Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
In one sense, intuitively, it was a remarkable asset
that if we could get a hold of it
it was capable of great things,
and even though we did projections
we didn't really know the detail of the numbers
but we felt that this would prove to be something transformational
and so it proved.
The formula was in place, in fact.
Pizza Express' menu and pricing and so forth were there
Well we did things behind the scenes that made a material difference to the economics of the company
We forced the franchisees who weren't paying their bills to pay their bills
We sold the expensive, central head office
You know, I rather enjoy in a way, the businesses at the earlier stages
it's a more intimate, higher risk undertaking
but it's also the excitement, the drama of it
will you succeed, you've got something to prove
it isn't just cookie cutter
opening another branch
each new restaurant really matters
and I think there is an adrenalin rush out of that
that is missing when a company gets beyond a certain size
I think there is a perversity that happens in some way as you get older
in that you become more risk averse
I think there's a line in a Bob Dylan song where he says something like
'when you got nothing, you got nothing to lose'
and to a degree I think, at the age of 30, you think you're going to live forever
and you can conquer the world
and that sense of limitless possibilities
drives you to do very brave and bold things occasionally
that in hindsight you think
"how on earth did we have the 'cojones' to think we'd be able to get away with that"
But you do!
And, gradually as human beings, we tend to become more cautious
you know, more aware of failure and all that sort of stuff
and naturally of course, the worst never happens
little of it matters in the long run
and we probably should embrace, in a measured way, risk more
as we get older, but actually we do it less