As a mentor I get involved in a huge cross section of businesses in different sectors and at different stages of their development. As a result I have been involved in many hundreds of meetings about almost every aspect of setting up and running a business, but it would be true to say that raising money is the most common conversation of all.

Have you heard of ‘associative learning’? If not then, very simply, this is the basis upon which people mentally connect things together.

LegalShield recently launched a consumer app, LegalDefence, that helps the average consumer combat their legal disputes in an affordable but effective way. The Oxford-based startup has been disrupting the industry tremendously since its launch.

A survey of 200 startups and scale-ups – commissioned by Envestors in 2019 – has uncovered a number of misconceptions which are ultimately impacting the ability of companies to successfully raise funds using the crowdfunding model. Furthermore, the results show the approach - which hasn’t changed since its genesis in 2011 - is ripe for disruption.

What people require from their employers, managers, and colleagues, is different to what it was in past years. The days of having one job for life are long gone. In the highly competitive tech industry, hiring is but the first challenge - retaining and growing a sustainable team for the future is the holy ground.

As readers of either my Mentor’s Perspective or Mentor’s Journal series will know, one of the most common themes that I come across is that of fundraising in all its guises. 

Most of us would associate the phrase ‘fit for purpose’ with a product or service that we have seen or used, but that we do not think actually does what it is meant to do.

When it comes to R&D Tax credits, a tax incentive designed to encourage companies to invest in R&D, businesses claim some of these credits back as a part of their R&D expenditure, which can be a process that turns into a bit of a nightmare.

This was one of those weeks that saw me meeting with business from every possible stage of growth from ‘enter stage left’ to being a massive player that is looking for interesting new arrivals.

The old saying that ‘from little acorns mighty oaks grow’ came about to show that sometimes something very large can grow from something very small.

When I think about all of my conversations and meetings last week there was a very common thread tying them all together, and that was of people or businesses reinventing themselves.

As highlighted by last Friday’s global Climate Strike, the world is increasingly aware that we stand on the edge of an imminent climate and ecological crisis. It was heartening to see that, around the world, so many people took to the streets to call on government and business to make serious changes.

FK Group, one of the UK’s leading full building envelope specialists, has launched FK Accelerate in partnership with L Marks as part of its commitment to driving innovation in the construction sector.

Carlene Jackson, CEO of Brighton-based tech company Cloud9 Insight, is one of the UK's top 25 SME culture leaders for 2019, according to the recent report by Real Business magazine. Here, she shares her views on employee happiness and wellbeing.

Despite the vertigo-inducing surroundings of the 24th floor of the Shard Building in London, it was none the less a glamorous location for the inaugural Seedrs Alumni Awards.