The Daily Networker

Ten years ago I was at Leeds University, starting my first business.  Little did I know that I would end up dropping out and moving to London.  Also unpredictable was just how many great people I would meet along the way.

Amongst the first people we persuaded to work with us (organising alternative careers events) were twin brothers (one in Durham, one in Bristol), Harry and Ed.   Both have gone on to do brilliant things and, at the time, both mentioned their cousin Nathalie to me.  Nathalie, it seemed, was helping to start a private members club in London, aimed at freelancers and entrepreneurs.  If I was interested, they would introduce me. 

I remember my first visit to Adam Street like it was yesterday.  Turning off the Strand in Central London.  Being pretty sure that the discreet black door could not possibly be the entrance to a club, but ringing the buzzer anyway.  Walking down into the vaults of, to a student, another world.  Following a tour and a coffee it slowly dawned on me that they would have no objection to me joining. They even offered me a great rate.  Brochure in my hot little hand, I emerged, blinking, into the afternoon chill.  I knew I had discovered somewhere special.  Somewhere which would go on to be the scene of many great encounters.

The year was 2001, and I had recently contacted the founder of Yo!  Sushi, Simon Woodroffe.  As well as offering to speak at one of our events, he had also agreed to have a beer.  He wanted to introduce me to a new contact of his, a chap called Ben, who he suggested he bring along.  That beer proved pretty fateful.   The location I chose was Adam Street.  Simon’s guest was Ben Way, who went on to be my business partner of several years and, to this day, a dear friend. 

Several years later, having met the most incredible girl one Saturday night, I had managed to line up a date the following Thursday.  The starting point of our evening, for a drink and some dinner:  Adam Street.  What became of the date?  Well, we’ve been happily married for two and a half years.

Picking up on the buzz, my little (I must stop calling her that) sister began working on reception as a job straight after college.  She moved on to University and began a career away from hospitality.  Over five years later, just last month, she began a new role, as head of membership.  At Adam Street.

So Happy Birthday Adam Street.  You remain a welcome retreat away from the noise and the haste of central London.  You host great events and have quiet spaces for catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.  Your library is a haven to escape and relax or work away for a couple of hours.

Most of all, a very big Thank You.  To James Minter and his family, who own the club.  To the whole team, including Andrew Goddard who returned recently as General Manager.  Jenny Cox, who remains the best hospitality staff member in London (rivals, please don’t poach her!), and to all of the team members of the past ten years.

Thank you to Nathalie Bristow and thanks finally to Harry and Ed Lawson Johnston.  Without the thoughtfulness of that first introduction, Adam Street would have remained a hidden place, behind a discreet door, just off the Strand, in London.

Bristol. 

Home of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. 

Of Wallace and Gromit. 

Of Trunki.

For those of you not yet ‘in the know’, the latter is the producer of ‘luggage for little people’, creating ride-on bags for children all over the world.  Rejected by Dragons’ Den, the firm, founded by Rob Law, is close to selling its millionth unit.

Last Friday, I was the latest in a long line of admirers to get on the case…

Bristol is, undeniably, a great city.  When Jon Shaw of DocCom (the social network for Doctors) welcomed our group to his offices in SetSquared, he began not with his company credentials, but with his lifestyle.  A seven minute walk to work.  An equally short trip to the rolling countryside for runs and bike rides. Finally, a thriving nightlife for meeting the locals.  All of the above we were soon to explore.  Except for the bikes, which will have wait until next time. 

Last year, I instigated (note how I avoid the word ‘organised’…) a one-day trip to Brighton.  It was July, a quiet month, so the theory goes.  It was fun.  We met great companies.  I resolved to do it again.

Like so many ideas, this one relied on some like-minds rising to the challenge.  I could not have asked for better conspirators than the fine folk at Sift Media, the online publisher based in Bristol.  Together we plotted places to visit and companies to meet.  A barrage of emails later, a group of Londoners were hopping aboard the 10.45 from Paddington.

After a hearty (note how I avoid the word ‘healthy’) lunch, we were off around the city meeting companies from design agency Studio Diva to business management software company BrightPearl.  At Trunki HQ we were given a whistle-stop tour of the firm’s products and history and anyone not keen to take the stairs back to the lobby was encouraged to use the slide.  As you do.

After a final meeting at Sift HQ (hosted by founder Ben Heald), it was off to the Severn Shed, a local watering hold where a few dozen Bristol business-people joined us to meet, drink and get to know each other.  It was good to reunite with WebMission companies (including DocCom and Sift and The Filter) and to meet with local business owners and journalists.

Overall, I hope, some good connections made, and seeds sown.

I encourage all businesses to ‘get out more’.  What does it take? 

Well, first you need to pick your destination.  It helps to have a local partner (thank you Business Zone , espcecically Rita and Dan!). 

You’ll need a group of open-minded people to come on the advenuture with you.  For our Bristol trip, it helped that our group was diverse and included Adam King (of tailor King and Allen), Tom Boardman (of Firebox), Duncan Cheatle (of The Supper Club), Paulina Sygulska and Daniel Tenner (of GrantTree), Drew Ellis of LikeMinds and Stu Anderson of Shell Livewire. 

Tools like Eventbrite are great for keeping an eye on people and numbers. 

Finally, of course, you’ll need some helpful companies to host you and share their city. 

Yes, it helps to have someone who will offer to buy the first (in this case very large) round of drinks.  So thank you to Wayne Gibbins from Viadeo. 

Finally, whether you’re connecting Leeds with Birmingham, Edinburgh with Sheffield or London with Shanghai, you just have to put a date in the diary and get on with it!

Thank you to all of the people who made London to Bristol such an enjoyable day, full of new connections and positive conversations.  I’m looking forward to the reunion already!

I’ll leave the last word, to some of the companies who spent the day in Bristol;

“The most impressive thing about Bristol was not its relaxed, balanced feel, or even the strange mixture of big city feel with the closeness of a smaller city, but the surprising concentration of interesting and profitable startups who are, quietly, building another UK technology hub away from London.”  Daniel Tenner, GrantTree

“The recent trip to Bristol reminded me just how crucial it is for entrepreneur to get out of the office and meet and talk to people beyond their usual arena. What a great day (and evening). A truly valuable and fun way to spend time. Equal doses of inspiration, insight and useful connections”  Duncan Cheatle, The Supper Club

“The day was fantastic. It was a fabulous chance not only just to see what Bristol has to offer in terms of some great entrepreneurs and disruptive businesses , but to network with some well known faces from London running some seriously innovative ventures. Everyone involved was there under the common theme of checking out what’s new, networking with like minded people and have a great time with great people whilst you are doing it- that is what being in business should be all about. If you see one of these missions coming up again, make sure you are first in the queue for a ticket!”  Stu Anderson, Shell Livewire

“LDN2BRS was a great opportunity to meet and network with companies both established and in the startup phase working at the digital coal face. Bristol is a clearly a centre of excellence and an important player in the British tech scene. It’s nice to see it’s not all centred around Silicon Roundabout in London and that innovation and opportunity is alive and ably represented in the south west by the companies we visited. I hope they all come and see us at Like Minds in October and see what’s happening further down the road in Exeter as well.”  Drew Ellis, Like Minds

A vicar, a senior police officer and a polar explorer walk into a bar.  How did they get there? 

No, reader, this is not the opening line of a bad joke.  It is a question I have been pondering, which made me think about the British American Project.  Of all of the groups I have joined over the years, I would say that this one has led to some of the most interesting and unusual conversations and relationships.  Each year, up to 24 Americans and the same number of Brits are selected from a wide range of industries and backgrounds.  Hence, the policeman and vicar.  We meet at annual conferences (taking place on alternating sides of the pond) and at regular events.    But how, you may ask are these people selected?  The project lists a number of things which it looks for, including “an interest in the transatlantic dimension of the project” and in the “views of others”.  At the top of this list is another so-called ’quality’; 

The ability to take risks with ideas.

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.”  

So said Samuel Johnson, who would have been appalled at the way in which so many projects are shot down before they have ever been given the chance to fly.  Every day I see people who seem to  think that the clever thing to do is to spot a flaw in a plan or project and condense that insight into a Tweet-sized bullet.  Not a fatal flaw, you understand.  Any flaw will do.  Any aspect which allows the sniper to appear smart or knowledgeable.   

I read recently about the latest CEO Summit, hosted by the Times.  What inspired me most were some of the ‘big ideas’ shared the guests.  From Lord Wolfson calling for a motorway between Oxford and Cambridge to the Chief Executive of Vodafone suggesting tax-breaks for students from science backgrounds.  They were taking risks with ideas.  They were prepared to take some flack, to explore new areas, to evolve their thinking. 

This is something which is badly lacking in politics.  The thought of the media and, let’s be honest, the public, lying in wait to tear apart an idea.  Because too often these things are framed (or interpreted) as perfectly formed project proposals, to ‘test the water’.  Politicans, like the rest of us, need spaces to think, to create and, yes, to dream.  I find the idea that this can only happen in secret pretty depressing.

What techniques have you found for enabling people to take risks with ideas? 

Is there an opportunity for anonymous forums, or is that a red herring? 

Don’t you sometimes want a space to test half-formed ideas and thoughts which you might not feel confident ’standing by’ forever more, especially if you change your mind, then risk being forced to stand by an earlier version of your thinking. 

Perhaps we need to create spaces and times which make a deliberate attempt to call for ‘Outrageous Ideas’ which challenge the status quo.  “Paying kids to go to school”.  “Flipping a student loan into an enterprise loan”.  Ideas which everybody knows have set out to get people thinking and push the limits.

David Ogilvy said that “the best ideas come as jokes.  Make your thinking as funny as possible.” 

If you are interested in making things happen, you should be interested in ways to get people sharing their best ideas, in ways that mean they are not living with the ongoing paranoia of being quoted out of context, or shot down at stage one. 

In Ogilvy’s words, our thinking needs to be far funnier.  The consequences of keeping things buttoned-up are far from amusing.

A quick update on some recent comings and goings across my network. 

Jonathan Kestenbaum stepped down at the end of last year from NESTA, where he was the chief executive.  Amongst his other new roles (including chairman and chief executive of Five Arrows), he takes a seat in the House of Lords, sitting on the Labour benches.

Jonathan’s replacement at NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is Geoff Mulgan, formerly Chief Executive of the Young Foundation. 

The hole left by Geoff at the Young Foundation is so great that two people may be required to fill it.  The new Chief Executive (former MD) is Simon Tucker, and the organisation is currently seeking a Director of Ventures, who will report to Simon as an “Entrepreneur-in-Chief”.

One role which Geoff Mulgan previously filled was as Director of  policy at Number 10, under Tony Blair, a role also once occupied by Matthew Taylor, now Chief Executive of the RSA.  Matthew’s blog is well worth a read.

Belinda Lester has moved on from her role as Director of Fellowship at the RSA, joining Teach First as their Ambassadors Director.

One of the founding staff team at Teach First was Nat Wei, now Baron Wei of Shoreditch.  Nat recently stepped down from working with Government to spend time on other work, including a role with the Community Foundation Network.

In other news related to the Big Society, Steve Moore has stepped up to become the Chief Executive of the Big Society Network, which has recently launched its Nexters programme to identify talent using technology to make a difference.

Meanwhile at Number 10, Kay Allen (formerly head of Social Action and Inclusion at Royal Mail) has taken up the challenge of working with the Every Business Commits agenda (effectively becoming the CSR lead within Number 10).

At Channel 4, Matt Locke has moved on from his role as acting head of cross-platform to set up his own organisation, Storythings, to explore storytelling across platforms, genres and contexts.

Over by Silicon Roundabout, Moshi Monsters has just registered its 50 millionth member, and continues to expand its team alongside its online population.  Founder Michael Smith is looking for a Chief People Officer for Moshi’s parent company, Mind Candy.

Also in digital, Edelman continues to attract talent, recently adding Renate Nyborg and Caroline Bosher to its digital practice in London.

Finally, in the charity world,  Adrian Lovett has just announced that he is moving on from his role as Global Campaign Director at Save the Children to join ONE (the global anti-poverty advocacy group as their Europe director.

Good luck to one and all in your new roles!

Have you recently changed jobs?  Or are you thinking of a new adventure?  Perhaps you are looking for someone to join you at the moment?  I’d love to hear from you and will always try to help if I can.

I’m writing this down from a secret location, not far away from the banks of the Thames.  Forgive me, reader for being a little more cryptic than my usual Smiley self.  It’s just that I have recently moved house and if I was to reveal to you the full location, then I fear that I would be entering into uncharted waters.  You have to be careful what you share these days…

Just last week, I was listening to BBC Breakfast, as the presenters skipped through the headlines, covering everything from the state visit of president Obama to the incoming ash cloud from Iceland.  A strange coincidence, I thought.  And certainly one for the conspiracy theorists, who might think it a suspiciously good moment to ground planes, just as the most powerful man in the world flies into town.  Downing the last of my cup of tea, I tweeted this silly morning musing;

“Conspiracy theorists will enjoy the return of the Icelandic ashcloud coinciding with a state visit of a US president”

You can imagine my surprise when the next day I received a message from a colleague (met, appropriately enough, through a Transatlantic network) telling me that she had rather enjoyed my tweet, when she had read it in a national newspaper.

Sure enough,  there it was, as one of a selection of 140-character excerpts in that day’s Independent!  From local to national in one short step.

The idea that humans can control the weather is, of course, ridiculous.  Or so I thought until a recent conversation with the talented Hamish Forsyth,  recently escaped Civil Servant, and now founder of start-up One Leap.  I forget how we got onto this, however  Hamish was telling me how the Chinese had managed to bombard the clouds above Beijing with Silver Iodide to make it rain during the Olympics, ridding the air of pollution and leading to clear and sunny skies.  The process, (which sounds to me like Spiderman meets Vera Lynn) is known as Cloud Seeding.  Cumulonerds can read more about it over here.  Perhaps London 2012 bosses will be inspired by this silver lining, should the skies turn grey next summmer. 

I was speaking about Super-Heroes recently, on an impromptu visit to the National Enterprise Academy.  Before I tell you why, let me say that the pupils I encountered on the day were amongst the most impressive I have met.  The team have done a cracking job in inspiring and training some really exceptional people. 

The point that I was making to the students was that, whether they realise it or not, they have a very special Super-Power.  They are, every day, seeing businesses and organisations for the first time, and so they have this amazing ability to spot things which are out of place or which could be improved.  This is an essential quality for change-makers everywhere and gives them super-hero powers of something akin to X-Ray Vision. 

Whilst I was there in Amersham, I was sure to sound one note of warning,  using my copy of that day’s Independent to make my point.  Weilding my Indie, I said that the things which we share have an uncanny ability to shape our future.  The darker side of this involves silly asides appearing in national newspapers and inappropriate photographs emerging years after they were taken (greetings Butlins friends, and wasn’t that a fun themed evening?). 

As a brief aside, if you would like a powerful and (in my view) upfliting example of just how much Facebook knows about you, then look no further than Intel’s Museum of Me, launched this week.  It sucks pictures, updates and connections into a movie which imagines what a museum dedicated to YOU would look like.  One to bring out the exhibitionist in anyone, not that we know any rampant self-promoters, do we..?

Where was I?  Yes, on sharing…

Perhaps the lesson from all of this is to keep our plans, thoughts and dreams to ourselves. 

Of course I don’t agree. 

In fact, our increasing habit of sharing things can unlock the biggest opportunities.  As a way of connecting people, a shared piece of information can often be the spark that triggers the introduction.

Hamish, by the way, when he is not pondering weather systems, knows a lot about connecting people.  His company, One Leap, have a bold vision which imagines that we are all just one step away from anyone else.  I like it.  Their site enables people making the first steps in their career to connect with influential people (called Shakers, as in “Movers and..”) for a fee.   Before you fall off your chair in mock-shock, I should point out that the lion’s share of this fee goes to a cause of the Shaker’s choice.  It’s simple, disruptive and as I said to Hamish and Robyn Scott (his excellent and just-as-smart) business partner, it is “Outrageous, but in a good way”.

Someone else who is, in theory at leat, one leap away is Rachel Botsman.   Her work and thinking on the subject of ‘sharing’ is creating a real buzz in the UK at the moment, following a recent successful visit.  I read with interest this piece in Fast Company Magazine which features her and tempts us to imagine what physical things we will one day share with friends and neighbours, as opposed to owning for ourselves.  From cars to cash, music to mowers, it’s interesting to read about the sort of schemes which are already springing up all over the world.  One of the hottest start-ups in the US right now is Airbnb, the site which allows you to find a floor to stay on or, if your budget allows, a private yacht to rent by the day!  I met the co-founder, Joe Gebbia in San Francisco earlier this year (see picture, below right).  If I had known more then about his company, I would certainly have shared a great deal more!  Airbnb will allow thousands of people to make some money during the Olympics, for example, by renting out that spare room or (the scenario which inspired the name) that air mattress.  Perfect for the traveler on a tight budget or the President stranded by an ash cloud.

Do you think that we will look back in twenty year’s time and wonder why we shared so much, or why we shared so little…

My conclusion:

Be careful what you share.  Because it  just might appear in a newspaper tomorrow. 

And it might trigger the connection which changes your life. 

Sending one tiny particle into a cloud of millions may seem crazy.

But it can lead to unexpected results and suprisingly sunny outcomes. 

There goes the first third of the year!  January, February, March and April flew past and I find myself writing this at the beginning of May…

2011 began with the Future Health Mission from 8th-14th January, taking a group of health-related companies to San Francisco, to pitch to VCs, meet partners and explore opportunities.

By February, we were preparing for the newly named Tenner Tycoon (formerly Make Your Mark with a Tenner) to launch, this year with 28,000 young people taking part.  I can’t wait for the awards over the summer where we will discover what the partipants did to turn their ten pounds into something, in just one month.

At the end of February I, and a group of colleagues, had a meeting which would lead, less than one month later, to the launch of StartUp Britain.  It gave me the chance to work with an amazing array of people, from Number 10 through to small business owners I had long admired and large companies I had always wanted to work with.

During the run-up to launching StartUp Britain, I hopped on a plane for my fifth mission, the third WebMission, to San Francisco.  A blend of great companies, interesting visits and phenomenal support from sponsors made this one of my favourite trips to the US so far and has inspired me and the team at Polecat to do much more with the 90+ companies we have travelled with on previous missions.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, I have been working for the past seven months on a new venture, with two fantastic new business partners (Tim Reading and Ed Sellwood).  We’re almost ready to unveil our progress, and are really looking forward to getting feedback on the projects we have been developing.  Essentially, we are bringing together companies, causes and others to come up with new social action projects.  Where an ad agency creates ads, we create and deliver new projects, on the ground.  To give you a sneak preview of our work, VIY (Volunteer It Yourself) is a scheme which helps young people to fix their own youth clubs.  We have weaved together Wickes (the national DIY chain), Pimlico Plumbers (donating their time and expertise), A4e (getting people into employment), vinspired (the foundation supporting youth volunteering) and London Youth (the network of youth clubs).  We have piloted the concept in two locations and are planning its London and national roll-out.   The name of our new business is the Co-Sponsorship Agency (CoSpA for short!) and I look forward to sharing more about our work very soon!

For loads of reasons, the Co-Sponsorship Agency represents everything I love about business. Bringing together people who might not otherwise have met, let alone have worked together.  Helping to come up with fresh new ideas which capture people’s imagination, making them want to get involved.  Trying to solve problems worth solving in interesting ways.  Finally, working with a great team to deliver projects on the ground.

I  look forward to sharing news about all of the work I’ve been involved with this year, including Missions, Tenner Tycoon, StartUp Britain and of course CoSpA.  They have allowed me to meet some fantastic people.  If you think we should be talking, please do get in touch.  I’d love to hear from you!

I am sitting in seat 47E on British Airways flight 285 to San Francisco. The seatbelt sign has been switched off, and people are beginning to move about the cabin.  Behind me, two entrepreneurs pass an iPad between them, already engaged in an ancient Chinese board game called Go.  Across the aisle, a CEO settles down to watch The Social Network, now required reviewing for business visitors.   After months of planning, we are on our way at last. Welcome to WebMission, the week where 18 entrepreneurs from around the UK get to spend a week on the West Coast of the US, exploring as many opportunities as possible, meeting investors, partners and the media.  Some of them may wish to keep those seatbelts fastened! 

A range of partners have come together to make this week happen.  From UKTI and the Technology Strategy Board through to international law firm Orrick, it would not be possible without some great sponsors.  The companies pay their own way, so this is not a free ride!  We will visit Twitter and Microsoft, and meet up with Techcrunch and new incubator KickLabs.  The companies, who were selected from more than 100 who applied, will be pitching to VCs on Tuesday morning and we are co-hosting a San Francisco Drink Tank (the event which began in London) on Wednesday.

I think it’s fair to say that the week will be pretty busy, and I’m hoping that some of the mission companies will be able to share their experiences with you as the days go by.  The one thing I have learned on WebMission is that there is only so much you can plan in advance.  Sometimes the best opportunities come from where you least expect.  In a way, I hope some of the participants relate to the line in The Social Network:  “We don’t even know what it is yet…We don’t know what it can be. We don’t know what it will be”. 

Strangely, one of things I’m looking forward to most it catching up with some of the Brits.  Michael and Xochi Birch sold Bebo almost exactly three years ago.  We’ll be hearing about their latest ventures and plans.  Andy McLoughlin, founder of Huddle, attended the very first WebMission and has recently moved to San Francisco.  It will be good to hear the lessons he has learned and the things he wishes he’d known sooner.  Most of all, I’m looking forward to spending a week in the company of some really interesting entrepreneurs.   Looking around the plane and seeing the conversations already taking shape, I predict they will work hard and play hard.  I think that we’re in for a good week.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a film to watch and a couple of hours of precious sleep to catch before the real adventure begins…

(This post was originally written for Smarta, and the original post can be read here)

Muhammad Yunus is the founder of the Grameen Bank.  The microfinance organisation has over 8 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women.

He won the Nobel Peace prize in 2006, and in his acceptance speech, he said something which caught my imagination;

“To me poor people are like bonsai trees. When you plant the best seed of the tallest tree in a flower-pot, you get a replica of the tallest tree, only inches tall. There is nothing wrong with the seed you planted, only the soil-base that is too inadequate. Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it needs to get the poor people out of poverty for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly.”

I was reminded of his words this week, thinking not about people but about companies.

Put bluntly, how do we avoid becoming Bonsai Britain? 

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the idea that small is beautiful.  But what about the companies which have massive ambitions for growth, yet struggle.  Have they potted themselves in the wrong place?  Can the richness of the soil be increased?  How do you go from dead wood to Redwood?

There is a literal, geographical answer to this, which I’m sure will be discussed during next month’s WebMission to San Francisco. 

Maybe the antidote to Bonsai Britain is a bit more sophisticated.

How would you increase the richness of the soil base?  Three ideas:

• Global links:   Making international trade clearer and easier than ever.
• Peer-to-peer Networks: Unlocking connections to business partners, suppliers, investors and customers.
• Access to Mentors:  Uncovering those who have been there before and are prepared to pass on their lessons. 

Whatever the other factors, Grameen is an inspiration, because it reminds us that amazing things can be started from small beginnings.  On that theme, I have some exciting Tenner news which I can share next week…

Until then, what do you think about Bonsai Britain? Silly, or a cause for concern?  And what would you do to change things? 

My old secondary school wrote to me the other day.  They don’t often get in touch, and it was nice to hear from them.  They were announcing a new headmaster, and this is how they described him;

“We were extremely impressed with his clarity of mind and considerable energy as well as his passionate commitment to education and young people.” 

The description stuck in my mind.  It made me want to meet him.

I’m interested in the way people describe each other.  A colleague emailed me recently, and in his note he described the former Chief  Inspector of prisons, Lord Ramsbotham;

“He is a wonderful man – driven, dynamic and decent. Great combination”

A few weeks ago, I picked up Conn and Hal Iggulden’s Dangerous Book For Boys.  Although it had been on my bookshelf for years, I hadn’t really read it before.  The words on the first page are by Sir Frederick Treves, Sergeant in Ordinary to HM the King, Surgeon in Ordinary to HRH Prince of Wales.  He wrote them in 1903, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Boy’s Own Paper.

‘Don’t worry about genius and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is “Don’t grumble. Plug on.”

“You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers – like the man who swaggers – has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.”

“Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs. Keep clean, body and mind.”

As Richard Reeves  reminded me in this article about ‘character’, the first headmaster of Buckinghamshire’s Stowe school, JF Roxburgh , once described his aim as producing men who would be “useful at a dance and invaluable in a ship wreck”.

From the same piece, Richard remembers;

“ Lord Baden-Powell described the Scout Movement he founded as “character factory”, with the explicit aim of turning out young men of the right sort. The goal, in his words, was to instil “some of the spirit of self-negation, self-discipline, sense of humour, responsibility, helpfulness to others, loyalty and patriotism which go to make ‘character’.”

Perhaps all of this seems terribly old-fashioned – a bit serious or worthy.  I certainly get the rather depressing impression that you aren’t supposed to talk about these things anymore. 

It is twenty years since I started at secondary school.  As a new headmaster begins his work, he will pass on various pearls of wisdom to the pupils.  GCSEs and A-Levels must be studied for. University and careers must be considered. 

Amongst all of the everyday priorities, I hope that he will also share Mark Twain’s advice;

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

His passion in life is getting women pregnant. As catchy one liners go, Shamus Husheer’s is one of the best. The founder of DuoFertility is so confident that his technology can help a couple to conceive, that if they are not pregnant in six months, he’ll give them their money back. The likeable New Zealander represents just one of nineteen companies on the Future Health Mission, spending a week in San Francisco and Silicon Valley exploring business opportunities.  In my best impression of someone herding cats, I’ve been attempting to co-ordinate and keep track of them.

Throughout the week, from the opening night’s welcome, through visits to some of the world’s most innovative companies (including Cisco and HP), I have been speaking to the founders and trying my level best to get my head around their work.  To be honest, some of the explanations start off sounding like something from a science fiction novel.  Admittedly, I am someone who thinks that Photosynthesis is another name for a Polaroid… Luckily, the passion and ability of the companies to explain their work has helped us all to engage. Take Paul Ko Ferrigno for example, whose company, Aptuscan is able to make a human protein. Or Mike Raxworthy, whose company (Neotherix) makes tissue to repair holes in a patient’s body.  If only he could repair the holes in my sicentific knowledge, we might really be onto something. 

One of the most inspiring visits has been to IDEO, the leading design firm. Charlie Burton, who has been travelling with us, has written the trip up for Wired Magazine over here. Meeting the IDEO team, several things about the company culture shone through. They are not believers, for example, in the myth of the ‘lone genius’. Instead, the whole company, right down to the fact that no-one has their own desk, is designed to enable collaboration and creativity. When they recruit, they look for what they call ‘T-Shaped People’. They want a specialism in a particular field (architecture or healthcare, say), and then a broad range of skills and passions on top, to complement that. Touring their San Francisco office, it was difficult not to dream of working there one day. I just need to wait until they start looking for Hyphen-Shaped People.

Entrepreneurs are often asked what problem they are solving. As someone who once started a sock subscription company, I have learned that some firms have the potential to change the world more than others…. This week has inspired me to rethink which problems are worth solving. For Roger Killen of The Learning Clinic, I think that reducing the number of deaths in a hospital by 28% over two years can count as well worth the effort. His device, which replaces the clip-board at the end of a hospital bed, alerts a nurse (via their iPhone) when something goes wrong, allowing them to interact through an application to say that they are on their way, and to update the system on what action they have taken.

The mission’s partners and sponsors include the Technology Strategy Board, UKTI, Microsoft, Polecat and McKinsey and a large part of the value has been in the experiences shared between the companies. One of the most experienced of the entrepreneurs is Sara Murray. Her Buddi device is a GPS tracker which can be used by the vulnerable, to keep a track of their whereabouts. During the week, Sara signed a significant deal with Mace (they of the pepper spray), to distribute the product in the US. In a week in which we Brits have been repeatedly encouraged to be more ‘in your face’, it was arguably appropriate that one of the mission companies should sign a deal with a firm whose product is, quite literally, in your face.

Time will tell what happens to the seeds sown throughout the Future Health Mission. The sheer number of side meetings which have been set up, with investors, partners and journalists has been amazing.  I look forward to keeping in touch with all of the companies, and trying to share their success stories. I suspect that they will boil down to slightly more than pithy one-liners.

Oli Barrett is a co-founder of the Future Health Mission and a director of the Co-Sponsorship Agency, which brings companies and causes together to create social action projects.