Real Business

A first visit to the London 2012 Olympic Park and a session with a group of high-quality entrepreneurs - this was quite a week.

The Olympic Park is an island of golden achievement in a neglected corner of London. A tour would convince anyone that you must - repeat, must - get tickets for the London 2012 Games.

The contrast between the surrounding Stratford area of East London and the park's interior is striking and slightly alarming. Three-quarters of the overall spend may be going on legacy projects, but it's still a huge gamble. If significant numbers (actually, 17,000) families and individuals do not choose to buy flats within the park, and if businesses don't decide to house operations in the plush facilities, then this could become the largest high-tech wasteland in the world.

But let's not be pessimistic. If the legacy gets anywhere near the achievements of the park, this part of London will fly.

What struck me most was the completeness of the park design. Walkways will connect stadiums; landscaping flows between velodromes and hockey pitches. Our tour guide suggested that the opening ceremony will not just entertain those within the main stadium, but will engage with the whole park. It's a ghastly word, I know, but the organisers appear to have got their head around "inclusion". The Beijing Games may have been spectacular, but the epic scale appeared only to be achieved by trampling on the little guy. The London Games may look more modest, but there's already a warmth about the whole venture.

Which links me neatly to the ever-impressive Richard Reed of Innocent Drinks, who was one of the speakers at a British Library Inspiring Entrepreneurs event this week focused on food and drinks entrepreneurs.

The Innocent story is well known: three bright young uni grads leave their jobs in advertising and launch their own smoothies business; with its all-natural ingredients and cheeky branding, Innocent captures the spirit of the early millennium. Even when they sell out to McDonald's, the trio and the brand still hangs onto its likeability (though one email responding to the news described the event as "like finding out your uncle is a paedophile").

Reed, one of the founders, is quite simply the greatest entrepreneurial communicator of his generation. I've shared a stage with him on numerous occasions and have heard many of his tales before. Yet, like the best rock stars, each performance sheds new light. The guy's still young, very rich, rather good-looking and a brilliant storyteller. And, godammit, I still like him...

Reed's best story this week was about his personal entrepreneurial eureka moment. It came while doing a holiday job in a dog biscuit factory in his home town of Huddersfield. Instructed to pick up biscuit crumbs off the factory floor, the teenage Reed tentatively approached the foreman to enquire whether he could have a broom to do the job.

"You are the broom!" the foreman replied.

And with that, Reed learned a lifetime lesson.

So for those of you uncertain about your personal or business futures, just remember: we all have the ability to walk out of the biscuit factory.

May I wish all Real Business fans a happy holiday.