1.
Nick Warren
Stories That Mean Business
Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506
nick@nickwarren.com
STORIESTHAT MEAN BUSINESS.com
Thomas Power
With Nick Warren

2.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
When I ask CEOs to lift their eyes
to the horizon and think about the
future, most of them flinch.
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3.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
It’s not their fault.
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4.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
They already have two phones,
three-hundred notifications, and
four more meetings to get to
before lunch.
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5.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
When you’re under siege,
everything beyond ‘right now’ feels
like a threat.
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6.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
They have board members on
their back, institutional investors,
and business models born in the
20th century.
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7.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
What they don’t have is time.
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8.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
You can’t think about the future
if the present is screaming in
your face.
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9.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I know that from experience.
My first tech job was working
for Alan Sugar.
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10.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
It was a four-letter education. He
taught me the value of research,
the power of planning, and the
need for execution. (Both kinds.)
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11.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
“Tell me something I don’t know. Give
me an edge. Don’t come back unless
you’ve got ALL the information.”
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12.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Back then, research meant a dumb
phone, an old car or a seat in
economy class.
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13.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I got to hang out with other
youngsters in tech – people like
Bill Gates, Steve Balmer and
Michael Dell.
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14.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
And they all understood the
same thing...
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15.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Research. Plan. Execute.
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16.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I thought I understood it too. I
was looking for my chance. A
billionaire in training.
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17.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I spent the nineties waiting and
watching. Different jobs. Different
companies. One focus…
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18.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Get the information. Get the edge.
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19.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Then, in 1998, my wife and I saw
our chance and created one of the
first social networks.
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20.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Before Facebook. Before Twitter.
Before LinkedIn.
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21.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
The network was Ecademy -
a community for business
people - and we loved it like
one of our children.
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22.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
We nurtured it with tender care.
Day and night. Through the dotcom
boom. Through the dotcom bust.
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23.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Link by link. Member by member.
Country by country. Twelve
months. Then two years. Then four.
Then eight.
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24.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
By 2006 we had 650,000
members in sixty countries, thirty-
thousand subscribers, and Big
Money knocking at the door.
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25.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
But it came at a price.
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26.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
We were living the millionaire life.
Perhaps you know it. Beautiful
home. Beautiful family. Miserable
soul-crushing stress.
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27.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
There were months when I
averaged 50 meetings a week. Plus
phone calls. Plus emails. Plus
speaking engagements.
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28.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
No space to research, plan or
execute. No time to lift our eyes
and understand the future that
was bearing down.
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29.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
So when Big Money came
knocking, we weren’t prepared.
We said no to the right offer, then
yes to the wrong one. Nothing
went right.
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30.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
We spiralled down, desperate and
bereaved. Watching it all slip away.
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31.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
By 2012 it was over.
Ecademy was gone.
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32.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
And on that day I lost my business,
my identity, my self-respect, and
my mind.
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33.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Not just a failed billionaire. A failed
businessman, husband and father.
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34.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
It’s hard to admit to that kind
of darkness, but even harder
to live with.
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35.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Our family suffered other
tragedies. There were weeks and
months when I wanted to die.
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36.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Thank God we had each other,
three inspiring children, and many
loving friends.
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37.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Eventually, I got help, and
understood that the damage is
done by the gap between the mask
we wear and the reality beneath.
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38.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
That makes sense. After Ecademy, I
wore my THOMAS mask for years.
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39.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
It was the THOMAS mask that forced itself
out of bed in the morning. The THOMAS mask
that looked back from the mirror. And the
THOMAS mask that made it back to work.
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40.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I became a non-executive director
and joined boards around the world.
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41.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
In 2014, I began working with
Jay Shetty.
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42.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
He was bright and brilliant and had
no trouble looking to the future.
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43.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
He just needed a map.
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44.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
A way to focus on the things that
matter, and let go of the things
that don’t.
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45.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Something was changing, but I was
still THOMAS. Still damaged.
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46.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Then, in March 2018, the final wake-
up call. Bowel cancer. Stage 3.
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47.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Act now, or it’s over.
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48.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
And here’s the dark truth. Once the
future is in doubt, it’s all you can
focus on. A horizon screaming in
your face.
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49.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
An operation. Recovery. Brutal
chemotherapy - fifty-two hours at
a time.
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50.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Brutal but wonderful. Time to
think. Time to let go. Time to find
Thomas again.
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51.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
And that’s what happened. The
mask burned away with the cancer.
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52.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
In 2019, I bought an old fashioned
address book – an A to Z – and
started noting down the disruptive
technology and ideas that will hit
before 2030.
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53.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Within a month, I had over
one-hundred.
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54.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
I call it The Road To 2030, but it
isn’t really a road. It’s a map.
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55.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
It’s a map for people willing to find
a little time, take off their masks
and raise their eyes.
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56.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
In December 2019 I gave my first
Road To 2030 presentation –
to Fujitsu.
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57.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Come join us and learn more.
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58.
Nick Warren. Stories That Mean Business. Mob/WhatsApp: +44 0 7976 836506. nick@nickwarren.com
Got a story that needs telling?
Visit GetYourLegend.com or contact Nick Warren on LinkedIn or Twitter.
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