How I built a business that helps you earn money from your online data
Jennifer Sieg sits down with Sam Jones, founder of data management platform Gener8, to find out why – and how – he left his role as global brand manager at Red Bull to start a business in tech.
Have you ever thought about using your online data to buy a sausage roll from Greggs? What about an iced latte from Starbucks, or a discounted value box from Hello Fresh?
The answer is probably no, especially if you’re unaware that any money is being made from it in the first place.
It was this lack of transparency, however, that led entrepreneur Sam Jones on a mission to make sure you get your fair share of it.
Jones founded software company Gener8 in 2018 to help users track, control and monetise their online data – the data often being sold when we aimlessly click ‘accept’ on a cookies pop-up or ‘agree’ to the terms and conditions we rarely ever read.
“In academia, it’s what’s known as a personal information management system, but really it’s easier to think of it more like a data wallet,” Jones says.
First as a browser extension and now as a mobile app, Gener8 has caught interest from investors such as British musician Tinie Tempah and Dragons’ Den stars Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman and Tej Lalvani.
To date, the platform has raised £8.5m and is valued at around £30m.
How does Gener8 work?
If you choose to let the platform manage and anonymise your data, it will give you a cut of the money that companies – like Google and Facebook – are already making.
In return, the platform shares the information in partnerships with various online retailers, who then offer rewards to Gener8 users in the form of vouchers or charitable donations.
But why would you share your data with someone who’s trying to help you take back control of your data in the first place?
Jones says it all comes down to understanding how the world of data tracking works and giving you access to what should be yours to keep.
“The key is enabling people to realise value from their data and what’s really cool is when it’s real world tangible value, like you’re drinking a coffee that you’ve paid for with your data, that’s what I think really connects with people and helps them to understand the value of it,” he says.
Taking the leap
Jones, now 32, spent five years working with Red Bull – first as a global marketing intern and eventually as a global brand manager – before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey.
If you spend half a decade working with a global brand that spends an average of 25 to 30 per cent of its yearly £9bn in revenue on advertising, you might just become a little more curious as to how data tracking works.
“The status quo – whether you like it or not – is that everything you’re doing is being tracked, your data is being hoovered up, and it’s been sold,” he says.
His theory? The world is going to become more and more aware of who their data really belongs to.
“I believe that what we’re doing at Gener8 is particularly unique because there is genuinely a multi-billion-pound opportunity,” he says.
“I fully wholeheartedly believe that in the near future, it will be seen as normal for people to passively earn from their data.”
Now that Google, as of March, has been compelled by EU law to share a person’s data upon request, Jones seems even more sure of where Gener8’s future is headed.
Learning as you go
Entrepreneurship is intimidating, especially if you love your day job and have no idea how to build a business.
I was in arguably the best marketing job in the world, so it really was not an easy decision.
Sam Jones
The entrepreneur smiles as he tells me it can all be worth it, and laughs at the fact that he hit all the “pain points” that come with starting a business in tech.
“I can’t code, I have no technical ability, and I didn’t have a product,” he says, still laughing.
But if you have the passion and resilience needed to prove your idea possible, anything can happen.
By spending his weekends drafting up pitch decks and his evenings out meeting as many people as possible, Jones managed to secure his first two investors before quitting his day job.
Keeping your day job for a while, he says, is something he believes budding entrepreneurs should consider carefully – especially when taking such a “massive gamble”.
As Gener8 now inches closer to its newest milestone of 1m users, Jones says he couldn’t have timed things better.
“There’s never been a better time to be building what we’re building and doing what we’re doing,” he says.
“There’s ultimately political and legislative appetite and change that is coming – that we are pushing for and driving – that will unlock the value of people’s data.”
CV
Name: Sam Jones
Company: Gener8
Founded: 2018
Staff: 25
Title: Founder
Age: 33
Born: 1991
Lives: Poole
Studied: Cardiff
Talents: Kite surfing
Motto: Be positive
Most known for: Appearance on Dragon’s Den and being called ‘the best pitch ever’
First ambition: To be an entrepreneur
Favourite book: Extreme Ownership, Jocko Wilink
Best piece of advice: Back yourself