£2.5K TO £5KTOPICS
IT & Online Business
SPEECH TITLES
Internet entrepreneurship
Opportunities of Web 2.0
BIOGRAPHY
Many successful entrepreneurs ascribe their success, at least in part, to a 'eureka moment'. Ajaz Ahmed's was to completely revolutionise Internet use in Europe and make him a rich man.
Born in Lahore, Ajaz, aged three, arrived in Huddersfield where his father had found work in the textile mills. His school career did not offer an escape from his humble origins, as he left at sixteen with no qualifications. Starting work at Dixons, Ajaz found the retail world more conducive and rose quickly through the ranks. By the mid-nineties, he was on the management team of PC World in Leeds...and that is when he had his eureka moment.
He bought a PC and nobody in the store could tell him how to get onto the Internet. He contacted an ISP and was blinded by science. Eventually he managed to get online, but his struggle gave him an idea.
Ajaz developed the idea of the world's first 'free' Internet Service, based on a revolutionary pay-as-you-go model. After much persuasion, Dixons launched Freeserve. It attracted 200,000 subscribers straight away and in just three months became the UK's largest ISP, overtaking AOL and eventually amassing 2.6 million customers. Freeserve floated nine months later at a market cap of £1.5bn and entered the FT 100 soon after. At its peak it was worth £9bn. Home Internet access was transformed forever.
After the business was sold to Wanadoo, Ajaz left to pursue a variety of business interests. He champions, mentors and invests in start-up businesses, particularly in the technology field. He speaks about the lessons he learnt on his journey.
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Q&A
JLA: Is entrepreneurialism a natural condition or can it be taught?
AA: You can teach certain skills. I learnt through getting inspired by other people's stories. I didn't want the safe option - looking forward to a Saturday night, or where to go on holiday, didn't inspire me. Ted Turner said life was about doing the obvious before anyone else does it. That's what we did with Freeserve.
JLA: How would you describe the entrepreneur's attitude to risk?
AA: Most success is common sense. If you want it you have to be prepared to take risks, ridicule and criticism. Successful entrepreneurs take risks because they want it.