Ben Way

Ben Way

Ben Way in 2008
Born Benjamin Peter Bernard Way
(1980-09-28) 28 September 1980
Exeter, Devon, England
Residence San Francisco, USA ; London, England ;
Occupation Entrepreneur
Net worth IncreaseUS$16 million (£10 million)

Benjamin Peter Bernard Way (born 28 September 1980) is a serial entrepreneur and best selling[1] author[1] best known for his appearance on Secret Millionaire, The Startup Kids and as a cast member on Start-Ups: Silicon Valley, he started his first company at the age of 15.[2] He went on to raise £25 million in his teens[3] making him one of the first dot com millionaires.

Early life

Way grew up in a village in Devon, his parents divorced[4] when he was young. He has also had a sister, Hermione Way who is a journalist and appeared on a reality TV show with him, they were separated from each other at an early age.[5] Way was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age and was told by his teachers he would never read or write[2] however Way describes his Dyslexia as an advantage.[6]

Business history

Way started his first company 'Quad', a computer consultancy, at age 15.[7] At the age of 19 he raised £25 million from Jersey-based venture capitalist to create an online shopping comparison technology called Pulsar.[8] However, after a dispute with the investors in 2001 he was diluted out of the business and lost everything. It is reported that he was in the under thirties Sunday Times Rich List 2001 on the same day he could not buy a tube ticket.[9]

He won "New Business Millennium Young Entrepreneur Of The Year" in 2000 which was given to him by Gordon Brown.[8] After receiving this award he went on to advise both the White House[10] and the UK government[11] on technology as well as joining the internet incubator NetB2B2 PLC as a non-executive.[12] After this he headed up technical and environmental investments and due-diligence for the Rotch Property Group.[13]

He currently runs The Rainmakers, which he started in 2004[14] an innovation and incubation company, through this he got involved with a number of start up companies, including the online mentoring company Horsesmouth,[15] language learning company FriendsAbroad[16] which was sold to Babbel.[17] During this time he was also chief innovation officer for Brightstation Ventures a $100m technology VC fund[8] started by Dan Wagner and Shaa Wasmund.[18]

In 2012 he moved to San Francisco.[19]

Business ventures

Way is involved in a large number of startup companies that are listed on the Rainmakers Global website, such as GoDine, the restaurant booking service; FuelMyBlog, the blogging product review service; Truevoo, the iPhone apps store review service; an SME advice service called Smarta; and a graduate recruitment company called BraveNewTalent.[20][21] In 2009 Rainmakers opened a United States (US) branch and consequently became involved in a number of US startups, including Traffic Spaces, the ad management platform, and BoostCTR, the Google adwords optimizer. He is also one of the founders of Alpha Concierge Matchmaking, which describes itself as the worlds most exclusive matchmaking app.[22]

Way was also involved in a number of green start-up companies, such as SellMyMobile and SellCell,[20] and is a cofounder with Paul Williams of Freetricity, a renewable energy provider based in the UK and the US.[23]

Way is the founder of Viapost,[24] an online postal company.[25] The POIP service allows printing of documents over the internet which are then sent by Royal Mail.

He is involved in his sister's production company Newspepper,[26][27] a citizen journalism site that covers a large number of UK tech sector events.

Way and Hermione Way developed GoIgnite, a health and lifestyle smartphone app and hardware for the Bravo TV reality television show they both appeared in.[28]

Television, film, and media

In 1999 Way was featured on Britain's Richest Kids on ITV.[29] After this he appeared on a number of television shows including Big Breakfast,[30] partly due to some unusual restrictions on his personal life.[31]

In 2006, he appeared on the Channel 4 TV show Secret Millionaire where he gave away £40,000 in a philanthropic act after spending two weeks in Hackney as a volunteer. £20,000 was given to a youth organisation, £10,000 to a young entrepreneur, and another £10,000 as a thank you to one key member of the Hackney community. He subsequently appeared in the follow-up program Secret Millionaire Changed My Life.[32]

In 2008 has appeared on a Channel Four, 3 Minute Wonder on Robotics[33] and as a "Web Guru" on Sky News.[34]

Ben Way meeting Gordon Brown in 2007.

He has written for a number of publications including The Telegraph,[35] City AM[36] and a chapter in How to be a Teenage Millionaire.[37]

Ben appeared on ITV's Take Me Out dating show on 20 February 2010, on which he declared his personal wealth as £10m, also taking Daisy Gigg out on a date.

In 2012 he appeared as one of the main cast on Bravo's TV Show Start-Ups: Silicon Valley[38] with his sister Hermione Way working on an mHealth innovation called Ignite and raising $500,000 for it from investors including Esther Dyson.[39]

He was one of the Entrepreneurs featured in the highly successful[40] documentary The Startup Kids about the startup culture in San Francisco and the USA.[41]

In 2013 he wrote a book called Jobocalypse: The End of Human Jobs and How Robots will Replace Them'[1]'.

Supported charities and organizations

He has been involved with a number of charitable organizations, most notably his support of the Pedro Club[42] and a youth club from Hackney which he gave money to through the Secret Millionaire. He is also the patron of Social Firms[43] an organization dedicated to getting employment for people with disabilities.

He has acted as a judge on behalf of a number of charities including Anne Frank Awards[44] and Unlimited Awards[45] as well as having been an advisor to the charities Edge[46] and Nesta.[47]

Awards

Politics

Way stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in Bayswater Ward in the City of Westminster.[50]

Way is an advocate for immigration reform after having his own immigration challenges [51] while moving to the USA, and works with Mayor Bloomberg’s Partnership for a New American Economy[51] and the White House.[51]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jobocalypse: The End of Human Jobs and How Robots will Replace Them: Ben Way: 9781482701968: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  2. 1 2 "Up and running: four Bransons in the making describe how they got started - Article". TES. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  3. ↑ Amelia Hill (20 November 2006). "Liz Taylor adored it. Now a reality show is rescuing the Pedro Club | Media | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  4. ↑ "Ben Way - Entrepreneur's Story". YouTube. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  5. ↑ "'Start-Ups' Stars Ben And Hermione Way - Business Insider". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  6. ↑ "Secret Millionaire and British entrepreneur ben way talks about his life,technology and failure". yhponline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  7. ↑ "Up and running: four Bransons in the making describe how they got started - Article". TES. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  8. 1 2 3 Your Business (2007-10-02). "Profile: Ben Way". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  9. ↑ "Diving back in: What second-time entrpreneurs learned from the first time around". Growing Business. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  10. ↑ "Ben Way". Growing Business. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  11. ↑ "Starting-Up in America". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  12. ↑ No clues at netb2b2 — Today's Top Stories. Netimperative.com. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  13. ↑ "The Entrepreneur: The Ben Way story". Tycoonentrepreneur.blogspot.com. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  14. ↑ "How I made my first million: Schoolboy entrepreneur Ben Way". Thisismoney.co.uk. 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  15. ↑ First pro-social networking site urges the Facebook generation to develop the 'M Factor'. SourceWire (16 January 2008). Retrieved on 2011-04-29.
  16. ↑ Simon Murdoch puts £250,000 into language learning venture | News | New Media Age. Nma.co.uk (28 October 2004). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  17. ↑ "Babbel acquires FriendsAbroad in cash deal". TechCrunch. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  18. ↑ Leadership Week: MT meets entrepreneur Shaa Wasmund – Leadership, business and management news, tips and features from MT and Management Today magazine. Managementtoday.co.uk (18 July 2008). Retrieved on 2011-04-29.
  19. ↑ "London Facebook staff will update status to millionaire - Technology - News - London Evening Standard". Thisislondon.co.uk. 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  20. 1 2 "Portfolio". Rainmakers Global. Rainmakers. September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  21. ↑ The Spectator. The Spectator (2 December 2008). Retrieved on 2011-04-29 Archived 17 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ "Would You Pay A $299 Subscription Fee To Access Alpha's Dating World?". Will Schmidt. Tech Cocktail. Feb 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  23. ↑ Will Nichols (29 October 2012). "In the Green Room with Freetricity's Paul Williams". Business Green Plus. Incisive Media Investments Limited. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  24. ↑ "Send physical post direct from your pc / online". Viapost. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  25. ↑ ViaPost's big idea for snail mail: 'Post-over-Internet Protocol' : Tech Digest. Techdigest.tv. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  26. ↑ "Internet Video Production". Newspepper. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  27. ↑ "Europe | TechCrunch". Uk.techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  28. ↑ "Meet Ignite, The Personal Health Startup Launching Out Of Bravo's 'Silicon Valley' Reality Show". TechCrunch. 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  29. ↑ Tom The Teenage Whizzkid (From The Argus). Archive.theargus.co.uk. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  30. ↑ Win a dream date with teen e-babe! (milk and cookies for two in Paris)., revolutionmagazine.com, 2 September 2000
  31. ↑ Booze and sex ban violates rights – 24 Oct 2000 – Computing News, retrieved 29 April 2011
  32. ↑ The Secret Millionaire. Channel 4. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  33. ↑ Generation Next. Channel 4. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  34. ↑ Web Guru Ben On Sky.Com News | Ben Way | Rainmakers | Entrepreneur | SkyNews.com | Sky News Blogs. Blogs.news.sky.com. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  35. ↑ Way, Ben. (19 November 2007)Make a difference, when you can. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.
  36. ↑ p. 16 of CityAM newspaper on 14 November 2005, JPG image
  37. ↑ What can I buy? | Using the site | Help. WHSmith. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  38. ↑ Dickinson, Boonsri (2012-04-05). "Meet The 7 Stars Of The New Silicon Valley Reality Show". SFGate. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  39. ↑ Tiku, Nitasha (2012-12-11). "If Bravo Moves Randi Zuckerberg's Startup Show to 6pm Central, Does It Make a Sound? | Betabeat | The Lowdown on High Tech". Betabeat. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  40. ↑ "The Startup Kids on iTunes Top 10 list". Newsoficeland.com. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  41. ↑ "Full cast and crew for The Startup Kids (2012)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  42. ↑ Liz Taylor adored it. Now a reality show is rescuing the Pedro Club | Media | The Observer. Observer.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  43. ↑ "News: Ben Way". Social Firms UK. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  44. ↑ Judging panel. Anne Frank Awards. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  45. ↑ What are UnLtd Awards?. UnLtd. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  46. ↑ "raising the status of practical, technical and vocational learning". Edge. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  47. ↑ Sue Norris (25 January 2007). "From garage tinkerer to the next big thing | Technology". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  48. ↑ Entrepreneur Ben Way on a meeting of minds with telecoms boss Chris Moss | Money. The Guardian. Retrieved on 29 April 2011.
  49. ↑ Ben Way: The Rainmakers. Growing Business Young Guns. Retrieved on 28 October 2013.
  50. ↑ CITY OF WESTMINSTER. ELECTION OF CITY COUNCILLORS. BAYSWATER WARD. DECLARATION OF RESULT OF POLL, Date of Election: 4 May 2006
  51. 1 2 3 Ben Way (15 September 2013). "Future Immigration: Guilty until proven innocent, my story.". TWnow. TWnow. Retrieved 22 September 2013.

External links

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