Adrie's Blog

Mike Cassidy

Last week I was watching one of my favourite programs on NBC "Press Here" - this time with an interview with Mike Cassidy.

Mike was able to word the true story of every entrepreneur's life in a mere 20 minutes, devoid of any thrills and frills and with none of the false glamour that most successful people seem to use to brush over their path to success.
It was really an interview that every entrepreneur should be made to watch at the outset of their careers, firstly because it painted a true picture of the realities of being a business owner,but also because it is great to see when you hit one of the many walls along the way, how a very successful entrepreneur has known and overcome exactly the same problems as you and I.

Mike Cassidy started 4 technology companies and sold each one for multi-millions. Very diverse businesses in the fields of telephony/computer technology, Search, Gaming and travel advise. He currently works at Google after selling his last company to them and is enjoying a regular Joe's job working on some new projects. In the interview Mike mentioned that he had been at the point of failure with every single one of his companies at some point, two weeks away from closure as there was no money to pay payroll and that he had repeatedly had to change the strategic direction of the company because he found that in reality the concept they had set out to create, would not work. These are experiences every entrepreneur will face, and they are so very recognisable. I had exactly the same during my career as an entrepreneur. It was all about resilience, never giving up and keeping a fresh look at what you are doing so that you can adapt, that struck such a cord with me.

Mike's comment that whenever you start a new company, however successful your prior venture was, you start again at zero, rings very true. For months, no one will reply to your phone calls. When I sold my first company and started a new business, I was sitting there on my own in a little office. There would be no incoming mail for me, the phone would not ring and worst of all - even if you called people, they were uninterested in whatever you had to say. Often I heard "come back in 6 months or so..." with the unspoken "if you are still around" filling in the gap just before the phonecall was ended.

Mike's interview with NBC was a breath of fresh air, sharing the true creativity, determination and mentality of a winner.