The man in charge of one of the UK’s biggest industrial companies, Siemens UK, has urged entrepreneurs not to be put off by failure.
Chief executive Juergen Maier said technology has made it a “brilliant time” to be a youngster but warned against people expecting instant success.
“For every idea that makes it and becomes a huge millionaire and beyond there are many that fail but that’s one of the exciting things,” he told BusinessCloud.
“You can fail once but still have a go. Most people fail once, twice, three times and the fourth one is the one that really takes off.
“If young people have got that sort of drive and ambition to fail a few times and then make it, that’s amazing.”
Maier, who was born in Austria, said the UK had recognised the value of making things.
“We are finally realising that as a country we need to get back to creating and making more things. For young people it’s an amazing opportunity.
“I say creating on purpose because it might be creating virtual things. It might be software or code within artificial intelligence engines or it might be making new funny, interesting products.
“As a nation there’s a new passion to make things and it’s going to be around digital and tech.”
Siemens employs 15,000 people in the UK, including 1,200 in Manchester, and generates £5bn in revenue.
Maier was speaking at the recent digital summit called by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.