Lee and WILLIAM discuss:

• William’s remarkable portfolio of executive and non-exec roles

• Early fascination with technology, and releasing a game during his GCSE years

• Finding more value in executing ideas than conceiving them

• The oft-overlooked quality of sales as a professional skill

• Taking a portfolio approach to business vs having a sole focus

• The importance of diverse skill sets and outlooks in any team

Links & references:

Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/

William Reeve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamreeve/

Goodlord: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodlord/

Get in touch: lee@extrology.com

Episode highlights:

“I found myself actually earning some money professionally as a kid; I wrote a computer game while I was doing my GCSEs. The GCSEs didn't do too well but the computer game got released publicly, and I found myself doing more of that actually during my A-Levels.” - 5:25 - William Reeve

“I wondered ‘How come plumbers are making quite a lot more money than these supposedly well-remunerated business jobs?’. I thought ’It's because it's their own gig, isn't it - it’s their own business’. That started a thought process, which was that at some point in the future, if I want to make some money, that's probably the best way of doing it.” - 16:30 - William Reeve

“Whenever somebody comes up to me with an amazing new business idea, I always say that the idea is really worth nothing. It’s the ability to do stuff with ideas that creates value.” - 21:40 - William Reeve

“I'm thinking more of the lows on the journey but that's unfair, because obviously it was a terrific journey with a lot of highlights. But it was a struggle, and we had a lot of competition in that market.” - 38:30 - William Reeve

“I feel a bit young to be retiring - I'm not the sort of person who's going to hang my boots up and sit on a beach with a sombrero over my head. I think I’m going to end up with fingers in pies as long as I can, realistically.” - 44:05 - William Reeve

“I tended to look at the world in terms of building a leading UK business, and I probably should have been thinking more in terms of building a leading international business. I think the internet and technology has made that challenge more pertinent because it's easier to build multinational global businesses than it was for the 21 year old William Reeve.” - 51:55 - William Reeve

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