I long for the day when advertising will become a business for a grown man.
Despite what some investors say, older age is an advantage in the startup world. You know more about industries and markets, and have ideas for products that the world actually needs and a better ability to motivate and manage than a kid out of school does.
Consequently, a young business often grows by large percentages. Mature businesses rarely do.
I believe that every business and company takes two years to establish.
When restaurants start to mature - and usually the five-year time is the time when the restaurant starts to settle in and have its own personality - your job is to grow it.
Hogan is the youngest brand in our group, but we established it in 1986, so you can say 26 years is not so young.
Like a child star whose fame fades as the years advance, many once-innovative companies become less so as they mature.
Not all new ventures are at the same stage of maturity.
Sometimes I have to pause to make the distinction between Ben the teenager and Ben the businessman.
What business could be mature when you have economies with more than 2 billion people in India, China and Southeast Asia?
When you've been in the business 5-years, as a person, it's like you're 5-years old - like a child. 10-years and you're 10-years old, 20... Etcetera. That's how I measure maturity in this industry.
