I wish I knew…
Will Critchlow
Founder, Distilled (2005-)
Alumnus, St. Aidan’s (1991-1998)
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This is my best friend – we met playing basketball at St. Aidan’s in 1991
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This is my brother – he left St. Aidan’s in 2001
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Somehow, we’ve grown a decent business
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It wasn’t always this way – back in 1997, we made £800 and got sued.
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In 2005, we made a go of it – we made £36,000 in revenue and learnt
the value of getting things in writing
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Overnight success takes years
It’s
really
easy
to
stop
here
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We didn’t make a business plan – we got talked into college, then
“sensible jobs” – which earnt significantly more than the business initially
h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/ianvisits/5458806574/
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Can I have some
advice please?
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Stop worrying what others’ think. Things don’t always work out great
for the cool kids
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Hang out with people who are smarter than you: you will come to
resemble the people you hang out with
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Business friends rock – you don’t get a network at “networking events”.
Just like you don’t make friends at “friend events”
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No, you can’t have a pony – you aren’t owed anything. Make your own
way. Lead without permission
Idea unashamedly from: http://media.b-list.org/presentations/2008/djangocon/reusable_apps.pdf
Not
yours
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Curiosity is your best asset – I learnt Python and Django to (help) build
our video store. It made $15,000 in its first month
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NBED How to get hired – example of
Ed
Anyone can get hired – don’t scatter-gun CVs. Choose where you want to
work and impress the hell out of them
A
guy
younger
than
you
lot
made
this
to
impress
us
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“For everyone who comes
in here talking about the
team they are going to
hire, there are three
others out there that did
hire people”
h"p://www.bothsideso>hetable.com/2011/01/28/on-‐leadership-‐teams-‐success-‐happiness/
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Read these books: http://dis.tl/j53cJg http://dis.tl/kgbEqr
http://dis.tl/mqxG0j
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“You need to make cold
calls every single day
otherwise your business
will wither and die”.
We didn’t. It didn’t.
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Once you leave college, it’s not cheating any more – attribute
sources, but copy away. Give yourself unfair advantages
h"p://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/whats-‐high-‐school-‐for.html
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From here on out, do something you love – if you don’t, you’re “doing
it wrong”
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I hope I’ve given you some useful advice. Remember as you make
your way into the world that most people don’t know what they’re doing
“Never compare
your inside to
someone else’s
outside”
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Director
> will.critchlow@distilled.co.uk
> twitter.com/WillCritchlow
Distilled
> www.distilled.co.uk
Will Critchlow, Head of R&D
Feel free to give me a
shout with any
questions or for any
further advice you need.