Laurence Olivier is the CEO of LifeQ, a leading health informatics company. Laurence brings over three decades of global technology and business leadership, and has served on the boards of more than 50 startup, private and public companies around the world. He is also partner with two VC firms, 4Di Capital (South Africa) and Veritas Venture Partners (Israel). Laurence’s academic qualifications include Electronics Engineering, Commerce, and Data Sciences.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Everyday Entrepreneurs
When business started difficulties overcame:
“Before getting into business was just to for somebody coming from a very rural and poor background to just to get going and move up on the study ladder and get bursaries and educate yourself and so forth. But thereafter it was taking on challenge by challenge and move yourself forward. With Life Q there have been a lot of different difficulties along the road. In the beginning we had to figure out whether we could customise academic physiological models to be relevant for the unique physiology is for every human. Something that works in a science lab is not necessarily applicable on 7,000,000,000 unique individuals…”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Guns, Germs and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years Book by Jared Diamond
- Bill Bryson Books
- The Bible
Favourite Quote:
“When you have nothing to lose you are on your strongest” Laurence Olivier
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” Rudyard Kipling
Recommended Online Resources:
- Google LLC – is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware.
- TEDx Talks – Local speakers presenting to local audiences about everything from politics to pollination. They host all of their talks for the world to enjoy, explore, and use.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“don’t be shy to be a bit naïve. Because if you are not, you will just be a me to. I think entrepreneurship is not a fashion show where one rises and falls on the ratings from people in armchairs. One has to do things outside of the conventional box. Focus on things in front of you and don’t be affected by the views of so many others on the side which is not experiencing where you are at that point in time”…[Listen for More]
More About Laurence Olivier:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas A. Edison
Other Quotes From the Chat with Laurence Olivier:
- “Never hand the keys of your business to others. Don’t be afraid to attempt things yourself”
- “There is a truth that having great aligned partners can help scaling but if these partners are top Fortune companies be aware that their timescales and yours are very different. And so to their reliance on the success of joint initiatives. I would have started earlier to evolve initiatives internally not to bow to the beats of the execution in partnership with some of our larger partners… Make sure that you always have the reins in your hands and do not leave the initiative in the hands of your channels or partners”
- “One should not think that a start-up business is only managing inwards. You also have to manage outwards – that’s both sideways and upwards. You have to manage your investors, your stakeholders. You are always in the business of doing two things: fighting the war and making sure that you have enough provisions for the war. And I think so many entrepreneurs think it’s just the fight that matters. So being smart, getting the best value out of your investor’s advisers. I always think of my investors as unpaid employees… To actually derive some meaningful value beyond the dollars is extremely important”
- “You really have to be willing to put things on the line and not fear the downside outcome because that actually will make you powerful. That actually will differentiate you from the average entrepreneur. That will really elevate you to be just that 10 or 20 percent better”
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