We’re all familiar with the stigma surrounding the process of buying a second-hand car. The perilous pitfalls associated with used cars and their salespeople were made infamous by the dodgy wheeler dealer Arthur Daley in the 1980s TV show ‘Minder’.

Five years ago, I made the bold decision to leave the world of corporate business behind and launch my own startup. Make no mistake about it – this was not a decision taken lightly, as I was all too aware of the success rate – or, rather, the high failure rate – of startups during their formative years.

Despite constantly evolving, women are still under-represented in the tech sector – a problem even more acute in fintech, which is typically male-dominated. But as a woman with an eye on fintech markets across Europe, here’s how we can tackle the issue.

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.

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.

Sounds like a simple question, doesn’t it? And yet a fundamental lack of understanding in who your customer is, where to find them and what they think or feel is often one of the most common mistakes businesses can’t afford to make, but do.

The demands, challenges and risks that come with running a small business can bring personal pressures and impact on health and wellbeing.

The world is over-populated and growing, warming at an unprecedented rate due to categorical human factors, and only now are we beginning to see the climate emergency for what it is. Greta Thunberg, and Extinction Rebellion are leading the way.  

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.

Crowdcube was inspired by an unshakable belief in entrepreneurs challenging the status quo with big ideas and new thinking, the ones with a vision and who dream big, push at the edges and want to make a difference, big and small.

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.

Most of us have experienced the labyrinth that is attempting to cancel a subscription.

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.