People make a difference, says Ben Way, director of innovations and corporate venturing firm Rainmakers

When Ben Way featured in Director in March 2000, he was one of the richest teenagers in Britain—a dotcom millionaire after developing the retail search engine, Waysearch. But by the age of 21, he was released from the terms of his contract and, as widely reported, couldn't afford a tube ticket.

He says he's drawn positives from the experience, and is not afraid of failure. "Having achieved success early on, I actually became somebody I didn't like," he says. "I became too big for my boots. But losing everything has given me the humility I needed going forward in my business career. And I've never felt that I've achieved anything, so that drives me forward as well."

He describes himself as a "realistic entrepreneur", taking a "portfolio approach" to business, but says the biggest lesson he's learnt is that people make a difference. He says: "You can have the best idea, you can even have the right amount of money, but unless you have the people to make it happen, it's pretty pointless. And there's a lot of people out there who are good, but to find someone exceptional to run a project is a big challenge."

He says he chooses his own team on a "quite accurate gut feeling", adding: "If they haven't got through to me or given me the right signals in 10 minutes, then I'm not interested."

Something's working. Way's latest business, the innovations and corporate venturing firm Rainmakers, turns over £1m. He also devotes time to a couple of charities, but claims: "You've got to do what's right at the right time, rather than doing what's right because of the social pressure to do so. The important thing is to concentrate on making your business a success first."