Posted by president on November 29, 2011 under Advice, News, Research | 
Fear of Ignorance.
by Rand Fishkin
This past week, I was interviewing a candidate for a VP role along with two of our engineering leads. Everyone in the room excluding myself was classically “technical” – they could write code, had experience solving hard software problems and a background in computer science. I wrote my last line of PHP in 2004, and it had to be rewritten by a real programmer within 6 months.
go to http://randfishkin.com/blog/153/fear-of-ignorance to finish off the article.
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Don’t. Waste. Time
by Jason Freedman
Stuff we startups do that doesn’t delight users:
Office space
Launch parties
Health insurance plans
Salary negotiations
Founder equity splits
Series F stock
Office Food
Team-building activities
CRM systems
Bookkeeping
Head count
Working in SOMA
Convertible debt caps
Valuations
TechCrunch
Karma scores
ISOs
Powerpoint
Business Cards
Banks
Lawyers
Desks
1099s
Bug Trackers
Agile Processes
Advisory Boards
Hiring
Cap Tables
Payroll
Meetups
Meetings
Of course, much of this stuff still needs to get done. At some point. And some of it really is important to the process that eventually creates delight for users. But none of it directly delights users. They’re all inputs. None of it is product. When you build a great product, one that delights users and achieves product-market fit, you’ll have lots of time to work on all these things and optimize them to your heart’s content. When your product is not even built yet, none of this stuff matters. But your startup, in the pre-product phase, is basically a ticking time bomb. The only thing that can prevent it from exploding is user delight. User delight attracts funding, enhances morale, builds determination, earns revenue…Until you get to user delight, you’re always at risk of running out of money or, much more likely, losing a key engineer to something more interesting. Time is your most precious resource.
Finish the article here http://www.humbledmba.com/dont-waste-time
Posted by president on November 28, 2011 under Events, News |
Gareth Davies is one of the UK’s most successful and respected TV Producers – Producing award-winning shows like Strictly Come Dancing and helping to carve the career of countless TV Presenters – from Claudia Winkleman to Graham Norton.
A former music and drama graduate from Royal Holloway Gareth went on to work at the BBC for 9 years on countless TV shows before going freelance. His work has taken him around the globe and 2 years ago he set up The Presenter Studio – a TV Presenter Training Company that gives people access to the industry. The business has seen presenters go on to present for all the major channels and continues to make the stars of tomorrow.
Gareth will be talking at Royal Holloway on the 1st Dec from 6pm in Rialto in SU – giving a rare insight into how TV works, how to get yourself on screen and how to get a business off the ground.
RSVP on Facebook
Posted by president on November 25, 2011 under News, People |
Nowadays, people are producers, not just consumers. They have mountains of digital content – images, recipes, blogs and photos – to be shared and remembered.
That explains the plethora of content-sharing sites out there. Facebook shares connections, Twitter shares opinion, YouTube shares videos, Flickr shares photos…
And so Jack Lenox realised — hello! – What about writing?
If you were to survey the items on the average person’s bucket list, they would go something like this: run a marathon, learn a language, fly first class, fall in love, start a business. But the most common item is to write a book.
When it comes to writing a bestseller, the traditional route to market is thorny, with the off-putting submission and rejection merry-go-round.
Even so, the landscape is beginning to change. Sites like Lulu and Amazon’s CreateSpace allow new writers to self-publish, by producing print editions of their books without the hassle of multiple rejections and the grind of setting up a publishing business and dealing directly with print-on-demand publishers.
But, self-publishing is limited. Yes, it’s possible to make it into print or digital format, but without the backing of a publisher, it is difficult to find an audience. Promotion is the key.
Ultimately, self-publishing continues to be seen as a last resort. It’s still better to get your book published and distributed at someone else’s risk and expense. But it’s difficult to find a publisher to take that risk. And so publishing continues to be a vicious circle.
Jack Lenox has come up with an idea to break it.
He says, “When it comes to sharing writing online, there is no real household name like a Flickr or YouTube.” Maybe Jottify, the online community for writers, will be it.
Jottify allows members to write, upload their work and share it with the community to receive constructive criticism and ultimately get noticed. The site converts material into iPad and Kindle formats so that members can sell their finished work in the store.
The biggest benefit is that it also serves as a platform for publishers and agents to discover new talent. Jack is currently working on deals with independent and bigger publishing houses. He says, albeit early days, there is already serious interest in one work published on the site. It looks like Jottify could be just the platform to bridge the gap between traditional publishing and self-publishing.
Amazingly, the company has only been in existence for 2 months! It has evolved from its forerunner “eNovella”, which was a rudimentary creative writing community without a commercial element, to a thriving business. Jack was commended for his “outstanding entrepreneurial business idea” at the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards, beating other UK entries to win the top prize of £5,000. And he received great PR when recommended by one of the foremost Twitter influencers, Stephen Fry.
Jack is no stranger to the internet. His drive and vision started as early as his first year at secondary school, when, inspired by the dot-com era, he began designing websites. Having designed a number of commercial websites for small businesses, he moved on to building and selling computers on the internet and through eBay during sixth form. During a gap year between school and university, he also set up a browser-based online game during a gap year between school and university.
Having cultivated his online expertise, he looked to media while at university. Despite still being an undergraduate, Jack founded two companies, Bold Media, a media development company, and The Founder, the independent student newspaper of Royal Holloway University.
And with the experience of setting up a number of businesses under his belt, Jack also founded Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs (RHE), holding the position of Sabbatical President for the academic year 2009/2010 with the aim of helping students launch their own businesses.
For your chance to hear how Jack has tapped into the Zeitgeist, he will be speaking at both Warwick and Coventry on Friday 18th November as part of the SVC2UK events.
Source http://nacue.com/2011/11/jack-lenox-tapping-into-the-zeitgeist/Written by Caroline Dean
Posted by president on November 24, 2011 under Advice, News |
This article by Mike Myatt explores the importance of building a disruptive business model… It’s worth a read if you think your business or idea doesn’t have that special something that will make it stand out, and survive the market place.
How disruptive is your business model? While much has been written about corporate vision, mission, process, leadership, strategy, branding and a variety of other business practices, it is the engineering of these practices to be disruptive that maximizes opportunities. Without a disruptive focus you are merely building your business model on a “me too” platform of mediocrity. Nothing is more critical to your efforts in increasing your revenue growth and corporate sustainability than understanding the value of disruptive innovation. So, in today’s post I’ll examine the power of disruption as a key business driver…
Finish reading the article here
Posted by president on under Events |
This week Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs are running an interactive evening designed to showcase some of your ideas. We’ll start with a quick pitching workshop, and then those who wish to can stand up and pitch their idea and ask for feedback from the group about their pitch or business or project idea- whether it be advice on pricing, branding, how to get a website launched. We’ll finish the evening with networking over free pizza. Come and join in, everybody welcome! From 6pm in Cafe Rialto in the Students Union, tonight
Posted by president on November 22, 2011 under News |
A huge congratulations to student fashion line Emikko. Crystal Ho and Arseni Muliarchyk successfully launched the website last night, check it out here www.emikko.com
Emikko was founded in 2011 by two young entrepreneurs and is now run by Crystal Ho and Arseni Muliarchyk. After winning a £1,000 mini grant awarded by Royal Holloway, University of London Entrpreneurs in partnership with Sir Alec Reed and competing in Royal Holloway’s Dragon’s Den to capture the attention of Surinder Arora, Emikko was able transform into a fashion brand, launching its first ten piece Autumn/Winter collection in 2011. Emikko plans to expand in the future by opening its first shop and showcasing its collection at various fashion shows in Central London. In addition, Emikko will soon launch a casual ready-to-wear line, Emik-Kim, carefully selected and imported from Korea by Seongho Kim.
Emikko can also be found at Royal Holloway, University of London Student’s Union UBuyUSell.
Show your support: Like Emikko on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EmikkoOnline
Follow them on twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/EmikkoOnline
Posted by president on under Events |
Launching the Tata Social Enterprise Conference
NACUE and Tata have joined forces and are delighted to announce the first Tata Social Enterprise Conference. Gathering over 200 delegates this December in London, this conference sets out to inspire a new generation of social entrepreneurs.
Social entrepreneurs around the globe are solving some of our most pressing issues: by turning new ideas into new solutions, they are eliminating poverty, conserving the environment and empowering disadvantaged communities.
This event brings the best of social enterprise to students. Delegates will meet inspirational social entrepreneurs, learn the skills they need to start a social enterprise and ultimately join a global movement of change makers!
Conference Highlights:
Social Innovation Hack
Next Generation Leaders Panel
Skills-building sessions to help you start a social enterprise
Over 20 inspiring speakers and social entrepreneurs
Debate new ideas and create new solutions
Pitch your idea to win funding
Connect with over 200 fantastic delegates
Get your Early Bird tickets now!
December 3rd – 4th
Imperial College London
Brought to you by NACUE & Tata
http://www.tatasec.org.uk/
Posted by president on November 21, 2011 under Events |
Do you consider yourself a young entrepreneur? Got a business and fantastic products to sell? Get a chance to sell your products at Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs biggest event on campus, held on March 1st 2012! Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs are launching this event to promote young business entrepreneurs. The event w
orks in a form of a fair, whereby students will be able to sell their products and services. The night will be filled with food ranging from cupcakes, macaroons, drinks and more! In addition, performances from Absolute Harmony, Musical Theatre and more are offering their best entertainment. Press and publicity will also be on site! If you are interested in performing or selling your products for this event, please contact: crystal.ho@royalhollowayentrepreneurs.com
Posted by president on November 16, 2011 under Competitions, News |
NACUE are
extremely excited to be working alongside Lloyds TSB Commercial, who are offering university student and graduate entrepreneurs in England, Scotland and Wales, who have been trading for at least a year, the chance to win up to £50,000 as part of the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards.
From today, university students and graduates who have a business will be able to enter the Awards for a chance to:
- Win an investment of up to £50,000 to help grow your business
- Win a two year business mentoring programme
- Raise the profile of their business locally and nationally
Do you think you or someone you know has what it takes to be one of the next big forces in our business world? Get involved today!
