Innovation Diary: Why it could take a network of angels to rescue startups’ faulty funding escalator January 19, 2014 FOR BUSINESSES seeking scale, the process of funding growth is often characterised as an escalator – with founders initially staking personal capital, then finding angel support, then venture capital, and ultimately accessing public markets. While arguably simplistic (the academic Paul Gompers, for example, has argued that different funding sources are more suited to some business [...]
Gimme 5 January 19, 2014 …UPCOMING EVENTS FOR ENTREPRENEURS Don’t Pitch Me, Bro! 30 January, 6-10pm A 3 Beards event giving entrepreneurs feedback on their startup from their peers. No pitches, just demos. £5 Wayra UK, WC1E 6JA Dinner with Simon Sinek 4 February, 7-11pm Tech City News Supper Club’s latest event. Over the course of dinner, author Sinek will [...]
Army veteran tapping into the global gaming market January 12, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks Grand Theft Auto and going East with Paul Sulyok, founder of commerce platform Green Man Gaming COMPUTER games have come a long way since Spacewar! was created in 1962. Last year, Grand Theft Auto V took $2.2bn (£1.33bn) within its first week after launch – a feat even Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters would [...]
Gimme 5 January 12, 2014 …FREE APPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS Asana asana.com/apps WHAT: Task management app offering real-time interaction across a company. WHY: “I can get more done with less effort. It keeps me on the pulse of what’s going on back at the office,” says Will Swannell, founder of venue booking service Hire Space. Citymapper citymapper.com WHAT: A transport app [...]
The pair taking peer-to-peer to property December 15, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks with lending platform founders Anthony Fane and Graham Wellesley THE BURGEONING peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry could transform the personal loans market. It is currently worth £550m in the UK, but some experts expect that to increase to as much as £1bn by 2016. One of its newest entrants is Wellesley & Co, [...]
The Woodford effect: How to get active value December 10, 2013 But investing in a cheaper passive vehicle may make more sense in more efficient markets CLOSE to £2bn has been withdrawn from Neil Woodford’s flagship funds, Invesco Perpetual High Income and Invesco Perpetual Income, in the two months since the fund manager announced that he will step down in April 2014. Despite experts advising against [...]
The star fund managers on the move December 10, 2013 IT’S BEEN a turbulent year at the top of the fund management industry. In addition to the departure of Neil Woodford from Invesco Perpetual next April, flagship funds at Fidelity, Schroders, Jupiter and M&G have all seen changes of personnel. In Schroders’s case, the departure of Richard Buxton in March led to a reported £1.5bn [...]
The Brit who managed to tough it out in unfamiliar territory December 9, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks strength, endurance and electric wires with Will Dean, co-founder of Tough Mudder and Englishman in New York THE growing obsession with wellbeing has now reached a point where 12-mile obstacle courses, designed by British Special Forces and incorporating icy cold water and electric wires, are among the most popular fitness events in [...]
Autumn Statement 2013: What it means for UK entrepreneurs December 8, 2013 ENTREPRENEURS are rarely political animals and don’t often get involved in the dirty business of politics. However, there are few people who are more impacted – for better or worse – by public policy. As such, every time the chancellor stands up to speak, entrepreneurs and small business owners should take note. The news from [...]
Innovation Diary: Tech City turns three: Cluster changes shape while the quango seeks scale December 8, 2013 TECH City has just turned three. There is some confusion over what this actually means, however. Tech firms have been located around Old Street roundabout since at least the 1990s, so it’s really just the anniversary of the government quango dedicated to stimulating them. Yet despite criticism (Sir James Dyson has attacked an obsession with [...]
