I co-founded Entrepreneurial Spark in 2011 with the aim of creating an entrepreneurial revolution across the country.
Having started my own entrepreneurial journey late in life, I quickly found out through starting, running and selling small businesses that getting the right start is so important.
Entrepreneurial Spark is the world's largest free accelerator for start-up and growing ventures. Unlike many traditional accelerators we focus on the people behind the business, developing the mindsets and behaviours needed to take your start-up to the next level.
Whether you're setting up your own business, or working for an existing company, thinking and behaving entrepreneurially can make a huge positive impact on both your personal and professional life.
A Professor of Entrepreneurship, I've worked with over 660 entrepreneurs to date in my role at Entrepreneurial Spark - taking them through the journey from customer validation, knowing your numbers, getting investor ready and then scaling your start-up.
This means I have real, first-hand experience of the rollercoaster journey involved in starting your own business - from the highs to the lows and everything along the way.
I'm all about innovation and creativity, taking an ordinary problem and creating an extraordinary solution.
Do you really want to look back on your life in 20 years time and think 'I had a good life'? No! You want to look back and say 'I had an amazing life and I made a difference'.
I don't pull punches, and am not a big fan of sugar-coating something - I'm focused on getting to the heart of startups, leadership, emotional intelligence and innovation.
A regular columnist for The Scotsman, BusinessZone and Scottish Entrepreneur I cover a whole range of topics, from all aspects of entrepreneurship through to creating a positive mindset, building a winning team, ensuring you have a positive atmosphere and morale in your business, and everything in between.
To give you a flavour of my speaking style here's my TedX Glasgow talk focused around the subject of what's stopping us from living our dreams: http://bit.ly/JDTedXG.
