Using Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to make you a better leader

At dinner last week, Amanda Davie, talked extensively about Leadership and the role of Emotional Intelligence at our latest Women's only TableCrowd dinner. Amanda introduced her fellow diners to the 4 main areas of EQ: self awareness, self management, social awareness and social management, whilst explaining that EQ is very fashionable in leadership at the moment and is becoming part of the board level interview for some. Read on to find ...

Read More

The truth about VCs with Alex Dunsdon #AfterDinnerRoundup

TableCrowd members looking to get a no-holds-barred look at VC investment were in luck last night joining Alex Dunsdon for dinner at Jamie's Italian where he spoke extensively on pitching to investors. Alex runs Saatchinvest, where they invest up to £300k in early stage tech startups. Anyone looking to get investment from Saatchinvest gets 20mins to shine before hearing yes or no. And as they only invest in 4 or 5 ...

Read More

5 lessons for non-tech founders

At dinner last week with Fabrice Bernhard, Co-founder & CTO of Theodo UK, a tech-team-for-hire company, we were lucky for Fabrice to share five lessons he thought would be worthwhile for any non-tech founder to know. Spend 50% on marketing, 50% on tech. Be fast. You can start with as little tech as possible (Did you know Groupon started out with just a blog?) By starting with as little tech ...

Read More

The importance of a co-founder

Our recent fundraising-themed dinner had Flight Venture's Nancy Fechnay talk on the "do's and don'ts" of fundraising. Having a co-founder cropped up into the conversation which led to the reasons why it makes good sense to have a co-founder. Co-founders are great First and foremost, you need someone to share the stress with. Not only does it help to have someone to bounce ideas off (and complement your skills with their own) ...

Read More

Top Questions VCs ask

Our after-dinner speaker, Nancy Fechnay, a partner at Flight Ventures recently spoke about the "do's and don'ts" of fundraising. Here are her top questions she expects investors to ask: What stage are you in? What are your KPIs? What are you tracking? What is your growth unit and % by year and by month? What is your competition? How do you get your customers on board? What is your product ...

Read More

7 Insider tips for your eCommerce site

Special thanks goes to Alex O'Byrne for his insightful talk on increasing your online orders for your eCommerce business at dinner this week. Without any further ado, hear is what he had to say: The journey for mobile users must be good. 50% of traffic comes from mobile. 41% of orders for luxury brands again comes from mobile (which is higher than mid-range brands And if that's not enough - Google ...

Read More

Top 5 tips for working with an Agency

At dinner last week, Jim Kite, Starcom MediaVest Group's Strategic Development Director, covered the topic of how he works closely with tech startups by connecting them with Starcom's existing clients (like Samsung, P&G, Lidl and Heineken to name drop a little). Here are his top tips for startups working with a media and advertising agency to connect their products and services with established brands: Have a clear proposition. Focus on what ...

Read More

5 reasons media agencies work with startups

At dinner earlier this week, Jim Kite, Starcom MediaVest Group's Strategic Development Director, covered the topic of how he works closely with tech startups by connecting them with Starcom's existing clients (like Samsung, P&G, Lidl and Heineken to name drop a little). Here are his 5 reasons that agencies work with startups: Innovation Clients expect innovation as well as the basics from their media agency. What value is the agency adding? ...

Read More

Caroline Hyde’s 3 ‘p’s for PR

Part of Caroline's fantastic after-dinner talk last week at Aubaine included her 3 'p's for PR - Perspective, personality and perseverance. Perspective (and peg) One of the problems with startups is that they are obsessed by what they do and as a result they forget to think about the bigger picture. To combat this, ensure you think about how your business fits in with the world of news as a whole. ...

Read More

Top Tips for PR when Bootstrapping your business

At a recent dinner on bootstrapping with Suzanne Noble, the founder of the aptly-named Frugl, the only platform connecting Londoners on a budget with great events and offers, gave her fellow diners some great advice when it comes to PR for your startup. First and foremost, always remember: PR is the quickest way to get brand awareness Bearing this in mind, you don't want to launch until you are 100% ready. If ...

Read More