On the 31st January, Nick Jenkins, founder of MoonPig.com, came to Eton to deliver what would be an insightful and humorous talk to the Entrepreneurship Society. Mr Jenkins referred back to his days at MoonPig where having a catchy and memorable name that was only two syllables and also phonetic (so that it couldn't be misspelt), helped him in acquiring new customers. MoonPig helped to cut out the middlemen in the gift card industry, capitalising on new, economically viable methods of printing and the age of the internet. The Dot-Com crash was a blessing in disguise as it meant that they were under less pressure from investors to turn over a profit, which after first-year losses of £1.1m would have been a struggle. Mr Jenkins talked about how luck plays such a colossal part in business, how a drunk friend gave him some money which ultimately kept the business alive after having gone back to investors for the fourth time.
Having been on Dragon's Den, he shared stories of some of the more comic pitches that he heard, whilst also how as an angel investor one needs to work out the potential for a business to make money; even if the product is innovative, cash in hand (like he had when he started MoonPig) is essential to survival. He talked about the advantages of starting a business young, where you can always start over if it goes wrong, without too much to worry about.
It was a truly fantastic and well-attended talk with excellent questions asked. One of the key takeaways to any entrepreneurs is that it is an adrenaline-filled journey with highs and lows, but that the journey is incomparable to any other lines of work.
Jasper Sodha
