Name: Janus Howard
Company: Digital Peninsula Network Ltd
Job title: Managing Director
What did you want to be when you were young? A professional surfer.
What was your first full time job? Lifeguard on my local surf beach.
What is your best quality? Tenacity.
What is your worst quality? Impatience.
What is your favourite book? The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.
What is your favourite film? Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
What is your favourite restaurant? A lovely little Thai restaurant in Penzance called Sukothai which has great food at good prices.
How do you like to relax? Spending the day at my favourite beach in Cornwall, Gwenver, with my girlfriend, friends and surfboard.
If you could build a house anywhere in the world where would it be? I would rather build a superyacht so that I wouldn’t be tied to one location.
If you could be a superhero, what superpowers would you like to possess? Flight, it would save a fortune on holidays.
Who was your teenage pin up? Coco from the TV series Fame.
Can money buy happiness? No, but lack of it can certainly cause unhappiness.
Most annoying TV personality? Allan Carr.
If you only had £1 left in the entire world, what would you spend it on? Something I could sell for £2.
What has been the best moment in your career? Winning substantial funding from the European Social Fund to enable DPN to support Cornwall’s digital business community.
What has been the worst moment in your career? Drying up during a public presentation.
What do you begrudge spending money on? Parking.
What’s the best thing about Cornwall? Its strong community spirit.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in life? Life is short so make the most of your opportunities.
What makes you happy? Playing the guitar with my friends after a good surf.
What makes you angry? My own shortcomings.
If you could invite any two people for dinner, who would they be and why would you invite them? Stephen Fry for his intelligence and wit and Paco Pena to play the guitar.
What could you not live without? She knows who she is.
Tell me a joke. Q: Why did the scarecrow win the Nobel Prize? A: Because he was out standing in his field.
What’s the greatest invention ever? The wetsuit because it enables surfing in Cornwall all year round.
What’s your favourite holiday destination? A yacht in the Canary Islands for great sailing and surfing.
When is honesty not always the best policy? When being interviewed for a magazine.
What’s your #1 ambition? Good health and a long life.
If you could be God for a day, what miracle would you perform? Returning the environment to a pre industrial state.
Describe yourself in three adjectives. Determined, resourceful, direct.
This article first appeared in the June 2011 issue of Business Cornwall magazine
