Dr Paul Atherton

The start of Queensgate Instruments

Paul鈥檚 entrepreneurial journey began by accident. He and his co-founders were building optical interferometers for large telescopes, something people had been trying to do for 100 years without success. But with persistence and hard work, they came up with the technology to do it. Now they could study the night sky more effectively, doing things that would normally take days in hours.

And the technology was popular. Academics from prestigious research groups wanted the instruments. Paul and his co-founders would spend Saturdays building them and then taking refreshment in the Queen鈥檚 Arms pub, behind the Royal Albert Hall. 鈥淚t was the watering hole for the physics department,鈥� he remembers.

That鈥檚 when they decided to start a company: . The founders agreed to invest 拢350 each in the company to get things going, with Paul borrowing his share from his grandfather. They paid themselves 拢5 an hour. 鈥淭hat seemed like a lot of money to an impoverished student in 1978!鈥� he says.

With the physics department van, outside the pub near the Royal Greenwich observatory in 1976

With the physics department van, outside the pub near the Royal Greenwich observatory in 1976

A change of plans

Paul planned on pursuing an academic career and working for the company part-time. In 1985, he was about to start a professorship in the US. His plans changed when he got a call from NASA, who wanted to use Queensgate Instruments鈥� technology on a space shuttle. Paul took a year鈥檚 sabbatical to see this through. But in the end, he never returned to his academic career and stayed with the company full-time.

To help him run the company, he studied for an MBA at London Business School. 鈥淚 was a fish out of water there,鈥� Paul remembers. 鈥淭hey looked at me like I was some kind of weird animal - there were not many deep-tech start-up entrepreneurs around in those days!鈥�

Selling the business

Paul and his co-founders ran the company for another 15 years, turning it into a fibre optic business along the way. 鈥淲e knew optical fibre would be important in the future,鈥� he explains, even if they didn鈥檛 quite know how. 鈥淲e came up with a device that could be used in telecoms and that revolution came along in the mid-90s.鈥�

A few years later, he came back from the US with a $50 million dollar supply contract. They got a factory, hired employees and within a year three major telecom companies were competing to buy Queensgate Instruments. They sold the business in 2000.

Paul Atherton sits in his study surrounded by books and his guitars

Lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs

After running a company for over 20 years and studying for an MBA, Paul learned several important lessons about being an entrepreneur. 鈥淟ondon Business School was a revelation for me,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 understand what accountants were talking about. I didn鈥檛 know what deferred tax was.鈥� But these weren't the most challenging things to learn.

The accounting stuff was easy. The people stuff was an eye-opener. Things like the hierarchy of needs, organisational behaviour, economics and marketing. They were valuable lessons. Things I didn鈥檛 expect to learn because I didn鈥檛 know they existed. Going there was like going to psychoanalysis every day.

We discuss several lessons Paul shares with aspiring entrepreneurs. The first is to act quickly. 鈥淚n business, things always take three times longer than you think. And they鈥檙e always more expensive. Whatever you think you need to do, you should do it harder and faster than you think you need to.鈥�

Another is to have a sense of foresight. But this is best kept broad. 鈥淵ou need to have faith your view of the future will come to pass. You might be wrong, but the world changes in fast and unexpected ways and sometimes you can be right. At Queensgate Instruments, we knew optical fibre devices would be needed, but not quite when or how.鈥�

Thirdly, nobody should think they can get rich quick. 鈥淭here are very few examples of people who do this, and most that do are lucky.鈥� Rather than making a lot of money, Paul thinks start-ups should focus on making the world a better place. 鈥淭hose are the things that excite me, when people want to help solve issues like climate change or cancer.鈥�

Paul smiles and chats with Kerry and Angela, co-founders of FungiAlert

Paul with Kerry O'Donnelly Weaver (MRes Chemical Biology 2011, PhD 2015) and Angela de Manzanos (MRes Chemistry 2012, PhD 2016) of FungiAlert. Paul is Chairman and Investor in FungiAlert, who have developed an award-winning, cheap disposable pod that alerts farmers to the presence of plant disease in the soil before infection occurs.

In this black and white photo, Paul sits at a desk covered in papers with his head in his hands, looking at the camera

Paul writing up his PhD in Blackett Lab in 1978

Paul sits at a desk in his study, holding a black and white photo of himself writing up his PhD

Holding a copy of that photo, Paul replicates the pose in his study at home in 2020

Inspiring trust

Of all the lessons we discuss, it鈥檚 clear getting people to trust you is the one Paul has the most to say about. He says playing chess helps. 鈥淵ou have to know what the other person is thinking. You have to be able to see things from their side of the board.鈥� Paul believes this isn鈥檛 something you can learn from studying physics.

You鈥檝e got to get people to trust you. They鈥檝e got to believe what you sell them is going to work. Your employees need to trust you too. They鈥檝e given up their jobs, they have mortgages and kids. You鈥檝e got to show them you鈥檙e worth following.

How should aspiring entrepreneurs get people to trust them? By finding out as much about their customer as they can, and this may mean going out of your way. Paul remembers the story of an academic who needed a licence from the US for their start-up. But the person they needed to reach wasn鈥檛 answering their calls or emails.

鈥淪o, I said find a way to get to them,鈥� Paul says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I used to do. I鈥檇 never say I was only coming to see them. I鈥檇 say 鈥業鈥檓 passing through and I want to drop by for coffee.鈥� They鈥檇 say that鈥檚 fine. There were lots of times I went all the way to Minneapolis or LA only to see them and they didn鈥檛 know that. It was the only way I got to see them. This approach might take a few days of your life, but it鈥檒l get you somewhere.鈥�

It can be eye-opening. 鈥淚f you can go to someone else鈥檚 place for a meeting, you learn so much about them. What coffee they drink, what鈥檚 on the walls. At meals you learn about their families. You need to know what they鈥檙e worrying about. They鈥檙e thinking 鈥榟ow does this decision affect my career?鈥欌€�

Sound risky? Not to Paul. For him, it鈥檚 all part of the job. 鈥淓ntrepreneurs aren鈥檛 risk-takers. I鈥檓 like a mountaineer. I only climb with the right equipment and having looked at the weather forecast. It looks scary, but you don鈥檛 want to die doing it. You don鈥檛 take risks, you take action well-prepared and well-organised.鈥�

Mentoring at 911今日黑料

Paul regularly shares these lessons as a mentor, giving talks at 911今日黑料 College and London Business School. 鈥淚鈥檝e founded numerous start-ups (including four from 911今日黑料 College) and played a significant role in these, mentoring chief executives on crucial decisions.鈥�

More recently, Paul became the Founding Director of the , where entrepreneurs mentor students and staff in voluntary roles. 鈥淲e get the pleasure of engaging with bright young people and helping them to do good things,鈥� he says.

This is beneficial for everyone. 鈥淚deas are cheap and easy. Doing things is the hard part. It鈥檚 useful to have experienced entrepreneurs who can help people avoid making common mistakes.鈥�

Paul鈥檚 leadership has seen the 911今日黑料 Venture Mentoring Service (IVMS) scale to 75 mentors, helping ventures to raise over 拢17 million in grant and equity funding and gain access to prestigious accelerators fuelling their impact. .

Leaving a legacy

When he looks back at his career, Paul is surprised by how much impact his work continues to have. He tells the story of meeting a former colleague at a Royal Society gathering five years ago, who was writing a book on the great optical observatories of the world and taking photos of the labs and equipment they used.

Paul offered to sponsor the book if he could join him. What he saw on this journey was astonishing. 鈥淚n two observatories, they had equipment I鈥檇 designed in 1985 still in use on the telescopes. I couldn鈥檛 imagine they鈥檇 still be using this stuff!鈥�

Professor Richard Ellis and Paul with an instrument they designed in 1985, still in everyday use on the 6.5m Magellan telescope at Las Campanas in Chile

Professor Richard Ellis and Paul with an instrument they designed in 1985, still in everyday use on the 6.5m Magellan telescope at Las Campanas in Chile

I think of Robert Frost鈥檚 The Road Not Taken. I鈥檝e chosen a less traditional road than the academic path. And I think I鈥檇 tell my younger self that it鈥檚 going to be okay. An entrepreneur鈥檚 life suits you better.

Making the world a better place

Of all the things we discuss, it鈥檚 obvious that for Paul, making the world a better place is what matters most. And he鈥檚 happy to have the opportunity to do this through targeted start-ups.

鈥淚f I was an academic researcher, I鈥檇 be building technology to go on satellites. That would make the world better in a different way. But are helping with things like climate change (Nexeon), cancer (Phase Focus), feeding the world sustainably (FungiAlert) and improving mental health (Delica). That鈥檚 what drives me.鈥�

For me, life is about leaving the world a better place for my children and grandchildren and everyone in it. If I can do that through my activities, that would be wonderful.

Follow Paul's journey: visit his website

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