Founder Insights #1: A fireside chat with Paul Stacey

Over the past ten years, we’ve seen seismic changes to the Manchester business scene. Our city has its eye on becoming the UK’s tech capital, as startups, entrepreneurs and investors flock to the North for a fresh outlook.

But some called the city home long before its time in the spotlight: born and bred in Manchester, Fatsoma has experienced remarkable success. Since it's establishment in 2005, the company has secured several rounds of investment, and now has millions of users on its system.

Inspired by the stories of those who have led Manchester’s growth by the horns, we decided to set up Founder Insights: a quarterly fireside chat to showcase the city’s top tech companies and the trail-blazing journeys of their founders.

So who better to kick off the series than the founder of Fatsoma himself, Paul

Setting the scene at Old Granada Studios

Kindly sponsored by Brabners, a commercial law firm with a focus on Manchester startups, our inaugural event was hosted at Old Granada Studios. The event got underway with networking and no shortage of beers from local brewery Shindigger, as Paul and our co-founder Luke prepared for their chat.

We were keen to make the event as intimate and relaxed as possible: while everyone took their seats, our good friend Jacob O’Brien from Brabners welcomed the guests.

He outlined why he felt the event was such a timely addition to the Manchester networking scene, and introduced the speakers to the stage…

A prequel to Fatsoma: Paul’s background

Luke started by asking about Fatsoma and how it started. After all, the ticketing platform wasn’t Paul’s first shot at success. It wasn’t even the second. Paul described how he had always wanted to do something big. His drive and competitive nature led him down the entrepreneurial route at an early age.

There were plenty of laughs as Paul detailed his first venture – Five Minute Flirts – a dating platform that gave people five minutes to chat, via webcam, with a stranger. In an age with slow internet and limited webcam capabilities, the business somehow didn’t take off… However, it was an important learning curve.

Soon after this false start, Paul met his business partner, who at the time was running a club photography business called ‘Your Night Out.’ As student nightlife evolved, the two saw a window of opportunity for a platform that would allow you to chat online and share photos with your friends. They knew they were onto an idea, and spent the next 18 months creating an online community.

Then Facebook happened. This was a huge blow for Paul; at this point a graduate still living at home with his parents while his friends were doing well in London, he almost threw in the towel.

Luke: What was going through your head at that time? Did it validate your thinking?

Paul: It validated that we could come up with ideas. But the execution was off…and at the time the environment in the UK wasn’t really set up to invest in consumer-facing products with no business model. So we decided to focus on making money.

Looking ahead to the future

Having heard about the journey so far, Luke asked about his plans for the future of Fatsoma.

Paul: It’s still the same dream: to create a business on the level of the Googles and Amazons and Facebooks of this world.

Paul told the audience how he's channelled his experiences into a really strong product and brand message. His aim is to create a platform that allows people to have a great time with their friends and family. That’s what will make him proud.

Luke: So do you feel that you are successful?

Paul: I’ve got a long way to go. That’s going to be the same throughout your life, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not happy; it just means that you’re happier when you’re continually moving forward.

As the interview came to a close, with a few well-timed questions from the audience, we had gained some fascinating insights into starting and building a successful tech company. We couldn’t have asked for a more articulate first guest, and we hope those who attended found the event worthwhile!

The interview was filmed by What Marketing, so if you missed out on the inaugural Founder Insights, you can catch up on our Facebook page. We’ll be back in three months with our next event, so stay tuned for more details over the coming weeks.