Our inspirational quotes for this week come from across the pond, where Jess Butcher and her co-founders have found international success with their “augmented reality app”, Blippar. It turns any physical, printed image, or product into an interactive digital experience. Butcher currently oversees the expansion of the brand as head of the company’s consumer-marketing divisions.
Butcher says that looking at her CV leading up to Blippar, you’d basically come to the conclusion that she had a short attention span or was difficult to manage. She had spent a couple of years founding an eco-tourism company in Africa, another period helping launch Alibaba.com in Europe, and a stint heading up partnerships at isango.com. Of her 14 years of professional experience before her Blippar success, she says: “I hadn’t needed that MBA to get here or to follow a set path —just my own self-belief, hard work and of course that all-important right-time, right-place luck.” To those among us who are still bush-whacking our way into getting that start-up off the ground, here are some lessons learned from Jess Butcher who has experienced the frustration and boredom of being employed by someone else, the burn of failure, and the satisfaction of victory.
“Invest in memories. It’s ultimately what life is about—people, places, moments and experiences.”
“Stop benchmarking yourself against other successful entrepreneurs or business people—it wastes valuable energy! Your personality and circumstances are unique and there is no right or wrong way to grow an innovative business.”
“Learn from others’ experiences and be inspired by them, but also make your own rules and navigate your own path.”
“Sometimes it’s the right decision to end a particular course of action or working relationship, but I now make a more concerted effort to salvage or reverse a situation.”
“Trust your gut instinct as much if not more than the numbers, and surround yourself with people who you respect and enjoy working with.”
“The occasional error of judgment or wrong move can often move your business faster than the right ones… About-turns are not weak, they’re strong and demonstrate good leadership, but they need to happen quickly and be communicated decisively.”
“If you’re fortunate enough to have a product or service that you can trade for another, then ‘in kind’ deals can help a lot with cash flow in the early days.”
“My path to entrepreneurialism was more a default necessity out of the fact that I wasn’t very good at being someone else’s employee combined with this constant thirst to ‘disrupt’ and ultimately, and most importantly… luck.”
—Jess Butcher, CMO & Founding Director at Blippar
