If we can learn anything from Great British Bake Off, it’s that nobody wants a soggy bottom. A half-baked idea must stay in the oven for an adequate time to rise to its full potential. The same thinking can be applied to the start of a new business or venture.

One of the very common themes that I come across with entrepreneurs and founders is that they are generally over confident. About everything! That goes from the valuation of their business to how quick and easy it will be to raise funding.

It's a funny thing, more often than not, I see companies seeking and getting investment that have a great idea, huge opportunity and a really interesting business plan.

There are many reasons why living in the UK makes life so much easier than living in most other countries. This is in our personal lives and wellbeing but also in our working lives, especially as an entrepreneur.

Start-Ups, Pivots and Pop-Ups: How to Succeed by Creating Your Own Business, written by two established entrepreneurs, Richard Hall and Rachel Bell, discusses the key disruptors of the “Start Up Revolution”.

Over the years that I have been working with startups and early-stage businesses I have overheard many different things.  The majority of these follow the normal concerns of any entrepreneur that is entering into uncharted waters for themselves but there have also been some comments that I have overheard that have been unique to the individual’s concerns or the setting in which it was said.

Happy New Year! As the newest (currently) columnist at Startups Magazine, I’m here to solve all your digital and marketing problems. Well. Not quite. 

The value of investing in legal advice for your business cannot be underestimated. By receiving proper legal advice early on in the business life cycle, even when you’re a startup, you could potentially make costs savings and allow your business to operate more efficiently.

Last week was of course the last real working week of the year, but whilst many will have found opportunities to celebrate in one way or another it does not mean that most will not still have been working hard.

Looking back and celebrating the six featured technology startups from each bi-monthly issue of Startups Magazine in 2019.

Streamline your day with these time management strategies to beat ‘overwhelm’. Here are ten tips to master time management to spend more time working on your business, and less time fighting against an inbox avalanche.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find the process of booking a holiday or city break totally mind-boggling and confusing. While technology has doubtless made the practical process far easier than years gone by, we now have a myriad of choice which I find bamboozling.

Catherine Ainsworth, member of the Dot Project spoke at Fireside Summit 2019 to share the organisation's work within the social sector influencing how approaches to technology can become more responsible. 

The middle of December is a strange time of year for all. Some are already starting to slow down and getting into the full swing of the season’s festivities, whilst others are rushing around even more manically than normal in an attempt to finalise matters before things shut down properly.

Many of us dream of leaving the corporate world behind and flying solo but there’s always the fear, will it work?

Different things drive different people in different ways. That is because each of us wants something different from our lives and we are prepared to make different levels of commitment to achieve what we want to achieve and strike that critical personal balance.

Do we value emotional intelligence - EQ - more than ever? Maybe value isn’t the right word (have you ever been hired following an EQ test? I’d love to hear about it), but we do recognise its importance in our lives.

A perfect office space makes for productive and happy employees. But given the evolution of the modern workplace, what’s “perfect” now varies by company. When choosing a new office space with your commercial real estate company, consider what your business and your employees need to succeed.

I am sure that each and every one of us would accept that we cannot be good at everything that we do, or that we do not have time to do everything ourselves. And actually, I would suggest that it is in fact both. 

In each of our lives, some weeks are more predictable than others. Some people are a little afraid of change and facing new, unexpected challenges, whilst others face the world with a ‘can do’ approach and even relish unpredictability and the need for flexible thinking and action to jump over the hurdles put in our way. And just like the best race horses, this keeps us fit and agile.

Everyone has an idea about how they can create the next big thing, but how do you make that idea turn into a reality? Freelance platform UnderPinned teamed up with Startups Magazine to share knowledge about how to take a business from the idea stage to taking the first steps.

This round-up’s inaugural theme looks at startups that help users incorporate sustainability and sustainable development into everyday living. These companies stand out for how they ask for a nearly imperceptible lifestyle change while providing impressive solutions. These are some startups we stan:

Over the last two weeks I have written special articles on ‘Business Plans and Pitch Decks’ and on ‘The Art of Fundraising’ but this week I return to writing 'The Mentor’s Journal'.

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.

There are seemingly hundreds of interpretations of marketing. Most have appeared only within the last decade, driven by the onset of digital marketing and its ever-sprawling complexity and fragmentation.

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.

How many times have you heard this, “I have this great idea for a new product or service”. And how many times have you seen this person with the “great idea” actually do something? Well, this article will help you understand if the idea is a million-dollar idea or not. 

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.

It is one of the biggest challenges for any small e-commerce startup. How do they find an operating model that supports dynamic growth.

The typical anatomy of a sales team in a modern tech company is that of Sales Development Representative (SDR) as the front line sales person. The 'warmed-up' lead then gets handed over to a more senior AE (Account Executive) to close.

Global compound growth rates of robotics, automation and AI companies are expected to grow by more than 40% per year, with revenue generated by these companies reaching $237bn by 2022 according to some estimates and $498bn by 2025 according to others.

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.

Few industries have felt the impact of technological disruption more than the banking sector. Over the last few years several new kids on the block have emerged to take their seat at the top table and muscle in on the activities of the high street giants by specialising in areas that are being underserved.

The business industry is constantly changing, so it’s imperative to stay at the top if your game in order to keep profits increasing. With businesses always competing for customers, it can be difficult to break through the noise and become a successful and established brand while continuing to grow.

Just as last week’s Mentor’s Journal led me neatly into my article, 'The Power of Networking', so this week started off very much in the same vein with all my early meetings either coming from existing relationships in my network, or me utilising my network to join some dots together. 

New data from SeedLegals, the UK’s largest legal platform for startups, has revealed a rise in the frequency of smaller funding rounds for UK startups, with a tech-enabled model of ‘agile funding’ enabling companies to raise money on-demand.

As part of this weekly series 'Funding the Wonderful' in partnership with Crowdcube, every month we will showcase a handpicked selection of five startups which are raising on the Crowdcube platform.

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.

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.

This was one of those weeks where everything seemed to be on fast forward. Not just the number of meetings but the speed of progress in the companies that I met was truly remarkable. 

Innovation company business mix is the key contributor and platinum sponsor for the 2019 festival from 7th-12th October 2019. The Malvern Festival of Innovation is a week-long celebration of innovators, host to multiple symposiums, a gala event, comedy night and formal dinner.

This week was quite typical in that it was an unusual mix of many of the things that I get involved with as a mentor and that I have written about in the past. There was some international, some regulation, some cyber security, lots about women in business, and yet again on advisory boards and raising finance.

For many startups, the process of fund raising can be quite daunting. What method of raising do you use? How long is it going to take? To say nothing of the fact that it’s the time when founders and entrepreneurs have to stick their necks out and ask other people to invest and commit to their vision.

America. In some ways, it can be and has historically been a tough nut for UK technology companies to crack, while in many other ways, the PR strategies and campaigns that work in Britain will work equally as well Stateside. 

Marta Krupinska, Head of Google for Startups UK, recently created the Google for Startups first UK Immersion cohort for African startups, to help them along their business journey.

Calmer launches the digital Calmer Community platform for busy professionals and joins forces with Startups Magazine as Mental Health & Wellbeing Partner.

One thing that I have learned over the years is the importance of cooperation and working with the right partners, and this has only been reiterated during my activities as a mentor. By working with others that have skills or experience in areas that you do not, then 2+2 can, quite literally, equal 5.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership, or KTP, is a part-government funded programme that for the past 40 years has helped businesses – including startups – to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within universities.

For the supremely talented entrepreneurs and startups doing great work around the world, marketing and PR are often low on their list of priorities. After all, there’s the running of the business to get on with, the development of amazing technology and launching of innovative projects, investment to secure, and people to hire.

So, you’ve had a great business idea, you have thought it through, built a business plan and a strategy and you believe in it so much that you now want to turn your idea into a reality.

Google for Startups has announced the latest instalment in its commitment to female entrepreneurs with its first Female Founders Residency programme.

This week I met with Deputy Chief Constable Jo Shiner at Sussex Police to talk about all the many ways that businesses of any size can work together with the police for the benefit of the company and the community as a whole.

This week, almost to underline my comments in the first of this series about not knowing what each week will bring, was almost entirely different to last week. Last week was full of face to face meetings and there was no particular thread to my week, other than of course the fact that it revolved very heavily around early stage businesses.

Mentoring is something that everyone will come across in their life, most probably because they need some help and guidance, but also from the mentor side, because they want to help others and both parties always benefit.

The story of Nikolay Stronsky, Founder and CEO, Revolut is a pretty incredible one, in just four years he has seen a rapid amount of success, with the company now being worth $1.7bn. So how did he do it?

Welcome to the first in the new series of ‘The Mentor’s Journal’ which will look at some of my activities from the preceding week, with a view to turning the theory outlined in my ‘Views of a Mentor’ series into real, everyday situations. 

Every day we read about amazing startup successes. We hear about these brilliant 'unicorns'. What we rarely hear about is the many more startups that fizzle and die. The sad truth is, most startups fail. Taking the leap to start a new venture is a tremendous risk.

Ruth Hallett, a consultant with over 20 years of project and programme management delivery experience for both commercial and public sector clients, demystifies the NHS for healthtech startups.

Concerns about AI technology, in general terms, boil down to the quantity and areas in which it’s used to replace human tasks. Establishing the limitations of AI and unique skills innate to humans, provides insight into its future application, and alleviates some of the worry that one day AI will take over the taskforce.

The focus on company culture and brand values has become a top-tier priority in the modern workplace, as businesses start to realise the only way to persist isn’t to only keep up with changes in the market, but to keep up with changes in work culture and values.

Unbound Festival this year saw an influx of tech for good innovation, propelling the industry towards a bright and influential future. Spearheading the mainstream market today is a boom in self-care apps from mindfulness to sleep assistance, while location-based apps designed to tackle physical inactivity are making scenic walking as easy to find as getting an Uber is to order.

The world of business has changed, from the heyday of household corporations like Ford in the 90s, to the rapid rise of tech-applied products and services born over the last three decades.

Startups have a lot to think about, especially when it comes to going global. There are many important aspects to think of when growing a company. Here are four common mistakes startups often make when going global.

The relentless pace of modern day brand communications and marketing means the fight is on for startups to win the appeal of consumers and keep their interest. But when it comes to PR, not all coverage is created equally. It’s hard to know where to start.

Following on from the nine articles in the ‘A Mentor’s Perspective’ series that I wrote recently that looked at some of the main points that any startup or early stage business should consider, I will now be writing a brief weekly article in a new series – A Mentor’s Journal. 

Startups working to solve consumer problems sometimes create technology that has the potential to become an industry standard. This may be a de-facto standard, an industry standard approved by a formal standards setting body, or something mandated by law.

x+why understands that not every business wants to be overshadowed by a behemoth co-working brand. For those businesses that are looking for a co-working space beyond the norm, and for somewhere more than just a place to sit, x+why welcomes you to its new co-working space in Whitechapel.

Society is currently being shaped by innovation in the tech industries, and once a year thousands gather to network, share and exchange insight in London to shed light on the future of tech, and our place within it.

It doesn’t matter whether a business is for enterprise or not for profit - to create a successful business, you need more than just an idea. You need to identify a problem/need to create an attractive market. It’s much easier to start a business if you have a unique product/solution, and a scalable, profitable model.

We’re living in a time of incredibly rapid change, where mobile phones are dominating consumer experiences and new technology is constantly being harnessed, turning traditional startup business models on their heads.

International Airlines Group (IAG) has launched its latest Hangar 51 global innovation programme in collaboration with Iberia, Vueling and IAG Cargo. The initiative will be based in Spain for the second time after the huge success of its previous Spanish programme in 2017.

As more cities become smarter, and technology grows, what do we need to do to keep with the needs of these smart cities, but also make them sustainable?

Why building meaningful values into your brand leads to the culture you want

Creating and sustaining culture can feel a little bit like a chicken and egg situation in a startup. You need to define your culture early on in order to attract the right employees, but culture itself is largely driven by people, so until you have the people in place, how can your culture be expected to flourish?

If you’re in the startup space, it is very likely you will have heard the term ‘ICO (Initial Coin Offering)’ thrown around a fair few times, and perhaps even heard it described as an attractive alternative to traditional types of fundraising.

A new coliving space for Paris’ entrepreneurs, freelancers and startups has recently opened near to the famous STATION F coworking campus in the centre of the city. The Flatmates space will consist of three coliving towers and can house 600 residents.

According to the British Chamber of Commerce, recent figures have shown that the UK economy is predicted to grow at a lot slower rate than expected in 2020 and 2021, and one big reasoning behind this is Brexit and the possibility of a no-deal result.

It’s not what you know it’s who you know… The right place at the right time… These are both recognisable phrases that both serve to highlight the element of chance that can sometimes be associated with success. And nowhere is this better highlighted than in the world of sport.

The Victoria Embankment in central London might not be the obvious place to find out more about Scotland’s vibrant startup scene. However, representatives from the country’s board of trade, business incubators, educators, R&D partnerships and innovation centres headed south for London Tech Week, and Scotland House, where they spent the evening showcasing the business opportunities north of the border, creativity, the potential of data science and the country’s talent.

For founders looking to start a business it is imperative to get the culture right - as getting it wrong can lead to bad investor, customer and employee experience. At Women of Silicon Roundabout 'Founder Focus' workshop track, CEO and co-Founder of London-based foodtech startup Feedr, Riya Grover delivered a thought-provoking workshop titled 'Defining your culture blueprint to hyper-charge growth', and explained why it is so important to get it right from the start.

Startups Magazine attended the Women of Silicon Roundabout 2019 (25-16th June) workshop 'Getting an innovative mindset: why the world needs more entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs', and here's what we thought.

At the LeadersIn Tech Summit during London Tech Week 2019, a roundtable was held discussing the benefits and drawbacks of partnerships between corporates and startups. At the table, Anna Jones from FieldHouse Associates, Ryan Haynes from Ryan Haynes Marketing, Ben Rudman the CEO of MMT Digital, and Denise Glee from MagnaCarta Communications, lent their personal expertise to the debate.

Stress is something that can affect everyone and anyone, at any point in your life. Admittedly some things are more likely to bring about stress, for example, creating your own business and trying to get it off the ground.

Common sense suggests that an entrepreneur is the lynch-pin of a startup. At the recent TLA Investor Showcase 2.0 event, for example, investors repeatedly talked about the entrepreneur as being synonymous with startup and scale-up; the person they look to invest in. But are they right?

Dr Christopher Hartland, patent attorney at leading European IP firm, Potter Clarkson, gives a step-by-step guide to managing your business’ ideas and innovations.

In this article, Dr Christopher Hartland, patent attorney at leading European IP firm, Potter Clarkson, explains how robust intellectual property protection can be a valuable asset in its own right.

Dr Christopher Hartland at leading European IP firm, Potter Clarkson explains how businesses can protect their most valuable assets – their intellectual property.

Disrupt of be disrupted, that's the challenge of innovation in a changing digital landscape. Digital transformation is crucial for business success, but how can you move from talking about innovation to putting it into action?

In this article - the last in this series - I am going to look at scaling your business and the fact that growth is often the hardest part of the startup journey.

“At the heart of what people, companies and everyone does is innovation. Innovation is our focus.” This was the opening line from Gary Shapiro, CEO of CES at last year's unbound innovation festival in London.

The next generation of aspiring startups are hoping their technology will change the world. But what about the technology that is changing startups? I’ve spent the last few years working with some of Europe’s biggest startup success stories, helping them put in place the right business platforms to support rapid growth.

Startups Magazine first clapped eyes on Le Pavé Parisien at CES 2019 within the French Pavilion in the Eureka Park and was instantly intrigued to see the world's only high-end speaker cast entirely in concrete.

As a startup, what would be your Golden Ticket to propel you towards success? Workspace expenses covered? Invaluable mentoring and guidance?

Having written your business plan, identified your existing and potential market and your target clients, and decided how best to market and sell your product, you should now of course actually be making sales. But how open has you mind been whilst undergoing this process, and how limited are your ambitions? Many smaller companies, whether startups or more mature, have a tendency to only look at selling to the home market of the UK rather than broadening their horizons and selling internationally. 

AO, the online electricals store, and L Marks, leading advisor in applied innovation and experienced investor in early-stage technologies, have partnered in a global search 'for the next digital disruptors who will make online shopping easier and faster for its customers'.

When one thinks of countries with a focus on innovation, the true global leaders - USA, the U.K., Canada and Israel – traditionally lead the way based on the strength of their startup ecosystems. Not surprisingly, the next country to gain a foothold is Australia followed by no fewer than a dozen of the top industrialised nations in Western Europe.

Last week’s article focussed on Business Plans; what should be in them and why you should write one. One of the key pieces of information required is of course sales figures, both actual numbers for historic sales and those forecast for the future. It is also very important to include the assumptions and how you market your goods in order to achieve those sales. It is those subjects that I am going to focus on this time.

Over the last five articles I have tried to set the scene in terms of outlining what help is available to early stage businesses, and certain aspects of finance, including a valuable but often overlooked tax refund. In this article and the next I wanted to focus on two fundamental issues that will determine how your business develops and how you grow sales.

The Internet of Things is an exciting and expanding market. It’s one that many large organisations are already actively involved in, with competition mounting rapidly as a result; but it’s also a market ripe for innovation, with countless unexplored opportunities – across all industries – almost too compelling for an ambitious entrepreneur to ignore.

Subcon is introducing the Launchpad & Launchpad Awards to this year’s event. The Launchpad aims to propel startups and entrepreneurs by giving them a platform to share their innovations with thousands of engineering and manufacturing professionals with the power to influence and guide them to future success.

South-By-Southwest is an annual assemblage of conferences and festivals that takes place in Austin, Texas in early March to celebrate the convergence of film, music, interactive and other industries. Created to foster both professional and personal growth across multiple levels, the ten-day event prides itself on truly being all things to all people.

The audience at the Dublin Tech Show 2019 fell silent and slipped into awe as it listened to the man who broke into Mir using a Swiss Army Knife, flew into Earth orbit three times, was Commander of the International Space Station (ISS), has spent 166 days in space and was the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space: NASA Colonel, Chris Hadfield.

Moderated by Graham Hussey, Co-Founder of The Startup Van, this panel at the Dublin Tech Show 2019 (DTS) made up of celebrity companies in the startup arena, Expon Capital, 500 startups, Valor Ventures and Techstars, broadly discussed the ways in which a startup can succeed. 

On the ScaleX stage at DTS 2019 (Dublin Tech Summit) Willie Morris got real in his talk about startup failure.

Behavioural economics is the combination of human psychology, decision science, and economics. It is an innovative and scientific approach to understanding how humans make decisions.

If you are an engineering startup and proud raise your hand! It is nearly a year since the first issue of Startups Magazine, and if it has opened my eyes up to one thing, it is that there are a lot of you startups out there – which is a great thing!

2018 was 'the year of engineering', and arguably a year that allowed more women to make even more of a breakthrough in the industry.

Successful tech entrepreneurs share the lessons learned from starting a new business.

In the first of this series of articles we looked at the fact that there was actually quite a lot of help available to you when you set up your own business, and specifically we started to look at entrepreneur accelerators and the roles that Mentors play within that overall service. This time I wanted to take that further and start to explore the actual role a Mentor plays, how best to choose one, and then how best to maximise that relationship.

Brian Mulcahey, Category Director, Wellness at Bose Corporation, discusses the company's
breakthrough into wellness tech at 'Indiegogo Enterprise: A Fireside Chat with Bose.'

In this, the first of an occasional series, I will be passing on my thoughts and observations in my capacity as a Mentor and how accepting the help that is available to startup business can help transform them.

The French pavilion has dominated the Eureka Park at CES, and 2019 was no exception with the country represented by no less than 414 startups. However this year's CES saw Britain step up to the plate alongside its global counterparts, bringing along over 100 UK companies.

We all know the feeling of buying the latest gadget, boasting two years of battery life, only to see it breaking down before the first year is up. 

Virginie Berger, previously employed at Microsoft and MySpace, knows the music tech industry better than most.

Camille Venot, Innovation Manager for Unbound, helps startups bloom from London to Miami, Singapore and Bahrain.