Secret Leaders Lastminute.com: meet Martha Lane Fox, the Baroness of tech who refuses to let her past define her future
Martha Lane Fox is a digital entrepreneur who is not only passionate about the world of tech, but Chancellor of the Open University, a philanthropist and a public servant to boot. Martha can be thanked for making our everyday lives easier, as well as the lives of children, and even prisoners.
Martha’s resume is as lengthy as they come, and whilst she is notably the youngest female member the House of Lords has ever had, you will probably know her best as the founder of lastminute.com.
However she doesn’t want that to be her sole legacy. She credits lastminute.com for affording her the opportunity to pursue her other work interests: being on the board of M&S, Twitter, Chanel and Channel 4, as well as her charitable work including setting up Reprieve - a charity helping those suffering from torture and human rights abuses.
Martha is a keen advocate of just being human, for not letting your work define you, and so it is no surprise that she is the co-founder of prime evening entertainment venue, Lucky Voice. Just don’t make her listen to another rendition of Don’t Stop Believing, and don’t ask her to sing anything by Celine Dion.
We chat about:
- Brent Toberman changing her life forever.
- The accident that could have been the end of her, but how she drew on her resilience, both mentally and physically, and how it has given her the opportunity to pursue other business avenues.
- Why no one had come up with the concept of Lucky Voice before, and why it wasn’t called Rubber Chicken.
- What she learned through working on the board at M&S.
- The subliminal role San Francisco plays in tech start-ups.
- Supporting young women in tech and why their voices need to be heard.
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