Think Like An Innovator

Sir Charles Dunstone

(Born 1964)

Cell phone entrepreneur

Sir Charles Dunstone is the chairman and cofounder of Carphone Warehouse (CPW), a UK company that now claims to be the world’s largest mobile phone retailer.

During the 1980s, Dunstone worked as a salesman at NEC, promoting mobile phones. In those days, cell phones were large, awkward and expensive. They were sold in corporate contracts mainly to large corporations. Dunstone foresaw a big growth in the business – particularly for small businesses and individual users who, until then, were poorly served.

He decided to gamble his life savings of £6,000 on the opportunity. In 1989, at the age of 25, he set up his own business selling mobile phones from his apartment in Central London. He ...