Transforming Trading & The Value of Happiness with Co-Founder of Inteligex, Mark Sear #45
Mark Sear’s corporate career boasts huge names and traces his entrepreneurial streak as Co-Founder of Inteligex, but that only scratches the surface of his extraordinary story.
Earning a scholarship that might have saved him from prison, creating the hugely popular Championship Manager video game, and owning Europe’s 2nd biggest swimming cap manufacturer are among the topics in this deeply pensive, pertinent and powerful episode of Extrology.
*TRIGGER WARNING* This episode of Extrology contains open conversations covering depression & suicide. If you/someone you know is in need of immediate support, Samaritans are available on 116 123.
Lee and Mark discuss:
Mark’s upbringing, and the source of his interest in maths, tech and cryptography
The birth of the Championship Manager video game
Balancing a measured approach with the desire to be an entrepreneurial maverick
Managing depression and investing in happiness over financial gain
Freeing oneself from the past and the future
Links & references
Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/
Mark Sear: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mark-sear
Inteligex: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inteligex/
Get in touch: lee@extrology.com
Episode highlights:
“My teacher called my parents and said that he'd put me in for a scholarship to a really good private school and I passed with flying colours, all they had to do was pay for the uniform and everything else was taken care of. I remember my dad saying, ‘Oh, why would he want to go to a private school?’, and the teacher said, ‘Because if he doesn't, he's going to prison’.” - 4:50 - Mark Sear
“There's a plus sign and a downside to a scholarship. The plus side is you get the education. The downside is, you're not part of that school, you're a bolt on, a kid who happens to be there. So where the other kids would have their own computer at home, I only had the one at school.” - 10:00 - Mark Sear
“I realised that if you consider there were 22 men on a pitch, and the pitches are, broadly speaking, 80 x 100, then you've got 80 x 100 possible places where an individual or the ball could be at any given time. Within that you've got a probability of where they want to be at that given time. So then it all boils down to maths.” - 16:00 - Mark Sear
“You get highly motivated people who work really hard for four days who say, ‘Yeah, I'm not getting paid as much money as I could do at X, Y & Z in Sweden, but I've permanently got a three day weekend’. The value of spare time is much underrated, I think, so I think we'll have to change like that.” - 32:15 - Mark Sear
“I would rather my kids be happy and living in a small one bedroom place trying to make a living as a jobbing actor, than unhappy living in a four bedroom, four bathroom, detached house, and wondering why they bother to get up a lot of the time. Maybe it’s an investment in sanity.” - 42:15 - Mark Sear
“One of the things that, as human beings, we've got to learn to do - and I'm terrible at both things - don't torture yourself about past mistakes, and don't worry about future events until they happen. I constantly do it.” - 48:50 - Mark Sear
“I just want to see my kids happy. They say that a parent is only ever as happy as the unhappiest child, and I completely understand that. I worry about my kids. That's what success means to me; I'd give up everything to give them something.” - 53:00 - Mark Sear
“I'm excited to see my kids live a happier life than me. I'm excited by the technological developments that are coming that may be able to free so many people from fundamentally crap lives. But maybe it's a function of depression that you don't get that excited about the macro things, so I get more excited about the micro things.” - 58:05 - Mark Sear
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