Edward Charvet
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How did you get where you are today?
Michael Nouril - it's his fault. There I was corporate man chugging along, mortgage, gorgeous wife, fantastic son and now I have a beautiful daughter; all set to retire in 30 years and Michael suggests I meet a bloke call Caspar. A name like that obviously said to me "friendly ghost" so I glibly accepted the introduction assuming that there was not much a welcoming apparition could do to upset my trundly little life...with hindsight a naive thought. And for any of you wondering, the second definition of the word Caspar is "unhinged, 6ft 3in Karate black belt with a broken Risk Filter." - watch out all of you!!
What are you working on right now?
Well obviously building Trovus which I have to say is not going half badly, but other than that I am working on:
Keeping my head in stable place (easier said than done)
Striving to get my weight to 15 stone (seriously hard work)
Trying to stop talking over people...
Keeping Caspar's Corporate buzzword bingo to a minimum - "back in the room" my arse!!
Finding a "nice little hobby" - everyone else I know has a nice little hobby and I don't...
Who or what has been the greatest influence on your career to date?
What over and above Michael sending me to see a bloke who made me give up all security....Errmm. Well, in no particular order, Lawrence Evans, now there is a man of faith (not the spiritual kind you understand, but certainly blind when it comes to me!). Darren Shirlaw, who said to me when we first met, "you have no idea how much I can help" - he was right...I had not a clue. Frank Barber, he gave me a clear steer on what control and work discipline are... if I can master those then I will be really getting somewhere.
Who in business do you most admire - and why?
That's easy - Anyone doing what they love or living a dream. If they make money at it too, well its all the more impressive to me.
What aspect of your job do you find most satisfying?
The days when you get some time to reflect, mainly with our coach Darren and the penny drops and you go "we did that" and at the start there was nothing....
I love it when people share our vision too. We have such belief in the power of connectivity through the web and when we help people see it too, I get such a buzz.
What has been your most valuable lesson learnt?
For a man who could make a career out of mistakes, this could be a long'un. Peter Rollings taught us a good one - list to what people want and don't stick them with a massive bill! My old boss Ian Cook, who still watches over me, has taught me many things, too many to list, but "use your height" has to be up there. Oh the horses foot...once I learnt how to lift the hind leg of a horse, I realized I could do anything!!!!
Which are your favourite websites and blogs?
When I look at my favourites area I always find Wikipedia and Acronym Finder on there...what does that say about me? My son has shown me the delights of Cbeebies although if someone could tell me what is going on in the Night Garden I would be very pleased. Techcrunch is an inspiration, as is Ed Brill's blog.
How do you spend your downtime? Where? With who?
Its bloody ridiculous...I am resisting the cliché of shouting "WHAT DOWN TIME WOULD THAT BE THEN..." but then it is my fault for getting into this in the first place. Family first - all of them, then being out of London - I love the countryside. Friends are a big deal too. Can't function without them. And reading is a big thing, which is ironic - ‘cause I can't.
What lifetime ambition have you yet to achieve?
Build a truly successful business in something that I love doing...I am well underway but there is a long way to go. I want to set up a commercial centre for disadvantaged teenagers and young adults. There is so much energy and talent that will explode given the chance - this will be good for the country. I want to race cars competitively. I want to own a number of TVR's - lets hope there is still time.
Tell us one thing that most people don't know about you...
I still think fizzy water comes out of the ground that way - because the bottles say 'gently carbonated spring water'. I mean look at the price...there is no way ordinary water with fizz added can cost that much!!