Piers Linney was seemingly destined to be an entrepreneur. Starting his first business aged just 13, he has gone on to be one of the UK’s most successful business leaders investors, and speaking to Michael Hayman on Capital Conversation, Piers discussed the importance of that early start:
“I learnt early on that by finding a niche and monetising it you can create value, create wealth, even if in those days it was to buy a BMX!”
Whilst his sights are now set significantly higher, Piers attributes much of his success to those early experiences, arguing they developed resilience in a notoriously cut-throat industry:
“People see you on the mountain tops, they don’t see you battling through the valleys in-between. It was extremely hard for me to get into the city, I literally had meetings where I said ‘just give me a chance. If I’m rubbish, fire me,’ and people did!”
With success came recognition, and having been a part of BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ for two years, Piers now hopes to utilise his platform to change the face of entrepreneurship for the better. A large part of this is Piers’ fight for greater inclusivity, something he experienced coming up through the industry.
“That journey has made me who I am, but it is certainly less diverse as you get near the top. That’s something that needs to change, and that isn’t done incrementally, it needs radical reform.”
Piers is also passionate about ‘preparing people, especially children for becoming the new generation of entrepreneurs, despite some common misconceptions about entrepreneurship:
“You hear now that entrepreneurs are the new rock stars, and that’s dangerous. Business isn’t something to take lightly, it’s a life-changing decision. You can’t go onto YouTube and expect you’ll be a billionaire overnight, that’s just not true.”
Watch the full episode here