Betfair founder encourages entrepeneurs

Online gambling giant Betfair’s co-founder Ed Wray had encouraging words for delegates to the Entrepreneurs Summit this week, telling them that although he had yet to see evidence of the business ‘green shoots’ heralding the beginning of the end of the world recession, he remained confident, and it was still a great time to do business.
“Some businesses in this room will fail”, said Wray, but he opined that it was a useful reality check.
“Don’t read or believe that we are out of this recession,” he said. “I won’t believe in green shoots until I see the whole plant.”
Wray said that this was his first recession, adding that although the times were tough when he started Betfair in 1999, it was a “walk in the park” compared to the current situation.
Commenting that raising finance to found the Betfair concept back then had been difficult despite the dotcom boom, he said that trying to obtaining financing today was nigh impossible.
Ending on a positive note, Wray said he was nevertheless confident for the future. “If you build your business to survive these times, once the economy turns you will fly,” he concluded.
“Some of the businesses in this room are the household names of tomorrow.”

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