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.

Despite leaving academia to go into full time employment at 16, Kevin’s life looks pretty good. He is one of the NEF candidates, currently working with Ranjit Boparan at 2 Sisters Food Group.

He talks us through his journey so far.

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

I am very well thank you

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

Okay, I am 26 years old and I grew up in Surrey, I am currently living in Birmingham and working with Ranjit Boparan at 2 Sisters Food Group. I left school at the age of 16 and went straight to work in the building trade for about 3 years. I realized that I did not want to work in the building trade for the rest of my life so I then moved into car insurance sales for two years which was the beginning of my sales career.

I then went onto work in the health care recruitment industry for 3 ½ years building myself a successful career without having been to university and earning a pretty healthy salary. I was constantly trying to improve myself by learning how to build websites in my spare time and eventually left recruitment to pursue an online financial comparison business that I was building.

Since then I have launched a small telecommunications business but realized that for me to progress as an entrepreneur and build a long term successful business I needed some further education in business finance and an experienced mentor to give me some further guidance.

I like socializing with friends, going on holiday and enjoying the sun. I like trying new things as well as poker & football but my real passion is business. I just love making money, meeting new people and getting involved in new exciting projects.

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

Growing up was interesting to say the least, I didn’t come from an extremely poor background but my family was not wealthy in any way. My teenage years were pretty rebellious and I guess I thought I knew best about everything along with consistently being in trouble in and out of school.

I’m not going to give the old sob story of my life as been so hard growing up and my first word was money but since the age of about 10 years old I have been money motivated and consistently trying to make money by constantly whipping up schemes, selling things and building small startups from my bedroom. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work for myself but knowing where to start was always difficult with very little business guidance.

Everyday I used to wake up and think how I would make money and what am I going to do about making it happen. For me everyday is a new opportunity to change your life to the way you want it. I was not interested at all in making a small amount of money and working in a job I did not love. It was just not for a me and not an option. I will do everything possible to try my hardest and have fun along the way and eventually get to where I want to be, ideally on my own private jet haha.

After school, what did you do?

After leaving school I skipped around the building industry in various different trades and quickly realized that this was no the career path that I aspired to take. I knew in the back of my mind all along that I wanted to work for myself but at the time there was no a big hype around the word entrepreneur. There was not much direction as to how to become an entrepreneur or how to learn some of the key skills I needed to pursue this career path. This was long before youtube, dragons den, The Apprentice and so on.

My best shot at getting to where I wanted to be with no further education was to get into sales and grow my sales skills. I needed to learn from those around me and take in as much information as possible from my employers and progress my skills. Fortunately my previous employers have been very supportive over the years and given me some great guidance and always tried to help me progress further.

The thing is no one teaches you at school or university how to lead a client meeting, selling to a customer over the phone, how to manage a team or even the basics of a professional attitude in a work environment. These are all the things I have learnt along the way to improve myself as my professional career progressed.

Why did you decide to choose the career path rather than going to the university?

I had considered university after leaving school but I guess very keen and felt confident to just get out into the real world and start earning money and gaining experience and of course ‘I knew best’. My understanding at the time was that many people go to university and study for years without actually using the degree that they have been studying and end up working in a completely different job which didn’t really make sense to me.

I was inspired by Richard Branson’s success, he proved you do not need a degree to build a successful business venture. I wanted to break the mold if you like and just get on with it, if there was something I needed to learn then I had the internet and if I needed experience I would get that experience on the job and work my way up the ladder from the bottom. I have no fear in believing in my own ability and I constantly strive to do better and eventually I will achieve want I want to achieve.

What would you say anyone contemplating between going to university or going straight into work?

I think that the days of going to university is changing rapidly due to the high tuition fees. Young people will be thinking twice about just going to sign up for university at the prices being charged. I think you have to be fully committed to the course or career path that you are choosing to part with such a large sum of money.

To me you should go to university if there is something that you really want to learn or a specific career path that you would like to take. If you just want to go to university because it is what your parents are suggesting or your friends are doing then you may need to reconsider because it is a lot of money to waste to get half way through your course and think I don’t like this anymore.

Making your career choice is actually simple in the end and you should always do something that you love. If you do not wake up inspired and motivated at the thought of the job you are about to go and do then you are probably in the wrong job and will be unhappy.

Over the past couple of years what would you say has been some of the key lessons you learnt from working in different companies and what value has it added to your life?

The previous employers that I have worked for in the past have taught me so much. Their encouragement and support have helped me develop my self confidence and the ability to grow my skills. Whilst working in recruitment, I really began to grow with a massive amount of guidance from the senior team leaders and my boss at the time.

Some of the key skills they gave me were how to conduct client meetings, cold calling, recruiting and retaining staff, managing my staff portfolio whilst giving me a good understanding of margins and looking after my own small business. One of the most difficult lessons was how to manage a large number of staff whilst trying to keep everyone happy as well as getting the job done. Recruitment gave me a solid work ethic of work hard, play hard and that you only get out what you put in.

Working as a recruitment consultant gave me my first real buzz for running a small successful business of my own. I learnt a huge amount in my 3 ½ years in terms of canvassing for new business, holding client meetings, selling over the phone, conducting interviews and generally managing my own desk. In running a temporary recruitment desk it gave me a good understanding of monitoring and growing my weekly numbers and margins.

So how did you get involve in NEF? How did you find out about it?

I randomly picked up the city am newspaper as I never read this paper in the mornings because it was usually the metro I read. I noticed the advert and didn’t actually believe what I was reading as I thought it was too good to be true. The NEF is the first course that I have come across that has come anywhere close to giving an up and coming entrepreneur a real opportunity to get the right combination of educational material and access to one of the top entrepreneurs in the country.

After various interviews, tests and assessment days I was fortunate enough to be selected for the final stage which was corporate acceptance. I was then invited for an interview with 2 Sisters Food Group and with some serious luck I was selected for the position and the rest is history.

Tell me about your experience working with Ranjit Singh Boparan at 2 Sisters Food Group so far?

Working with someone like Ranjit is a real eye opener; I have never met an entrepreneur quite like him because he is truly unique. Working with Ranjit is a real privilege and an experience I will never forget. One of the first things he said to me was ‘Cash is King’ which is pretty obvious but considering that I have started many small ventures with little or no capital meant that I was already dead in the water before I had even started those ventures.

Ranjit then went onto explain the importance of understanding my numbers, the importance of having visibility of your businesses numbers to have a sense of control of your business everyday. He has helped me understand the importance of generating cash and controlling working capital. I had never understood this philosophy before that conversation, yet it is one of the most important things to consider when running a business and something else they do not mention on dragons den!

I have learnt so much in such a short space of time because Ranjit has fully understood the NEF concept and what I need to get out of this experience. Ranjit has given me the opportunity to learn at board level in a £2.1 Billion business and learn how to manage and continue to grow a business of this size.

In terms of projects so far I have been involved with integrations, acquisitions, export, startup businesses, charity events, sponsorships, new technology, financial strategies and the list goes on. It has been such an incredible experience so far to meet so many new people and learn so much from such a great team.

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

Some of the key things I have learnt so far is the importance of understanding your numbers as I never really paid much attention to this area because I was mainly focused on the idea and designing my product or service without even understanding how you should start by creating and validating a feasible business plan.

Cash is king in the business world along with your customers being the no1 priority. You have to keep your customers happy and you cannot just sit still, you need to constantly keep improving your service, innovating and giving more for less. You need to know your competition, know your customers and be the best at what you do.

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

The most challenging part of the experience is the intense amount of information you need to take in along with all the different projects I am working on and trying to balance a healthy work life balance.

I was living in Surrey before I started this position but it required me to move to Birmingham so that was pretty difficult to leave friends and family behind for a year. It is a very unique opportunity to work at this level and gain insight to a business of this size and be constantly challenged with new projects and opportunities.

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

It will definitely be different form anything you have done before and for me it does depend on which company you are placed with and how much exposure you get with the CEO. You will definitely have an amazing learning experience that is for sure and it will give you a very good understanding of how to launch, manage and grow a business. Along the way you will also grow your business network and make some really good friends.

Tell us about a difficult time on your journey so far and how you’ve been able to overcome that?

To be honest I am constantly thrown into difficult situations and taken out of my comfort zone on a day to day basis. I just try my best and do everything that I can to find solutions to the problems I am faced with. For me the most difficult thing is being nervous when speaking in front of large groups and I haven’t quite overcome that yet but I will let you know when I do but for now I’m winging it.

What has been your most memorable moment up to date?

There are so many great moments so far such as meeting the Mclaren engineering team to traveling around the country and visiting Holland but I guess the most memorable moment so far has to be going to Richard Branson’s house for lunch. Attending the Fast track 100 awards and having the opportunity to network and meet so many great entrepreneurs in one room was a fantastic experience.

After NEF, what’s next for you?

Only time will tell really, the ideal situation would be to launch my own business at the end of this process as I am always thinking of new ideas, new technology, new websites and offline concepts. Hopefully over the next year I will have my light bulb moment and develop that idea into a viable business and get my private jet haha.

Not every just gets to have breakfast with Richard Branson, but those are the kind of people you suddenly become exposed to or become accessible when you become part of the NEF programme.

Today I continue with my interview series with Ravi Patel – who currently works at Virgin Active’s head office.

Hi Ravi, It’s great to have you on YHP, How are you doing today?

Hi Joseph, I’m doing well thanks. Refreshed after the Christmas and New Years break, ready for the challenges in 2012!

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

I left London after my final year of school to go to Warwick University, where I studied Finance and Accounting for 3 years. After an internship at a top European bank in the summer 2010, I left the banking industry feeling disillusioned at the gap between what was promised and what was actually delivered. In my final year at university, I set up a company called Eagle Entertainment along with two other friends. It was a student events management company and we hosted student club nights, charity and society events and in our final ever week of University, we hosted an outdoor concert. This experience really sparked my interest in running my own business after university.

What would you list as some of the key things that you took from your university experience?

I can say the best thing I have taken from University is a network of friends who are also the best support network I have. As group of 10 or so close friends, we have had a lot of fun experiences, whether at university or when travelling together. Since university however, when it has come to becoming more independent and thinking about our careers, we are all similar. We are driven and ambitious and appreciate the hard work and effort we need to exert in order to be successful. I think it just shows that whilst at university, you may start of with a wide social network but after 3 years you will naturally narrow this down to a select group of like-minded individuals.

So how did you get involve in NEF? How did you find out about it?

After my banking internship in the second year of university, I looked at the career options available to me and wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do. Being part of the Warwick Business School, it was easy to get drawn in to looking at jobs in the accounting, banking and consulting industries. However, I came across the NEF scheme via an email from a recruitment company and it sparked an interest in me straight away. I had never actually looked at running my own business as a career option- purely because I believed that with my degree I had to look at banking and accounting jobs. When I saw this opportunity however, I thought it was a perfect chance to test the SME/ entrepreneurial waters.

You currently placed at Virgin Active, how has the experience been so far? What role do you play in the company?

I am working at Virgin Active head office but I haven’t been set a defined role as such! If I had to describe my role I would say “strategy” but essentially I research and look at new markets, new competition and current and future challenges the company is facing and provide ideas and strategy opinion, based on my own opinion and research. I would say my role definitely allows for intrapreneurship within Virgin Active and as such, I love being able to organize my own projects and make my strategic proposals be as innovative as possible.

What has been some of the most valuable things that you’ve learnt so far?

Virgin’s company culture is pioneering; treating your staff well means that they are motivated to provide excellent customer service, which in turn keeps the shareholders happy. The role has definitely taught me that some companies thrive when employees are treated well and empowered to come up with their own ideas. I have also been lucky enough to sit through the post-acquisition phase of a takeover that Virgin Active has completed of another gym operator, Esporta. Staff are naturally worried about job security and some are averse to structural changes through times like this. It has highlighted the need for clear communication to all staff members and the importance of an efficient HR function in delivering this.

What value would you say being part of the NEF programme gives you?

For me, the best thing about the NEF is the networking reach of the scheme. The backing that the NEF has from entrepreneurs, VCs, SMEs and large corporations means that it has the NEF brand has provided me access to a large network of experienced and aspiring entrepreneurs.

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

The New Entrepreneurs Foundation gives you the chance to learn how small organisations are created and grow organically. Being able to work with senior management, rather than just for them is a unique selling point of the scheme. Be prepared to work hard and pushed to challenge the norm within your firm. You should be able to provide innovative and fresh new modes of thinking but make sure you have fun too!

What has been your most memorable moment up to date?

Breakfast with Richard Branson! I emailed his PA and was lucky enough to meet him for an hour so. We spoke about his new book, his plans for Virgin Money and we also spoke about my entrepreneurial aspirations. An amazing moment!

What can we be expecting from you in the future, especially after the NEF programme?

I am working on 3 different businesses (within fashion, recruitment and education) and I hope to have at least one of them set up by the end of the scheme. I agree with Luke Johnson when he sys that “freelancers have a unique advantage in launching a startup- they can maintain a steady income flow whilst building their startup in the evenings and at weekends.” The NEF opportunity and working for Virgin Active has given the opportunity for me to do this so I am making the most of my time whilst I can!

It’s not everytime you hear a story of someone who paid off their parent’s mortage through saving and investing money from their EMA, anyways I dont want to give too much away.

Today I interview Andrew Jude Rajanathan, Andrew currently works with James Miles & Justin Gibbs at Liv-ex: The Fine Wine Exchange.

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

I’m doing great thank you for the interview invite.

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?

24 y/o LSE graduate, currently ‘learning to build a business’ with James Miles & Justin Gibbs at Liv-ex: The Fine Wine Exchange. Previous experience in financial services, internet start-ups and of course the media. In my spare time I write a lot, cook a lot and try to be a good son. I’m really passionate about internet start-ups, venture capital, good food and travel.

Thank you, So tell us how did you get into entrepreneurship, what was your motivation?

I haven’t really gotten into entrepreneurship per se but I do consider the New Entrepreneurs Foundation an apprenticeship in business. In short, I have always been a disruptive pupil at school, always getting told off for being a distraction and a bit of a nuisance. I also had a bit of a big mouth but then its unsurprising I ended up working for the BBC where I was fortunate enough to be paid to use it.

What was your first business; tell us about your experience running that?

While at University I got involved with running a bunch of societies and also the biggest Model United Nations conference in the U.K – London International Model United Nations (LIMUN). Funnily enough, this was one way I learnt how to hustle and fundraise. I was invited to a gala dinner at Clifford Chance, where we received a keynote speech from one of the partners – Stuart Popham. I knew I’d only have one opportunity to talk to him so I bided my time till the Q&A session began.

When it began my hand shot up straight away and I asked ‘How can students engage with the legal profession and legal issues’ to which he responded ‘You should think about inviting legal professionals to come speak at Universities and Societies.’

At that point, I knew I had him and announced I was a committee member for LIMUN. The crowd laughed; I’d put him on the spot. He invited me up at the end of the Q&A session and gave me his card. I gave him a short 30 second pitch about LIMUN and what it was and a few weeks later he confirmed that Clifford Chance would pledge £1,500 to the conference and any other support we’d need. This was a real coup for LIMUN as the sponsorship represented over half the previous year’s sponsorship budget.

Running small-ish initiatives like LIMUN taught me several lessons in working in teams, unearthing opportunities from scratch and making things happen.

And while I haven’t started a company, I do also manage one property on my own.

You were at Queens Mary University? 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 realize that this was the right choice for you?

Queen Mary was an interesting experience, I learnt a lot at this place met some of my best friends and ended up spending more time doing journalism than actually studying for that degree. I must’ve done something right because I got a scholarship to the London School of Economics after graduating. I didn’t consider entrepreneurship at 18 and to be quite frank there was barely anything mentioned about it while I was at school. I genuinely wanted to go to University because I wanted to study but I ended up spending far more time on other activities than study during those four years.

Were you involved in anything entrepreneurial there?

No, not at all. Mainly media related activities but I did spend a lot of time networking and developing relationships with very successful professionals and entrepreneurs. I ended up doing the UpRising Leadership Programme in my final year at Queen Mary and was mentored and still continue to be by a successful entrepreneur.

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

Being aggressive, gung-ho, a big risk taker or a maverick and somewhat nefarious makes you more interesting.

Going back to writing, apart from the BBC, you ended up writing for the likes of the Financial Times and City Financial. How did that come about and how was the experience?

Most people who end up in the media tell you they ‘fell into’ the industry. The same applies to me; someone in my class (who I owe the start of my career trajectory to) introduced me to an editor at the BBC. I did a few guest talks on their student panel, managed to impress them and they offered me work experience and a subsequent job. I still have a contract at the BBC so I wouldn’t rule out another stint.

The Financial Times was a result of lots of networking. I met a very kind editor who took me for coffee and I managed to convince that the media was what I wanted to do. He managed to squeeze me in an internship. I worked for the UK Companies desk and managed to get several articles published during my stint at the pink pages. I learnt a lot here, it’s an intellectually stimulating career and the people I met and worked with were some of the smartest I’ve come across. Also, meeting Lionel Barber (the main editor) was something that has stuck with me.

After graduating from the London School of Economics I ran straight into the City and I ended up at a boutique investment management company – City Financial. Much of what I did here was actually M&A/Corporate Development so buying up asset management companies in the UK and Europe. I learnt a lot here in a very short space of time but ultimately I believe working in M&A is not the best way for a smart graduate to spend their early years with the view of these ‘magical exit opportunities’ people talk about after you’ve paid your dues as an analyst. The problem here is many people from the LSE get sucked into this whirlpool and churned out of the City after 2-3 years. I didn’t want to end up that way and for most of my peers; a lot of them realize this isn’t right for them. I actually met a CEO of a very prestigious stockbroker during my time at the FT who even told me himself ‘The City isn’t the real road to glory.’

I didn’t stay for very long and left soon after with a blackbelt in PowerPoint and Excel, realizing that would be all I’d spend my working hours doing if I remained in the City. It was at this point I really got super interested in venture capital and internet start-ups something that had been building up for me over the past 12 months.

So after that, you decided to go and work at Groupon, why Groupon? Why didn’t you just start a company, I’m sure you probably had a lot of ideas running through your head for businesses at the time?

I’d followed Groupon since after its first year (they grossed $200m by that time I believe) so they’d received a lot of press and it was also an interesting business model. I was also interviewed for a position in the Strategic Planning team – these are the guys who broker the deals, set the price point, capacity limits, what cities a deal will/can run in etc and essentially run the company. Plus every single person I met in that team was incredibly bright, so it was a no brainer really.

As for starting my own thing, I’m in no rush to do it and I believe in doing something once and then doing it well. I don’t want to run lots of little experimental companies in the hope one hits it big. So right now I’m focused on learning.

How was the whole experience working for Groupon? What would you say you learnt from that experience?

My role here involved a lot of research and analysis. I built an e-learning platform compiling the best deals over the past 18 months and broke down into minutiae detail how a given deal should be structured which was used by our sales team as a reference point. I also did a lot of presentation material work for the infamous Samwer brothers (respect to anyone who can flip a company after 5 months for $250m+) which was sent out to all the international directors for Groupon International. A few of the processes I managed to put in place are still being used by the team at Groupon. I also learnt a lot about how most of the consumer products we purchase every day are priced and structured which was pretty illuminating to see.

I also managed to source a deal that generated $1m+ in revenue for the firm but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a cut of the commission as I left shortly before the deal went live on Groupon (Painful lesson from 2011).

Before we get into the NEF, I learnt that you paid off your parent’s mortgage – in full? That’s really cool, they must be so proud of you, how did you manage to do that at such a young age?

At 16 I really found it difficult, actually scratch that, impossible to find a job and we in the middle of a BOOM in the UK economy. So I took a long-term view and just started getting into investing and learning how it all worked. Once I got to sixth form I was actually lucky enough to be eligible for EMA something I didn’t bother spending any of it and saved instead. I spent a lot of time reading about investing and stock picking and decided this was more important than spending money on useless consumer goods like my peers.

I did well enough at investing by locking up my capital in an ISA stockbroker which at the time was giving me 3% per month – remember we were in the middle of a boom I even saw some ISAs were giving up to 7% per annum.

I’m not going to lie, I lost A LOT of money doing this as well through naivety and not enough research and possibly not being emotionally mature enough to know when to hold or sell. I managed to amass enough capital over 5 years to pay off my parent’s mortgage.

Tell us about NEF, how did you get into this, what was the process?

I received an email from FreshMinds in Feb 2011 about the scheme and decided to apply. It was a VERY lengthy process involving:

An application form
A telephone interview with FreshMinds
A first round interview with FreshMinds
An Assessment Centre

THEN, I needed to interview at a firm to get a place on the scheme confirmed

2 interviews per firm, I interviewed at 3 firms

All in all I must’ve done around 10 different interviews

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

I’m currently placed at Liv-ex where I’m working on mainly all the core operationally focused areas of the business: operations, finance, logistics, product development, data and research.

So far, so good. I’m learning a lot here and I get a lot of contact with all the senior people in the firm and the training has been pretty good so far. The best bit of the whole programme really is the level of responsibility I’ve been given and the number of things I get to work on.

What are some of the key things that you’ve learnt so far from working for Liv-ex?

From what I’ve observed and this is generally about what determines the success of a firm. The founders matter so much as well as their ability to focus on the right things and do them. You also have to be very ruthless about priorities and its mind blowing the amount of decisions the founders have to make without really having an idea which one is going to lead to your success or give you the best trajectory.

What has it been like working with James Miles & Justin Gibbs at Liv-ex?

I work a lot with James to be honest who is really helpful and brings me to a lot of high level meetings, sits with me for a good half hour every so often (which is like watching a book being compressed in a short space of time) and pretty much gives me a lot of autonomy and freedom to actually do interesting things in the firm. I also get to work across most functions in the firm so by the end of the programme I’ll have a very strong idea about how marketplaces and electronic exchanges work and of course, fine wine.

Justin is hilarious as well and he does a really good job from what I’ve observed running the sales and trading desk at Liv-ex.

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

Yes completely but realize that its apprenticeship where you’ll still come in as an ‘entry level’ person but get to work directly with the senior people actually running the firm.

The real value I believe comes in several forms:

a) A peer group of 30 intelligent and interesting young professionals
b) Training from top draw companies on several key aspects of business
c) Working directly with the entrepreneurs running the firm
d) A brilliant speaker series with top draw entrepreneurs
e) Behind the scenes privileges, I can’t disclose these, but most people would love these opportunities

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

Key things that matter:

A) Access to capital, either your own or someone else’s
B) A BIG market problem that is widely accepted
C) A clear solution to this problem [could you explain it in 140 characters]
D) Most great businesses are ‘hunches’
E) Great people – the best founders/management will pull their product out of the market
F) Great mentors are hard to find. This is really important

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

I wouldn’t say I’ve had one but the learning curve is very sharp, the responsibility plentiful and the autonomy wonderful. I don’t think I’m the type to accept micro management at all and I’m glad Liv-ex offers me an environment that gives me plenty of space to and room to tackle lots of different projects.

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

I’m pretty reluctant about this and I don’t want to try sell everyone on being an entrepreneur. For most people it’s not the answer.

I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice but I’ve found the following useful:

1) Figure out if it’s time to earn or time to learn (Mark Suster wrote extensively on this Google it)
2) Figure out if you have life’s ability to try i.e no major responsibilities, no dependents, no real need to earn a minimum salary per month
3) Is a genuine demand for a product – it’s not a business until someone sells something
4) Find good mentors, especially those with 10-20 year track records who will advise you, take you under their wing, kick your ass when you deserve it, support you when you need it and listen to you
5) Build a network and do it early as possible. One coffee meeting a week is 50 meetings per year, think how much you could achieve if you did that?
6) Read a lot and travel widely
7) If, you have conviction – Go do it!

So now – what’s next for Andrew?

I would be happy to stick around at Liv-ex after the programme and either do my own thing or join an early stage venture capital firm in a few years after I’ve got some strong experience under my belt. In the mean time, I’m focusing on developing a lot of strong skills, continuing to learn about internet companies, investing and developing a robust network of contacts for the future. Instead of setting a New Year’s Resolution for 2012 I’ve decided to focus on building better habits.

Finishing off our interview, I asked – What advices would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business? He said:

The theory of evolution claims that only the strong will survive, may be so. However the theory of competition states that even the strong can get their arse‘s kicked!

Continuing with my interview series with the NEF participants, today I interview Louis Mech. Louis is currently working at Talk Talk PLC and today talks us through his journey so far.

This is the Interview.

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

I am good thanks; excited to get things moving after the Christmas and New Year break.

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?

Sure, I am a 22 year old recent graduate from Royal Holloway (University of London). When I was 12 my families moved to America; so for the last decade I have been flip flopping between the UK and the US. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up on both sides of the pond. Also I am a sports nut! I enjoy all sports however I particularly love going to watch Rugby on Saturdays and then playing Tennis in the summer.

So Louis, tell me how you got into entrepreneurship, what was your motivation?

I am very dyslexic and entrepreneurship always came more naturally to me than English, French or Physics etc. I think at school I really enjoyed the human element that business studies had over other subjects. Business Studies/ entrepreneurship at school motivated me because I was so rubbish at other subjects! I was the worst in the class at the traditional subjects (religious studies use to bore me to tears) then suddenly I was the best in the class at business studies, a lot of people say improve on your weakness; however I prefer to build upon my strengths.

What was your first business, tell us about your experience running that?

Well I went to boarding school when I was 13 and I was always flying backwards and forward from the UK to the US and vice versa. As a result I use to buy stuff in the US and then sell it at school. Typically the UK is about 6 to 9 months behind the US on trends so I would see what my US friends were wearing or using e.g Ugg’s, Abercrombie clothes and iPods; I would then go and buy some, then sell that stash at school for tuck money, If I bought it forr $100 I would sell it for £100, that’s not bad money when your 14!

After that business, what else did you get involved in?

I got involved with Young Enterprise (a national student enterprise competition) at school and was given the lofty title of ‘Director of Sales’. One of the big YE regional competitions was the Somerset Christmas fair. The intention was that each team would make their own products to sell at the fair however I searched and found a local craft store that was going out of business so I bought their Christmas stock. Needless to say our stall had loaded full of really nice handmade Christmas gifts compared to the other stuff the others were selling. My team had the highest sales but however we lost the competition because we ‘did not compete in the spirit of the YE’ I remember thinking this competition just does not get what enterprise is all about.

So you attended Royal Holloway University? 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?

Well I think entrepreneurship is all about calculated risks; the way I saw it was if I got a University degree that would provide me with a safety net should I ever need to get a “real job” in the city. University is great for serendipity you never know who you will meet or listen to. These random meetings plant the seeds of idea and who knows those ideas might just become successful business. University is a great place to start a business because the down side is so minimal. When suppliers would ask me for personal guarantees I would always say of course. This was because I knew that I owned nothing – what’s the worst they could do, take my dorm room off me! Also University is a lot fun, you can’t beat a boozy nights at the SU dress as a Smurf!

You also studied abroad at University of Georgia, how was that experience, why did you decide to do that?

One of the best experiences of my life! UGA was vote the number one party school in all of the US, so that was a big influence on why I decided to go there.

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

If you’re determined enough you can make anything happen. I think there is a great quote that summarises this school of thought from Tom Hanks in the movie Apollo 13 “it’s not a miracle that man walked on the moon, we just decided to go”.

Is this something you would recommend to other students at the university?

Yes 110%, everyone needs to get outside their comfort zone.

Tell me about how VEO started, how did the idea come about?

Well when I was studying in the US I heard of a company call TOM’s shoes and how they were championing the one for one business model. one for one means every time someone purchases a product a similar product is donated to people in need. I though wow that is really cool! TOM’s were successfully proving that you can utilize the purchasing power of consumers to deliver social change! Then I though how could I make a dent in the Universes through social enterprise.

What is VEO? Tell me more about it?

VEO was a social enterprise sunglasses brand. Every time someone purchases a set of VEO sunglasses, VEO donates a pair of Adjustable Eyewear to a person in need. As I am sure few people will know what Adjustable Eyewear, let me just take a moment to explain the incredible/bazaar/very fun invention. Adjustable Eyewear were created by Professor Josh Silver as a way of distributing prescription eyewear to people in some of the most remote parts of the world, where optometrists do not exist. These somewhat Harry Potter-ish glasses have syringes on the side, and with a few simple twists the recipient then has working prescription eyewear. Once they have found their prescription the person then simply cuts off the syringes and they have normal working prescription glasses.

What kind of challenges did you face when starting the company and how did you deal with it?

We had loads of challenges such as cashflow, balancing uni workloads, writing business plans etc…you just find a way to get it done because you believe in what you are doing.

Talking about balancing your university work with business? How were you able to balance your time on both of them?

I guess I was lucky because I studies Business Management at University; so a lot of my work for say accounting or marketing I used VEO as the case study. I thought of it as killing two birds with one stone.

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

Businesses consist of three parts those are 50% people, 25% idea and 25% business plan if you don’t get the balance right you’re in trouble.

Tell us about NEF, why did you decide this was the next step for you, what was the process?

It sounded like a cool program, so I thought what the heck. It was one written application a few 100 words on your favourite entrepreneur. Then two phone interviews. After that there was an assessment day. In groups of 5-6 you had an hour to come up with a business and then pitch it sort of like dragons den. Then if you get through the assessment day you are interviewed by successful entrepreneurs (these are potentially the guys that you will shadow) to see if there is a personality match. It’s along process however it’s worth it in the end.

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

I am currently working for Talk Talk PLC(TALK) the UK’s third largest Telco provider with 5Million customers and £1.7 Billion in Revenue in 2010. It has been like drinking from a fire hose! There has just been so much to take in.

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

Look for disruption points that are occurring around you (The PESTLE framework is useful for this) and then consider how to take advantage of them.

If you can’t add value you can’t add margin!

Working capital is a very important thing to get your head around.

Why did you choose Talk Talk?

Maybe a better question is why TT chose me… only Lord knows why they took a punt on me! Haha! I got a great vibe from the CEO Dido Harding and the Founder Neil McArthur. I also like that TT is a challenger brand that it’s never scared to stick two fingers up to established players.

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

NEF? Yes NEF is a great way to learn from the best! Also everyone on the program are ballers. NEF is loads of fun it’s sort of like a cool entrepreneurial fraternity.

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

Meeting Richard Branson was really cool or when we had an innovation work shop from McLaren F1. I never met an organization (McLaren F1) with such a clear focus “we are here to win” plain and simple. I LOVED IT!

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

Here’s the thing that makes life so interesting, the theory of evolution claims that only the strong will survive, may be so. However the theory of competition states that even the strong can get their arse ‘s kicked! All successful entrepreneurs will tell you that the odds are stacked against you however they will also tell you that entrepreneurship is not a maths test! Entrepreneur is a different type of test where passion has a funny way of trumping logic. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Mark Twain

What can we be expecting from you in the future?

I will hopefully have some fun and make some money.

This is my third interview in the NEF series and today my interview is with Benjamin Wigoder. Benjamin is currently working with Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) – which is one of the largest online payments companies in the world, he currently works in the product team where he comes up with new business ideas or sometimes just tweaking existing products.

This is the interview.

Hi Ben, It’s great to finally have you on YHP, how are you doing today?

I’m very well, thank you!

How did you get into entrepreneurship? What was your first business, how did the idea came about and tell us about your experience running that?

To be honest I fell into it. When I was 11 or 12 years old we had some ICT lessons at school where we learnt the basics of building websites. I remember during break time when most of the other kids were outside playing football, I went to the computer room to keep learning how to code. I launched my own website and once I was getting thousands of visitors a day I started putting ads on the site. After about 6 months I received a cheque for $500 from one of the companies who were advertising on my site. That was a buzz. I’ve still got a copy of that cheque on my wall!

You went on to study at LSE , tell me about your experience?

It was hard work! I met some very interesting people, made some close friends, but also grew up. I think that’s what university is mainly about. Of course I learnt a lot on the course, but it was the extra-curricula activities and personal development which I think will prove to have been the greatest benefit to me going forward, as opposed to matrices and partial differentiation… There’s a lot to be said for the freedom you get as a student – you keep hearing about all these companies started by students, Facebook & Google are great examples, or if you go further back, Time Magazine was started by some Yale undergraduates – so that freedom means you have the space to be creative and try new things – so I had a great time exploring new ideas – even though I didn’t create the next big thing…

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 realize that this was the right choice for you?

I think before university I was in a bit of a hurry. I wanted to start work right away. My parents thought I should go to university to keep my options open – and they were right.. When I’m pitching to investors and I can say “I have a degree from LSE” it adds credibility and shows I can stick with something for a few years. I think I was pretty lucky to go to university when I did though, with the recent increase in tuition fees it’s a much more difficult decision for this generation when they come to weigh up the pros & cons of a university education.

While at LSE, you founded Sparks @LSE which is now one of the largest entrepreneurship society events in the UK, tell me about how the idea came about?

Just after I started my second year, I met Artur, who was then President of the Entrepreneurs society. I applied to run one of the existing society events, but we got chatting and decided we wanted to do something bigger. You know how sometimes you get a meeting of minds? You bounce ideas off each other and it’s totally natural – and that’s what happened.

Suddenly we wanted to launch this international event to inspire young entrepreneurs, helping them create a network, whilst raising money for a worthy cause.

So that’s how the idea came about – a brainstorm… but the end result was nothing like the initial idea. We didn’t raise the sponsorship we initially thought we would, we got turned down by many of the speakers we asked (which in hindsight was unsurprising given we were launching a brand new event that nobody had heard of), and we had a couple of last minute logistical issues which caught us by surprise!

I was very lucky to have Artur as the President – he gave me full autonomy in creating and running the event, but was also a great source of fresh ideas and sound advice. To answer your question – I don’t think I could say the whole idea came about at one time, it evolved up to the date of the inaugural conference, and with the second one on the way, and the second iteration of the management team in place, the idea has continued to grow.

I remember attending the event in 2010 and it was packed with amazing speakers, attendees, how did you manage to get all the speakers onboard, get sponsors and get such a great turnout for the event? What would you say was some of the key things you learnt from that experience?

Hard work, luck, and perseverance. I think we must have contacted 15 or 20 entrepreneurs before we got our first yes. That was pretty tough – rejection after rejection – you need to keep believing. None of us had any experience in this kind of cold-calling either – so we didn’t know what to expect. But once we got our first “yes”, that gave us the belief this was something we could do. I imagine that’s similar to what it must feel like to make your first sale – at that point you know you have something of value which other people want.

We also made use of our alumni relations to secure speakers, and in this respect the university were very helpful. Getting sponsorship was tough. We didn’t find many companies interested in spending big bucks sponsoring an entrepreneurs’ society – had we been banking or consultancy or law it might have been different. So we got creative. For example we were sponsored by some of the other student societies on campus.

We also partnered with our university radio station, who provided the audio-visual for the event.
We had to constantly adapt to changes, for example we had issues with the university venue we had originally planned to use, and had to move the event to an external venue at the last minute. So lots of things changed, I guess my biggest takeaway is that things change quickly,but it doesn’t matter provided you are prepared to stay flexible, and make the best of what you’ve got.

I remember there was a worrying moment when I met with Artur and I said: “Look, we haven’t raised the projected funds, we haven’t got the right venue, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to afford lunch for the attendees – I think we might have to cancel the event!” – to which he replied: “Look, none of this matters – get a room, chuck in the speakers, chuck in the attendees – and you have an awesome event! Of course the other things would be nice, but they don’t actually matter – it will all work out!” – he was right – the next day we secured almost £2,000 in sponsorship from the Women in Business society.

So from this I learnt that sometimes, even when all the pieces aren’t yet in place, you just need to take a leap of faith. I love the definition of an entrepreneur as being someone who jumps out of a plane with all the tools needed to build a parachute – I think that’s a pretty good analogy.

I also learnt the value of having a strong team. Within that team you need leaders, people with initiative and drive and determination to succeed – I was very lucky to have these people. Without a strong team, the event quite simply wouldn’t have been possible – these were the guys who built the parachute after I said “jump!”

How were you able to balance your time and keep focus?

That’s a tough one. I’d like to say I was disciplined and kept focussed on my university work without missing a single lecture and submitting all my work on time. But the truth is I got really caught up in the excitement around the event – and for sure in the weeks preceding the conference that was my focus (and I roped in my flat-mates also!) Actually, that’s something I’d like to add to the things I’ve learnt from the experience – there’s nothing like having close friends who can help you out when you need it most.

You were also the president of LSE entrepreneurs. Talk us through how did that happened and some of the key things you learnt from that?

So running the society wasn’t really something I had in mind – but after successfully building Sparks@LSE, Artur (the then president) and I had a chat – he suggested I think about running for election as the next President. I think what excited me was the possibly of taking on a bigger role, where I could help inspire more people and create new and even more exciting entrepreneurship events.

In my mind it was also a great chance to manage a fairly large team – which I think will come in very useful in my future career. I think at one point we had 45 people in the team (this was broken down into sub-teams of 5-10 for different projects) – along with a management team. This was really hard! When I’ve read about how to motivate employees two things they really tend to want are to be well paid, and to have job security. When the team is made up of unpaid employees, who aren’t concerned about job security, you are forced to use other techniques to motivate the team. So here I learnt about the importance of ensuring people are challenged, are enjoying their role, and are striving towards a greater purpose (a common goal) – I think these are important lessons I’ll hold on to for the future – when I come to employ people for real.

What opportunities do you think being president or being involved in the LSE entrepreneurs gave you?

I was very lucky to be elected as President – and as an unintended consequence of being involved I was fortunate to have some unique opportunities. For example, I met dozens of very successful entrepreneurs, some of whom I’m still in contact with, all of whom not only have great stories to tell, but also sound advice to pass on.

I was also able to meet lots of other aspiring entrepreneurs – who were at different stages of launching their venture – and had exposure to lots of early-stage business ideas as they evolved. This was a fantastic chance to learn from other people’s experience.

I also had fun – for example we met HRH Prince Andrew at one point – to chat about what our society was working on.

Tell us about NEF and how you got involved?

So I was in my final year – and everyone was applying for graduate jobs – but I couldn’t see a single one I was interested in. I didn’t want to be a banker, a consultant or an accountant, I didn’t want to go into marketing, and I couldn’t see a single graduate scheme which actually made me think “yes – I want to do that!”

But in March 2011 I got an email from Freshminds (a company NEF hired to help with recruiting) – asking me to let the members of LSE Entrepreneurs know about the event. I was very happy to help spread the word – but also thought “finally – this is something I would really like to do!” So I sent in my application… I was pretty enthusiastic about the programme, and after a grueling interview process I was very fortunate to be selected.

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

I work for Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) – which is one of the largest online payments companies in the world. I’m working in the product team, which involves coming up with new business ideas – sometimes these are tweaks to existing products – sometimes these are radical ideas for new products. Because of the entrepreneurial spirit within the company, we are very fortunate to also receive a regular stream of fantastic ideas from people working in other teams.

Once we have developed the idea, and checked it makes sense from a business point of view, we work with our designers and developers to actually build and launch the product.

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

The one thing I was really keen to learn before starting work at Skrill was how a product idea travels from inception to launch in a large organization – so when I come to launch my own technology business I will understand how to scale it. It’s one thing to have a couple of guys in a room coding and launching new products, it’s another to have more than 500 employees and more than 23m customers relying on your products – and so I’m learning how to make sure that you don’t just gain customers – but that you keep them.

I’ve learnt how to work with different teams and people from widely differing backgrounds, and how to communicate effectively when working with people to a tight deadline. There’s a ton of stuff I’m looking forward to learning going forward – when that learning curve slows down, that will probably be a sign that it’s time for me to move on to the next challenge.

Is this something that you would recommend to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What value can they get from getting accepted in NEF?

For me, personally, I’ve had a fantastic experience so far on the NEF placement. I’ve really enjoyed meeting the other graduates on the programme and attending the workshops and speakers series which have been organized for us – I love the buzz that you get when you put a bunch of entrepreneurially minded people in one room!

From talking to the other candidates on the programme, it’s clear that everybody is experiencing a completely different NEF programme. Not only does your experience depend on the company you are working in, it also depends on the entrepreneur allocated to you, the work you are being given and your own personality. For me I’ve derived value from the network I’m continuing to build through the programme, the skills I’m building from the NEF workshops, and the responsibility and autonomy I’m being given at Skrill.

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

Picking one moment is extremely difficult as there have been so many memorable moments in a very short space of time. One of my early projects was putting together a web-app to enable players to buy into the European Poker Tour – I went to the Hilton in London to see it in action – seeing a product I’d worked on from inception to launch being used and working well – that was a great feeling!

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

Find something you enjoy doing and try and find a way to turn it into a business. When you start a business it usually consumes your life – and it usually needs to in order to be successful. So it needs to be something you love, otherwise you will be probably be miserable. As long as you enjoy what you do, then the work doesn’t really feel like work – and so you will end up much happier, and your business will be much more successful. Also, try and find someone to build it with you – the ability to bounce ideas off each other and provide support when things aren’t going quite according to plan, can make all the difference between success and failure.

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

Building my own technology company is definitely the end-game. But in the meantime, I am really enjoying working at Skrill, where I am learning a huge amount from my colleagues and improving many of my skills. As hungry and impatient as I am to create my own business, the reality is that I’m still only 21 and have plenty of time to find the right opportunity and the right partners to help make it happen.

It was back in the Summer of 2010 when I had just finished the first year of my BA Hons degree in Media and Communications at Birmingham City University, that I had the idea for my business. As a vegetarian I and had become increasingly concerned by some of the ingredients in many well know High Street beauty products and cosmetics. Animal fats, crushed beetles and pig placenta are common ingredients as well as harsh alcohols. These ingredients are used predominantly because they’re cheap and they’re used as fillers but are clearly not ethical or good for the skin.

Over the summer I started to research halal products as I found their stringent criteria matched my own beliefs. I then found that actually there was a demand for these products not only from the Muslim community but also from vegetarians and vegans. In Islam, ‘halal’ means permissible or what is allowed in the Muslim faith. Where beauty products are concerned animal ingredients, animal testing and haram alcohol is forbidden. Halal certification is a strict process whereby the products are tested and certified halal meaning they comply with Islamic law. I was convinced that there would be a demand for these type of products.

Initially I was going to run the business online and thought that maybe I would be able to combine business and studies. One day whilst shopping, I came across a very small but perfectly usable unit in The Pavilions Shopping Centre in Birmingham. The unit had been empty for many years basically because it was too small for most businesses. I managed to get the unit at a very good price and with the help of friends and family painted it and did it up myself to keep costs as low. I soon realised that I had created something very special and was determined to dedicate all my time and energy into the business in order to give it a chance to grow.

There’s no way I could have combined both the business and studies so I made a choice and put my degree on hold. I believe I made the right decision and I found that I had learnt many useful things on my degree course that were very much transferable to the world of business, so my studies were certainly not a waste of time. At first there were so many new things that I had to get to grips with. Everything seemed so confusing; corporate tax, vat, rent and business rates, importation duties, my head used to spin with it all. As time went on though, I did plenty of research and sought advice from people like business link and my local chamber of commerce and things became a lot clearer. Everything in business is a learning curve and every day presents new challenges and obstacles to overcome. Pure Halal Beauty is a unique concept and the first store of its kind that sells solely halal certified beauty products.

When our store first opened in December 2010, we received a lot press features and articles from around the world from national press, international press, local press, bloggers and we were even on television.

As the months went by I realised that some products although they are halal are not particularly natural with regards to their ingredients. I knew we could improve on the products that were available which is when I decided I wanted to create my own natural, halal collection that was completely ethical and eco-friendly.

In the Autumn of 2011, just before we reached our 1st birthday, we launched The PHB Collection- the worlds’ largest range of natural, halal and vegan beauty products. The collection includes, skincare, body care, hair care, cosmetics and men’s and baby products also. Most of the collection is made by hand in the UK, and our packaging is 100% recyclable.

I am incredibly proud of the PHB collection and we have had some amazing reviews and feedback about the quality and efficacy of the products. We did a lot of research before finding a manufacturer that we were happy with and who could offer us what we needed with regards to the ingredients and ethical stance of the products. I didn’t want to use any chemicals, parabens or petro chemicals which are common ingredients in many beauty products, mainly because they’re cheap. We researched and selected ingredients that are gentle, natural and effective. For example rosewood, gardenia and rosehip have some fabulous anti-aging properties, so we use these in our Elixir of Youth range. Whilst ingredients like grape-seed, rose and aloe-vera are used in our Pure & Natural range for Very Sensitive skin because they’re incredibly kind to skin. Also it is important to me that none of our products or ingredients are ever tested on animals or contain any animal ingredients. The halal certification and vegan society registration serve to add extra assurances to my customers.

Since the release of the PHB collection we’ve been inundated with interest from around the world and had a number of exciting opportunities. We’ve had a lot of enquiries about potential distribution and franchise opportunities in the UK and Internationally – so this is something exciting that we are exploring. We hope to expand our number of store in the future also, as we are constantly getting calls from customers who can’t wait for us to open up shops in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford etc. So overall 2012 looks like being a very busy and exciting year for Pure Halal Beauty!

For more information visit: http://www.purehalalbeautyproducts.co.uk/
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