08 May 2024

Jim Liddle, VP product, Nasuni

Who was your hero when you were growing up?
Muhammed Ali was always my big hero growing up. I’m old enough to have watched him with my father when I was young and those are still special memories. He visited London one time with his photographer, Howard Bingham, and I queued for hours for him to autograph a photo biopic of his carrier by Howard. That still has pride of place on my bookshelf!

What was your big career break?
I’m not sure there was one big break but certainly taking the jump into forming Storage Made Easy was a defining moment. Being a founder in a startup is never easy and you have to stay the course but ultimately that choice led me to where I am today and I will be forever grateful for making the jump (and I should mention that without the support of my wife Ana I probably would never have done it, so, thanks Ana!)

If you could dine with any famous person, past or present, who would you choose?
A tough one! Given how much I like my music I am going to choose one of my favourite artists, Bruce Springsteen. I’d love to hear directly from him about the early days with the E-Street band on the Jersey shore, about how he met Clarence Clemons and the other members, and what it was like back then. So, Bruce, if you are reading this... just saying!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
I could not tell you who this was from, but I was doing a tour of Menlo Park trying to raise money for Storage Made Easy and one of the VCs gave me some advice that always stayed with me. It was: ‘You will hear many reasons why startups fail: ran out of money; founder disagreements; too early in the market; burnt out etc. But let me tell you, startups fail because people give up. Pure and simple. Those that are successful find a way.’

That always stuck with me and when times were tough - as they always are at some point when you are running a startup - I always remembered that advice and it gave me the fire to double down.

If you had to work in a different industry, which would you choose?
I probably gave it away with a previous answer! It would be something to do with reporting and journalism, perhaps a field correspondent in which I would attempt to provide a balanced objective view on world news.

The Rolling Stones or the Beatles?
Oh, that is actually quite tough as I love both bands, but being a bit of a heavy rock fiend, I would have to go with the Rolling Stones. Sympathy for the Devil is one of my favourite all time tracks.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I actually wanted to be a journalist. For years from when I was younger that was what I wanted to be. I remember being very young and being bought a typewriter that I learned how to use and then at school I even took typing classes to learn how to speed type. I used to write short stories and enter competitions regularly, and then, somewhere along the way, I received my first piece of technology, a ZX81, and from then on, I was hooked. I moved onto a dragon-32, then a VIC-20 and then a Commodore 64, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Where would you live if money was no object?
Ibiza. My wife, Ana, is of Spanish descent and she lived there for a number of years. We visited recently and I fell in love with the island, so if money was no object, I would have a really nice villa there!

What’s the greatest technological advancement in your lifetime?
Again, that is really difficult to pick just one. I think given the industry I am in and how it has affected and shaped my life, I would have to go with the internet. It’s hard to imagine a non-connected world now and certainly many of the millennials won’t. We can argue about its merits, but it has had a huge impact on society and the way we live.