Diners were out in full force last week, firing questions at the wonderful Matthew Bradley, Investor at Forward Partners, on a variety of topics. Here's a selection of what was asked and answered after dinner: What is the definition of a 'co-founder'? A co-founder isn't just a job title. Investors are interested in businesses that have a 'founding team'. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, a co-founder should bring their own skills ...
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At our recent dinner with Forward Partners, their investor Matthew Bradley enlightened his fellow diners on their framework for making an idea into a viable business within 12 months. (Hey - everyone loves a deadline!) So, here is a taster into the glory of their three step-process: Idea Validation > First and foremost, get a landing page up and running. Put your idea out there for people to see. > You need ...
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Ania, Head of Commercial Developments for Products/Digital at Travelex, let us in on a few secrets at her dinner recently about how established companies can adapt and thrive in a sea of startups. Here's her top tips for maintaining your piece of the pie: First and foremost develop a clear strategy When launching digital products there needs to be differentiation from competitors' products Change how you think and serve customers ...
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Everyone wants to know what investors are looking for from a company before they hand over their cash to help the business grow. Yannick Roux, a VC at EC1 Capital, shared his thoughts at dinner last week on what he looks for when deciding on whether to invest or not. He split it into two categories: people and markets. People Knowledge. What knowledge does the proprietor have? Would I actually be ...
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Following this week's TableCrowd dinner with Mark Hardy, CMO of Viber, and Jules McKeen of The Talent Business, this post explains how to hire the right people for your start-up to make your business become a 'talent magnet'. Here are Mark and Jules' top tips: Make sure the person fits. Don't compromise just because they fit the culture; they must fit both the culture, and the job spec. Get people excited ...
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Georgie Cole, founder of Sheerluxe, imparted her sound advice at our recent women's only dinner on being a successful leader. Here are her top 15 things to bear in mind: Encourage people to learn from each other Create a nice environment to work in Nurture your team and take time out of the office Learn to delegate or you will never get the time needed for the bigger picture Dress ...
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Following this week's dinner with Cate Trotter from Insider Trends, this post delves into the *future* to see what the world of retail will be like in 5 years time. Grab your hover boards! Cate's key trends for the future of retail All superfluity will be removed from the consumer journey; e.g. going to a shop and finding that the item that you wanted isn't in stock. Minimising returns. Companies like M and ...
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Following our fundraising dinner with Ross Williams, CEO of Venntro, we've got some extra-special tips on how to grow your business. Ross famously grew his empire from next to nothing, and here are some of his tips on how to achieve similar success: 90% marketing, 10% product. You might have an amazing idea, but how are you going to acquire users? Make your partners pay for the marketing. This is how ...
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So you're a new brand with some fabulous products that you can't wait to promote. You know that a feature on a prominent beauty blog will give you excellent exposure and is an essential marketing tool. But how do you get your brand featured? Hayley Carr, aka London Beauty Queen, shared some of her essential dos and don't for contacting a beauty blogger, and building an audience that supports your brand, ...
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Ever wondered what it's like on the other side of the table? Eyal Malinger is responsible for Countrywide's growth and venture investments and has seen his fair share of pitches from start-up teams. After last week's PropertyTech dinner, we wanted to share Eyal's insights. Read these seven things Eyal notices before you meet your next VC! Team dynamic. I am a keen observer of how people work together. Knowledge. Whether ...
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