If you are all about the technology then it doesn’t work.

If you are all about the technology it doesn’t work.

You need to understand how the world works to be able to integrate.

Aged 44, standing tall at 197cm and weighing 120 kilos, feeling the sudden rush of childhood vulnerability, on the verge of tears. This was me, last week.

I had just pitched Ask Wire to a group of financial professionals. In my mind, Ask Wire isn’t just a tool; it’s a vision to revolutionize how we approach real estate analytics, aiming to empower decisions in mortgages, property insurance, and particularly, green loans, while streamlining institutional processes like risk underwriting and ESG regulatory compliance. I felt that the pitch went reasonably well, and that the discussion was courteous, dynamic, but also of value to both parties.

After a few days, I learned that a critique by one of those in attendance was that “what Ask Wire does is simply sell data that is publicly available”. This is similar to saying that a bank only gives out the money that somebody else gives it, that a baker sells the flour that they buy, or that a cinema shows the videos that somebody takes on a camera.

I am not sure what upset me the most; the fact that I had failed to explain in an adequate manner what our startup does or the comment itself, as it completely missed the point of what an entrepreneur does.

It is the job of the entrepreneur to set out and explain their vision. At the same time, I have found on more than one occasion that entrepreneurship is deeply undervalued by many, especially those in positions of power where they came to that position typically by pursuing a corporate career, i.e. moving up the ranks.

An entrepreneur is a person who identifies a problem, comes up with a potential solution, and is willing to take a risk that will affect them financially, emotionally, psychologically, and in every possible way, to change the world around them.

Such audacity is the cornerstone of progress, embodying the fine line between madness and genius. Entrepreneurs peer beyond the visible, driven by a ‘crazy’ vision that propels society forward. It’s a path less trodden, where the ‘crazy’ and the wise converge, proving that to truly innovate, one must harbour a touch of madness.

Live long and prosper.