Rallying busy people around a cause is tough but not if those people will benefit from the cause! We had a Townhall to relaunch Startup London to solicit support, generate ideas, and gauge the interest of the entrepreneurs we want to help.
19. Narrative
Knowledge
Positivity
• Storytelling
• Events / Startup
Drinks /
#Startuptheweek
• Events Calendar
• Mapping the
Landscape
• Take a circle
• Reaching out to
people
• Working groups
• Generating Short
term wins
• Responsibility
• Openness
• Collaboration
Cameron / Quinn
Everybody
Joel
Startup London – Create a sense of urgency – 1) We almost lost this brand and opportunity to be apart of this network through inaction 2) We all recognize that there is a need for citizens to take some responsibility in building a community that we want to be a part of.Startup Drinks – 350 people over 12 events 50 Organizations / almost half are startup/new companies#startuptheweekLondon CallingBiz Inc. Social eventsPublicationsKelly send offThis is the reset - this is the start of something new built off of something that has happened before… What is our goal: To build the startup community in LondonHow are we going to do this: We are going to learn from and help startups that exist in the city and by doing so lay the foundation for increasing the amount of startup businesses in the future. Startup Drinks – 350 people over 12 events 50 Organizations / almost half are startup companies#startuptheweekLondon CallingBiz Inc. Social eventsPublications
What is our purpose? Raison d’etre?We believe that people in a community are responsible for shaping that community’s future. Institutions, Government, Business, Not for Profits, are accountable to us if we are paying attention. What is our goal: To build the startup community in LondonHow are we going to do this: We are going to learn from and help startups that exist in the city and by doing so lay the foundation for increasing the amount of startup businesses in the future.
Narrative – source of information for the community at large, and contributing member to the conversations being had regarding business and entrepreneurship.Knowledge – Mapmakers and Mentors - We are going to become the most knowledgeable about what the city looks likePositivity – We are going to be a source of positivity through contributing to the narrative and by sharing knowledge and just by doing things that anybody can be a part.
What is our goal: To build the startup community in LondonHow are we going to do this: We are going to learn from and help startups that exist in the city and by doing so lay the foundation for increasing the amount of startup businesses in the future. We are a grassroots organization building London’s next startup community.We are group of people that believe that a thriving entrepreneurship scene will make our community better
Our Focus is going to be on Startups in London.Our Impact is going to be entrepreneurship in London.
This may sound really stupid but our focus is in on Startups!Some people don’t know what the definition of a Startup is and assume that it is new business. There is a big difference between entrepreneurship in a traditional business starting up and entrepreneurship in a startup business.We have the good fortune to be able to explain the difference here. Experimenting with their business modelStartups – an organization searching for a business model….Usually a new business because of the stage they are in – they are looking for the secret sauce that will allow them to scale… In general they have a new idea and have yet to prove success in a way - They might not know what their key features for their idea and may not be bringing in revenue yet either… As a result of their unique challenges they require unique support quite often in the form of a informal and social safety net..This differs from a startup business because startup businesses have a clear understanding of where their costs, their revenue, their market, their supports are. You can get a business
This may sound really stupid but our focus is in on Startups!Some people don’t know what the definition of a Startup is and assume that it is new business. There is a big difference between entrepreneurship in a traditional business starting up and entrepreneurship in a startup business.We have the good fortune to be able to explain the difference here. It’s not about showing special status, its about helping people with special challengesWhat is the difference? I will tell you and we will all be experts at the end of this class There is no clear definition butThe eagle being the thermostat of the environment analogy - Startups create the most dynamiceconomic growth but are the hardest to get going bc of the supports that they need to build them. If startups are thriving in a community then it is pretty much guaranteed that other entrepreneurs and service providers are thriving. A lot of grey areas here but this is the mandate - + Gain to the community – it is not tied to geographyEveryone is welcome but this is our focus – everyone will benefit if there are more startup companies in the city.Kinda a startup – Scalable - If the people building the company are trying to make something they can ‘wind up’ and let looseAn organic food service is not a startup – a organic food locator app on facebook definitely is a startup though.Organizing a foot race is not a startup but creating a race management system is a startup.If there is a business plan, then it’s probably not a startup. There are outward facing companies that are traditional too but they usually know all of the variables too and they grow much slower than other companies.
ComparisonsSnap chat – 300 million msgs sent This is super challenging and our working definition is: – it’s an organization that is experimenting with how it plans on operating its business and it hasn’t quite discovered a sustainable way of operating – scalable…HANDOUT: NAME SOME STARTUPS AND BUSINESSES THAT EXIST IN THE CITY WHO SUPLDN SHOULD spread the word about! Possible discussion
Focus is on Startups because they are the eagles – if we can make an environment this is good for them thenWe will succeed at creating a environment for all of entrperneeurship. We will never ever ever turn away anyone who wants to be involved and Who can benefit from what we are doing but we will begin and end with startupsIn our community. Trickle down entrepreneurship
What can you do?We’ve discussed Startup Canada and Startup London. We are all versed in what a defiinition of a Startup is. If you are here, I’m going to say that you are motivated to see this organization contribute to the conversation. The question now is what’s next? What are we going to do going forward? What can you do?
Bruce Maycock – Marketing Executive – Teamwork is akin to planning to climb Mt. EverestPersonal Responsibility for yourself and for the team
The smallest pack you can carry is contributing to the conversation right now. We’re going to do some short breakout sessions and crowdsource some ideas based around these three pillars that will eventually grow our startup community.I’m being extremely vague about these 3 concepts because I want to know why these are important to you. HANDOUT: WHAT ARE SOME ACTIONS THAT WORK TOWARDS OUR GOALSBreak out into 3-5 person groups. And write down everything.
Q: We’ve identified these initiatives Someone take a picture of your whiteboards
Don’t forget next slideCan you talk about your own experience in working in or seeing companies grow?What is your perception about the way in which people experience the growing of a company here?How do we reach these people?
If we can create an accurate and complete picture of what London looks like and offers we will have already created a massive resource for anyone who comes ahead of us. It will set in motion a whole array of relationships, greater understanding, and a culture shift that will allow us to make things better going ahead.We need to create an unbelievably amazing list of supporting organizations, government groups, events, conferences, businesses, success stories, based off community outreach and research.
Extreme Objectivity about the state of our community and Dogmatic Positivity about things happening in it / we Cut through that by being a source of action, publicity for all, andGrowing our own base – what groups, companies, or boards are you a part of right now? How do they contribute to the conversation?HANDOUT FILL OUT Q3 / Q4 + ASK IN GENERAL4) We take care of our own - Is there any events that people are involved with in the next little that we should be shared with everyone.
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Building a startup community from scratch sounds dauntingTAKE IND. SHEETS BACK – and solicit Team Champions and get Team Members / Team SheetsMarketing and Public Relations CommitteeEvent – Social – organize events and calendarizeStartup Road Map Cartographer– Internal KnowledgeCommunity Support / Sponsorship / Branding and Web – design interestNarrativStorytellingEvents / Startup Drinks / #StartuptheweekEvents CalendarCameron / QuinnKnowledgeMapping the LandscapeTake a circleReaching out to peopleWorking groupsJoel / David / TitusPositivityGenerating Short term winsResponsibilityOpennessCollaborationEverybodyPicking up a pack stage – can people come together for a minute to talk about
Brad Feld said that you only a need a group of less than 10 people to start doing stuff for you to be able to thrive and build a startup community.. He also said that he’d much rather have a startup community than a boeing or a General Motors move in to town bc……. Do you think that people who run this city believe that too? If you believe that citizens are responsibilty for shaping a communities future and if you think that helping enable entrepreneurship to thrive is a key platform to do that then join us. If you want to help shape the narrative and develop our knowledge base so that we can move forward in a positive way then please spread the word.
Can the team leaders get together and make a photograph
Culture Development: Storytelling, Blogging, Events Calendar/Awareness, Mapping the Landscape: What are the current organizations?- What do they offer? Who are the key contacts? - What are the current startups in the city?“UnLondon is a Do-ocracy” - Titus Ferguson Def; support will always go to anyone doing work towards our mission no matter what.