world.

Below is the full interview

Hi Joséphine, Its great to finally have you on YHP, how are you doing today?

Very good!

Before we move on, could you quickly give us some background information about yourself so that the YHP audience can get to know you better?

French small town girl. Moved to the big city Paris at 18 to study humanities at Sciences Po. Fostered my love for European Modern Political History, philosophy and architecture.

Moved to New York City at 20. Worked in Press Relations for Healthcare companies. Unleashed my enthusiasm for Urbanism and fascination of big Western cities.

Moved back to Paris to complete a Msc in Urban Strategies in 2009 and relocated to London to complete a Msc in Urban policies in the South & Development Studies at the London School of Economics in 2010. Improved my insight on international development and urban development.

Along the way, I co-founded a Business Incubator for London students (LSE Inc). Still on the Management board of this student-led initiative, I started working at Springboard last October to run the next program starting April 2012 in London. Graduated in December.

How did you get into entrepreneurship, what was your inspiration?

I don’t know; I just fell into it, like you fall in love. It just happened. I was totally blind about what I was getting into. I just know it felt right for me, and still feels.

Yet – I don’t care about titles; I would not event care not to be called an entrepreneur.

As such, I did not choose Entrepreneurship as a clear conscious career path. I did not decide ‘I want to be a self made woman for life’. However I have always admired Madonna or Coco Chanel. They stimulate my vision of what I wish to achieve: disruptive business with courage, hard work and vision for a more open-minded world. But as I said, entrepreneurship just feels right for me now; I don’t know about tomorrow.

What was your first business, how the idea came about and tell your experience running that?

The business incubator we built at LSE just came as necessary and the next thing to do: nobody helped students that were building REAL businesses while studying. There were lectures on venture creation but I don’t believe theory help – (at least, it can inspire). I believe in action.

Aside the need, I was fueled by outrage from the way the School was faking to care about students doing stuff and frustrated to hear my friends willing to go to consulting companies because they were not confident in themselves enough. Schools are places where to learn, ideal spaces where to execute, create and learn from your failures. If you don’t do it while there, when do you do it: when it is even harder (aka in real life)?

Finally, there was also an element of pure instinct in building this initiative. I like to build new things, I like to help so the idea seemed natural and making sense; it sounded fun and exciting. In reality, it was not so much fun: lots of work and pain. I was very stressed because I had never done such a thing and I was stressing on things to be perfect. I could have done much better if I had been more supported by the School, also if I had been more relaxed, less fearful. But you can’t fight fear for every ‘first time’ things you do, can you?

The opportunities that it opened to my career and in my life – and they were and are amazing – appeared later, when running it. It has been a life enhancer but I could not know this before I did it. It was million times worth it.

You studied at Sciences Po in Paris? Tell us about your experience during your time of study?

Sciences Po Paris is the best ‘Grande Ecole’ I could have ever been to. I simply loved my time there. It fitted my personality.

First, entering Sciences Po Paris meant (for me) moving from my very small town to a 8 million-people capital city. I was on fire: millions of things became possible.

Second, it was a total surprise: I never thought I would be accepted to the School (to say the least, I did not look at the results the day they came out). Nor did I ever think I would make it to Paris before 30. I was on fire (even more).

Eventually, like a chapter 2 in my small life; nothing was to be the same again after. I had left home; would never return back to my previous life and friends. This gave me the strength to believe that I can go anywhere, make it anywhere if I work hard (though without forgetting how luck plays a big role). This also gave me this obstinate mind, determination and sometimes (naïve) arrogance.

And some of the key things you learnt from that experience?

Difficult to summarize what I learnt at Sciences Po. To be concise, I would say:

Sciences Po being at the center of Paris puts you in an environment were you are directly asked to act like adults. You are not in your protected bubble on a university campus.

At School, I met with like-minded people. I was not a freak talking politics or philosophy. I was not mocked using serious words. People had something to reply; they were not just raising their shoulders. I developed my critical thinking and grow intellectual relationships.

Movers and shakers of this world would come to conferences at school. Being able to see, meet and talk to them, I started believing that I could become part of the clique. This is silly to say but I realize they were humans after all. As much as everyone.

There is a chinese proverb that says: When you work in a coal mine you cannot stay white. That is what happened with Sciences Po, and in a very good way.

I guess there’s been a lot of talk about going to university, the value of having a degree, entrepreneurship becoming a viable option, what made you realise that this was the right choice for you?

I never studied to get a job. I never thought a degree would get me a job. I thought it might just help get in touch with the people in the industry.

I went to university to study what I am passionate about Politics, Geopolitics, Philosophy, Art, Cosmology, Architecture, Sociology, etc. I spent my time talking about these subjects with fellows at school. In some ways, I am a nerd, in some others, I am not: I never aimed at being the brightest student in the classroom but always did my best in whatever I was passionate about. In other terms, I was average and sometimes far behind on school grades but I did not care. I did not see the value of grades compared to making friends with people and do things that I would remember forever. I was not the one staying long hours at the library. I was the one organizing dinners and parties to get the smartest of the school become my friends; I liked their brains. I like the things we could create together.

So I guess, I never though: get a degree versus starting my own company. I never saw entrepreneurship as an exclusive option. I was being “entrepreneurial” in my daily life. I set up a student association for European Movies with friends in my second year. I was setting up “Movie Wednesday’s”. I was setting up regular parties. I was giving classes to students taking their A-levels. I could do both: study and do things. I never compromised choosing between school and business.

You decided to come to London to study for your Masters at LSE? Why did you feel you needed to do this especially since you already done a Masters in Paris?

As I said, I am passionate about Urbanization and Architecture. I am thirsty of knowledge. London School of Economics is ranked first for this matters; it has one of the best Geography Department. So I applied for a loan (reluctantly) and a Msc (with enthusiasm).

How did you find it changing countries, cultures, friends – the adaptation process?

I am a social-bee that has been constrained to 18 years in a small town. I let you imagine how liberating it felt for me to live in Paris, New York and London.

Regarding the adaptation process: I am not just good at adopting new settings, I beg for these circumstances to change all the time.

This love for challenging the ‘status-quo’ can be perceived as a typical fear of boredom and a fear of being trapped somewhere for a long time (again). It can explain my radical stands on feminism or capitalism. Or maybe it is just an age/generation thing: the very impatient youth and the immediacy of technology that make us become ‘I want to be entertained now’ individuals.

You were very involved in LSE’s entrepreneurship society, you even started incubator program during your time there. Tell us about that experience and some of the key things you learnt from that and opportunities that it has given you?

I got in touch with LSE entrepreneurs Society during the summer prior moving to London. I wanted to get involved with people to do fun things to do – the other societies looked boring.

LSE Entrepreneurs’ President needed help for Fresher’s Fair: I raised my hand automatically. Wherever there is a need for help, I am here. Especially for nice people: Arthur is an awesome energetic guy with the heart at the right place.

It started like this: I asked what they were doing with actual students that were building REAL businesses. He said nothing. I said it is a pity. He said you should fix it.

It’s been lots of work and pain. It’s been stressful (but that is just me being stupid, stressing for details). I had so many fears because I had never done anything like this. The big lesson was: stop being scared, just do and fail so you will do it better.

It went very well: better than we would have ever expected. But I was never satisfied, always pushing to do better. I have been hard to live with the team I worked with. The handover happened this October and the new team taking over the initiative is just awesome.

As I said, the opportunities that it has opened to my career and in my life are awe-inspiring. It was million times worth the pain. It has been a life enhancer; I am more confident and happy in life. I saved two years of my life at McKinsey or Bain.

You’ve also worked for a few other companies namely: Euro RSCG Worldwide PR,1.2.3. Consulting and Rainmaking. Tell me about your experience working there.

Euro RSCG Worldwide has been a great first experience. Not so much in the tasks I was completing everyday (too young and too inexperienced to be given responsibilities), but it was a great start for the people I met with and the opportunities they have given me to see, hear, listen, learn, taste and experience.

1.2.3 Consulting is a startup style consultancy company that I helped for a summer. The founders gave me real ownership over my duties. Something most employers don’t: they just want you to complete tasks. I just loved the team and so the work. They trusted my work. To be given trust is a blessing.

Rainmaking co-founder, Carsten, gave me my chance last May to lead on the social media side of one of their startup company Trueskin. They gave me full ownership too, pushed me to be creative and let me learn from them at the office. I learnt a lot in very few months. Mats, founder of Trueskin, would always take time to tell me lessons from his failures. Inspiring.

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

I learnt to be more patient and to listen better – In progress still.

Tell us about NEF and how you got involved?

I got on the program to learn about business and eventually fell in love with the people involved.

However, I have been quite a pain for NEF during the match-making process. I have been picky with the company they matched me with; I went to the interviews when I could but was reluctant to work with the Company they had chosen for me. I believed they were not the right fit for me. So I told Zara that I was already working for an entrepreneurial company and that I might stay there. She agreed

What company are you currently working with, what do you do and how’s the experience been so far for you?

I’m working for Springboard with Jon and Jess. Currently, we are selecting our ten teams: exciting.

What are some of the key things that you’ve learnt so far from working at Springboard?

Always ask for help when you need it. Do what’s easier and what you truly care about.

Is this something that you would recommend to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What value can they get from this experience?

Just do it.

What would you say has been some of your most memorable moment so far?

A speed-mentoring with 80 mentors and about 150 entrepreneurs to manage. Fun when you like mess and to shout.

What advices would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?

No talk, just do it. Better sooner than later. You always get better with time (if you are honest with yourself).

What are your plans after NEF programme? What can we be expecting from you in the future?

Expect to be surprised.

Follow @rishi_chowdhury

Each year we take a look at the young entrepreneurs, based in the UK, who we think are set to have a great year, you can see our 2011 list here, and this year is no different.

So here are 20 entrepreneurs, founders and co founders, who you may want to watch in 2012, there are some great companies here and I’m sure you will be hearing a lot more about them over the next 12 months.

Here they are:

Josh Buckley (MinoMonsters)

Josh Buckley is the CEO and founder of MinoMonsters, a Pokemon type game where you can battle and trade pet monsters. Josh is the youngest CEO to have raised funding from investment giant Andreessen Horowitz at 19 years of age.

The Kent born youngster sold his first company at the age of 15. He created ‘Menewsha’ a community where users create whimsical avatars and interact online for fun. He sold this for a six figures sum while still in school.

He then moved to Silicon Valley & participated in Y Combinator to help take his company to the next level and take on Pokemon brand. His USP is it is a game for iOS where Pokemon is not available.

Expect to be hearing more of this young CEO as he ventures into the mobile gaming space with no fear.

Nick D’Aloisio (Summly)

Nick D’Aloisio is only 16 years old but he has already managed to raise $250,00 in funding for his startup, Summly. He created an app that offers a simpler way to browse and search the web by automatically summarising search results, web pages and articles to make content easier to sift to and find what is most relevant to you.

In it’s first 4 days after it reached 17k downloads and is now well over 100,000. Still studying for his GCSE’s he had to get special dispensation to delay his mocks while he traveled to San Fransisco.

So to sum it up, he is one to watch in 2012!

James Gill (GoSquared)

James Gill is the CEO and co founder of GoSquared a real time web analytics service which he started during his gap year. rather than taking the year to travel, he decided to build a web app which people would pay for and by the end of the year him and his co founders realised they had done just that.

James now works on GoSquared at White Bear Yard from which GoSquared got their angel funding and they are surrounded by other great startups which will help them as they look to grow and take on their main rivals Chartbeat.

You can see our video interview with James here.

Lucian Tarnowski (Brave New Talent)

Lucian Tarnowski is the founder and CEO of Brave New Talent, a social recruitment network.  The passionate young entrepreneur loves social media and leverages the sharing and engagement inherent in social networks and applies it to job recruitment.

Lucian has also been honored as Europe’s youngest Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum. He is also the youngest  entrepreneur to join UKTI (United Kingdom Trade and Investment) so age isn’t a factor as he goes about his mission to change the face of job recruitment and skills building.

He is a confident leader and looks set to have a big year in 2012.

Maria Constantinescu (Slick Flick)

Maria Constantinescu is the founder of SlickFlick, which allows you to create storyboards on the iPhone using your photos. An ex lawyer Maria left law to start Curious Quests and the Slick Flick app.

Maria is trying to take creativity to the masses and has been get the app out into the film industry and creative industries to get support and name out amongst a sector which will find it used by most. Being based in the heart of Shoreditch she is surrounded by creatives in every direction which should serve her well.

Having secured an association with Apsmart, they have a great partner which can help them continue to improve the app and add weight to their proposal when they go for funding.

Ry Morgan (PleaseCycle)

Ry Morgan (right) is the founder and CEO of PleaseCycle, provides products and services for organisations to encourage cycling within the workplace.

Ry went from being an intern at CURB media (a really cool startup by the way!) to founding PleaseCycle with the founder & CEO of CURB media, Anthony Ganjou (left). A born entrepreneur Ry has gone from top student, to graduate to founder & CEO.

He has a great drive to grow PleaseCycle massively and his determination and vision has helped him build a great experienced team which will in no doubt help see them progress rapidly in 2012.

Find out more about Ry from his guest post on YHP.

Michael Korn (KwickScreen)

Michael Korn is the founder of KwickScreen, a portable, retractable, room divider which provides isolation or privacy solutions. Initially the design was meant to be used in hospitals to act as a privacy barrier between patients and it was perfect for this. It’s small size and easy and quick set up was perfect for the hospital environment.

Michael has now seen the product, which took 4 years of design iterations to get it ready for release, enter new markets and is being used in universities, exhibitions, offices etc…

It is a well thought out design and the ideas has already received recognition. Michael was named Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011.

Look out for KwickScreens popping up near you in 2012.

Emi Gal (Brainient)

Emi a young Romanian entrepreneur started Brainient in 2009. Brainient is a a video advertising technology company, based in London’s silicon roundabout, and currently has two products. First an interactive video advertising product and second one is a personalised video retargeting platform.

Emi has a lot of experience with startups at his young age, having previously founded two and has also been an advisor or helped out on various other tech startups.

This experience will hold him in good stead and help as Brainient looks to grow further in 2012.

Check out our video interview with Emi here.

Damian Kimmelman (Duedil)

Damian founded Duedil in April 2011 with the aim to make business more transparent, helping executives and entrepreneurs make well-informed business decisions, by allowing users to easily find company information for free.

Damian has pivoted Duedil from a people recommendation system, like a ‘Yelp for people’, to it’s current state as a database of companies.

He has also overseen Duedil raise funding from some of the investors behind Skype, LastFM & Yahoo as well as being chosen as a Microsoft Bizspark company which should help his disruptive startup make big strides in 2012!

Kevin Flood and Mike Harty (Shopow)

Kevin & Mike started the company, a social shopping engine and community, straight out of university raising £830,000 in angel funding.

Founded in early 2010, it was launched in May 2011 and currently works directly with over 22,000 online retailers to help give them the most accurate price comparison.

Currently available in the US & UK they look to grow further in 2012 and with the social nature of the site and strong community it has the ingredients to  rapidly accelerate growth as members share recommendations across there networks.

The company is expecting to surpass £3million in revenue in it’s first year has already seen it’s popularity abroad with 50% of revenues coming from overseas.

It has been dubbed the ‘Facebook of shopping’ & the two founders have already been named in Growing Business Young Guns.

Chris Prescott and Daniel Noz (Fantasy Shopper)

Fantasy Shopper is a social shopping game, only launched in October 2011 and has already seen massive interest. Users spend fantasy currency to buy clothing & create a virtual wardrobe full of different outfits from over 300 real high street shops. It’s a bit like creating a wishlist but what’s great is you can then buy your virtual outfits from the real life stores.

It’s a fantastic idea that Chris dreamt up one night and has proved very popular to date. apparently it is very addictive and it shows. Within 2 weeks of launching, the platform was seeing a fantasy sale every 14 seconds.

One feature that brings users back for more is that every hour you gain more credits, so users login multiple times a day to collect their virtual paydays.

The fact that it is linked to your Facebook also helps increase awareness of it to your network and this social sharing will greatly help with it’s growth.

Chris has come up with a great idea and is described on the Fantasy Shopper site as “having all the traits of a mad inventor… i.e. he’s a little bit nuts!” Which is good right? Even better is he is backed up by Dan, the tech guy who ‘get’s stuff done’.

All this will help Chris & Daniel take Fantasy Shopper to the masses in the next year.

Fiona Wood (Naturally Cool Kids)

As a mum Fiona has had to deal with all sorts of skin allergies which led her to search for natural skincare products for her kids, but to her surprise found a lack of natural skincare products for kids.

She entered the ‘Barclays Take One Small Step’ competition, where she was one of the 10 regional winners, after mum’s across the country voted for her idea. She started the company in July 2010 and has not looked back since.

Fiona spotted a gap in the market and is taking full advantage of this. She has the passion and determination to see her products being sold across the world. After her initial plans to launch two skincare products, she actually launched with six products and has already seen them in over 20 retail stockists, including John Lewis & Tesco Nutri centre, as well as online.

She has big plans ahead and look out for her products across the UK this year as she looks to further expand the number of stockists.

Luke Hood (UKF)

Luke Hood is a 19 year old from Frome, Somerset who is taking Youtube by storm with his UKF channels. After starting putting up his favourite dubstep tunes up on youtube and showcasing fresh new music he found his subscribers rocketed and he was soon over 1 million!

What started as a hobby has become a business. He is super passionate and since this was what he was passionate about in the first place it will help in growing it as a business.

He has started expanding into events and live online events as well so youngsters into dubstep and drum n bass who can’t get into these events can view it from online.

There is lots of scope to grow and he already has the subscribers, maybe in 2012 he can do what Jamal Edwards has done in 2011.

Jack Smith (Vungle)

Jack Smith is the founder of Vungle, a mobile app user acquisition platform focused exclusively on video ads. The company helps those with apps to show the apps full potential through video advertising rather than just text descriptions and user reviews. Using video to help acquire quality users.

Although just 22, Jack has a fair bit of experience having started his first company at the age of 15 and then while at uni, set up ideabox an undergraduate business ideas competition and was MD at Mediaroots.

He has now seen Vungle expand to the US with an office in San Fransisco and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jack get funding for Vungle this year.

Joshua March (Conversocial)

Joshua March is now onto his second business, Conversocial an integrated Social CRM and marketing software which helps companies with marketing and customer support via social media.

With social media becoming a mainstay in our day to day lives it is essential for all businesses to be active on social networks and be able to effectively monitor conversations around your business and industry.

Josh saw this and started Conversocial a couple years ago and has developed it too a position where they can expect to grow rapidly as more and more businesses start realising the potential of social media.

Josh previously founded the first preferred Facebook Development company in the UK with Dan Lester and has lots of experience in the social space from it’s early days.

Helen McAvoy and Naomi Kibble (Rocktails)

Helen & Naomi two Cardiff based young entrepreneurs tapped into the huge popularity of cocktails drunk by the population on nights out. Despite this there isn’t a competitive offering for easily making cocktails at home.

These two cocktail fans went about changing that spending over £20,000 developing frozen cocktails in a pouch. Great for consumption at home with friends, the two friends managed to secure a six months trial with Sainsburys which could lead to a wider deal.

Helen & Naomi have already secured a big deal early on in the companies life & are ahead of their forecasts, this should hold them in good stead as they look to expand in 2012.

Mansoor Hamayun, Christopher Baker-Brian & Laurent Van Houcke (BBOXX)

Christopher, Laurent & Mansoor started BBOXX a company which develops methods of distributing renewable energy to developing countries. The three young entrepreneurs have spun off the company from e.quinox, a charity at Imperial College London.

With power consumption growing in developing countries, solutions to cope with the increased demand for energy will be more in demand than ever and these two entrepreneurs are making sure they are in a position to supply a suitable solution in the way of portable solar products.

They will look to rapidly expand on their partnerships in developing countries over the next year.

Emma Sinclair (Target Parking)

Emma Sinclair is a passionate young entrepreneur. She had the high powered, high paid city job but she left it to start Target Parking. After investing in a small car parking firm she set up Target parking which offers services for car parks across Britain. Including cash handling, security & facilities management.

The 29 year old is the youngest person to float a company on the Alternative Investment Market and her business acumen has seen her tie up some big deals which helped the company see revenues of just over £1million and she fully expects that to grow further in 2012.

She is excited to see what the future holds and determined to make the company the best in it’s industry and her background suggests she has what it takes.

Russell Whitter (Rate Your Player)

Russell Whitter (right) is the founder of Rate Your Player (RYP) an online social football network. Having started it after seeing his favorite football forum close it’s doors he has developed the website into a fully fledged social network based around football.

Russell is the brother of footballer Wayne Routeledge (left) and has therefore been able to call on him and his footballer friends to help endorse the site and increase it’s popularity. He was able to call on his friends to help him build the site and keep costs down and hopes to see the site increase in popularity as social networks do. Since this is targeted specifically to football which has more fans than any other sport in the UK he has a large market to tap into.

Russell hopes to expand the network into other sports as well and looks to grow the number of users quickly in 2012 as the social aspect snowballs with more and more users helping it grow further.

Rashid Kasirye – (Link Up TV)

Rashid Kasirye started Link Up TV, an online music and talent platform, straight out of college and has seen it grow from humble beginnings to a strong online community, which sees their YouTube page hitting over a million monthly views and thousands of fans on Facebook and Twitter.

Rashid has already seen the company make music videos for artists on some of the top UK music channels and his popularity is sure to keep growing in the industry. As we journey through 2012 and Link Up TV step up their video production capacity I’m sure you will see even more music videos in the charts made by Rashid and his team.

–

Who have I missed? Who are your young entrepreneurs to watch in 2012?

Let us know in the comments we would love to hear from you!

Follow @rishi_chowdhury

Be sure to check out the YHP magazine and subscribe for news and the latest articles from YHP.

Using your university entrepreneurs society to ignite your entrepreneurial spark can be key to your journey as an entrepreneur and today I interview Rousseau Dasgupta as part of my NEF interview series.

Rousseau was the former Vice-President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurial society at Oxford and helped bring in over £27,000 of sponsorship to run the society, a record for any year of its operation and was also the UK Vice President of the Kairos Society.

Rousseau is currently working at SHL, a global leader in talent management where he works as an intern to the Operating Committee, equivalent to their C-suite to help forge the strategy of the firm going forward as part of the NEF program.

Hi Rousseau, thanks for doing this with me today.

No problem, Joseph, glad to be here!

Could you quickly give us some background information about yourself?

Yeah, sure. I started on the New Entrepreneurs Foundation straight after university, and as part of the programme, I work at SHL, a global leader in talent management, meaning the measurement and management of people both within and applying to organisations to create the best outcomes for those organisations. My role there is as an intern to the Operating Committee, equivalent to their C-suite, working with them to forge the strategy of the firm going forward.

So were you the entrepreneurial type or more academic focused growing up?

Haha, definitely the academic type! I was (and still am) a huge science nerd, and this is probably what led to me pursuing a degree in Physics at university. I always wanted to be Tony Stark from Iron Man when I grew up – I just thought that’s what scientists did! It wasn’t until I got to university that I even thought about business as a career path, really.

You recently graduated from Oxford University, tell me about your experience and some of the key things you took away from that experience?

My four years at Oxford were truly incredible, but I have to say there just isn’t enough time to do everything! The opportunities are endless – drama, sport, societies, student politics, debating – it’s just not possible to take full advantage of everything alongside a degree. I think, though, just being surrounded by ambitious and interesting young people for that amount of time was the best thing about it – you really get a buzz from that and they really drive you to think about what you want to achieve, how you want to do it, and most importantly, the people you want to do that with. It’s a really similar buzz I get to whenever our NEF cohort gets together for one of our events, actually!

Did you get involved in anything entrepreneurial?

Actually, the first entrepreneurial experience I had was at school on a week-long business game we had called The Challenge of Management. We were split into teams of 5-7 people and spent a couple of days running a mock business and then the final day coming up with a product and pitching it to a panel of investors. As CEO of my team, I had a really great time! At university, I helped run and improve my College Bar, which was on the verge of closing (unusual for a student bar!). On a shoestring budget that I raised, I introduced a host of new initiatives and ran some bar nights that brought it back from the brink to being profitable again. I also briefly ran one man graphic design and careers agencies for other students, though to be honest these were just for a bit of extra income as a student!

You were also very involved in Oxford Entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurial society at Oxford, becoming Vice-President. You helped bring in over £27,000 of sponsorship to run the society, a record for any year of its operation – how did that happen, tell me about your experience co-running the society and what benefits and opportunities that experience has added to your life?

Oxford Entrepreneurs is really what convinced me that entrepreneurship was a viable, and indeed compelling, career path. OE is Oxford’s largest free society, and has gained quite a lot of publicity in the national press over the years for being a stalwart of youth entrepreneurship. I think what I brought to the table that year was the realisation that we were pretty big and had been around for a while, and so we had to act a little more professionally than other societies when seeking to create relationships with sponsors, speakers and partners, and correspondingly formalised our process using a lot of the things I learned on the internships I had done previously. It was also really helpful that the VP of Finance the previous year had stayed on so we were able to work together and leverage a lot of her relationships from the previous year.

Running OE was an amazing experience, and it really got me talking to a lot of entrepreneurs and investors, gave me a chance to help run our incubator and to be involved in the organisation of events like Tata Idea Idol, one of the biggest student pitching competitions in the country, and a format that we helped roll out to a lot of other universities through organisations like NACUE.

You were also the UK Vice President of the Kairos Society, what role did you have to perform and what did you learn from the experience?

Kairos is a huge international student entrepreneurship society, but that year my friend, Melvin Chen, the then UK President, and I decided to plant the flag here and start the UK chapter, so in many ways it was very much the opposite of OE. The biggest challenge was recruiting the UK Fellows – having used our connections at GroupSpaces to put the word out, we were inundated with CVs and phone interviews, an extremely positive and enthusiastic response! Having painstakingly chosen around 50 Fellows to represent the UK, the job of organising them and their activities during the Kairos Global Summit in New York was the next challenge. It was through this that I actually met Mike [Bandar] and Ushma [Soneji], who are now both on the NEF programme!

How did you find out about the NEF programme and what made you decide this was the next step for you?

NEF actually approached OE to publicise the scheme amongst our members. I was actually sending out the newsletter that week and thought about how great the opportunity sounded, and how unique it would be to get such exposure to the senior people running a growth business. It was a really different prospect to the very hierarchical, corporate environments in which I had worked before.

Why SHL?

After the interviews with NEF and a couple of the placement companies, I was left with a choice of a couple of them, but what really got me about SHL was the fact that although it was growing fast, it had a global presence, and this international aspect really got me excited about working there. Moreover, the CEO, David Leigh, was someone I saw as an excellent potential mentor as he had had a similar background to me and could really advise me on my own future.

What have been some of the key things that you’ve learnt from the experience so far?

After things like how to build professional relationships and the value of effective communication, I have to say the biggest thing I have learned this year is that no matter how new you are to an organisation, your voice still matters. You bring fresh thinking to the table, so learning not to be afraid of “the big dogs” and voicing my ideas is probably my biggest takeaway.

What has been your most memorable moment so far?

Staring down partners from top private equity firms and a strategy consulting house across a board room table with the CEO turning to me to settle the argument with some sweet, sweet analysis.

What advice would you give to anyone contemplating of joining this year’s NEF programme?

If you ever even think you want to become an entrepreneur, do it. You will not get another chance to have this kind of responsibility, independence and guidance! Even if you have a great grad job waiting for you, defer it and try this first! I did, and I don’t regret it.

You have a place secured for you on the McKinsey’s Business Analyst Programme starting October 2012, what are you looking to learn from the programme and most importantly why did you decide this is the next step for you after NEF?

I think that while NEF gives me in-depth exposure to running a business in a particular industry, McKinsey will give me a similar, if slightly more withdrawn, impression of numerous companies and industries across many countries, while still staying at that senior level of exposure, and for someone like me that variety and international experience is a big thing and vital for deciding where you want to play in the modern, connected, multi-polar world. I am also really interested in the business of renewable energy (science nerd side coming out!) and McKinsey are one of the world’s foremost organisations when it comes to sustainability and renewables strategy.

What advice would you give to 1st year students at university, especially in Oxford?

University is really short, especially at Oxford where the average course is only (3 x 8 x 3 =)72 weeks long! Your degree is going to be hard, but unless you want to do a PhD or be a barrister, or it’s something you really, really want, don’t worry about getting a First, but make the most of the time you have. Especially in first year, utilise some of that Fresher stamina to throw yourself into as much as possible – go on an international exchange, try dancesport, be in a play, maybe even do an Enternship (you’re welcome, Raj…). Find your niche and discover your passions and then just go for it – “If you shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll still land among the stars”.

In my latest NEF interview series, I speak to Videesha Kunkulagunta.

Videesha is a graduate from the Warwick business school and currently works as a Project Researcher in the network innovation team at TalkTalk PLC. She is also working on a consumer tech start-up called TravelClouds which she hopes to launch later this year.

This is the interview.

Hi Videesha, Its great to finally have you on YHP, how are you doing today?

Hi Joseph, I’m great, thanks!

Recently back from Iceland so getting used to having more than a couple of hours of daylight!

Before we move on, could you quickly give us some background information about yourself so that the YHP audience can get to know you better?

Well, I’m a twenty something ex – wealth management professional who last summer decided to take the plunge and leave my role at Barclays Wealth to pursue a life of entrepreneurship.

The last six months have been a bit of a whirlwind, however, I’m now working on a consumer tech start-up called TravelClouds (www.travelclouds.net) alongside my co-founder, Katherine Ferdinand which should be launching later this year.

Concurrently, I’m on a year placement as a Project Researcher in the network innovation team at TalkTalk PLC and am gaining much appreciated support from the New Entrepreneurs Foundation. Both are helping me make the transition from Finance to Tech Start-Up.

So you attended the Warwick business school? What was the experience like, a lot more people are deciding to go into entrepreneurship straight after school rather going to university, what made you realise that this was the right choice for you?

Growing up as the first child of two South Indian immigrants, I saw the hard work and dedication my parents applied in order to give me the opportunity to go to university. My dad has a PHD and strongly believes in the value of a formal education so, as a young person without a clear idea of what I wanted to do, it was the natural choice for me.

Once there, Warwick really helped to focus my energy. I have always had an inquisitive mind and had been interested in how businesses were set up and grown, therefore I learnt a lot from both the Management course I studied and the inspirational people around me.

My time at university also enhanced my passion for travel. I like keeping myself busy so volunteered to join the organising committee for One World Week (www.oneworldweek.net), an annual festival on campus that celebrates international diversity. I’ve always been intrigued by differences in cultures and the experience further fueled my interest for wanting to understand and experience each country and culture for myself – little did I know that this had sown the seeds for my step into entrepreneurship!

You had an idea for a food tour business whilst at university and despite attracting interest from an angel investor, you decided to work for a corporate. What is the whole story behind that?

I had an idea to link local London university students with tourists and provide themed gastronomic walking tours around London. The problem was, not only was I trying to take too much on board, but I also didn’t have the self – belief or courage to fully put aside the offer of a graduate role with a secure salary and a pretty encouraging sign on bonus. The irony was that a stint at Lehman Brothers was my first graduate job.

The experience over the last few years taught me a lot. So this time around I have had the time to assess my motivations and set the foundations for my business. Working for corporates opened my eyes to the practicality of business and it has taken me 12 months to research and develop my idea, identify my weaknesses and find a suitable business partner before I was ready to whole-heartily dedicate myself to the cause.

Tell us about the New Entrepreneurs Foundation (NEF), why did you decide this was the next step for you, what was the process?

After working at Lehman Brothers and then Barclays Wealth I realised I was unhappy with the direction my life was taking. I lived a life that many aspired to. Despite spending time working in Singapore, living in a desirable part of London, being able to travel whenever and to wherever I wanted and never worrying about my finances (it doesn’t sound bad, right?!) I just never quite felt satisfied. This time I felt ready to take that leap, knowing that there were other options out there for me.

Experience had taught me that I needed mentorship and a support system that would champion my vision and guide me through the transition from wealth management to entrepreneur and NEF answered this need.

The New Entrepreneurs Foundation not only gives me the facilities, network and opportunity to develop my business, but they also believe that each of us will be one of the next generation of top entrepreneurs in the UK and that level of support is invaluable.

So you said you were working for TalkTalk PLC and what have you learnt from the experience so far?

Working for a consumer brand was a drastic change from the world I had just left but the support from the management team has been incredible.

I had initially gone into this position with a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve by the end of the year, but learnt quickly that I needed to adjust my approach and work hard to gain trust and respect in a sector I knew relatively little about. Business is business after-all, it’s best not to let negative emotions and ego get involved.

Something that Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk highlighted to me is that you will start any role unconsciously incompetent, progress to conscious incompetence, develop conscious competence then only excel during unconscious competence. This is something I now try to apply to my journey with TravelClouds.

Is NEF something that you would recommend to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What’s the value in it?

Definitely. The application process was fairly intensive, however the connections, mentorship and support from both the Foundation and my peers has been priceless.

Tell us a bit about TravelClouds and how the idea came about?

Well, I’ve always been an avid traveller and realised early on that, if I wanted to start my own business, I needed to work on something I was passionate about. After a lot of research I realised that there was a gap in the market for a service that truly allowed people to discover and share unique travel experiences and wanted to fill it.

Setting up TravelClouds has been an incredible experience so far. We’re still early on but it’s exciting to see something that was just an idea on a piece of paper turn into something tangible.

We are now starting to document our journey, so you can keep up to date on Twitter @travelclouds, or contact us via www.travelclouds.net.

What was the main challenge you faced when starting the company and how did you deal with it?

The most difficult part was choosing the right co-founder. It took me a long time to really figure out what my strengths and weaknesses were and to try and spot my weaknesses as strengths in someone else.

Also, it was important to find someone equally as enthusiastic and dedicated to the cause – surprisingly not everyone is willing to answer emails at 3am!

However, I’ve now found a phenomenal business partner, Katherine Ferdinand who not only has a complementary skill set but also ample experience in product development and marketing so I am looking forward to what 2012 will bring.

What would you say has been some of the key things that you’ve learnt along the way?

One of my favourite quotes is “Whilst the optimist, pessimist and realist were debating how full the glass of water was the opportunist drank it”.

So what I’ve learnt is that there comes a point where you need to put the frameworks, strategies and doubts aside and commit to an idea, vision and a team. The only way you’ll find out if your idea is worth it is by putting yourself out there and not being scared of the consequences.

Any type of failure just makes you stronger.

What would you say has been one of your most memorable moments so far?

I remember seeing the first draft of the TravelClouds logo and thinking “Ok…now this is real”, but I’ve had so many incredible opportunities and moments in this journey.

Meeting Charles Dunstone and having monthly meetings with him definitely ranks fairly highly.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?

I’ll tell you when we’ve survived our first year.

What can we be expecting from you in the near future?

This coming year a lot more noise around TravelClouds. The programme with NEF finishes in September 2012. Daring to dream, Katherine and I would love to have secured financing by then and be in a position where not only are we self sufficient with TravelClouds but also paving the way to be able to create jobs for other people.

I’m also looking forward to more Travel with trips to Finland, Estonia and Germany already in the diary, more challenges and more fun along the way.

Jake went from working in an online record label (MudHut Digital) twice a week in his first year of university to staring up Going Social. He currently works with Alex Kelleher at Cognitive Match as part of the NEF program.

Jake talks us through his journey so far in the latest interview from the NEF interview series.

Hi Jake, Great to have you on YHP, How are you doing today?

Good thanks. Love this winter sun.

Can you give us some brief background information about yourself before we dive into the interview proper?

Grew up in London, and then I studied ‘The History and Philosophy of Science’ at UCL. It was a great marriage between Science and Philosophy, thought I was going to end up an academic. However, I started a business while I was there, and that propelled me in a different direction.

So Jake, tell me about yourself growing up? What was your ambition? Were you the entrepreneurial – making a quick buck type?

Yes and no really. Wasn’t driven hugely by entrepreneurial stuff, in fact I used to always talk about living in a cave in Tibet (which is not off the agenda just yet). However, there were flashes of it when I was at school, coached Poker and ran Poker Tournaments for clients and had a few cheeky businesses on the go here and there. I’ve always been a hopeless optimist, I think that helps.

When did you get your first taste of entrepreneurship, what was your first business project?

When I was about 6, I convinced my little sister that it would be a good idea to set up a stall outside our house. The enterprise was not a success. Turns out people don’t like buying chalk wrapped up in sweet wrappers. I tried to push the business on and sell “fresh” rainwater, I was front of house while my sister was left catching droplets into old Orangina bottles.

You graduated from UCL, tell us about your experience at the university?

I grew up in South London, so by going to UCL I was able to experience what it is like living in central, north and east. That was cool. The course was great, got heavily into philosophy of physics went a bit crazy while doing a dissertation on ‘backwards in time causation in quantum mechanics.’

What would you say was some of the biggest lessons you took away from your university experience?

For some unknown anthropological reason, if you join sports team in university, be prepared for a bizarre cult-like obsession with drinking games.

I know a lot of people are choosing to go straight into work or starting their own business instead. What would you say to anyone contemplating between going to university and going straight into work?

You’ll never get 0% interest loans again, if you can get on a course you will enjoy go for it. Don’t force yourself through a course you don’t enjoy because you think it will help you later.

During your time at university, you also founded a startup – Going Social, tell us how the idea came about?

From enternships.com I took a job twice a week at an online record label (MudHut Digital) in my first year of university. Their business model promoted artists using social media and take a cut off iTunes. I thought I could do this for SME’s on some scale; I did some consultancy, made some contacts and then got a great team together.

What is Going Social?

My elevator pitch was – “Creativity combined with analytics.” It was a digital agency, that offered a range of services for cheaper than all the big names. We picked up the guys who didn’t have the big marketing budgets but desperately needed to communicate effectively online. It worked.

Tell us about the early days of turning it from an idea to what it is now, what challenges did you face?

Going Social actually is no more. I was intending to hire a load of people and take it to the next level but then I got into NEF, which is ironic but I thought it would be a good idea to learn more. Also, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a social media agency. I saw that space was crowded and more and more tools were becoming available to brands to keep stuff in-house.

How were you able to balance school and running a business?

Quite a few essays were late in my second year. I got a 2:1 but you have to take some hits. I was getting very good at writing 3,000 words in two days.

How were you able to fund it?

It was a fairly cheap operation, some of the team put some money in but the first client saw us through.

So how did you get involved in NEF? How did you find out about it? How did you know this was the next step for you?

I read it in the paper, and a few people sent through the link to me. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn some more about different industries and how people run things.

What has it been like working with the founder – Alex Kelleher at Cognitive Match?

I knew Alex from my Going Social days. Now I know how busy he is, I appreciate those times where he met me to talk through my own business. It is good to work with him definitely, he’s a smart guy.

What are you personally trying to achieve from working at the company?

I don’t really have a personal agenda, I think it is important to go with the flow, stay flexible.
Learn as much as I can and add as much value as I can. You will have to ask Alex about the latter but I have learnt a lot.

What would you say has been some of the key things that you’ve learnt so far?

Display advertising is an industry I did not have much exposure to before. Cognitive Match are revolutionising this sector since they change the online experience for both brands and consumers by eliminating generic ads and creating content that is tailored to individuals. On top of that, the results you get from a relevant display campaign are very useful since the insights can inform all your advertising efforts. Knowing that one particular ad is attracting the most interest with people in NW1.. using iPads.. when it is warm outside.. on Saturday afternoon.. is the kind of information advertisers crave.

What would you say has been the most challenging part of the whole process?

Turning off after you leave work. It is very important. You can find yourself bashing out emails at 11pm but it can be counter-productive.

To anyone thinking of joining the programme, what value can they expect to get from it?

Everyone who is on the programme this year is great, which makes the training even more enjoyable. The content of the programme ranges from financial training from Deloitte all the way to how to think properly! For example, one time we got in and we had to make, market and pitch our own new brand of chocolate to a deadline.. another time we had the Mclarren Innovation Team come in and explain how they operate and maximize results. It is a great range of activities.

What has been your most memorable moment up to date?

I was on a sales pitch in New York which was pretty cool. I remember thinking ‘wow my British accent makes me sound so clever!’ It obviously didn’t apart from in my smug head.

After NEF, what’s next for you?

I’ve got loads of plans, but I’m sure I’ll end up doing something I never planned for.