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Converge Challenge applications due tomorrow 18 May how many Scottish Students and staff can rise to the challenge?
The Converge Challenge is back for 2012 and, this year, is bigger than ever.
Now we have 55 start ups in our Glasgow Hatchery with Ayrshire opening soon...
Jim Duffy, Entrepreneurial SparkJim Duffy is the founder and self-styled Chief Optimist of Entrepreneurial Spark, an incubator with a difference for start-up companies based in Glasgow's New Gorbals. Maurice Smith of TVI caught up with Jim at the end of another busy week at the entrepreneurial coal-face.
Scotland is stepping up to the mark on new start-up businesses.....Our new Hatchery in Ayrshire opens 28th May...
The Entrepreneurial-Spark accelerator is a hybrid of a traditional incubator and the new style and trending acceleratorsAddress: Olympic Business Park, Drybridge Rd, Dundonald, KA2 9BE
We could do with one in West Lothian too and rural communities, best of luck.
Best Wishes to @KILTR in the USA!!! A great early stage business out there pushing hard...
Funding Ladders Conference, 23rd May, Edinburgh University Business School
A joint event between the Entrepreneurship Club and the London Stock Exchange.
This is a free, one day conference for start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors and students.
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For more information and registration: http://rki.lt/IcfvbMMore
Nucoco meets WIlly Wonka!
Adopt the young Glasgow based Nucoco chocolate and cake company and buy a scrumptious handmade chocolate full-size brick, which they will then use to build an installation.
In one of these £50 bricks is a Golden Ticket worth £1,000. At the private view you can have a chance to find your golden ticket, and then take your brick home and eat it. Yum!
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As a Nucoco founding member you will be eligible for a 10% discount on their chocolate...for ever! You'll also be invited to tasting events and activities as the company grows.
Become a part of Nucoco and join them on their journeyMore
Adopt Us | NucocoBe a part of the Start Up revolution. Adopt Nucoco for £50 and chance to win a GOLDEN TICKET worth £1000.Url: http://rki.lt/HaJXXR
A proof of concept for crowdfunding, it's really taking off it seems.
"'The San Francisco-based video games developer is making history by bankrolling its next title using only crowdsourced cash.
Within 24 hours of seeking pledges over the internet it had bagged more than $1m … (£630m), overshooting its initial target of $400,000. By the campaign's end it had reeled in a total of $3.4m from more than 87,000 supporters for its point-and-click adventure game."
More
Kickstarter's crowdsourced cashThe calm, industrious mood inside Double Fine Production's office masks the elation that erupted into champagne-splashed toasts earlier this month.Url: http://rki.lt/H0hc1q
The West Coast Hatchery - Fellow - Saltire Foundation CommunityWhere has this week gone for this Saltire Fellow? It's non-stop. KILTR came in on Tuesday and last night we had a pitch night. Great fun and very inspiringUrl: http://rki.lt/GLKGxu
This a fantastic piece from Russell at Makur
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Entrepreneurship IS GO - Fellow - Saltire Foundation CommunityFor further information on the SaltireFoundation contact: SaltireFoundation Level 7, Strathclyde Business School, 199. Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0QU Tel: +44 (0)141 548 4417 Email:Url: http://rki.lt/FOmxIx
Blog | Helping start ups and small businesses and entrepreneurs in Scotland.It could be said that one judges the state of a nation by the state of its roads. Driving around the West of Scotland right now can be a bumpy ride. Councils do not have the budgets to go laying new tarmac and temporary repairs are abound.Url: http://rki.lt/y2uYi1
Thanks to Liz Walsh from SIE for all her support. Scottish Institute for Enterprise. Look forward to their Gala night. Will be some great pitches!!
Really looking forward to Michelle Mone OBE visiting Entrepreneurial Spark for a private pitch night... should be awesome!!!
Will an independent Scotland be good for startup businesses?
Good question, Jim. I think this is something that Alex Salmond et al. have to make clear.
There's been a brain-drain of talent towards London for many years. Perhaps one way to approach it would be focus on certain sectors and do them properly, or to separate tax thresholds for new-start and young businesses. Financial and fiscal incentives will help. … We clearly have some great ideas, but the right support is crucial to the future successes.
This is where Entrepreneurial Spark is exemplary. The structure, surrounding energy, and lessons learned from this movement is a model that should be rolled out across the country / nation. With the support opportunities available and the energy behind espark, there will be far more successes to be proud of.
Personally, I'm currently "on the fence" in the independence debate. However, I'm prepared to be swayed either way. If a culture of new business support can be developed in the lead up to the referendum, I think that would clearly strengthen the case, especially as small and family businesses are the lifeblood of our economy.More
Now sharing our posts via our Ambassadors - KILTR
How controversial should this group be? Should we tell it how it is? Or fluff it? I guess picking up on Diane's point - what it the raison d'etre?
Tell it like it is always, otherwise it's a waste of good time :-)
Well folks that is the end of week 5. We are jam packed with applications and enquiries.... All sorts of start ups and early stage businesses....Our offers will be going out next week!!
I hear many people tell me they are passionate about Scotland... When I dig deeper - they are really just passionate about themselves... Anyone else experienced this pseudo Ecossian tripe?
Have to agree with you there, shame that.
If you're a start up, have you got the right team before you look for external help? Learn from this interview at Le Web with Sean Parker and Shervin Pishevar, interviewed by Alexia Tsotsis from Techcrunch.
I think too many start-ups can get obsessed with looking outwards....for investments etc,....
You're right Jim, however I believe too many fail because they don't have the right team in place at the beginning. i.e. all design and not enough strategy - or all tech and not enough marketing - or all students and not enough real world knowledge / experience. My point is - with the right team you'll need less help (investment etc).
yep.... unfortunately many entrepreneurs work alone or have their idea alone. At Entrepreneurial Spark we have a blend of stat-ups coming into the space....so this may generate more collaboration and potential new teams
Sounds like the perfect scenario Jim - getting them to reach out and share their idea in a start-up environment where they feel secure, supported and confident.
I'm a big fan of what Adam has achieved with The Power of Youth - I just hope he gets opportunity to share it in a great environment.
power of youthAgainst a backdrop of global budget cuts, rising unemployment, financial meltdown and a looming environmental crisis the Power Of Youth is looking to harness the power and optimism of young business leaders and social entrepreneurs who have the fire and drive within them to make a difference to the world and inspire a generation.Url: http://rki.lt/tKYafT
It's beginning to feel like Christmas.... So, what does that mean for your suppliers and customers?
Front the site .... "We hate the word member and didn't want to rip off Facebook and use the word Fan. So - if you have any ideas - bang it into us and we you can contribute to the site."
I don't mind "fan" - works pretty well and i always revert to a favourite Steve Jobs quote in such situations "Good artists copy great artists steal." In … saying that, i often think of a fan as being a one-way asynchronous relationship... lots of fans of a larger entity.
There is also "follower" which is pretty well defined.
Maybe you could go with sparkler ;-)More
Thanks....I like the Jobs quote!! I guess there is nothing original anymore.
Love Steven's suggestion "Sparkler", fits well with Entrepreneurial Spark or even sparklette - the hatchery idea was done in the dot com era already in incubator terms.
We are nearly there... Spark........?
Spark Kindlers
BTW if you are planning on replication elsewhere there is a huge modern facility vacated after the Sun/Oracle merger lying empty in Linlithgow, what a waste of space
Interesting...
