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 Adam Thurston (BSc Investment and Financial Risk Management 2010)

Going solo with Ybsolo

Rewind four years; graduating and embarking on a career in the financial services industry couldn't have been further from my thoughts. I was business minded, someone who wanted to take the initiative and make it on his own. However, after college I quickly learnt that while I had the drive and motivation, I was lacking the knowledge and experience necessary to 'go it alone'.
 
A spur of the moment decision to apply to Cass paid off when I was accepted and enrolled in September 2007. It was difficult. But I persevered, found time to travel and, with fellow Cass undergraduate Lachlan Larkins identified and implemented business ventures during this time. A student orientated travel service along with a stint buying and selling vehicles were just two of the projects I was involved with.
 
Three years later I graduated with honours and reached the same crossroads again; setting up a business versus trying to kick-start a career. I decided to opt for both and I was accepted on an internship at a commodities firm. It didn’t lead to a full time position, but it gave me an insight into the importance of relationships within business, along with the commercial process of how the company made money.
 
In September 2010, I decided to pool my capital, apply the theoretical knowledge attained at Cass, and start trading equities while applying for graduate schemes. I related it to running a business in that for every trading decision, costs, risk and return had to be analysed before execution. However, an escalating euro crisis reduced my risk appetite and trading activity rather abruptly and I was forced to reassess my situation.
 
In November 2010, Lachlan called me up with an interesting proposition, and we met up.
 
That proposition was Ybsolo, a play on the words, "Why be solo?” The idea grew from the premise that few people enjoy eating out alone, whether they are away on business, travelling or, like students, relocating to a new place. We decided to develop a tool that would connect these individuals. We felt that, if implemented effectively, such a service could be socially enriching and an indispensible companion. Having travelled extensively, I could immediately see a need for Ybsolo.

As we developed the idea, we realised that aside from dining, like-minded individuals would also enjoy sharing drinks, sightseeing and networking. The concept quickly grew and, after I managed to find a student willing to handle the technical aspects of Ybsolo's growth, the network started to take shape.
 
Of course, this consumed a lot of time. But I still managed to attend numerous interviews and assessment centres, primarily at investment banks and commodity trading houses. Both were impressed and intrigued as to my current and previous businesses, and by December I had managed to secure a job in the City.
 
Since then, I have managed my time in order to ensure neither Ybsolo nor my job have been detrimentally affected. In April 2011, Ybsolo.com was launched. I’m please to say that a large number of members across three continents signed up immediately.
I will soon leave my current job to focus on growing the Ybsolo community, before starting a new position in September. As yet, we don’t know who will use Ybsolo most often. It might be travellers who want to share a bite with fellow travellers and locals, or it might be professionals away on business looking to network over some drinks and dinner. I expect will only be clear when the network has reached all elements of society.
 
I firmly believe that you cannot be taught how to become an entrepreneur. It is an instinct you either possess or don’t. True, the skills must be honed, but having the ability to take a chance and seize an opportunity is something which most would forgo if a secure, stable and safe career path were laid out in front of them. Better yet, if that opportunity fulfils a real purpose, as I hope Ybsolo will, then it makes it all the more worthwhile.
 
I personally want the satisfaction of helping build something from scratch along with security a career provides in the meantime - and I am willing to put the hard work in to make both a success.