4 & 5 February 2025, Olympia London 7 & 8 October 2025, NEC Birmingham
Learning from the Inspirational Gamechangers
I interviewed some of the world’s most successful and influential entrepreneurs for the FT book Inspirational Gamechangers: How the best talent create astonishingly successful companies. Here are some of the key insights and learning points which these outstanding business people put across in the book.
Richard Branson: “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges, and trying to rise above them”
Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post: “Constantly strive to seize new opportunities, but make sure to stay true to ‘your own DNA’ and your core values”
Jamie Oliver, food campaigner: “Unexpected opportunities can transform your career – grab them!”
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia: “I’m the only world-famous internet entrepreneur not to have become a billionaire!”
Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of Lastminute.com: “Never lose sight of whatever it is you’re trying to deliver”
James Dyson, Dyson Research Design & Development: “Hold true to your fundamental objectives, and persist until you find ways to make them work”
ADDITIONAL LEARNING POINTS FROM THE GAMECHANGERS
Entering the market
See what’s missing in the market place, and provide it
You must know what your USP is
Give people value for their money
Strategy and objectives
The key questions are: what are we trying to do? how are we trying to do it? and why are we trying to do it?
Be absolutely true to fundamental objectives; don’t be tempted to compromise those values
Watch out for opportunities that might be slipping by unnoticed
Leadership, partners and staffing
Employ people who share your vision with enthusiasm
Seek to align the interests and motivation of the staff with the interests of the company
Have people you can talk to outside of work
Additional business values
It’s absolutely possible for a business to be socially responsible at the same time as making money
Building positive values into your product greatly increases your chances of success, due to the power of the customer in online media
Authenticity in your activities and in the messages you put out are crucial
Improvement, failure and mistakes
Regard obstacles and challenges as prompts to potential progress
Keep on evolving; embrace innovation and change
A ‘no’ today doesn’t necessarily mean a ‘no’ tomorrow
Branding, publicity and promotion
Your brand is your company’s most important and valuable asset. The brand needs to be who you are, what you are, and what the customers expect
Talk to people widely about what you’re trying to do
Identify “evangelists” who will provide informed support for your product
Connecting with customers
Engage with your customers
Take action to win them over in order to become a trusted brand
You can never go too far wrong by thinking like a customer who’s new to the business
Find lots more inspiration and instruction from the gamechangers at www.ftgamechangers.com
Inspirational Gamechangers is published by Financial Times Publishing and available from August 20th 2015. It’s the WHSmith Travel Business Book of the Month for September.
Gerry Thompson’s own business is Positive Comedy Learning and Development: www.positivecomedy.com
I interviewed some of the world’s most successful and influential entrepreneurs for the FT book Inspirational Gamechangers: How the best talent create astonishingly successful companies. Here are some of the key insights and learning points which these outstanding business people put across in the book.