Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson, MD of easyfundraising.org.uk, on surfboards, venture capital and why Happy Eater couldn't survive without him.
Gary Thompson, easyfundraising.org.uk
Name: Gary Thompson
Age: 38
Company: easyfundraising.org.uk. We help good causes throughout the UK raise money from their everyday online shopping.
Turnover: £2.4m
First job: Working as a waiter in the very prestigious Happy Eater roadside restaurant chain. It went bust not long after I left. I like to think I kept it going and they couldn’t make money without me.
Dream job: To work in a VC company, surrounded by incredibly smart and passionate people, investing in the latest and greatest tech startups. A bit sad but I can’t think of a more exciting environment to work within.
Car: A VW T5 transporter for surfboards, mountain bikes, kayaks etc, a 1972 beetle for Sunday afternoon driving and a VW golf for the motorway.
Economy, business or first-class: Economy all the way. Saying that, I have tried numerous times for a cheeky upgrade and failed every time. Any tips?
Most extravagant purchase: I recently popped out for a bacon sandwich and came back with a £1,000 surfboard that I didn’t need. It looks nice though.
Most played song on your iPod: "Stanway Hill" by Paul Cherry.
Best business book: Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street. It’s by far the most useful business book I’ve ever read. It’s a very simple yet brilliant guide for recruiting. I urge everyone to read it!
Worst business moment: Losing our biggest client within two weeks of signing them up. It was entirely our fault and hugely frustrating.
Proudest business moment: Signing up a very large and prestigious company to support their entire IT infrastructure. It was a massive achievement all round and showed we could compete with the best. We had arrived!
Business mentor: A gentleman called Philippe Huser. To this day I can hear his mantra of "organise, delegate, supervise".
Next big thing: I reckon mobile payment services will finally become mainstream towards the end of this year.