Anthony Silver, the former President of the LSE SU Entrepreneurs incumbent ‘Pitch It!’ business planning competition has decided to take his business planning competition a step further to start ESS. It all started after the initial success of ‘Pitch It!’ and feedbacks began to roll in, some of it stated the obvious need of a platform that can close the gap between student entrepreneurs and investors.
After realising that many aspiring entrepreneurs could benefit from the Pitch It! competition to receive prizes that would help them start up their businesses, an opportunity for student entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to select angel investors and venture capital firms.
Anthony then partnered with Bjoern, becoming Co-Presidents, who together started building an executive team and continued to mould the concept. The brand image, including the name ‘European Student Startups’, was then created in a joint committee effort, lead by Nagehan and Riccardo. Further development of all aspects of the competition also came from Faisal and Veronika.
He also partnered with the continent’s best university entrepreneurial societies to access a much wider pool of applicants, European Student Startups is set to be a very unique event and a fantastic opportunity for young entrepreneurs looking to start up their businesses.
There will be three rounds where entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses to a board of investors and those that make it to the last round will then have fantastic opportunities to start up their enterprises.
European Student Startups is Europe’s first Venture Capital Competition exclusively for students. It is hosted in London, UK and sponsored by the London School of Economics Entrepreneurs Society.
I guess still having a vivid memory of the last event has to count for something, It’s a testament of how amazing and how well the team did at the last event. Check out my Interview with the founder where he talks about launching the event and how he managed to get sponsors onboard just before the event.
As said in my review last year, It was probably one of, if not the best student led event I have ever attended, It was that good.
Although I do remember it dragging on for a bit at the end but you could easily disregard it with the level of professinalism in which the event was delivered and also John Bird does his best to make you forgot about time with his excellent delivery and humour.
This year’s event brings together a great list of speakers and I expect it to be a great weekend of inspiration and opportunity.
I spoke to Rajiv Dhokia – President of Sparks@LSE 2012 about what to expect from this year’s event, this is what he had to say:
“This year we have introduced workshops that will be more focused on interactive sessions in smaller groups; either skills-based or related to a particular discussion theme.
This will enable the audience to get exposure not only to high-profiled established entrepreneurs but also successful startups that have been through the exciting journey of entrepreneurship more recently. We are also looking forward to hosting our first ever VC panel discussion which will give delegates a first-hand perspective on what VC’s look for when investing in early stage companies”.
For those of you still wondering what it is – Sparks@LSE is an interactive weekend entrepreneurship conference taking place on the 18th-19th February 2012 at the London School of Economics.
Led by high-profile entrepreneurs, the conference will feature lectures, networking sessions, skills-based workshops and a business planning competition. Through the diverse agenda, the goal is to inspire young people to develop their business potential and encourage innovative thinking.
This is the list of some of the 2012 speakers line up:
Kris Gopalakrishnan – Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys (Global tech firm headquartered in India) Stephen Wiener – Founder and CEO of Cineworld Josephine Fairley – Founder of Green & Black’s (Chocolate) Harvey Jacobson – Chairman of Jacobson Group (Gola/Lonsdale/Dunlop brands) Melody Hossaini – Founder of InspirEngage and Apprentice 2011 Star Michelle You – Co-founder of Songkick (fast-growing tech startup – have raised funding to the tune of $6m) Alexander Schlaubitz – EMEA Marketing Director Facebook Unruly Media Workshop on Marketing – Creators of the Comapare The Meerkat / T-mobile / Evian rollerbabies adverts!
Visit the Sparks@LSE website and for day to day updates, follow them on twitter @sparkslse and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SparksLSE). Agenda to be revealed on the website soon!
Make sure you avoid any embarrassment and purchase your ticket now at discounted prices here.
It’s time to say ‘No’ to riots and failure and ‘Yes’ to opportunity and Success…Both Sabirul and Jamie strongly believe that “It is time to look towards the next generation for change!”
With the UK now calling more than ever for young role models to step up and showcase to others that it is possible to escape the ‘doom & gloom’ facing today’s youth and reject the notion of a ‘lost generation.’ Sabirul Islam and fellow Teen-Speaker Jamie Dunn (19) have launched the ‘Teen-Speakers Tour.’ – www.teen-speakers.com/tour
The Teen-Speakers Tour event will deliver motivational speeches from fellow Teen-Speakers who are able to speak from firsthand experience about what it takes to get on to the entrepreneurial platform. The tour will also deliver enterprise learning workshops, networking sessions and much more. So if you are out of work or struggling to get into university or want to set up a business, register and attend the first Teen-Speakers Tour Event, on 25th October. All Youth under 21 who register have the chance to upload a 3 minute video pitch, pitching their business idea for investment. The best video pitches get selected to pitch live in front of investors on the day of the event!
With over 200 young people expected to attend the first Teen-Speakers Tour Event on the 25th October 2011, at the Keyworth Events Theatre, in London…It is now time to call on today’s youth who are role models for society to make impact and create positive change.
Launched back in March 2011 by young entrepreneur Sabirul Islam (21), Teen-Speakers brings together the some of the world’s most influential young entrepreneurs, youth activists and change makers aged just 16-25, who all have exceptional success stories that has already inspired and empowered ‘millions’ worldwide.
The Teen-Speakers Tour will bring together 4 Teen-Speakers (aged 16-25) every month to help spread the entrepreneurial mindset to youth who are either out of work or finding it difficult to gain higher education, during a half-day to full day, high-energy conference.
From Millionaires to having inspired Millions, Teen-Speakers currently has 37 young entrepreneurs, youth activists and changemakers on board who all have extraordinary success stories with the same vision to inject belief and change the lives of today’s youth. To learn more about Teen-Speakers please visit: www.teen-speakers.com
So finally a few days afterStartup Weekend London2011 I have had the chance to reflect on what was a great weekend!
For those of you that don’t know Startup Weekend, it is an event held from Friday evening to Sunday night where a bunch of ambitious and determined entrepreneurs come and pitch an idea, build a startup and present to the judges over the 54 hour period.
Here is a video to explain a little more:
So I gave a little update ‘27 hours in‘ but this is a more comprehensive review of events.
Startup Weekend Day 1
So Friday evening roles up and so do over 200 entrepreneurs, all ready to network, pitch, build, eat, drink and generally have a good time. Stocked up on pizza and beer over 60 participants took to the floor to pitch there ideas. With only 60 seconds per pitch and 64 pitches it was a frantic hour and a bit. Ideas where then voted on and over 20 where then picked.
This is where it got even more frantic as those chosen now had to form a team, how, by shouting over everyone else to attract people over to you. With half an hour to find attract people with the right skills the room felt like a busy trading floor. It was evident that developers were in high demand, as always.
I joined a team called Social Stadiums, pitched by Sam, the idea was a social network for sports stadiums where fans could comment, sharepics/vids, vote on polls and even purchase merchandise and food and drink from the app.
Due to such a large number of participants the venue was moved to Ravensbourne college right in front of The O2, formally the Millennium Dome. A beautiful venue as this was, it did not have the capacity to accommodate people overnight, which the previous venue did.
This meant after the pitches it was virtually closing time and so with little chance to meet the team so far we decided to hit the bar and get to know each other over a couple beers.
Startup Weekend Day 2
Saturday morning and with half the teams based in Ravensbourne college and half the teams based in Club Workspaces in Clerkenwell (the original location) everyone got underway.
We had a large team, a very large team, 11 to be exact! There goes the lean startup model, but at least we had a lot of skills available to us. Having such a large team brought about in benefits as apart from a large skill set we got to work intensely with a diverse amount of people that we have all got to know each other well. The downside was that it took a little longer in making decisions and sometimes peoples roles were undefined. But everyone wanted to get stuck in and took it upon themselves to get involved, contribute and be proactive. 10 guys and 1 girl, 3 designers, 1 designer and the rest in business and marketing roles, it certainly was an interesting team, if what a little unnecessarily big. But we all got on well, which always help.
After spending most of the day figuring out what we are going to work on and talking to mentors, which where useful although after about the fourth one a little annoying. Slowed us down a little having to explain what we were doing 6+ times. They did give us some great pointers and take apart aspects of our strategy which put us on the right track.
The day was long but enjoyable and after dinner everyone retired to the bar in The O2 for a night organised by one of the other startups in attendance, PartyWithALocal. They do exactly as the name suggests, find locals for you to party with when travelling.
Startup Weekend Day 3
The last day of the weekend begins with a few looking a little worse for wear afterthe previous night, but with the pitchesonly now hours away, heads were down working hard. As the afternoon rolled on teams began practicing their pitches. After lunch we grabbed a couple mentors showed them our pitch. They shot it down, changes needed to be made. Again, new pitch, more mentors to hand us even more advice and therefore changes. It was all fantastic advice and come 4 ‘o’ clock we felt we had a great pitch, but the multiple revisions gave us little time to practice the pitch. We did however take on all the questions mentors asked us and create the perfect responses. This proved useful as you will see later.
As the clock hit 4.30 the presentations began. 4 minutes to pitch and 4 minutes of Q/A from the judges. In a room of well over 200, it got a little toastie to say the least. There were plenty of beers and crisps to last the four hours or so of pitches.
Our pitch for Social Stadiums, came just after the midway break, so people were a little more fresh and alert at least. Our presentation started fantastically, Sam did a good job, but unfortunately as we came to our slide where we embedded a video, of some market research we carried out, the volume didn’t work. In trying to rectify this the tech guy switched screens and in the end we were glad that we added subtitles on. Anyway despite the disruption the pitch went well although we were unable to finish due to the time lost during the video incident, aagghhh technology!
So the Q/A next and thankfully we fully covered every potential angle they could come at us beforehand. Sam answered every question with aplomb and impressed the judges with the answers.
The Results
Did we win?! No
The prizes were as follows:
The main prize, most innovative, went to Portal Entertainment an independent cross-platform production company (who were already a little more established before they turned up at the weekend)
The most likely to get funding were Trendset.me who delved into crowdsourced market research.
The finally prize was most likely to make a million which went to Invizuaa digital marketing accountability company. (Again a bit disappointing since they were already more established before the weekend)
Oh yeah and since there were a couple of fun apps that would definitely go viral, they made up a category, funniest app which went too ImClockingYou, who I thought had a fantastic app and funny, well done pitch. Basically you can set time limits, say if you are going shopping with your girlfriend and the time limit is exceeded she forfeits and you gain a reward from your girlfriend. It can be anything that you determine from cooking dinner to ‘special time’ as they put it in there pitch. It works both ways and for any situation you wish. It’s a pretty funny idea, and that’s why they won funniest app I guess!
And all though these were the winners there where no losers over the weekend, I think everyone learned something and was part of a fantastic experience one which many will want again and one which many entrepreneurs encounter across the world at other Startup Weekends.
So what are my takeaways, well here are a few Startup Weekend Tips:
Remember your building a company, not just a product!
This was the first thing we did, build a strategy and make sure we knew what we wanted to say on the Sunday night pitch. This helped us prioritise the app we built. This is what will help us take the company forward in the future as well. With the number of Bus/Marketing guys in the team, it’s no surprise we took this route.
Find a way to be different
There are a lot of people, ideas and pitches, and with only 60 seconds to pitch you need to make sure you stand out, whether it is how you present or what you wear it doesn’t matter just make an impact or your cool idea might get lots and forgotten about amongst tens of other cool ideas
Make the most of the mentors
They’re there for a reason. You may think you have the greatest idea in the world but don’t be afraid to share it with others, that’s the only way people can pick holes in your idea. They are there to help push you in the right direction and offer advice on your pitches, ideas etc…
And one last thing, enjoy it! It is a great experience and make the most of it, just have fun.
TEDxLondon, The Education Revolution will be taking place at The Roundhouse, London on September 17th 2011, the independently organized event – licensed by TED –aims to connect young people, parents, teachers, and people at the heart of education to envision the future of learning.
Inspired by Sir Ken Robinson’s latest TED Talk, “Bring on the Learning Revolution” and working in collaboration with the Roundhouse, this will be a call to action for anyone passionate about education. Time is ripe for change – the recent riots in the UK indicate unrest among many young people and we need to address what we could all be doing better to see them into a brighter future.
TEDxLondon promises seven hours of high tech inspiration and debate. With an impressive line up of speakers including young people, educationalists, teachers and cultural ambassadors, Sir Ken Robinson will be joining live from LA. Significantly, the TEDxLondon team is introducing pledges as a way of ensuring that ideas are turned into action. Each speaker will make a pledge and in turn empower the audience to contribute too.
“With this TEDx event, we know that it won’t be enough to simply inspire people – we want to encourage people to take personal responsibility and make change happen,” says Evan Grant, the director of TEDxLondon.
The Roundhouse’s has youth-led education at the core of its ethos, making it an excellent venue for this event. Over the five years since its major refurbishment in 2006, it has emerged as one of the capital’s most vibrant centres for young people and a field-leader in providing creative learning opportunities for 11-25 year-olds. The Roundhouse will serve as the event venue and stream the event live at www.roundhouse.org.uk. Roundhouse Radio – the Roundhouse’s in-house radio station run entirely by emerging radio talent aged under 26 – will interview key speakers and attendees on the day.
“Young people are at the heart of everything we do. They’re on our board and help plan and perform at our events. The Roundhouse Youth Advisory Board have been working with the TEDx London team, sharing their thoughts on education and the kind of questions we should be asking about it, as well as advising on and how best to gather young people’s views,” says Barbara O’Brien, Head of Youth Strategy at the Roundhouse.
“The Education Revolution” will open its doors at 1:30 pm with a 9:45 pm finish on Saturday September 17th 2011 at: The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London NW18EH.
Emerging Students is conducting a global search for new and emerging movers and shakers across universities around the world. These will include students/recent alumni rebelling against mediocrity during their time at university and beyond. These individuals however, are not simply people of achievement but of substance and character.
The top 20 movers and shakers feature will seek to identify 20 university student and recent alumni who have shown much potential. This final list will feature students and alumni from a variety of universities around the UK, an authentic representation of highly commendable emerging students alumni across the university graph with a rebellion against status quo expectations and loyalty to no university brand or status.
A panel from Emerging Students and pending partners will decide on a shortlist from which those candidates will be contacted for a short interview and then the final list will be chosen and published in the Emerging Students launch issue.
This will be an annual feature in hope of raising the standard of expectation and aspiration of university students/alumni across higher education community.
The Top 20 finalists will have access to a world of opportunities, including amazing industry placements.
ABOUT EMERGING STUDENTS (ES)
Emerging Students (ES) is a new national/global university news and media company providing reportage on university culture and the real world. With the aim of redefining university culture in the UK, (ES) is a new subculture and expression; students & alumni aspiring to talent, character and knowledge and in doing so defy mediocrity.
Covering anything from emerging entrepreneurs, rogue university policy makers, graduate fashion, Film makers in Peru, alumni shakers to the best place to buy fresh bread for life on campus. (ES) is blend of engaging thought, design, rich culture and tight community.
NOMINATE
To nominate yourself or someone – email top20@emergingstudents.com with NAME, SHORT BIO and contact details!!
Blessing Maregere and Adam Bradford are two ‘young entrepreneurs’ from Yorkshire. Young entrepreneurs are not commonly referred to, yet… These two ambitious young people are about to change that and are celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week by holding a Boat Party for Entrepreneurs on the River Thames!
Blessing is an Award-winning 18 year old social Entreprenuer and Author. He is the Managing Director of Munch Student, CEO & Founder of Bright Futures Enterprise and author of ‘Who said you can’t be young and successful’. His early success motivated him to inspire the next generation of Entreprenuers. Adam is also an award-winning 18 year old entrepreneur, founder of UnITe Technology International group of companies and Peter Jones Enterprise Academy National Ambassador of the Year.
The Boat Party is an event for aspiring entrepreneurs, business leaders, social entrepreneurs and professionals to network with like minded people and celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week. Live entertainment, music and drinks will be available on the boat.
So much more than just seven days, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is an entrepreneurial movement of individuals and organizations: inspiring, connecting and equipping entrepreneurs while showcasing the support that is available to them all year round.
Every year in November, host companies within each country co-ordinate a network of partners to run events that inspire and challenge both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.
GEW 2010 was the biggest and most successful year yet, with a record 104 countries taking part.
The Boat Party will form part of national celebrations to encourage entrepreneurship to catalyse the economy’s recovery across the country, and across the world.
AfterWorkHours brings you the social side of business networking. This event is held in the heart of the city at one of London’s most stylish bars.
AfterWorkHours is the number one place for gaining high quality contacts, securing new business and building the types of relationships that turn into repeat sales and referrals.
Networking is important for your business; however due to hectic work schedules, some are unable to find the time. AfterWorkHours allows you to network without disturbing the daily activities of your 9 to 5. It provides an opportunity to network in a relaxed environment with like minded members of the business community.
Our events consistently attract:
Small business owners
Entrepreneurs
Directors
Freelancers
Service providers across a range of sectors and industries
Simply register for your free ticket below and you will receive an email confirmation.
*Remember this is strictly a ticket only event. Limited tickets are available and allocated on a first come first served basis, so RSVP your attendance now.
This is a guest post written by Bev Gray, CEO of Exhibit Edge, a full-service trade show exhibit and consultation company serving the Virginia, Maryland, DC areas as well as international clients.
When you are at a restaurant, do you get upset when the waiter offers you the specials for that evening? When you go to a movie theater, do you think they are wasting your time showing the previews? When you visit a salon, do you listen to suggestions from your stylist?
Chances are you have come to expect this “upselling” when you visit any of those places. You chose to go out for dinner, so you expect that the restaurant will try to sell you food and are willing to listen to their promotions – same idea for the theater and salon examples. How does this same principle relate to your business?
Attendees of trade show events are there because they chose to be. They know and fully expect to have vendors selling their goods and services, so they are primed and ready to listen to you. How many other marketing venues can you say that your audience is already actively seeking you out? Not many!
Your Hidden Potential’s post “10 Things I Learned about Entrepreneurship” highlights the importance of networking. The concept of getting out of your office and meeting your customers and prospects is one that is lost on many companies. However, a trade show brings them to you in one location, already expecting a sales pitch and open-minded to hearing about your product and your business.
To take advantage of this incredible opportunity, first find a trade show or event in your area. There are websites, such as the Trade Show News Network, that serve as a valuable resource in finding shows in your area specific to your trade. You can also search throughout your local community for other events where you would be able to exhibit.
Next, think of resourceful ways to fund your trade show exhibit. There are costs associated with purchasing space and creating displays. However, if you barter, volunteer, or offer to exchange services, perhaps you could save money. You may also want to consider partnering with a business that complements yours and share space to minimize expenses.
In creating your display, you must be creative and unique. Companies specializing in exhibits, such as ours, are able to work within your budget to create impressionable and memorable displays. You will be up against your competitors at these events, so you must ensure your exhibit captures the attention of the attendees, draws them in, and keeps them at your booth – overlooking the rest of your competition.
Once you are at the event, engage your prospects! You and your staff must be friendly and exciting – the first few seconds an attendee is at your booth will determine if they stay or keep walking. Qualify your leads and gather contact information to be used to follow up with them after the event. Offer a desirable give-away or contest to get this information from them, and then make sure you use it later!
Give out promotional items and materials branded with your colors and logo. Make it something useful, not something they’ll throw away in the nearest trash can or consume during the event. A great model for this is a cleaning company who boasted their environmentally friendly products. To tie in this marketing association, they gave away bamboo plants at their exhibit. Creatively, they were able to keep these to $1 a piece, and it was something that lived on in someone’s home or business as a constant reminder of the “green” commercial cleaning company.
After the event is over, follow up! Make sure you contact those qualified leads you received. Continue any theme you focused on in your display throughout your social media channels. Send e-newsletters to the email addresses you gathered. Refer your prospects to other partners you have which may be able to further meet their needs in other areas. Ask them for referrals. The key here is to take full advantage of your trade show investment!
Are you thinking about exhibiting at a trade show soon? Or, do you have past experience as an exhibitor? Let us know in the comments! We’ll stick around for any questions you may have on trade shows!
If you were at last year’s award held at the Indigo o2, i’m sure you would be as excited as i am for this year’s SOLA.
Now in its third year, the hugely anticipated Spirit of London Awards (SOLA) returns celebrating the greatest achievements of young people across London, the awards will be held on Monday 10th October 2011.
Whether through music, sport, art or social enterprise, Londoners are being urged to nominate the young people in their local communities who are acting as inspirational beacons by making exceptional contributions to local society.
The Awards are supported by a number of organisations and ambassadors including, Prime Minister David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson, Brooke Kinsella, Richard Taylor OBE and Rio Ferdinand:
David Cameron said: “These awards are a great way to recognise young role models in London. Young people are not only the future, they are the best resource this country has. So I welcome any opportunity to celebrate their positive achievements and honour their contribution to the capital.”
London’s Mayor Boris Johnson commented: “These awards are a fantastic way of recognising and rewarding the many young people that make a positive contribution to our communities. It’s important to raise the aspirations of young people and providing positive role models from amongst their peers is a fantastic way of doing that. Do come forward and nominate young people you know who are making a difference to others lives so that their hard work and talents receive the recognition they so richly deserve”
Richard Taylor OBE who developed the awards as part of the Damilola Taylor trust in consultation with other youth organisations commented: “Damilola’s legacy is now enshrined in the awards as we honour the kind of young person he was turning into”
To find out more about this year’s Spirit of London Awards (SOLA) or to nominate someone in the local community who you think deserves a SOLA, simply start by logging onto the website(www.spiritoflondonawards.com), clicking on the category for who you wish to nominate and explaining using between two and five hundred words, why you believe their nominee is deserving of a SOLA. Nominations remain open from now until the 11/08/2011.
