Serial entrepreneur Ledger says 'I won't do it again'

After three successful ventures the serial entrepreneur says he doesn't plan on a fourth, but isn't leaving the channel just yet

Neil Ledger, group director at Exclusive Networks, has said he will not return with another venture in the channel, but will remain at the VAD for the time being.

Speaking to CRN for a feature on what makes serial entrepreneurs tick, Ledger revealed that he plans on remaining with Exclusive four years on from selling his company VADition to the distributor.

VADition was Ledger’s third channel company with his business partner Ian Morris. The duo opened Data Connectivity in 1992, which they sold to Datrontech in 1998 for £7m – then equIP, which they sold to Matrix Group in 2005 for £10.5m before opening VADition.

Following both acquisitions Ledger (pictured) said he and Morris had left the companies within about six months to move on to the next project.

However, he has stuck around with Exclusive Networks since it bought VADition in 2011.

"I will not do it again," he said. "I was already gone within six months of the acquisition of other businesses. I have stayed on four years with Exclusive. I like their model and the way they work."

Ledger confided his desire to launch venture after venture was fuelled by not knowing what else he would do.“You keep coming back because it’s just what you know," he said. "If you enjoy and you have had some success at it, why would you go and do something else? To be honest, since I have done it for 30-plus years I don’t know what else I would do."

Ledger also said it would be more difficult this time around to know what technology to focus on as the market changes so rapidly.

“It is harder now, and money is so much freer in the valley. It is not impossible but it is difficult to choose what technology to go with. Where we had four or five technologies to choose from before, there are probably 20 or 30 now,” Ledger concluded.

Don't miss an upcoming issue of CRN for our full feature examining the mindset of serial channel entrepreneurs.