Ed Bussey's Work-Life Balance

Entrepreneur  and adventurer Ed Bussey spoke to the FT about the drive that propelled him to achieve success and contentment in measures most only aspire to.

Ed can only reach his goal if he has enjoyed the journey, he says of his unconventional approach to business.

First attracted to the idea of being an entrepreneur as a Cambridge under-grad, Ed diversified in his interests with a stint as a naval officer, and then as a member of the British diplomatic service before joining his first start-up team at online underwear retailer Figleaves.com in 2000.

A dotcom boom success story, Figleaves was sold to home shopping group N Brown in 2010 for £11.5m, but by this time Ed had left for his second start-up, Zyb, an early version of social networking on mobile phones. He joined the business as chief operating officer just as the iPhone arrived on the scene. Eight months later Zyb was bought by Vodafone for €31.5m.

“Figleaves was a marathon,” says Ed. “Zyb ended up being a sprint.”

Leaving Zyb with a wealth of experience and profit, Ed decided that his next venture would be a result of his own ideas and his own personal investment.

After a three-man charity hike to the North Pole, where Ed came to the realisation that his wife and daughter were the most important elements of his life, his third start-up, iTrigga was born. This is a technology venture allowing online retailers to publish content automatically to their websites or mobile phone apps.

With a rare and workably healthy attitude to work-life balance, Ed claims he has more control over his schedule than he did at either Figleaves or Zyb.

He still trains with the North Pole exploration team but has no immediate plans to head off to the wilds again.

“I want to be successful in work and adventurous at sport, but I also want to have a successful family life,” he says.