The businessman who stole $ 38,000 from his mother and turned it into millions

At age 17, Andrew Michael decided to change his life by spending $ 38,000 on his mother's credit card without his permission. In 1997, while living with his mother in Cheltenham, in the west of England, Michael saw a business opportunity.

For some time, he wanted to create his own website with a school friend. Michael had noticed that very few web hosting companies (those that provide server space to their customers) were intended for small businesses or members of the public.

"At the time, all UK web hosting companies were looking to attract big companies," says 39-year-old Michael. "But we saw that small businesses and individuals wanted something that would work as a self-service and would be easy to use."

In a month

Thus, Michael and his friend decided to take advantage of this market gap and created their own web hosting company, Fasthosts. "We had the computers we needed in my room, at my mother's, as well as the software we created ourselves," he says. "But we really needed a fast Internet connection that, at the time, involved making a well in the street, costing $ 38,000, but we did not have the money ", did he declare.

Thinking that there was no other option possible, Michael used his mother's card to pay for improving his Internet service. The plan was to promote the service and earn enough money with it the first month to pay the card when the ballot arrived.

The plan, surprisingly, worked: "At the end of the month, we had enough customers and money to pay for the Internet and advertising," he says. And something very important: his mother forgave him what he did.

Exuberant evenings

While his friend went to study at the university, Michael canceled his study project to devote himself full time to Fasthosts. He ended up selling his company nine years later for $ 78 million. With 26 years and 75% of the shares, it took almost 60 million US dollars.

Two years later, Michael created a cloud storage company called Livedrive, which he later sold for a fee that he had not revealed but estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. Michael has made himself known in the business world not only for the success of his two companies, but also for the lavish parties that he organized.

The Fasthosts' Christmas celebrations are said to have included bands like Girls Aloud and Sugababes and famous artists. "I like parties, I like to entertain people," he says. "And I do not do things halfway."

L & # 39; boredom

Born in Cyprus and educated in the United Kingdom, Michael believes he has inherited his pbadion for business and his ability to devote to it from his father. "My father came from Cyprus and he was a small businessman," he explains. "Like a lot of Cypriots, he opened fish, potato and coffee shops, so my childhood was part of going from store to shop to collect the money raised and discuss business ideas. . trader ".

Regarding the expansion of Fasthosts, Michael states that he was very focused on this project and that "nothing else was important". And if the sale of the company in 2006 made it rich, it also left him with a sense of dissatisfaction. "I remember being in the office when the money was credited to my bank account and I thought it would make me very happy." But I had a feeling of emptiness when I realized that I had sold everything, that everything was summed up in a figure on a spreadsheet. As a result, Michael admits that for a moment, he's bored: "I've probably drunk too much and eaten."

Difficult start

Anxious to resume its activities, Livedrive was launched two years later. Unfortunately, this company had difficulties at first because of the saturation of the market. "We discovered that there were a lot of people sharing the same idea at the same time, which is why only advertising does not work," he says. "It was my first experience with a possible failure and I was worried about becoming a man with only one success."

And it could have been like that if it had not been a night in a pub. "I made friends with a person at the Dixons electronics store, whom I met by a mutual friend during an outing," he says. "And then we started working with them." Dixons decided to help Livedrive develop its product and then include it in packages sold with its laptops and tablets. "It was a success," says Michael. "We then reproduced the model with other retailers.The company eventually became bigger than Fasthosts."

After selling Livedrive in 2014, Michal created Bark.com, a website that provides local professional services, from plumbers to guitar teachers, dog walkers and personal trainers.

Ambition

According to technology badyst Chris Green, Fasthosts is a clbadic example of the computer innovations that came into being "in a bedroom", characteristics of the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. "It was not just an instant success for Andrew Michael of 17 years, but also simplified for many the process of domain registration and access to a hosting network. "

For its part, "Livedrive was (a company) a pioneer of cloud storage for individuals and small businesses". As for the future, Michael says that he still has many ambitions. "I am the kind of person who, the more he has, the more he wants them, and even though my first two companies have worked well, I do not consider myself extremely successful."