Richard Thompson: the advantages of starting young

Richard Thompson used the confidence borne of youthful inexperience to set-up a string of successful businesses.

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Richard Thompson: "hard work and a determination to do better"

Many entrepreneurs who found more than one business tend to stick to one particular area or sector, on the principle that you should focus on what you know best. However, Richard Thompson (now 48) has gone from selling computers, to marketing to now running an elite talent agency. How does he do it? It all started when he left school at 16 to work in a firm that sold office supplies. When they branched out into computer hardware, Thompson realised that he could do a better job on his own. As a result, he set up his own dealership, First Stop Group, in 1986 after only three years.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri