In the early years at Synechron, we were growing 50% every year, and our US clients were asking if we could extend our services to the European market. It seemed like an easy decision at the time. There was already a demand for Synechron’s technical services and many of our existing projects had global implications.

So, I decided to invest in a London office.

However, it quickly became clear we didn’t have enough scale to go into a 2nd market. We tried to organically grow our presence in London, but this demanded considerable resources and the investment exceeded the benefits.

But, I didn’t close the office. Instead, I continued to invest in it for four years.

In retrospect, I can see I was wrong. But, perhaps the bigger mistake was standing behind a failing idea because it was my own. We are now operational in London, but it took a painful failure and learning from that experience to re-enter that market in the right away (through a strategic acquisition) at a very different time.