Simon Dolan

Simon Dolan
Born May 20, 1969 (1969-05-20) (age 42)
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for Twitter investor
Net worth £100 million (Based on Sunday Times Rich List 2011)[1]
Children Two

Simon Dolan (born 20 May 1969[2]) is a British businessman and entrepreneur who is involved in financial industries, as well as an interest in the aviation and motoring industries. Dolan's business include SJD Accountancy, Contractor Umbrella, Jota Aviation, and Jota Sport.[3]

Contents

Businesses and investments

Dolan's business philosophy involves a lack of fashionable management techniques and instead focuses on employing people with a "special spark".[4] His initial freelance accounting work involved advertising in the local newspaper. His first major business was SJD Accountancy, which was among the first accounting firms to offer a money back guarantee.[5] It is the only accounting firm in the UK top 100 owned by an individual rather than a partnership.[6]

Dolan began investing in new start-up companies via Twitter in 2010, initially offering a £5 million investment pot for successful business pitches on the social networking site, earning himself the nickname "Twitter Dragon".[6][7] Dolan's investments via Twitter have included She Who Dares,[8] Global Moguls,[9] and mental health magazine Uncovered.[10] Dolan was a judge for the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010.[11]

Racing career

Dolan’s interest in racing began in March 2007 before creating his own racing team, Jota Sport, in 2008. In 2010 Jota Sport signed a multi-year agreement to become an Aston Martin official partner team in motorsports.[12] Jota initially competed in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the 2010 24 Hours of Spa where the team won their class.[13] Dolan and co-driver Sam Hancock participated in the VdeV series with a best finish of third at Circuit Paul Ricard. Dolan made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2011 GTE
Pro
79 D Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2
Aston Martin 4.5L V8
Jota Sam Hancock
Chris Buncombe
74 DNF DNF

Publications

References

  1. ^ "Simons companies worth £100 million". http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2030057/Uni-uni-With-rising-fees-uncertain-jobs-market-pay-degree.html. 
  2. ^ "Simon Dolan GT2 European Cup Driver Bio". http://www.gt2europe.com/driverbio.php?countkey=42. 
  3. ^ "Simon Dolan The Twitter Investor". http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/channels/entrepreneurs/achieving-growth/1080127/simon-dolan-the-twitter-investor.thtml. 
  4. ^ "Business Advice for all UK firms from starting a business to flotation=New Business". May 13, 2009. http://www.newbusiness.co.uk/expert-panel/simon-dolan-sjd-accountancy. 
  5. ^ Keeping it simple, Best Practice Magazine, December 2007
  6. ^ a b Kaffash, Jaimie (31 August 2011). "Simon says reform the partnership model". Accountancy Age. http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/feature/2105581/simon. Retrieved 7 September 2011. 
  7. ^ "Investors use Twitter to inject cash=this is money.co.uk". July 5, 2010. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/work/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=508045&in_page_id=10&position=moretopstories. 
  8. ^ "Successful pitches lands candidates £5 mil pot". July 4, 2010. http://www.fmwf.com/media-type/news/2010/07/want-5m-heres-where-you-twitter/. 
  9. ^ Hurley, James (June 14, 2010). "Successful business pitches via twitter get 800k investment". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/7827749/Twitter-angel-backs-tweet-pitches-with-0.8m.html. 
  10. ^ "Uncovered magazine investment". April 15, 2011. http://www.deepsouthmedia.co.uk/view-news.php?news_id=107. 
  11. ^ "ShellWIRE Live judges 2010". July 1, 2010. http://www.shell-livewire.org/business-library/shell-livewire-events/shell-livewire-live-2010/judges-2010/. 
  12. ^ "Jota Sport Sign Aston Martin Deal". June 8, 2010. http://www.motorstv.com/car/endurance/lms/08062010/lms-jota-sport-sign-aston-martin-deal. 
  13. ^ "Team Jota win Spa 24 Hours in GT4". August 2, 2010. http://gt4cup.com/newsitem.php?key=241. 

External links