Friday, 6 November 2009

Creating opportunities in technology - Experience from two Business Angels on Enterprise Tuesday

Having just spoken with David Cleevely and Andy Richards about their talk(s) on Enterprise Tuesday on the 10th of November 2009, - they see about 2 - 3 ideas per week and have to try and filter out those that excite them enough to invest in. What are the criteria by which they do this and how can we learn to use their insights and knowledge to create, sort, filter and hopefully make winning decisions on?

They will use examples from their portfolio of experiences - which include huge successes, middling companies and the odd failed business to run thorugh a general framework we can use.

Here are some headlines:

o ideas are cheap (need to be great not just good)
o timing is crucial (things are in the air; by the time you have recognised them it may be too late; on the other hand those deep in the know may be too early)
o fashions hold more sway than they should (eg Web 2.0) - so watch for the Gartner hype cycles
o you need to stress test things by talking them through (preferably with lots of people). Would be entrepreneurs who hold cards close to their chest are to be suspected. (those who have done it a few times can be given more leeway)
o the proposal should break the established dogma
o there’s a trigger point (which if missed means no funding).

David and Andy are highly entertaining and animated presenters, they are on national and international platforms when it comes to their contributions to policy, entrepreneurship and corporate lives.

I can't wait to hear them and look forward to chairing the time keeping as I am sure the Q+A session will run and run!

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