My hero is Captain Jack Sparrow

For the past 5 years my new year’s resolution has been to be more like Captain Jack Sparrow. Maybe not all aspects of him as he is a drunk nutter but what I like specifically is that he challenges seemingly fixed structures. My best example is when he is asked to choose between finding the treasure and saving the girl. He says; “I want both”.

That captures the spirit of the entrepreneur in many ways. Challenging structures, being naïve enough to see things a different way, audacious enough to aim for a higher goal and creative enough to find a different way of doing things and get want you want. Brilliant Sparrow.

I’m going to add a few things to this new year’s resolution – maybe a sign of long awaited maturing I’m going to be Patient, I’m going to be Kinder to myself and others and not least be Grateful.

Tech stuff: On my radar 2015 will be innovation in payments, cyber security, mobile identification, opportunities in Internet of Things (we’ll see mobile phones as a door openers very soon), and the inevitable consolidation in social and messaging.

E-commerce: I was shocked/impressed to read the growth figures for Christmas shopping…. On the 25th of December when online sales kicked off, the UK saw a 36% online shopping growth year-on-year, and a whooping £441 000 was spend a MINUTE! 60% of Amazon’s Christmas sales where from mobile.

Naturally my focus will be specifically in the Middle East and I’m super excited to follow the progress of a handful of amazing entrepreneurs… The Sky is the Limit

#YMEstartup continues the road show saluting the crazy and naïve – Next stops Riyadh, Doha, Teheran, Cairo and Beirut!