• "It just goes to show you can never really anticipate where life will take you."

  • "I went straight to university because that’s what I was told to do, but I went too young, I didn't know myself well enough and didn't know what really drove me."

  • "I advise anyone unsure of their path to go work in a bar. The exposure I got from leading teams of 20-plus people in my early 20s was invaluable."

  • "I ran point on the world's first token-gated playlists with Spotify, worked with FIFA on a mobile game app, and collaborated with Authentic Brands Group and Muhammad Ali's estate. That exposure really helped me later with Avatars Global, so I wouldn’t get intimidated working with big players."

  • "It taught me that timing is so important and that successful projects need to tell a story and build a community around people invested in that story."

  • "Talent is necessary, but the difference maker in cutting-edge fields is: Are you somebody that people want to be in the trenches with? Starting an unfunded startup is a war, and you need to get along and be able to talk openly and honestly. Disagreements are just different viewpoints, and the best ideas come from combining those perspectives."

  • "People think being a founder is fun, and I do love it, but it’s also like chewing glass. You need to be relentlessly committed to your course and truly believe in what you are building because if you don’t believe in it then why should someone else?"

  • "We believed in ourselves and knew we had the talent. We knew we were operating in a new, complete blue ocean space and wanted to give it a solid crack ourselves."

  • "For myself, I worked full-time to support myself and put money into Avatars Global, averaging 60 hours a week for about two years. Last year I was deep in the red, but now Avatars Global is supporting my family and we are now on track for multiple millions in revenue by the end of the next financial year."

  • "I’m a firm believer that luck is generally opportunity meeting preparedness, and I’ve been constantly preparing for this."

  • "You need to work bloody hard, harder than if you had a regular job. You must be prepared to sacrifice, particularly socialising. You need to be a zealot about what you’re building. Doubt can’t seep in; you have to be relentlessly committed because you never know when the tipping point is."

  • "If you are always grinding, you wear down quickly, and you don’t know how long the journey will take. The goal is financial freedom so you can enjoy time with family, so if the whole journey is miserable, what's the point? You must make sure your journey is sustainable."

  • "I’ve been fired once and made redundant once. I’ve lost big contracts and wondered how my business was going to feed people. Those down times are confronting because you question your value when others don't see what you think about yourself; but all down times are opportunities for growth."

  • "Life experience is so invaluable, especially learning about different cultures and expanding your worldview. If you don't know what you want to do, I advise you to travel and go work in some bars around the world to meet different people."

  • "Entrepreneurship is a hard path and not for the faint of heart, so you have to take the moments that light up your spirit and set your soul on fire."

  • "It doesn't matter how many zeros are in your bank account if you're not able to enjoy the lifestyle because you’ve punished your body."

  • "I regret buying into the idea that it was uncool to be smart. If people laugh at you for trying something you’re not good at, they’re just scared of looking like that themselves. We need to fight the rising tide of anti-intellectualism and the tall poppy syndrome that tells people not to stand out."