Tim Waterstone

All the best entrepreneurial companies are simple in organisation You shouldnt go for endless wins; just concentrate on what matters and do it.

Tim Waterstone is the founder of Waterstone's, now the largest book chain in the world, outside the US. He was the founding Executive Chairman of Chelsea Stores (Daisy & Tom and the Early Learning Centre), and former chairman of HMV Media Group plc. His business career spans over forty years and encompasses all the highs and lows imaginable.

Tim was born in Glasgow and worked for Allied Breweries before joining WH Smith in 1973. He founded the remarkably successful Waterstone's booksellers with 6,000 of the redundancy money he received when he was sacked from WH Smith in 1982. He went on to raise 100,000 venture capital and set up Waterstone's Booksellers with its first shop in London's Old Brompton Road. Tim established Waterstone's reputation as the best literary bookshop in the world and revolutionised the face of British book retailing. Waterstone's was one of the largest and most successful venture capital entities of its time. Nine years after starting the company he sold it to his previous employers for 47m, only to buy it back again together with EMI and Advent International in 1998 creating HMV Media Group, of which he became founder Chairman.

A recognised authority on entrepreneurial start-ups, he recently chaired a DTI working party on small business funding. He is an occasional guest lecturer in entrepreneurial studies at INSEAD and London Business School, and has lectured to business audiences all over the world. Tim's latest book Swimming Against The Stream, a semi-autobiographical viewpoint on the launching of entrepreneurial businesses, was published around the world by Macmillan in 2006. He has held numerous public appointments in the fields of arts and education, and has published three novels (in English, German, Russian and Polish).

Like the very best entrepreneurs, Tim not only demonstrates the qualities required to create a successful business but he also carries a team and inspires others to reach further. Tims experiences in business make him a compelling speaker who is able to offer management and leadership advice of genuine value.