Remarkable people doing remarkable things.

Read time: approximately 4 minutes, ish.

Last week I was unexpectedly mentioned in post from a much-loved entrepreneur who out-of-the-blue wrote a lovely article about the power and importance of mentoring.

Thank you Rajeeb Dey MBE for your kind words – I am humbled.

My life’s work is helping people flourish.

Raj’s work – his purpose; the focus of his talent; the anchor of Raj’s career, is also to help people to grow, develop, and learn. First with his venture to place students into meaningful (and remunerated) internships – and now via an L&D tech platform: Learnerbly.

No wonder that our paths were destined to cross. Raj, I’ve valued every moment that we have shared. I’ve delighted in your entrepreneurship, endeavour, tenacity, authenticity, integrity, honesty – and most importantly, your triumphs and victories in the battles you’ve fought against [seemingly impossible] challenges. I remember: I made Raj laugh.

The point is: the benefit was reciprocal.

It’s a reward that I have had the privilege to harvest repeatedly. And that is because I’ve had the privilege also to have met: Niall Barton – who whilst completely different to Raj, Niall has gifted me an equivalent reward. Albeit Niall’s business is in an entirely different sector solving an entirely different problem – wonderful that Wrisk now has so much momentum.

And then there’s Robin Tombs – and the talented compadres at Yoti.com.

And Jonathan Burr and the legends that are driving Howz.com.

And Andrea Reynolds and her phenomenal team at Swoopfunding.com.

And Paul Rinne at Gripable.

And Shakar Jafari and her remarkable team at TrueInvivo.co.uk.

And. And. And. And.

I can’t mention them all individually – because there are literally hundreds. That’s not bragging – that is overwhelmingly humbling. I am the luckiest person alive.

If you have self-doubt and feel inhibited that you lack the required quantity of remarkableness necessary to enable you to do remarkable things, I’d respond with a reminder that I grew-up in a shop; school wasn’t kind to me; I don’t possess conventional academic intelligence; I’m probably the least qualified person you’re likely to meet. I’d encourage you to spend less time contemplating your own competence and preparedness, and instead I’d encourage you to throw yourself at doing things that matter to you – whatever that might be.

I’d encourage you to find something that you are good at, and practice really hard and consistently on becoming brilliant at it. Don’t worry about whether or not you enjoy it. Find other things in your life that you enjoy that balance-out the effort of your endeavour. In-fact, I’m almost inclined to advise avoiding turning your passion into a profession for fear that doing so risks contaminating and/or diminishing your affection for the thing your love doing. Some people are able to convert their interest into a business and end-up blessed loving what they do. I’m struggling to name one.

I never stop being astonished by the extent of peoples’ success when they are given the freedom to fail. I believe that we are all capable of being remarkable. And if we choose to, to do remarkable things.

Moving forward, I’m always on the lookout to find remarkable people and to help them achieve remarkable outcomes.

I continue my work in the mass-adoption of scientific invention via amazing organisations such as: NPL and the ICR. I’m especially focused on health-tech. Which is why I became a NED for an Acute NHS Trust. Which has been hard.

And I continue my work in capital finance via my advisory role at Alantra (thanks to remarkable leaders like Andy Currie and James Chapman-Andrews), and my NED role with a VCT managed by the remarkable Peter Dines at Mercia.

The thing that unites all the activity in my portfolio is that, like Raj Dey and his venture – all the ventures in which I invest are led by remarkable people doing remarkable things.

I’m still venturing. My life would not be tolerable without it. There is a strong theme to my current ventures: they all solve human problems.

There is a lot that needs fixing. Fortunately, there are remarkable people who have the ambition, ideas, conviction, and energy to lead the charge. Here’s a list of people whose passion and purpose compels me to remark upon them. Each of them are at different stages – not all of them are entrepreneurs – some of them have already created ventures, some may never do so. Their entrepreneurial status doesn’t make them any more or less remarkable:

Carlo Schifano - whose new venture I can't wait to launch.

Amy Grilli and Emma Harvey and their venture: Five Hour Club.

Adam Townsend and his venture: Vuit.

Prof Martin Parr and his work in systems thinking.

Amy Stoddard Ajayi – one to watch.

Phil Read - who is decarbonising freight with Varamis.

Chloe – a superstar who’s not yet on Linkedy-In.

And Edan Rowland for his charitable endeavour to renovate gardens – you can contribute to Edan’s venture by taking a moment to watch (and like) one of his videos on Youtube. ?Am especially proud to report that Edan is my nephew.

Share the love. Mentoring matters. Anecdotally I hear constantly the frustration and complaint that businesses cannot find or hire the talent they want. In all sectors, from banking to construction. From hospitality to medicine.

My observation is that we now live in a world populated by transitioners – people transitioning from one era in their lives to another. From education to employment; from full-time parenthood to part-time parent; from professional career to passion-project; from corporate career to lifestyle business. They all need help to navigate that transition well – to transition successfully.

Transitioners make great employees – they have something to prove.

Those emerging from education seem especially vulnerable in their transition into a world of work that is changing more than anytime previously. Young people need help.

My worry is how best to support those that don’t have the social capital, the networks, the mentors to call upon to give them foresight. What happens to those less privileged and the less fortunate – those that grew up in a shop.

Doesn't matter to me where you come from. We all flourish if we all flourish. We all prosper if we all prosper.

If you’re in need of help – reach out.

If you have value to add, offer to help.