Eureka moment
I'm
not an inventor so I didn't have a traditional ‘eureka' moment. Instead, I
bring new ideas to life by combining talent, creativity and business
discipline. Athletes compete and train, dreaming of the day when they score the
winning goal. Entrepreneurship is very similar. I didn't wake up one morning
and think, "eureka, I think I can build a mattress company." But when
serendipity played its hand, my team and I were ready.
Financing
Businesses
don't go under because they make losses, it's because they run out of cash.
That's why balance sheets provide a much better picture of a company's health
than its P&L account. If you can provide your own capital, you can control
your destiny. As soon as you take in outside funding, you have to be thinking
about an exit for your investors. Communication is key, whether you borrow
money or raise equity. As an entrepreneur, I'm a bit unusual - I like to
under-promise. If a business is successful, everyone should win. If it's
unsuccessful, everyone's downside must be protected and there should be no
surprises.
Regrets
None.
You can't regret what you don't do and I learn from everything I do, whether it
works or not.
What would you have changed?
Things are going well and as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Everything I've done has led me to this point, so why would I change anything? I'm happy where I am and the journey was pretty good too.
