Face of the future

Becoming an entrepreneur at such a young age isn’t unusual in the world of start-ups. The internet relies less on nepotism and qualifications and more on spark, drive, and ingenuity.

Anderson’s parents have no background in coding and they do not run start-ups. “My interest came from an insatiable curiosity to discover and to learn,” he explains. “I got an E in my computing A level because I was focusing all my energy on developing the business,” he says with some pride. “The certificate is hanging in my office. That essentially means I can’t use a computer.”

He cites this when he’s giving talks to schools. “It shows that qualifications aren’t the only marker of success — the only limit to success is yourself, and qualifications should be seen as a back-up.”

Having eschewed university, does he feel he embodies the cliche of a young entrepreneur? It’s become cool to be an entrepreneur, he says, but the image of a Mark Zuckerberg-esque, hoodiewearing coder is something he’s keen to steer clear of. He looks at business in an entirely different way to his predecessors.

“We need the next generation of people to code and be web proficient. Without it we’ll stagnate. While I was building Zest, I met Niklas Zennstrom, the co-founder of Skype. I was nervous about meeting him — fortunately he was welcoming and supportive, but not everybody is. There’s a lot more cynicism in London towards young entrepreneurs than there is in San Francisco.”

Anderson credits his mentors for support. “Just having somebody who believes in you is great,” he says. “They’re not there to tell you what to do, but Richard Knox-Johnston [founder of iwantoneofthose.com, which he sold for £10 million] will ask questions about the app and be there to support.”

KnoxJohnston, now in his seventies, has dedicated the rest of his life to helping young entrepreneurs succeed. “He took a real interest in me, and introduced me to John Lewis, which awarded me seed investment for Zest.”

As a millenial manager, Anderson enjoys the collaborative aspect of office life and he rates having a great working space.“If you’re comfortable in your space it will show in your work. We have cool posters, lots of natural light, and we’re productive.” That’s not to say he doesn’t work remotely too. “My friends make fun of me because I carry around a portable charger for my laptop, iphone, tablet — I’m very connected, but I have to be.”

He shuns labels and titles. “We’re a start-up and there are three of us — technically I’m the MD, but I don’t like the idea of job titles. Ideally, I’d like to minimise their usage. Here, everybody has a say in how the company is run.”

So what is Zest, and can we expect another app to change our lives as thoroughly as Uber and Snapchat? Essentially Zest aims to streamline buying beverages and snacks by linking up independent cafes so you can preorder and save time.

“One of my favourite stores on the platform is Yumchaa [which has just opened a new branch in Midtown next to Goodge Street Station] — I love their mango smoothies and their coffee is great too. They’re one of our link partners.”

The masterplan is simple — expansion. “In a year’s time I’d like to unite every coffee, tea and juice chain in London, reduce queue time, and allow anyone, anywhere to open our app. It’s a model that allows us to scale up easily. That’s the dream — the future looks bright. It’s exciting.”

James Anderson chairs Board shorts in the boardroom: The rise of the millennial manager, on February 17, 2016, bigideas.inmidtown.org. Download Zest at zesthq.co. Use the code Evening Standard to get a discount on your first drinks order.