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Ben Way
Photo: User:Benpbway, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons9

Ben Way

British businessman

Ben Way is a serial entrepreneur and author best known for his appearance on Secret Millionaire, The Startup Kids and as a cast member on Start-Ups: Silicon Valley.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Ben Way (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Sep 28, 1980.1

Companies

Early life and education

Way grew up in a village in Devon, where his parents divorced when he was young. He has a sister, Hermione Way, who is a journalist and appeared on a reality TV show with him; they were separated from each other at an early age.

Way was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age and despite being told by his teachers that he would never read or write, Way describes his Dyslexia as an advantage.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ben Way (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: entrepreneur.4

Business history

Way started his first company 'Quad', a computer consultancy, at age 15. At the age of 19 he raised £25 million from Jersey-based venture capitalist to create an online shopping comparison technology called Pulsar. However, after a dispute with the investors in 2001 he was diluted out of the business and lost everything. It is reported that he was in the under thirties Sunday Times Rich List 2001 on the same day he could not buy a tube ticket.

He won "New Business Millennium Young Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2000 which was given to him by Gordon Brown. After receiving this award he went on to advise both the White House and the UK government on technology as well as joining the internet incubator NetB2B2 PLC as a non-executive. After this he headed up technical and environmental investments and due-diligence for the Rotch Property Group.

He currently runs The Rainmakers, an innovation and incubation company, through this he got involved with a number of start up companies, including the online mentoring company Horsesmouth, language learning company FriendsAbroad which was sold to Babbel. During this time he was also chief innovation officer for Brightstation Ventures a $100m technology VC fund started by Dan Wagner and Shaa Wasmund.

In 2012 he moved to San Francisco.

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Business ventures

Way is involved in a large number of startup companies that are listed on the Rainmakers Global website, such as GoDine, the restaurant booking service; FuelMyBlog, the blogging product review service; Truevoo, the iPhone apps store review service; an SME advice service called Smarta; and a graduate recruitment company called BraveNewTalent. In 2009 Rainmakers opened a United States (US) branch and consequently became involved in a number of US startups, including Traffic Spaces, the ad management platform, and BoostCTR, the Google adwords optimizer. He is also one of the founders of Alpha Concierge Matchmaking, which describes itself as the world's most exclusive matchmaking app.

Way was also involved in a number of green start-up companies, such as SellMyMobile and SellCell, and is a cofounder with Paul Williams of Freetricity, a renewable energy provider based in the UK and the US.

Way is the founder of Viapost, an online postal company. The POIP service allows printing of documents over the internet which are then sent by Royal Mail.

He is involved in his sister's production company Newspepper, a citizen journalism site that covers a large number of UK tech sector events.

In 2011 he worked with the founding team at TradeHill the first US crypto exchange on the BitCoin.com deal.

Way and his sister developed GoIgnite, a health and lifestyle smartphone app and hardware for the Bravo TV reality television show they both appeared in.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ben Way (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornSep 28, 1980, Exeter5
  • CitizenshipUnited Kingdom6
  • ResidenceSan Francisco7

Philanthropy

He has been involved with a number of charitable organizations, most notably his support of the Pedro Club and a youth club from Hackney which he gave money to through The Secret Millionaire. He is also the patron of Social Firms an organization dedicated to getting employment for people with disabilities.

He has acted as a judge on behalf of a number of charities including Anne Frank Awards and Unlimited Awards as well as having been an advisor to the charities Edge and Nesta.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ben Way (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Politics

Way stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in Bayswater Ward in the City of Westminster.

Way is an advocate for immigration reform after having his own immigration challenges while moving to the United States.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ben Way (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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