Rob Wirszycz is an active member of Innovatrs entrepreneur network and a rare, serial Chairman of innovative, early stage tech and Web start-ups. He shares his experiences and insights with us.

Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, become an entrepreneur and give up that cosy corporate job opp?

Rob: Corporate jobs are rarely cosy if you are ambitious. However, the ambition is the thing that drives you to do your own thing – there is a minor arrogance too in that you believe that you can do it better than others…

Innovatrs: What does your venture do? What was the original @ha Idea ? And when/where did it hit you?

Rob: I’m chairman of 7 companies and have two other ventures – in all of them I’ve not been the person with the first idea but the one who has spotted how to exploit and market the technology or concept, converting the idea into a marketable proposition.

Innovatrs: Is this your first business? What past experiences helped you take this fast route to masochism?

Rob: Over the years I’ve been involved in literally hundreds of businesses. I love the creativity and growth prospects of entrepreneur-led companies. If that is masochism, let me have more of it!

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

Rob: Over 30 years I have learned more about what not to do rather than what to do. I have learned as part of this to never though transfer learning from one context to another but to take everything on face value, evaluating everything against the market context. The one lesson I have learned that is universal and persistent is that you ignore the market at your peril! Oh, and that cash is more important than profit.

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

Rob: I only work with what I call growth companies, organisations that have a vision beyond just the commercial, that have propositions that literally travel to new and bigger markets, and where there is an energy and desire to succeed

Innovatrs: What are the key lessons you’ve learnt over the past few years?

Rob: See 4 above

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

Rob: Constant fears. I am a natural paranoid and an incurable optimist. Both states are compatible! You have to be able to sleep well and find a way to take that break out from the pressures and worries – as long as it is not chemical anything might work and you have to find what works for you

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

Rob: My biggest failure was to invest the profits from a business I had in the early 90s into property – we owned our own sites. The property crash revalued the assets and drove a huge hole into our balance sheet. Told me not to mix different business models in one business and link them in a way that kills them all!

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

Rob: I constantly look for investors for my businesses. The best way is to talk to investors, be they institutional or personal and keep talking to them. There is no magic formula, rather you need to build relationships – investors invest in people not ideas.

Innovatrs: What does innovation mean to you and what does it mean in your sector/space?

Rob: I like innovation, those new ways of operating, new ways of delivering value to customers and markets. I do not like inventions – they scare me, as do inventors, who are usually overly wedded to their concept and are blind to what the market is telling them. Give me innovators any day.