Last week Jo Sheridan passed the interview baton to Jake at Made Media:
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Jake Grimley. I’m the MD at Made Media. I meet new clients, work up pitches and proposals, set the vision for where we’re going and make sure the money keeps moving.
What was your route into this job?
I did Physics at university, but I found the maths too hard to turn it into a career. I ended up doing this random NVQ in HTML & Javascript. It was a course for hapless graduates. That was in ‘97, before there was any semblance of a digital media industry in Birmingham. I had a feeling that people might pay for this stuff, and I’ve been running web agencies in Birmingham ever since. I think in reality it started a lot earlier though. I was one of those kids who wasted months of his childhood programming games on a ZX Spectrum instead of playing football. Most people at Made are like that, although they’re mostly too young to know what a Spectrum is.
What do you think of the West Midlands as a place to work?
As with most things in life, our greatest asset is also our heaviest burden. I can self-deprecate with the best of them, but this tendency is at the root of our perception problems outside the region. The best thing about running a business in Birmingham though is that the networks are just the right size for attaining critical mass quickly. That’s more difficult in London.
What events might we catch you at?
I don’t make it to that many events. I always intend to, and I don’t mind a glass or two of cheap Merlot, but my diary is so full of stuff. There’s always something pressing to deal with and clients take precedence over peers.
How do you keep up with what’s going on in your industry?
I’ve been using this brilliant online social media network for ten years now. It has all the best new stuff on it. It’s called the Internet.
Which tools of the trade could you not do without?
Powerbook (I still can’t bring myself to call it a ‘MacBook Pro’). Email. iPhone. Textmate for the fantasy life in which I still write code.
Have you got a hidden gem you’d like to tell us about?
The Chiltern line. People think it’s second-best because it takes an extra half hour over Virgin, but it’s more reliable and more civilised. I mean Moor Street to Marylebone beats New Street to Euston any day of the week. Cheap too. I’ve taken three people down to London for a pitch for less than £70, including Tube travel. Also, you will always see at least one Red Kite.
What have you got on the walls?
Some really rather tasteless promotional canvases from a Temper exhibition. Actually it’s not really on the walls so much as skulking around the skirting. Tim and I got a bit out of control at a charity art auction, but in the cold light of day we worried that new clients might not get our sense of irony. It causes regular ‘Allo ‘Allo inspired routines where we rush to hide the pictures with the big boobies.
Who makes the tea?
Made Media is a coffee-drinking establishment. I like to imagine the coffee is made by Roger Federer because his picture was on the box that the machine came in. In reality, you go up to the machine, press a button and it gives you the coffee. If it required more organisation than that, nothing would get done.
Have you got any tips for potential employees?
Show us something good. Know your day-rate. Decide what your core skill is and become the best at that. If you’re a print designer trying to transition to web then just get on with it. There’s no shortage of free information on the Internet and there’s no-one stopping you. You might have to reassess what being a designer really means though.
Lastly, who should we speak to next?
We seem to have a bit of a Jewellery Quarter run going, so I’ll nominate James Glover at Fluid.
