Paul Cash, entrepreneur at Innovatrs and founder of Hurricane tells us about his start-ups. Paul is a creative agency leader and disruptive at every opportunity.

Paul’s first venture was Tidalwave. Following that he created his latest start-up, Hurricane. Hurricane is a strategy driven, COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY for the digital age, provide branding, creative and digital services to market makers, innovators, pioneers and challenger brands. It’s a company with deep expertise in technology.

Innovatrs: What made you do it?

Paul: Since the age of 14 I have always wanted to be my own boss. I guess it stems from the fact I used to hate it when my Dad told me off and I didn’t want the same in the corporate world.

Innovatrs: Why did you take the plunge, became an entrepreneur and give up that cosy corporate job opp?

Paul: To be honest I had nothing to lose. I was 26 years old and had been working for an advertising agency for about 18 months. I saw the opportunity for screen savers as a promotional marketing opportunity in 1995 and set up the UK’s first branded screen saver company called IMITRON. 12 months later I launched my first marketing agency called Tidalwave with my business partner Julian Sowerby.

We grew the business to nearly 100 people in a 5 year period by focusing exclusively on working with global technology companies. We won many business and creative awards over the next decade culminating in getting ranked as the fastest growing marketing agency in the UK in 2001 by the Virgin Atlantic/Sunday Times  sponsored Fast Track Awards. In 2008, I set up a new venture called Hurricane which was a passion project to work with up and coming “challenger brands” i.e. companies who are looking to zag whilst their competitors zig.

Innovatrs: What does your venture do?

Paul: We provide branding, creative and digital services to market makers, innovators, pioneers and challenger brands. We work directly with leadership teams and marketing teams to help them create radical differentiation of their brand to create stand out and cut through in markets from tech/telecoms to travel and financial services.

Innovatrs: What was the original @ha Idea?

Paul: I was reading about the story of the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane and its role in the Battle of Britain. It was a time when Germany was getting ready to invade Great Britain and the only thing between them and us was the RAF. We were outnumbered 5-1 in the skies, yet we went on to defeat the Luftwaffe. The hero of the day wasn’t the Spitfire as everybody thought but the workhorse Hurricane which accounted for more enemy kills that all land and air forces combined. The Battle of Britain was a challenger moment for Great Britain and the Hurricane was the true underdog proving the point that even when the odds seem overwhelming, victory can be achieved. It was this story that made me set up a new agency to work with underdogs taking on market leaders 10 times their size.

Innovatrs: And when/where did it hit you?

Paul: Nowhere glamorous, I think I was just sitting in my office or something dull like that.

Innovatrs: What was running through your head when you started up? What crises hit you early on?

Paul: Hurricane was my 3rd company but it had been almost 11 almost since I had done anything “brand new”. I was driven by fear of failure when I decided to go for it,  that was my energy source. I was adamant that even with a recession etc that as long as you have focus, radical differentiation and great people then anything is possible. The past two years have been tough but we’ve still grown year on year.

Innovatrs: What are the long-term goals for your company?

Paul: We’re trying to create a £30m company focused exclusively on working with the next generation of remarkable challenger brands with offices in London, NYC, San Francisco and Singapore.

Innovatrs: Have you felt pangs of fear or anxiety when building your business? If so, over what and how did you deal with them?

Paul: Fear of failure.

Innovatrs: What big ol’ failures have you had in the past and how have they helped you get to where you are?

Paul: I wouldn’t call them failures but YES I’ve made hundreds of mistakes. Every mistake possible in business from recruitment to finance to marketing at some point I’ve tried and experimented and learnt the hard way. It’s always the stuff that you get wrong that makes you smarter. Although, it’s easy to make the same old mistakes time and time again on the recruitment front. Finding great people still remains the most critical and frustrating part of being an entrepreneur.

Innovatrs: Have you looked for investors? If so, how?

Paul: Not yet, but when the time is right I have a few VC friends who I can call for advice.