Golf Caddy To £60 Million CEO: The Golfers I Caddied For Backed Me And Made 100x! | James Noble

Could you go three years without paying yourself? James Noble was a full time golf caddy at Wentworth when he registered the company that became MyFirst, the UK's specialist car insurance broker for learner and young drivers. He had no insurance experience, no money and no track record. What he had was five hours a round with some of the most successful people in the country, and the nerve to ask them to back him. They did, and every one of them went on to make 100x their money. MyFirst started trading in 2017. James and his cofounder George took no salary until the business passed £1 million in revenue, and their first pay cheque was £10,000 each. Today the company does £60 million a year (up from £35 million last year), employs just under 100 people on a renovated farm in Surrey, sits at number 64 in The Sunday Times 100 fastest growing companies, and counts Gymshark cofounder Lewis Morgan and Jellyfish founder Rob Pierre among its shareholders. He has turned down offers to sell. The target now is a £1 billion valuation within five years. In this episode, he explains: ■ The Caddy Playbook: Why five hours on a golf course beats fifty lunches, and how he turned Wentworth members into his first investors ■ Last To Eat: Why he hired before he paid himself, and why the money only changes at £1 million, not £20K ■ Beating The Giants: How two kids with no experience took on multi billion pound insurers by owning one tiny niche ■ Founder vs CEO: The feedback that told him he was a micromanager, and why scaling only works if you let people make mistakes ■ The Vector Rule: The lesson from Jellyfish founder Rob Pierre that MyFirst now runs every decision through ■ Why He Won't Sell: Ignoring buyers after the Sunday Times 100 to chase a unicorn ■ The Real Price: Ten years of missed birthdays, no holidays and six day weeks, and why he would do every bit of it again Chapters 00:00 Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? 00:24 Knowing when to quit golf 01:08 Selling sweets, a £2 newsletter, and founding MyFirst as a caddy 01:44 Four years between registering the company and trading 02:26 Dropping out of golf college to caddy at Wentworth full time 03:39 How a caddy raised money from millionaires 05:03 Who to back: people who will find a way 05:29 What golf taught him about business 06:30 Five hours on a course with a CEO 07:29 Giving back to young caddies 08:02 Turning golf chat into investment 09:44 Rob Pierre and Jellyfish 10:05 Zero insurance experience: building the product he wished existed 11:01 Taking on multi billion pound insurers 11:46 Why big companies get comfortable 12:38 Two and a half years of just two people 13:24 How to set a company up properly 14:26 First hire at £50K revenue 15:18 No salary: how they survived 15:54 First pay cheque: £10K at £1 million revenue 17:07 Profit margins and investing for growth 18:06 £35M to £60M to £100M 18:26 Why the early days were the best 19:02 The first 100 customers were the hardest 20:16 100 staff on a farm in Surrey 20:47 The hiring lesson: stop micromanaging 21:48 Self reflection and adapting as you scale 22:40 Founder vs CEO: what is the difference? 23:33 Why the office is a farm (and nobody works from home) 24:59 Offers to buy the business 25:45 The goal: a £1 billion unicorn 26:39 How long will it take? 27:11 My first credit card, loan and mortgage: the expansion plan 28:46 How MyFirst gets customers now 29:55 Make the product so good people refer it 30:44 Flyers on cars outside test centres 31:33 Why direct mail is making a comeback 32:18 Gymshark's Lewis Morgan and Jellyfish's Rob Pierre buy in 33:34 60% of something big beats 70% of nothing 34:18 The Vector vs JPEG lesson 35:34 Fast tracking 30 years of learning 36:19 When to ignore advice and trust your gut 37:10 Life at £60M: same hours, six days a week 38:14 The first big payout 39:20 The biggest sacrifice: everything 40:42 The relentless reality of building a business 41:35 Any regrets? Never 42:30 Advice to two 21 year olds building a media business Follow James:   / james-noble-05444a92   MyFirst: https://myfirst.com In The Business exists to inspire one million people into entrepreneurship. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. Instagram:   / inthebusinessofficial   Linkedin:   / harrisonturnerofficial