The dotcom that benefited from the crash

When MBA student Richard Downes set up ski holiday website Iglu.com, he couldn't have imagined he would graduate with a quarter of a million in start-up capital.

When Richard Downes, the 38-year-old founder of ski holiday website Iglu.com, started his two-year MBA course at London Business School in 1996, he couldn't have imagined that his love of skiing would see him graduate with a quarter of a million in start-up capital from the university.

Downes knew only too well the frustrations of trying to book skiing holidays from brochures printed three months before they hit the shops, and then dealing with poorly informed travel agents, only to find that the holidays advertised were either more expensive or had sold out. He thought there had to be a better way and believed that the internet provided the perfect opportunity "to change that model and the rules of the game". He put together a business plan for his MBA, and that was when he got his first big break. "I was very fortunate that London Business School (LBS) was setting up a seed fund to back some of their students, and I was their first principal investment". LBS gave him £250,000 in start-up capital and the race was on to set up the site in time for a vital trade fair in October.

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.