Jeremy Middleton, FTSE-200 company co-founder

Feb 15 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

From Procter & Gamble to politics, and investing in start-ups and climbing a few mountains in between: Karen Dent meets FTSE-200 company co-founder turned venture capitalist Jeremy Middleton.

The Questionnaire

What car do you drive?
Porsche 911.

What’s your favourite restaurant?
Louis.

Who or what makes you laugh?
My wife (sometimes).

What’s your favourite book?
Any biography.

What’s your favourite film?
Spartacus, It’s a Wonderful Life and Terminator 2.

What was the last album you bought?
Paolo Nutini, Sunny Side Up.

What’s your ideal job, other than the one you’ve got?
Personal life coach.

If you had a talking parrot, what’s the first thing you would teach it to say?
Always look on the bright side of life.

What’s your greatest fear?
Dying young – so I’m getting less fearful pretty rapidly!

What’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?
It’s not what you do in life, it’s what you don’t do that you regret.

And the worst?
Sell HomeServe shares.

What’s your poison?
Sticky toffee pudding.

What newspapers do you read, other than The Journal?
Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Money Week.

How much was your first pay packet and what was it for?
75p per hour as a petrol pump attendant.

How do you keep fit?
Gym, squash and running.

What’s your most irritating habit?
Being late.

What’s your biggest extravagance?
Ski chalet.

Which historical or fictional character do you most identify with or admire?
Arnold Schwarzenegger – he made it in sports, movies, business and politics and when he went to the States he couldn’t speak a word of English – not bad.

Which four famous people would you most like to dine with?
Jennifer Aniston, Scott of the Antarctic, Winston Churchill and Warren Buffett.

How would you like to be remembered?
As a ‘doer’.