User:Julia-The-Little-Lady/BenWay

Benjamin Peter Bernard Way (born 28 September 1980) Ben Way is an English entrepreneur best known for his appearance on Secret Millionaire, he started his first company at the age of 15. He went on to raise £25 million in his teens making him one of the first dot com millionaires.

Early Life
He grew up in a village in Devon, his parents separated when he was young and he has a sibling Hermione Way. He was diagnosed with Dyslexia and was written off by his teachers however he describes Dyslexia as having its ‘own brilliance’.

Business Ventures
He started his first company ‘Quad’ a computer consultancy at age 15 a few years later he raised £25 million from Jersey based venture capitalist to create an online shopping comparison technology called Pulsar. However, after a dispute with the investors in 2001 he was diluted out of the business and lost everything. It is reported that he was in the under thirties Sunday Times Rich List 2001 on the same day he could not buy a tube ticket.

He won "New Business Millennium Young Entrepreneur Of The Year" in 2000 which was given to him by Gordon Brown. After receiving this award he went on to advise both the White House and the UK government on technology as well as joining the internet incubator NetB2B2 as a non-executive before heading up technical and environmental investments and due-diligence for the Rotch Property Group during this time he also lectured for Imperial Collage.

After leaving the firm he started the Rainmakers an incubation company, through this he got involved with a number of start up companies, including the online mentoring company Horsesmouth, language learning company FriendsAbroad which was sold to Babbel , his sisters production company Newspepper , and an SME advice service called Smarta.

He also has involvement in a number of green start-up companies including bio fuel producer LeafLog and a Green plumbing Company.

He is the founder of Viapost, an online postal company. The POIP service allows printing of documents over the internet which are then sent by Royal Mail.

During this time he was also chief innovation officer for Brightstation Ventures a $100m technology VC fund.

Television, film, and media
In 1999, he was featured on Britain's Richest Kids on ITV. after this he appeared on a number of television shows including the Big Breakfast partly due to some unusual restrictions on his personal life.

In 2006, he appeared on the Channel 4 TV show Secret Millionaire where he gave away £40,000 in a philanthropic act after spending two weeks in Hackney as a volunteer. £20,000 was given to a youth organization, £10,000 to a young entrepreneur, and another £10,000 as a thank you to one key member of the Hackney community. He subsequently appeared in the follow up program Secret Millionaire Changed My Life.

In 2008 has appeared on a Channel Four, 3 Minute Wonder onRobotics and as a "Web Guru" on Sky News

He has written for a number of publications including the Telegraph, City AM and a chapter in "How to be a Teenage Millionaire"

Supported Charities and Organisations

 * Social Firms (Patron)
 * Edge (Advisor)
 * Anne Frank (Judge)
 * Edge Ice (Judge)
 * Make Your Mark (Judge)
 * Unlimited (Judge)
 * Pedro Club (Significant Donation)
 * Nesta (Advisor)

Awards

 * New Business Millennium Young Entrepreneur Of The Year


 * Young Gun 2007

Politics
In 2006 he stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in Bayswater Ward in the City of Westminster.