Currently...

I'm running my start-up, http://www.BIGbleu.com" rel="nofollow">BIGbleu.com, the free notice board used exclusively for employees of the world's big banks, law firms and corporates. It's a notice board for people with similar professional backgrounds, tastes and creditworthiness - similar to the notice board on an intranet at work, but BIGGER!

Before I escaped...

I was a director in the Deloitte London corporate finance team until 2008, having worked there for 10 years.

My moment of truth...

At the 2007 office summer party I ended up on the roof of the marquee in women's clothes being coaxed down by a colleague. Reflecting on that afterwards, I knew the lid was going to come off the kettle fairly soon.

I always wanted to grow a business from scratch. The reason for not doing it sooner was that I loved working for my boss and it was just so hard to leave. I'm sure many of your members experience the same thing; that leaving what they have behind is too big a sacrifice. I tried a few times, but Mike's eyes would bulge; he'd tell me I was crazy and offer me time off - 6 months renovating a house and 2 ski seasons to be precise.

Sadly, the moment of truth had nothing to do with my strength of character, a SWOT analysis or any decision making prowess. Mike retired.

Planning for it...

I spent the evening next to the Vodka Luge and then found some women's clothes I felt comfortable in.

I think there was subconscious planning for the move over a number of years; the mundane things like trying to make myself financially secure, keeping life simple by avoiding dependants etc.

In terms of the specific planning for Bb, the process we went through to get to launch was like an agonising car crash, but it was an invaluable experience and introduction to the world of websites.

The business strategy was to build a team with all the skills and contacts necessary to be self sufficient, so that the only contribution needed from people was time. People regularly run out of money to invest in a new venture, but they less frequently run out of spare time.

Unfortunately, our combined IT expertise was limited to knowing how to pick up the phone to an IT department and ask them for help with turning our computers on. So, we needed an IT partner to join the team and build the site in return for equity in the business.

First we tried to find a respectable firm of developers. Unfortunately, for the dozens of businesses we spoke to, working for equity reminded them too much of the follies of the dot com era.

Next we tried to get a group of students at a London University to build it as an extra-curricular project. That went very well until the summer holidays, at which point deadlines slipped and excuses increased. The final straw was when we heard seaside background noises on a phone call.

We resigned ourselves to finding a 'semi-partner' and our search resulted in a nice bunch of guys who would work for a mixture of cash and equity. 4 months later and not much further forwards we had to terminate the contract for gross piss-taking.

All the dead ends to this point were the best thing that could have happened to us. During the six month period I'd started to learn a bit about websites and the geek in me was awakened! I loved it and started to build the site myself.

Unfortunately I discovered there was some critical functionality I couldn't build and I was told by numerous tutors of London programming courses that it was complex stuff that would need the full might of their most excellent 2 year courses to resolve!

It looked as though we had hit another brick wall, until I stumbled on Matt, a phenomenally intelligent, capable and enterprising A-level student. In exchange for beer money, Matt helped me out.

Our DIY website was memorable for its ugliness, but people generally agreed it was easy to navigate and was bug free - 2 things that can't be said of many high-end websites. And having built it ourselves, we had total control over changing, growing and improving it without reliance on 3rd party developers (an industry that we've learnt in the past 2 years is notoriously unreliable!).

The worst and best bits...

The nicest surprise has been how supportive big businesses have been. Soon after launch we got some amazing help from some big names; Societe Generale and BNP Paribas in particular. We also got an unsolicited email from Michel De Carvalho, Vice Chairman of Citigroup, saying what a good idea Bb was. He introduced us to Citigroup's Chief Global Operating Officer.

Things like that make such a big difference to a start-up. Since then we've had generous help from lots of businesses, but it was the initial few that made the biggest difference. We owe them a lot.

The other great thing about it has been enjoying every minute of every day since April 2008. My elder brother loved his job from day one and I thought it was the clearest sign he was simple. I didn't appreciate what a big difference it makes.

The worst thing about making it happen has been realising how conscientious and hard working I am. I've always wanted to say that in an interview.

Best advice...

Winston Churchill said "Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm".

My Dad says "Just keep your head down and keep moving forwards".

Both are great advice for a start-up when the inevitable disappointments occur.

Useful resources and information...

Google Analytics. For anybody starting a website of any kind it's indispensible and it's free.