A book about
British people who gave their name to their brands. Although it was not that
much of an exciting read, it contains really interesting stories and quotes by
the entrepreneurs:
“’E-mail is a monologue and I prefer telephone
dialogue,’ he (Lord Bell) says.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.31).
“One of the
things I’ve been trying to learn is avoid being co-dependent; to stop imagining
that other people’s behaviour determines your life. You have to stop trying to
control other people’s behaviour, which you can’t do.” (Vallance and Hopper
quoting Lord Bell, 2013, p.34).
“He explains
how, when things are going badly, he tries to be the first to take
responsibility: a kind of fault-owning from the front. He says he hates blame
culture ab defensive behaviours. Hence, he likes upwards appraisals, where
junior staff give feedback on seniors.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.56).
“I’ve got a lot
of parallel lives unlived, but you suddenly realise it’s probably not going to
happen. It’s the inherent sadness of ageing …” (Vallance and Hopper quoting
Emma Bridgewater, 2013, p.64).
“When you find
something that works, you can absolve yourself from decision making. I’m keen
on not having to make decisions all the time.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013,
p.76).
“The trouble wth
then being an entrepreneur is that you never think you’ve finished. You’re
always thinking of things you haven’t done.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.77).
“I’ve built a switch off mechanism (…). I can remember the horror of sleepless
nights I’ve had. Sometimes, you have to sort of use an escape like fiction;
theatre is very good; cinema is brilliant; cinema and alcohol are very
effective.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.77).
The “bits of
America (…) that nobody ever visits. (…) It fills me with an enormous sense of
a life unlived: the vastness of America; the opportunity and the stimulation of
it.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Emma Bridgewater, 2013, p.80).
“I’ve always
said that if you don’t love yourself, you can’t be loved by others, and then
you’ll look for love in all the wrong places.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting
Kackie Cooper, 2013, p.98).
“the key to
entrepreneuship is (…) the ability to make something out of a difference.”
(Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.103).
“Never got back
in debt. Never. Debt brands you and it’s all pervasive and you don’t have any
control.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Jackie Cooper, 2013, p.103).
“being the
outsider. (…) Everyone else is a stranger, so you become strange.” (Vallance
and Hopper, 2013, p.113).
“like the
psychology of the race, because you have to accelerate when you feel the most
tired, because that puts off all the other runners.” (Vallance and Hopper
quoting Sir James Dyson, 2013, p.118).
On trying to
please his Japanese partners: “He became known as the large, smelly, unattractive
gaijin. (…) ‘They will bever like you’, he says, so you have to stop being so desperate to please them. (Paul Smith
would take a small train set into meetings with Japanese businessmen, and would
begin to play with it when he got bored. Of course, they just assumed that this
was normal gaijin behaviour, no less insanely Western than eating Cornish
pasties or peeing in the bathtub, si ut never mattered much.” (Vallance and
Hopper, 2013, p.125).
On ideas: “If
you can have one (…) you can have a thousand and one, or an infinite number;
and that is the sudden realisation of confident certainty. Shouting at people
is a lack of confidence; a sign of panic that you think you can only do a fixed
number of ideas and then you’ll dry up.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.139).
On never
presenting creative material in the pitch: “’If we really believed in the
superiority of our creative product, we shouldn’t give it away for free.’”
(Vallance and Hopper quoting Hegarty, 2013, p.141).
Enthusiasm: “a
point about the etymology of the word, which, he (Hegarty) explains, literally
means being with God.” (Vallance and Hopper, 2013, p.143).
“My father
always told me that he had given me the best education that money could buy,
but he could not leave me any money – and I told him that I was deeply grateful
for it being that way round.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Hsicox, 2013,
p.154).
“’Your
representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he
betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’”
(Vallance and Hopper quoting Hiscox quoting Burke, 2013, p.160).
“I’m still not a
good sleeper. I don’t know if it’s to do with worrying. I do find that little
things become monstruous at night.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Hiscox, 2013,
p.162).
“If we made some money as we went along, all
well and good, but it’s the wine itself that gives you the reward …. That’s
where it starts and finishes.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Laithwaite, 2013,
p.171).
“I knew the danger: the job always changes you
and you never change the job. (…) You’ve got to somehow keep your purity but
still get your income, even when each pulls you in an opposite direction. (…)
So I decided to earn money on five days of the week selling fabrics and suits,
and keep the purity of the stuff I wanted to sell for the Friday and Saturday.”
(Vallance and Hopper quoting Sir Paul Smith, 2013, p.263).”
“Dear Paul, I
don’t like fashion but I like you.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Sir Paul
Smith, 2013, p.270).
“When you get
there, there’s no there there.” (Vallance and Hopper quoting Warburton, 2013,
p.290).
