A year ago, I told the truth about money

Last July, I did the most frightening thing I'd done in a long while.

I stood up in a cowshed in Cardigan, Wales, and I confessed.

The DO Lectures* brief is deceptively simple: give the talk that scares you, because it

reveals who you really are. I took them at their word.

So I talked about being born into extraordinary wealth borne from entrepreneurship. The family joke was that my first word wasn't “Mummy” or “Daddy”, but "Cashflow." I talked about the High Court battle that split the family. Signing cheques for my parents when the family business hit disaster. Selling my first company on a tipsy handshake at 60,000 feet aboard Concorde. Working with The Jam, Pink Floyd, and at Glastonbury, winning a Queen's Award or three. Chainsawing copycat products.  And what I've come to call my stroke of luck.

I called my talk Confessions of a Money Obsessive.

I couldn't have done it alone. My wife Ruth, speaking coach Matt and fellow speaker Alice dragged me a long way from my comfort zone of spreadsheets and bullet points, which was rather the point.

But here's the bit that's stayed with me a year on.

It wasn't the applause. It was what came afterwards.

Over the following three days, one founder after another quietly came up to me and shared their own story. Just as honest. Often never before said out loud.

When one person opens up, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.

That's what I think about the most.

A year later, I'm still glad I said yes, and still a little amazed I got through it.

So pour yourself a drink and watch it. If something lands - a line, a moment, a feeling you recognise - I'd love to know which bit.

And if you’d like to chat about how I could help you with your business, do get in touch.

*The DO Lectures is one of the most distinctive gatherings in entrepreneurship, creativity and ideas. Founded in 2008 by David and Clare Hieatt, it takes place each year on a remote former dairy farm overlooking Cardigan Bay in west Wales, an intentionally off-grid setting designed to encourage reflection and connection. At its core is an intimate, three-day experience for around 100 carefully selected attendees, yet its global reach is extraordinary: every talk is filmed and shared online, totalling more than 150 million views worldwide.