From Mad Men to micro-targeting: The internet has democratised advertising The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the internet is something we can no longer live without. It has helped us to connect with loved ones we have been unable to physically meet, build communities and groups online to provide help to those who needed it most, and crucially it has enabled small businesses to continue [...]
We can’t rebuild an economy on half-priced meals — we need a productivity revolution If Joe Wicks or Couch To 5K have helped you shed a few pounds during lockdown, chancellor Rishi Sunak may have just undone all your hard work, tipping the scale in favour of eating out a lot more in August. For every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme will entitle [...]
Pension savers can boost their retirement pots and help businesses to grow by investing in venture capital We need pensions to invest in venture capital to boost business and returns The world is getting richer. Every day, we find ways to do things more efficiently — and when we do, those benefits diffuse across the country and throughout the world. But this diffusion isn’t always noticeable, evenly spread, or quick enough for many. For the economic system to maintain legitimacy, people need to believe that [...]
Immigrants are building Britain’s fastest-growing businesses July 11, 2019 Too often, immigrants get a bad press. But we’re trying to change the narrative in today’s report Job Creators: The Immigrant Founders of Britain’s Fastest Growing Businesses. It reveals that – despite just 14 per cent of UK residents being foreign-born – 49 per cent of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses have at least one immigrant [...]
Busuu is breaking down language barriers in nearly every country across the world July 19, 2017 We’re a nation of monoglots. Despite spending countless hours learning languages at school, many of our efforts are wasted. Through the power of technology and its social network, the London based company Busuu is trying to change that. But Bernhard Niesner’s ambitions are necessarily global, as he explained at a recent Leap 100 breakfast. Language [...]
Meet the tech chief executive with an unusual formula for building great teams January 17, 2017 Rated People, an online marketplace for connecting homeowners with local tradespeople, isn’t your normal tech company. Its chief executive Celia Francis is pushing boundaries in the world of work, as she explained at a recent Leap 100 roundtable. The US-born chief executive has had a textbook career – BA from Harvard, MBA from MIT Sloan, [...]
ZappiStore’s Stephen Phillips explains how he got through his first VC raise December 13, 2016 Stephen Phillips may have worked in market research for most of his career, but now he’s swimming against the tide. “Market research is full of smart people who care about understanding human behaviour, but profit margins are slim and processes are very intensive.” At a recent Leap 100 roundtable, Phillips explained how his firm ZappiStore [...]
At the frontline: The cyber threat is becoming ever more subtle November 8, 2016 On any given day, typing the words “cyber attack” into Google News will give you a fresh medley of hacking stories. Hollywood and Edward Snowden may have romanticised the perpetrators of these crimes, but behind most of the headlines sit one or more business owners who are the victims of these devastating breaches. Darktrace and its 330 [...]
How The Clean Space’s Charlie Mowat controlled his inner control freak October 11, 2016 "I’m Charlie Mowat and I’m a control freak.” Those opening words launched a recent Leap 100 roundtable. But the founder of The Clean Space wasn’t alone. The room was full of entrepreneurs; each of whom struggle with the same problem. Success – while preferable to the alternative – brings its own challenges. After Oxford University and [...]
Daring to be different: How Decoded kept focus while pivoting its model September 13, 2016 Decoded is in the business of technology education. It has built a strong brand by offering classes like Data in a Day, while growing at a steady clip. But its founders want more. At a recent Leap 100 Breakfast we heard from co-founder Richard Peters, as he discussed their plans on pivoting the firm. “When [...]
