“All I can say about your demo is wow you are seriously setting a massive precedent! I can only say one thing, I am so happy to know, that a world-changing idea has been thought up by one of the good guys.”
This was Nads’ response when she saw the most basic of our demos. We get that reaction a lot. Yesterday I showed one of our commercial partners and her only response was “oh my god“. She took a while to take the whole thing in, as people generally have to do. My sis believes what were doing is beyond human understanding, and shes right. Only I cant fully comprehend what were building will turn into. Im probably on some messianic rant here but if so many people respond the way they have done, we must be onto something.
There is a world on its way that will change everything. We’ve been lucky enough to see it and ride in on its wave. The reason we give for everyone in meetings to work with us is that its coming. Nothing else. Just that. Were building the supercharger that that future needs to happen. Were riding that wave rather than creating it in some ways. Many people think were totally insane, and the rest sit down in sheer admiration for the size of our balls. Were not in this to start a chip shop, were in it to change the course of human history. Nothing else will do.
You will never meet anyone in your life who will say the same. Its the reason we will succeed in doing it, and the reason the world will listen. Its the reason our guys have already been asked to keep memoirs and the production company were working with for our trials wants to make a documentary about it.
When I started out on this road, I had no idea what it would lead to. Ive been doing this for so long now that Ive almost forgotten what happened before it came along. Ive sacrificed everything I have for it, because I know what it is and what it will do. Its a huge risk, but one I wouldnt take unless I knew we could pull it off. Ive lost most of my life, had nervous breakdowns and been driven to the brink so many times that Ive lost count. One day it will seem hopeless, the next like were rocketing through the clouds.
We originally planned something else, but it got adapted and modified as we go along. This is usually an entrepreneurial trap as people tend to pick and claw at your ideas that they are ground down so much that they end up unrecognisable compared to what you started with. But with us it was a gradual realisation that we had something more. Something groundbreaking, something history-changing. It took a while for my stubborn head to accept it, but when I did, things started to fall into place. It gave me purpose, and it gave me a mission.
When I give a speech, I tend to allude to our project at the end. Ive told thousands of people that what we will be bringing into the light soon will be nothing short of a nuclear bomb. Were undertaking the most ambitious and ground-shaking venture ever attempted in the media industry. Think of the birth of the internet, then times that by 100, and you’re nearly there. Every CEO is in love with their company and product and will say what they have is world-changing. Usually its not. In our case, it’s true. And I can say that as Im not in love with the product, I’m in total awe of it.
To be frank it scares the shit out of me. I don’t have the facilities to control, manage or wield the kind of power it will entail. Imagine owning the internet. Then times it be 500. You’re nearly there. Im not strong enough for that on my own.
But this is steam-rollering ahead whether I like it or not, and it’s my burden to carry. That makes me sound like Frodo in LOTR, which is slightly absurd. But this is the mission and purpose I was given, and I made the choice to carry and undertake it. Having an idea is easy, in fact it happens millions of times a day to billions of people. But executing, delivering and bringing an idea to fruition is a totally different thing. Its damned hard. Armchair critics resting on a pub bar don’t quite get that, and as soon as they actually have to deliver what they’re talking about, they shut up quite quickly.
People often ask why its taking so long. They’ve seen me bashing away for a few years and scratch their heads in bewilderment. So many false starts, dead ends, circles to travel in and new dawns that never quite rose. But that persistence has paid dividends. Most people now are more impressed with my resilience against all the odds than the actual plan. I needed those years to learn the rope, develop a ruthless streak and be the person I am now, so I could carry out the task in hand.
The best metaphor I have for the journey is that its like straining away pushing a massive rock. You burst blood vessels pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing, but it only seems like you’re moving a millimetre at a time. But when people walk by, or when you stop for a breather, you realise the boulder has moved a few metres, and people are amazed at what youve done. The timing has to be right. We have to arrive when the world is ready. Homechoice learnt that lesson the hard way. If the world isnt ready, there are no customers or suppliers. All there is a bunch of clever guys with some paperwork, and an angry bank manager.
Its easy to forget the cosy life we have in the west. What we enjoy as luxuries can be transformative technology for lesser developed countries. What we are doing will affect the whole planet, not just the UK. Were building the communications system for the next 50 years. A lot of the projects that are going on here are superficial and easily discarded. In India, IPTV is being used to turn the country into the next super-power. In 20 years, 1 billion people will be university educated in that country, and emerge from rags to be some of the wealthiest in their region thanks to the governments education program.
And that leads us to imagine what our venture empowers people to do. India is just a small slice of the overall picture. 1 out of 200 to be exact. We will address all 200 in one go. It will take 5-10 years for us to pick up the speed we need to reach, but by then it will be unstoppable. There will be nothing we can do to control what we have created. When I am 35, my nephew will be living in a different world and approaching his teens. The most conservative estimates by the finance people weve spoken with are that the business will turn over billions of dollars. I wont be able to control it.
But its not about the money. It’s about the mission. It’s about doing something the world has never seen and will most likely not see again for a very long time. When were in it, it’ll take a while and seem like forever. But in the grand context, its happening in the blink of an eye. Looking back in the rear view mirror always gives you a frighteningly different perspective to the one you have when you’re in the midst of the storm. But as that storm gathers, you have to remember where youre heading to and not lose sight of your direction. If you do, your ship sinks. And theres no shortage of ship graveyards that you pass by.
Ive learned a lot of lessons in a very short time. I learned that age is irrelevant as long as youre not clueless, and if you let your ruthlessness shine through. Its a lonely path, and the more you successful you get, the lonelier you become as you filter out of a very large cereal box. Change is hard. Sticking with it is hard. Having faith is damned near impossible some days. But there is nothing quite like being in control of your own destiny and the thrill of being ahead of the pack and actually making a difference in both your own corner of the world but in others too. The smallest things change everything. Who you are, what you say and most importantly, what you do, influence and affect other people which starts a chain reaction that grows beyond you.
You can go anywhere without seeing vacuous would-be people quoting the reach-for the-moon-as-you’ll-land-amongst-the-stars quote, which is starting to piss me off. I can count the true risk takers on one hand. The vast majority of these semi-humans with good intentions live vicariously through the adventures of others. The more appropriate saying is that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. Everyone latches onto things that work and claims it as their own. Nothing sets the world alight like someone on fire, ready to blast their way through my all means necessary. Treat these well-meaning people with extreme suspicion, as the chances are they are in a pointless middle-management job and the nearest thing they’ve come to revving up the engine is changing their normal tipple in the pub.
We have one life. Its almost over right now. Were on a countdown. Every day we live and don’t do what we have to is another day away from what could be the most important thing in our meagre lives. Right now you could be putting off the most important decision you have ever taken.
I remember when I took mine. It was a gradual process where I slowly agreed to where my life was taking me. It was more of an acceptance than anything else, as I did’nt wake up one morning and decide to do everything I have done. I simply took the time to think about how I wanted to be. Simple, but powerful, as Nads rightly points out. I didnt need any of things you think Id need, like massive confidence, self-assurance, security, freedom from debt, to be in the right place at the right time, or have some random luck. I just decided who I wanted to be. And now Im becoming that person and a lot more on the way by learning from those around me whove been there before i have. Its not hard, its just that you have to rub the fog out of your glasses to see.
If you decide you dont want a meaningless management job or some kind of serf professional where you gratify the needs of others for a slim pay cheque every week, you have to go it alone. A time will come when you have to make that decision, but you need to plan for it now as life wont conform to your plans. The clock is ticking. You made decisions in your teens about when you expected things to happen and where you thought you’d be, but you were wrong, like everyone else was. If you leave it now, youll be late again and will be left wondering why none of it ever happened. You have to do it right now or you never will.
And the payoff is amazing. It feels fucking great. The problems you traded will give way to new ones, but you’re alive. Youre moving. You’ve done it, and done what few others have. You have control, and you’re in charge. The lows may be lower, but the highs are much higher. If you want to get out of the coma, you need to get out of yourself.
But there are many warnings here, and one of the biggest is about money and motives. I don’t give a fuck about money. Sometimes I have a lot of it, sometimes I have none. I’m surrounded by people obsessed with it every day and I do my best to push as many them out into the cold as I possibly can. It does funny things to people and becomes an obsession in itself. Ivory towers and piles of gold may be very enjoyable for some, but they are a millstone around the neck of most.
We all know that were going to make a lot of money. Weve seen the figures. But the people around me all want the same thing. To be there in the midst of it to feel the rush. To build something and be part of something. To make history. Thats something no amount of money can buy, even when everything has a price. I could be the richest in the land and I would still be a fucking mess. Id still be as eccentric and neurotic. But if I didnt have purpose I’d die a slow death, like so many other people do. The good news is that you have one. You just need to allocate the time and energy to find out what it is.
Bill Gates didnt become the worlds richest man by wanting money. He stayed a software engineer for decades because of his passion for it. The most paranoid and obnoxious power-brokers in the world are the scrooges who count every penny at night. Dont get me wrong, as you have to be responsible, but our duty is to something greater than coins, paper and electronic figures. All that will come as a result of doing what you love. Its a nice by-product and it brings a certain degree of security, but in itself it is a dreadful and terrible master that runs away from you the more you chase it.
So all that looms for us now is the day we unleash the wild animal thats stirring in its cage. Every day that goes by we get stronger; every ounce of disbelief or scepticism gets swallowed whole and fattens us up ready to devour the next opponent. Were coming, and we wont be stopped. If you stand in the way, we will deal with you ruthlessly, as one unfortunate product manager found out today. We have no room for passengers, scroungers, cynics or those whose intention is to drain us. There is nothing you can against that kind of will. Its not about confidence, its about the sheer force that powers you forward against all comers and odds.
Theres a lot to be said about being fearless. Fear is the enemy and opposite of love, and fear kills. Some fear is essential and safeguards us from harm, but the rest is a grey noxious fog that surrounds and disables us. Its purpose is to stop us all. It doesnt discriminate and shows no mercy, and because of that must be shown no mercy in return. It is a parasite that steals and destroys, feeding off the good parts of who we are and leaving us diseased and overcome. Perfect love casteth out fear. Fear is a choice and is exorcised by reason and courage. We are more than maths and chemistry, and fear flees in the face of those who dare to oppose it.
And like I said to my chronically indifferent semi-father this morning, that last inch you couldnt take from me has grown into a monster. One thats an uncontrollable and unstoppable force of righteous rage about to smash down your door and change everything youve ever known. And Ill be smiling whilst you burn.
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