Mark Asquith is a serial entrepreneur who has built globally successful design & marketing, SaaS and digital businesses since he quit his job in 2005. A passionate podcaster, perpetual learner and helpful bloke, Mark has an adoring wife, a giant dog and an embarrassing beard.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Dad
Co founder of his Business Hacksaw Studio , Don, Mark, Dan, ???, and Dan
When business started difficulties overcame:
I was skint so that was a good one. And I come from a town, Barnsley is not a town that has traditionally championed entrepreneurialism. Yes of course there has always been business…we are a defunct mining town that has to reinvent the way that we do business in the area. I am fortunate in that my family has always been relatively supportive of my insane need to remain fulfilled. So I never really struggled with that sort of familial support. I wasn’t in an area where was much to go at…you know you talked about the inspiration there aren’t or there weren’t really that many around. So that was a really big struggle, the first few years of being in business were very much finding my own way in the darkness which you know looking back I could have done with a little more help. I should have sought out more help but frankly I didn’t know the world that we exist in today. You know this world that you and I are in now. I didn’t even know that existed then…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Alchemist Book by Paulo Coelho
The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you Book by Rob FitzpatrickFavourite Quote:
“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.” -Henri Bergson
Recommended Online Resources:
Moz – Backed by industry leading data and the largest community of SEOs on the planet, Moz builds tools that make inbound marketing easy
Dropbox – Store, sync, and share files securely with Dropbox Business, a cloud storage solution
Evernote – Collect, nurture, and share ideas across desktop and mobile platforms with Evernote Your thoughts are always with you, always accessible, always in sync
Penultimate (on ipad) – Penultimate is the award-winning digital handwriting app for iPad that combines the natural experience of pen and paper with power of Evernote’s sync and search features. Lose the paper, keep the handwriting.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
Just work hard at what you want to work hard at. And make sure that you do the things that are important not just the things that you are interested in. The reason that I say that is you can’t just do the things that you find interesting because you are in business for yourself because that is a sure fire way to defeat. So what you have got to do is make sure that you are doing the things that are important and move the needle in your business whilst maintaining that air of interest. You know making sure that you doing things that you like. If you can tow that line, if you can stay within those parameters you’ll not go far wrong…[Listen for More]
More About Mark Asquith:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“I have built a moat around myself, along with ways over that moat so that people can ask questions.” Tim Berners-Lee
Other Quotes From the Chat with Mark Asquith:
- “People don’t value the importance of design and experience when it comes to their presence whether it is online or offline”
- “everybody assumes that design is cheap because everyone can get hold of Photoshop”
- “Entrepreneurs generally have to go through a bit of rebrand two or three years in because they realised that they pitched it wrong.”
- “If you want people to give you money which is what we are here for you have got to earn the right to take that money and the only way to do that is by pitching yourself at the very highest level”
- “we are all entrepreneurs we are all driven by money, there is no point in even lying about that or being all allegorical and talking in any other way, we are all here for the cash”
- “you have just got to realise that it is not easy”
- “the reality is that is bloody hard work. You will be working the longest hours, you will be the one that is last to leave, you are the guy that gets paid last, you are responsible at the end the day for anything that goes right and anything that goes wrong. It’s happening on your watch. Your watch never stops”
- “keep moving, keep optimising, keep tweaking, keep spotting serendipity that knocks on your door, and just keep moving forward to opportunity.”
- “we should all be acting and moving forward and taking action and doing things.”
- “We should be thinking about the actions that we are taking”
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