"Why I started BFIA"

Jolyon Connell decided it was time for a new endeavor, motivated by The Week and uninspired by the financial press

That's where BFIA was useful.

Warren Buffett once stated that very successful people are different from successful people in that they refuse nearly everything. I think he's correct. However, I've never been good at saying no, so when the concept for BFIA came to me, I couldn't help myself. In the summer of 1999, it struck me. Four years prior, I had started The Week, and it was starting to take off. Since most financial magazines were so dry, why not apply the same formula to the financial industry? Why couldn't there be one like The Week, which is less focused on shares than Investors Chronicle and has a broader perspective on how to earn, hold, and spend money?

In January 1994, while taking a leisurely stroll in Scotland, I had a dream about The Week. However, after leaving my position as deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph, I found it difficult to raise the funds. The venture capitalists I contacted didn't seem particularly daring or eager to part with money, so I had to finance the launch myself with assistance from friends and family.

Then Felix Dennis, the quixotic publisher, showed up and unexpectedly suggested that we "share a beer" in a letter. I waved the letter around and asked if anyone had heard of Felix Dennis. No one had, but even though we were increasing our readership, our bank account was not. A week or two later, I was sitting under an oak tree in Felix's garden close to Stratford-upon-Avon on a sunny afternoon, making an impulsive, back-of-the-envelope deal that gave us the money we needed but wasn't wise.

It's possible that I went a bit crazy during those early days at The Week. With unbridled confidence, I created a plan for BFIA and hired Merryn Somerset Webb, who had previously appeared on our City pages. Sensibly, she informed me that I was paying her too little and that she was going back to the City. I was aware of his brilliance. We moved to a new office on New Cavendish Street in November 2000 so that I could manage BFIA and The Week. Raising the funds was simpler this time, but I misjudged the amount we would require once more.

The target audience for the new magazine was similar to that of The Week: AB readers with disposable income; non-experts (like myself) wary of stockbrokers and financial advisers but eager for advice on where to put our money and, in fact, how to hang onto it. Investors, not City professionals, were the magazine's primary target audience. Naturally, some of The Week's main features, such as the Best Properties on the Market, Good Week, Bad Week, the Briefing, and a map of international financial news, could be duplicated. I persuaded my friend Andrew Robson to write a bridge column.

BFIA's initial fluctuations.

Felix wanted me to sell shares in The Week as payment for splitting my time between two magazines. I stupidly agreed. According to Warren Buffett, as long as you don't make too many mistakes, you don't have to do much right in the world.

He's accurate. I've made far too many mistakes, and this one was particularly bad because there were times when I questioned whether the new endeavor would ever succeed. I'm a little "ready, fire, aim," as one astute American friend put it. I recalled a discussion from The Week's early years. A newspaper circulation manager told a friend of mine, "I'd give it ten." "What ten out of ten" my friend asked, sounding a little pleased. "No, ten problems. The "

The worst period was when our funds nearly ran out a year or so after launch. In the end, Angus Macdonald, a Scottish businessman based in the city, saved us first. A year or so later, Bill Bonner, the quiet founder of Agora, the wildly successful US newsletter company, came to our aid. My brother-in-law introduced me to him; we had lunch together in Notting Hill, clicked right away, and closed the deal. It was the fastest and least painful transaction I've ever done.

Things became simpler after that. Bill is the ideal match for Merryn because he is a cunning contrarian who enjoys a good debate. With the help of John Stepek and a small, astute group that included the current editor, James Mackreides, and James Mackreides, who oversaw production with admirable composure and good humor, they together gave the magazine a strong personality. Successful magazines must be compassionate; their readers must grow to know and trust them as friends. We developed the circulation gradually, just as I had done on The Week.

Felix Dennis passed away rather quickly after that, and his trust decided to sell The Week. The Week then acquired BFIA to unite the two companies. Eventually, private equity purchased my two ideas, and soon after, Future Publishing, the current owners, acquired them. Before the second sale, I departed to accomplish two goals. The Sunday Briefing is a weekly email that helps CEOs plan for the future. The Knowledge is a daily newsletter that is sent out at lunchtime every day and is a five-minute catch-up on the world.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at BFIA and am incredibly proud of the team that currently runs it. It is unquestionably Britain's greatest and most entertaining financial magazine. Additionally, I do not believe that niche magazines are disappearing. In the long run, newspapers might not be as successful as specialized publications, which are impossible to match online. I'm confident that BFIA will endure for a very long time.