It took me about ten businesses and over 20 years to "succeed". I wanted to retire at 35 for as long as I could remember, missed that by 7 years.
Sold Staff Squared in 2022 for a good sum (7 figure), reinvested most of it into Fundipedia.
Sold Fundipedia for life changing (8 figure) sum in 2025.
All businesses were bootstrapped, reinvesting profits to grow them organically.
I'm now angel investing and consulting. I'm posting more about my journey on my personal website over the coming months https://www.simonswords.com
Rough timeline:
2000 - started a computer hardware company called Atlas alongside a speed dating company (that's not a joke, I ran a speed dating company and some other weird businesses).
2002 - switched Atlas to designing websites, stopped selling hardware and associated support - fed up with call outs to fix networks at the weekend.
2004 - started to design AND code websites, grew Atlas out as a custom software shop - had about 10 employees. Made about 10% margin on a good year. Tough business.
Around 2006 - Vowed to find ARR working with our team on various software solution ideas.
2007 - built first version of what would become Fundipedia - a data management platform for buy side asset managers e.g. HSBC/Barclays/LGIM etc.
2011 - got fed up with internal HR admin as we took on more staff. Built internal HR/time off tracking system that would eventually become Staff Squared - a SaaS HR solution for small businesses.
2012 - 2016 - ran Atlas, Fundipedia and Staff Squared - not very well, but never made a mistake that killed these businesses. Although it nearly killed me - super stressful.
2017 - Fundipedia showed signs of promise as clients were coming to us via word of mouth - we did not market it at all. So I put a plan in place to grow Fundipedia and take on challenge of learning more about the asset management space.
2021 - landed massive Fundipedia client. Sold Staff Squared to a private buyer, wound down Atlas clients.
2025 - With Fundipedia leading the sector it was in - busting the rule of 40 it was now a real threat and an opportunity to our larger competitors in the space. I sold to FE FundInfo (who backed by Hg Capital).
I think most of us are hard wired to progress - progression looks different for each of us but matters all the same.
I've also had side quests in addition to my main quest which is financial stability and the extreme and total control of my circumstances. Side quests are hobbies, friendships, fitness targets etc.
Over a long enough period of time it swings back and forth and the divide is somewhere near the middle.
However, the right leaning Conservatives have fucked up everything for such a long amount of time starting with Brexit it's pretty much guaranteed that left leaning Labour will win the next election in two years.
I was about to say exactly the same thing. This stinks of desperation on Facebook's part to keep their metrics swinging up and to the right. They are acutely aware that any levelling off in these metrics will have a knock on effect for their share price.
Whilst I don't use Facebook, and dislike the social impact that Facebook has brought about (acknowledging the amazing precedents Facebook has set too of course) I do wonder how they get around this. There are only so many humans on the planet that they can play these engagement tricks on. The number of new users and amount of engagement will have to level off at some point.
I'd love to hear what Facebook plan to do to continue to "grow" in the the sense that shareholders are kept happy when they reach this saturation point.
I own a house worth about £300k with a mortgage of £140k. The mortgage repayments are £500 per month.
I wanted to upgrade my house to somewhere larger in a nicer area but didn't want to wipe out my savings to raise a deposit. So I made the decision to rent somewhere instead.
It feels like the best of both worlds. I get all the upside of a big house without any liability for something going wrong (boilers, high end kitchen equipment, etc). I've rented the house I own to some tenants and the profit from the rent I make goes towards my rented house.
Best case scenario - one day I'll own my old house outright and continue to rent. I might even buy another house to rent out at some point. Worst case - the market goes tits up I stop renting and return to the house I own where my mortgage is very affordable.
Sold Staff Squared in 2022 for a good sum (7 figure), reinvested most of it into Fundipedia.
Sold Fundipedia for life changing (8 figure) sum in 2025.
All businesses were bootstrapped, reinvesting profits to grow them organically.
I'm now angel investing and consulting. I'm posting more about my journey on my personal website over the coming months https://www.simonswords.com
Rough timeline:
2000 - started a computer hardware company called Atlas alongside a speed dating company (that's not a joke, I ran a speed dating company and some other weird businesses).
2002 - switched Atlas to designing websites, stopped selling hardware and associated support - fed up with call outs to fix networks at the weekend.
2004 - started to design AND code websites, grew Atlas out as a custom software shop - had about 10 employees. Made about 10% margin on a good year. Tough business.
Around 2006 - Vowed to find ARR working with our team on various software solution ideas.
2007 - built first version of what would become Fundipedia - a data management platform for buy side asset managers e.g. HSBC/Barclays/LGIM etc.
2011 - got fed up with internal HR admin as we took on more staff. Built internal HR/time off tracking system that would eventually become Staff Squared - a SaaS HR solution for small businesses.
2012 - 2016 - ran Atlas, Fundipedia and Staff Squared - not very well, but never made a mistake that killed these businesses. Although it nearly killed me - super stressful.
2017 - Fundipedia showed signs of promise as clients were coming to us via word of mouth - we did not market it at all. So I put a plan in place to grow Fundipedia and take on challenge of learning more about the asset management space.
2021 - landed massive Fundipedia client. Sold Staff Squared to a private buyer, wound down Atlas clients.
2025 - With Fundipedia leading the sector it was in - busting the rule of 40 it was now a real threat and an opportunity to our larger competitors in the space. I sold to FE FundInfo (who backed by Hg Capital).