Life Changing Moments

Life Changing Moments

by Hugo Manassei

Throughout the winter, Hugo Manassei, Director of NESTA's Creative Pioneer programme, has been speaking to upcoming graduates from the creative industries about life, business and options after university. Following are a few of his thoughts about why creative individuals, those used to taking risks, are perfectly poised to make the leap into business.

Too many myths exist around business. The first thing to realise is that all business schools teach from the same book. Just think about that for a second. That's the complete opposite of you guys - creatives. I mean imagine if everyone at art school was taught exactly the same way. And the thing about business is that it's essentially chaotic. It relies on so many factors and there is no way that one can control all of them. Business schools are basically about teaching risk-adverse people who are very uncomfortable with chaos about systems that manage chaos.

And here is the gig. If you are involved in the act of creativity, you are extremely used to managing chaos, because when you design or start to create things, ideas explode in loads of directions and you are constantly managing that chaos and making decisions to keep it on track. Business is very similar. Most entrepreneurs share many characteristics with those involved in the act of creativity.

You are much better at business than you think. It is just how you perceive business to be. Business isn't about wearing a suit and managing spreadsheets. Business is about making an idea happen, nothing more. Sure you have to know about the importance of cash flow, but it is not about being a wiz with figures - you can leave that to your accountant. I know it's a boring thing to hear, but it is about having a vision and making it happen, and you guys do that on a weekly basis. When you think about business in the right way, it is very exciting. It can be what you want it to be, and it's a lot easier than you think.

I've set up two businesses now. When I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 1995, I was given a £3,000 bursary from an American organisation to exhibit some of my digital design work at a conference in Los Angeles. On the way back, I stopped off in New York to visit a friend. While I was developing some digital work in a Cyber-Café, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I wanted to set up a digital communications company in New York.

Six weeks later - three months after I had graduated, I was sitting in front of the board of the National Geographic Society, telling them about this thing called the Internet, and what they should do with the $3m they had earmarked to spend. That was really scary - I was terrified, but it was also extremely exciting. It was like a crit at college - only whatever I presented became reality, and I was paid for it.

A year later I returned to London and co-founded another digital communications company, which within four years was employing 250 people. That was also really scary, but there is not that much to know about managing people and a company - it is all just common sense. You treat people how you wanted to be treated, and you ask a specialist when you need some specialist advice.

Others who founded this London company with me had business school backgrounds, and they knew how to put together a spreadsheet. But the essence of the company did not come from business school thinking - it came from those of us who had a vision, and who thought creatively.

If I hadn't been in New York, I don't think I would of thought - sod it, I'm just going to do it. When I graduated I didn't think - I want to set up a company. But the New York environment of 'anything is possible' was contagious and I just thought - I'm going to give it a go.