Mike Southon

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Mike Southon is a British entrepreneur.

Mike Southon was educated at Papplewick School, Ascot (where he was a contemporary of Richard Curtis) and Wellington College, Crowthorne (where in 1967 he met Chris West, who was to become his co-author). He subsequently attended Imperial College London to read mechanical engineering, but left after a year. He worked at Tate & Lyle Research in Reading for a while and then went on to the University of Bradford to read chemical engineering and economics.

Southon has started a number of companies, the most successful of which was The Instruction Set, a Unix training company that was bought out in 1989 by Hoskyns (now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young).

More recently, he has written books aimed at entrepreneurs with Chris West, the first of which was The Beermat Entrepreneur. He gives presentations on this subject and writes a regular feature in Real Business Magazine.

Mike's alter ego is Mike Fab-Gere, a 60s and 70s rock star. He was also previously the front man and singer for the Oxcentrics jazz band in Oxford, in which Chris West also played on drums.

[edit] Books

The Beermat Entrepreneur: Turn a Good Idea into a Great Business, Mike Southon and Chris West. Prentice Hall, 2002. ISBN 0-273-65929-4. Also 2005, ISBN 0-273-70454-0.
The Beermat Entrepreneur — Live, Mike Southon and Chris West. Financial Times / Prentice Hall, 2002. ISBN 0-273-66379-8. (Audio CD.)
The Boardroom Entrepreneur, Mike Southon and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2005. ISBN 1-84413-818-6.
Sales on a Beermat, Mike Southon and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2005. ISBN 1-84413-819-4.
Finance on a Beermat, Mike Southon and Chris West. Random House Business Books, 2006. ISBN 1-905211-03-1. (To appear.)