Founders: Week 4 & 5

3 August 2020

It’s the penultimate week of our Future Startup Now – Founders Programme, and everyone’s focus is on the pitches next week. Each Founder will have four minutes to present themselves and their idea, for the chance to win a £5000 investment to help get their business off the ground.

It’s an exciting but intimidating prospect, so we’ve been including plenty of opportunities for the group to refine and practice their pitches ahead of the big day. This week the brilliant Zaisha Smith (Founder, Pitchsmiths) joined us to help the group hone their message and think about how to add the perfect balance of emotion and logic to their presentations.

Stevon Lewis came back for his final group therapy session, this time focusing on conflict management. His supportive, open and thoughtful discussions have hugely enhanced the programme experience and have been really valued by the group.

Last week we covered a lot of the nitty gritty aspects of business, with Oyin Baikie (Commercial Legal Counsel, Deliveroo) covering legal essentials and Saalim Chowdhury (Entrepreneur in Residence, 500 Startups) running through principles of finance and forecasting. Oyin and Saalim were both back this week to answer some of the burning questions that had come up for the group as they worked through challenges including ‘how much does it cost to run my business?’ and “what is the most appropriate legal structure for my enterprise?” The Founders all appreciated how Oyin and Saalim made these complicated subjects clear and accessible, and their invaluable advice to the group.

We were also joined this week by Raquel Soares (Senior Marketing Manager, GoCardless) who gave feedback on the group’s strategies for reaching customers; Matt Davey (COO, 1Password) who shared his tips on how to launch and get attention for your business; Tobi Ruth Adebekun (International Communications, Snapchat) who shared her expertise on communications and storytelling; and Yumika Brewster (Strategy and Operations Lead, Portify) who spoke about about Leadership and personal resilience

Sheree Atcheson (Global Ambassador, Women Who Code) met the group on Thursday to share her amazing career journey and discussed the importance of understanding your strengths and growth areas, and how to harness both of these are crucial for any career pivot.

It’s been another busy week full of interesting ideas and speakers, and I’m getting excited for next week when the Founders will have the opportunity to share their amazing ideas on a bigger stage.

Meet the Founders

Register for the pitch events:

Wednesday 5 Aug, 6 – 8.30pm

Health, Education and Social Impact

Book here

Thursday 6 Aug, 6 – 8.30pm

Media, Tech and Ecommerce

BOOK HERE