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Dean Forbes

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  1. “Because of where I grew up, and I often hear young people describing their current circumstance as their disadvantage. My lived experience is my toughest moments today are my advantage. So as we talked about earlier, using them to bounce back out and then finding yourself in those testing moments and remember you've walked through harder than you're faced with today and probably the other person hasn't been to me that's the reason to kind of live in eternal optimism because I know I can be just about any situation in front of me.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “I think specifically, well, generally speaking, but more so for folks who are coming from background similar to mine, is to understand the extreme unfair advantage that we have having come through adversity. So my advantage has often been my willingness to stay longer, to cope a bit more, to deal with adversity a bit longer than somebody else, to be a little bit more patient, to not need as much, because I didn't grow up in an entitled, well-manicured environment. And often my counterparts or opposition did. So when the going gets a bit tough, I'm more able to win and thrive in those environments because of”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “Ready to go to VC, they're not polished enough to pitch and win, but we understand them a little bit better because we're from that background. And we do a lot of mentoring and networking for professionals who are further on in their career. So, you know, we partner people up for six month paid work experience placements so that they can put on their CV that they've done a job, performed a task, and have real life experience at doing something in order for them to go on and start their career journey. So it's really about investing and connecting people to others who can shape their career and trajectory. And it's a lot of fun. I'm having so much fun.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “Absolutely. It came out of that recognition that I've had this amazing career. I've had these amazing opportunities, amazing experiences. I've now got these amazing connections. And I was asking myself the question, how do I put all of that to good use? How can I put that to kind of maximum impact? And my career is absolutely a product of people who showed up at moments in time with advice, guidance or to open a door that put me on just a completely different path. So we started to kind of brainstorm about how do we become that at some scale for more people like me who are coming up. So through FFG, we invest in underrepresented founders at very early stage. We give them cash and a bit of business support because we find those founders sometimes”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “Finding rewarding because I'm translating what is needed and what people mean on both sides of the fence. And I think that is a place I hope to be helpful in those kinds of discussions. And at a personal level through FFG, I'm really obsessed with using my network to connect upcoming entrepreneurs and young professionals with people who can have an impact on their career trajectory in a similar way to how people have impacted mine. So those are the two ways I hope to make sure that I use this position and this platform to help those who are coming.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “I find myself in this position where, again, two things are happening. I'm kind of invited into conversations that are quite meaningful in society. I spent some time with some of the politicians who run the country recently talking about how they can address some of the socioeconomic issues that we have with the mayor about how our city is policed. And these are conversations. Now I'm able to participate in because of the career I've had and because of some of the recognition. And I think what I'm able to do is bridge the gap between kind of the boardroom and the corporate space and what's still happening on estates like the one I grew up in and among working class people, like the majority of my family and friends. And being able to speak to both sides and still be hopefully relevant to both sides”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “I wasn't always a fan of these lists that kind of divide the population, especially underrepresented communities. But having been involved with the power list and seen the impact it has on generations coming behind people like me, I've really kind of tuned into the importance of it and the power of representation. So it's created a kind of shift in my mind. And now what's happening because of things that have happened at Fortiro, my career, and the power list.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Really, really focused on helping them to be successful, especially having been in companies like Oracle, where the cream was the major enterprises, the household names, the blue chip companies. It's nice to be here serving a set of entrepreneurs who I think really deserve the care and attention. I hope we build a company that can give them.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “To a free generation further down the line, still serving that company often in close to its original form. And why I think that's so exceptional is because if you look at all of the economic downturns that major economies go through, it's almost always that category of the economy that keeps the whole thing afloat, right? Those smaller businesses, those entrepreneurs who had the courage to start something, whether it through difficult times, and hand it on to generations, it's almost always the SME, the mid-market that props up the economy. If you look at COVID, the mid-market outperformed the FTSE and the Nasdaq, right? So these are the businesses who keep the world turning, who keep us safe, who make sure we get the things that we rely on, we like, we love. So it's just a privilege to be building a company that is...”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Yeah, Fortera is a great business that was built entirely for acquisition. So today the company is composed of 14 different product lines, all of which were acquired. So many software companies are built by great founders who had a great idea, as is kind of 14 of those in a group structure. What's absolutely remarkable about Fortero is it serves what we call the SME space in industrial manufacturing, wholesale and distribution. So these are typically businesses that are run by first, second, sometimes third generational family members, right? So a person at that point in time founded this business because they wanted to make something duals. They wanted to make glass panels. They wanted to make components that go into engines. We find ourselves one.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Good and lucky over time with the help of a great team to find that path and just kind of walk it relentlessly despite the headwinds. But sometimes these companies have to deal with. So it's a combination of having a really, really good team. I've always had teams better than me or the opportunity deserve. And I've always been very relentless that if I can see the path out of this situation, that I'm pretty committed to walking that path.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “I'm not concerned about difficult environments or adverse environments. I grew up in tough situations. I grew up around people who were used to hardship and used to difficulty. So organizations that are underperforming, that need a degree of transformation, that are going to take eight days a week and 25 hours a day, that doesn't worry me. And there are other executives who might even be more talented than me and more able to drive that kind of turnaround who don't have an appetite to go into that type of environment, whereas I do. And once I'm in, I often talk about two things. One is all you really need is a single and executable path to success. You don't need 20 options. You need one path that you can walk that will. Get you to success. And I think I've been”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Gracious, efficient, yet ferocious business people. I got to watch at work and it's probably 15 years now and I can remember micro engagements I had with Charles and things he said and things he did and his mannerisms and that was the extent of his influence on me.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “And there was a lot of bureaucracy inside Oracle, right? There was a lot of process and a lot of systems because it was a huge publicly listed company. So the other thing I learned is I don't like companies like that and I'm not very effective in environments like that. So it did a bit of environmental conditioning for me. So it was another learning. And the third thing I got to work with and for a guy called Charles Phillips, who was president of Oracle at the time, a black guy just like me, the most senior ranking black exec in the tech space at the time. And through almost serendipity, I ended up reporting to Charles. So I got to just watch Charles at work and he was one of the most”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Lots, and again, it's kind of about the learning, right? So Oracle still is one of the greatest software companies on Earth, certainly from a commercial perspective, it's just an immense place. So I learned so much. In a year at Oracle, I learned more than maybe in the previous eight years about doing business, getting deals done, working with customers, building technology. So it's hugely educational. The other reason it was educational is it's a huge company at the time 80,000 employees.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Absolutely. That's how a failure can become such a positive thing. And that is absolutely how I view it. If you live in or through a difficult moment in time, you can work to make that moment in time one of the best things that ever happened to you. You can work to make that something that you're grateful for instead of something that you're kind of remorseful.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “There's nothing wrong with failing and having a downturn because of that failure. But your job is to come out of that failure as soon as possible. Don't fear being in that downward spiral. Don't fear the failure. Unless it becomes oppressive and that downward trajectory continues. It's about the bounce and how you use what happened to you to make yourself better the next time you find yourself in that. That's fascinating.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Candle of Pride inside of me to say, okay, you know, you've got to go to work and re engage with that pack at some point as a success. So that was one role that the failure played. The other role it played was just educational. So years after my football career ended, I came to terms with the fact a big part of the reason I didn't make it was I didn't apply myself. I didn't train as hard as some of my friends trained. I wasn't as obsessed with being great as they were. I wasn't living the life of a young athlete who wanted to have an elite long-term career. My application and my work ethic was off. So I kind of figured out if I was going to put my life, put my energy to something else, I wouldn't make that mistake again, right? So, you know, failure for me was hugely motivational and educational. And what I say to people often now is...”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “There were a few different elements. So, one was pride, right? So I grew up in a group of young men who all wanted to be footballers, and the majority of them went on to do that. And I was the one that came out of the pack as a failure. So it kind of lit, I don't know,”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “Absolutely. And as I'd grown under that tutelage, it was just one foot in front of the other time now, right? We've got this debt, we've got to go to work, and we've got to figure out how we're going to service it.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Had I not had that, I probably would have tried to find my next call in for a period of time, but I just didn't have the luxury of that. I also had an agent at the time who really kind of forced that message home, right? So again, I was really lucky because a lot of other young footballers, their agents were incented to keep chasing a contract for them. Mine took a bit of, I guess, paternal care and said, if you don't get ahead of this debt, it's going to live with you for a good portion of your life. And that wouldn't be good. So well advised plus the enormity of the situation meant I didn't have time to consider many different options.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “I'm very grateful to the debt that I had at that moment in time, which was 89,000 pounds of debt as a 17, 18-year-old through just absolute reckless endeavor. There was no good reason for having that debt. It was exactly as you described, keeping up with friends and colleagues. But I'm very grateful for the debt. It's because of the debt I didn't continue to pursue my dream. It's kind of a cold shower moment of You're under this mountain of debt, pursuing this dream isn't economically viable right now. You need a reliable and steady income. So that cold shower is what forced me into work, right?”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “A vocation like football where you pretty much mess around every day with a group of friends to being in an office environment was. Probably one of the hardest things I think I've ever had to deal with.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “It was a very difficult time. That is definitely a moment in my life where the adversity and the kind of rejection was very apparent and I really, really struggled with it. And it happened in two forms. In the first form, I actually didn't get to make the choice to leave Crystal Palace. That choice was made for me. I was kind of injured at the time. So for years, I hid behind that as the reason. And then I went on trials up and down the country to try and find another club and nothing materialized. And at a moment in time, you sit down with family and friends and they help you realize that economically you might have to move on with your life. And it was really that moment where the weight of my dream kind of moving beyond me landed. So that was very difficult emotionally to deal with that transition. And then going from...”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Yeah, she never paused to kind of consider the enormity of the issues that she was facing. She was kind of a one foot in front of the other person all the time. And I think that really rubbed off on me and something I've probably carried in my life and career as well.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Expectation of her children, but that's what she had, so that just became our normal and we kind of enjoyed it and we lived one day to the next on a bit of an adventure and it's only now looking back to have any appreciation for how difficult that period actually was.”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “Know it's funny, Charles, it's only as an adult looking back on that experience you have kind of a full appreciation for what was happening at the time. My mum was such a phenomenal force of nature that the reality of what was happening around us wasn't really apparent to us as children. So I looked back on some of those times in hostels, in temporary accommodation, in difficult circumstances, as actually some of the most fun periods in my life because she did so much to shelter us from that we played hide and seek in the dark at home and we didn't have electricity. And despite everything that was going on around us, she was absolutely adamant that we had to get a good education. And again, looking back on it now as an adult, in everything that was going on, all of that adversity, all of that, all the economic struggles, it was kind of insane to have such a high educational...”

    undated · Off The Agenda · Dean Forbes: From Homelessness to CEO of Billion-Pound Businesses · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source