The CEO of Noir Group, the Manchester-based design agency, has written an honest account of the decisions which led to the business recently appointing liquidators.
The agency had appeared to be enjoying a rapid ascent since launching in 2016, winning industry awards and moving into enlarged offices only last April, as well as launching in London and San Francisco.
But last week we reported how the company had commenced voluntary winding up proceedings at the end of February.
And now CEO Anthony Logan – who set up Noir with friend Alex Mellor – has penned a 3,000-word LinkedIn post in which he reflects on the reasons behind the downfall of the business.
In an incredibly open account, Logan said he regretted an early decision to bring in an investor.
“Admittedly we had absolutely no idea what we were doing,” he said. “Neither of us had ever accepted an investment before, we didn’t understand all the big words in the contract and we didn’t have the foresight to understand the impact that investment might have on a young business like ours.
“Nonetheless, after several months of deliberation and consultation, we accepted the investment. In our naivety, I think we saw investment as a sign of success. There is a narrative in the start-up world that taking an investment is a success in and of itself, and I think that’s a narrative that we regrettably bought into.”
He said that using that investment to hire staff was “one of the first key mistakes”, as was a first birthday event held by Noir at The Foundry in Manchester.
“It was expensive, we weren’t clear enough on what our measurable objective was and ultimately it served our ego more than it served the business,” Logan wrote.
