Where is your community?

A couple of weeks back I talked about diversity and how it builds strength. The juxtaposition of this is feeling part of something and finding people who are similar to you or have the same interests as you.

I then saw an Android advert on TV, that finished with the tagline:

“Be together, not the same”.

This statement identified exactly the sentiment I was looking for when I try to answer why we all need that common thread. It seems the irony of human nature to feel part of something whilst wanting to set ourselves apart.

Seth Godin describes this very well in many of his books and blogs. Finding your ‘tribe’. He talks (writes) a lot about stepping away from the people who don’t ‘get’ what you are doing, who don’t find what you are ‘valuable’. He suggests focussing on what you do best and then finding the group of like-minded people who will be constructive about what you are doing because they understand and have interest in the outcome. These are the people you should be satisfying. You know that what you are doing impacts them.

If you spend all your effort trying to appease those who aren’t your target, fixing ‘problems’ for people who don’t see benefit from the solution, you are, potentially not going to be successful in your endeavours.

He talks more about finding your inner ‘artist’ and always doing your best work, this in turn will make you indispensable.  I have to say that every day should be a chance for you to do your best work for those that matter. I live by the standard: be the best you, you can be. I admit, some days that can be a struggle, but as an aspiration, it is a strong contender for a great life lesson

You can’t be all things to all people, once you focus on what you stand for, what you are about, who you are, what your unique value is, you can start to find your tribe.

If you are looking, you may find a suitable tribe at Tech Talkfest, we value generosity, trust and fun. If you meet our members, you will truly have fantastic fun with a room full of successful people who want to help you, ‘Be together, not the same!’ (thanks Android!)

Ghilaine

@LadyGhilaine

Watch and Learn

Last week , I caught up with Nitin Dahad, another Tech London Advocate, who is an amazing gentleman and we got talking about education and passing on knowledge. He is one that loves to share what he knows where he can and you may well see him at some of the events he is asked to be an expert on as well as 2 of his great publications – http://thenextsiliconvalley.com/ and http://www.indiaincorporated.com/opinions/itemlist/category/23-tech-speak.html

Nitin Dahad

He told me how much he loves to write and so uses this outlet to pass on his extensive knowledge gained over a few years of exciting experiences growing companies. When he talks about these his face comes to life. He has helped grow companies and has built many great relationships on the way.

Along with so many other people I have had the pleasure of meeting over the last few months, he is in a position to put his skills and experience to good use with meaningful projects.

I am not sure if there is something in the water, or in the air, but I am meeting so many people who are taking stock of their lives and seeing what they can achieve for the good of groups of people rather than corporations or themselves. There is obviously a lot to be said for the collaboration consumption community that has taken this zeitgeist and amplified it so that larger communities are aware and can get involved.

Nitin is doing his part by mentoring younger entrepreneurs, helping them become the successful companies of their generation. He is often asked to be on panels or speak at events. Keep an eye on his Twitter feed, @ndahad  and no doubt you will find a great place to ‘bump’ into him.

Learning curve

I had the pleasure of attending the TLA event at Bloomberg offices in London on 28th October. It was a great event, capably compered by Oli Barrett. He was an engaging and enthusiastic devil’s advocate for the evening and as a result we got to the nub of a lot of issues.

What became very clear from the event is that we struggle in London and the UK with a shortage of skills at all levels. We benefitted from so many speakers who were passionate and knowledgeable about their subjects. Those that stood out were: Ruben Kostucki, Makers Academy; Katarina Jones, Startup Institute; Mark Fawcett, National Schools Partnership; Mark Martin, Urban Teacher; Maggie Philbin, TeenTech

Early on Maggie Philbin gave a great overview of the work she is doing as part of her role in the UK Digital Skills Taskforce about digital skills for young people. Although we now have coding taught in schools, it still hasn’t addressed the issue of young people and their parents not knowing what jobs people actually do in the digital/tech sector and what it means for their educational choices. A great takeaway for me from Maggie, ‘Never underestimate your own power to make a difference’.

Following that we had a great panel talking about what is available to those starting out or wanting to retrain. It looked at how graduates are equipped (or not) in this new world and whether the universities are knowledgeable enough of the emerging technologies and platforms. Finally, we had a great panel of those on the front line of teaching who were very open and honest about the support they needed from the private sector to help children train for the future.

If you are a TLA, you can help with addressing these issues by joining one of the working groups: MadTech (Marketing and Advertising); HealthTech; Going for Growth; Infrastructure; Talent and Immigration; Women in London Tech; Education. If you aren’t and want to get involved, I would be happy to introduce you to Russ.

Ghilaine

@LadyGhilaine

The Network Effect!

Have you heard about the Tech London Advocates? The aim is to support technology start-ups in finding new investment, new talent and achieving high growth.

The idea has been built by Russ Shaw, with a little help from his friends (and extensive network of supporters) to bring his vision to life. The priority focus for TLA in the 1st years is to set an agenda that will accelerate growth of the private sector in London and demonstrate that bringing together the start-up community with larger businesses can deliver real success.

Russ is extremely passionate about what he is building and sees what can happen when you bring people together for a common goal. He has some significant sponsors on his journey and the Advocate list is growing daily. Advocates are recommended by an existing member of the group and he asks them to agree to 3 things:

• Promote the vision of TLA
• Help one another for the ‘greater good’
• In time, introduce a new Advocate

All this, by extension will build a vibrant tech sector for London

Russ is a big believer in the ‘Network Effect’ and how by helping and connecting people, great things happen. He should know, he has grown Tech London Advocates membership to be over 1000 strong in 18 months. He is building momentum with great partnerships and an amazing amount of generosity on behalf of the advocates.

All this to build the culture of innovation embodied by London’s tech entrepreneurs and make London the place to be if you want to be on the bleeding edge of technology!

Ghilaine

@LadyGhilaine

How was it for you?

Following on from my post on Friday, it was lucky for me that I didn’t dress up as it appeared I was not the only one. Apart from a dog dressed as a spider and a baby dressed as a skeleton, everyone was scarily dressed in the fancy dress costume of business casual. Saying that though, someone did temporarily don a lovely pink onesie.

Happy Halloween from our itsy bitsy #Dogpreneur or is it a spider? Thanks #anitaroddick for the halloween-spiration http://t.co/eruJPQUVAw—
Microsoft Ventures (@MSFTVenturesUK) October 31, 2014

Before the networking began, I was fortunate to sit in on one of the other advisors giving a short deep dive into the dark depths of social media. Jonathan works for Engine so has extensive experience in this area. He fully understands that the cohort of start-ups has limited budgets for full scale media and PR, so he gave a nice view of what people can do themselves to increase their visibility. What was a relief was to find out that there is no science to ‘going viral’ so that, at least, levels the playing field!

After that, the happy hour Halloween drinks, kindly provided by MS ventures, allowed us to let our hair down and get chatting with the other advisors/mentors or start-ups.

At these events I think that it is important not to speak to lots of people, but as I say time and again, to have a 1 or possibly 2 great conversations. That to me is a success. Friday night did not disappoint! I was fortunate to chat with a lady who is in her final year of her degree and has recently decided that she wants to gain some marketing experience. She has had a few short internships and is helping out where she can to expand her knowledge and determine her next steps. It is always lovely to speak to people who are enthusiastic about their passions and are taking each step with conviction to get to their goal. Nothing worth doing is easy, but having a plan helps. If anyone can help her out with some Marketing experience, please do let me know in the comments section.

As a double success, I managed to get talking to someone who works at the MSN division at Microsoft. Who knew that it was still alive and kicking!? It was lovely to talk with him about his career history as well as trade stories about working for one of the biggest tech companies in the world. It looks like that we can help each other out on a few things, so as well as a great conversation – fortuitous connections alive and kicking!

Halloween networking a success, with or without a costume!

The Halloween version of networking

Have you been invited to a Halloween party? We have been invited to Halloween networking this evening at MSVentures accelerator in Whitechapel.

Here lies a new lesson in networking. What is the etiquette on dressing up? I don’t like fancy dress at the best of times, but in a semi-business setting, what do you do? Are you seen as boring and staid for not or frivolous and flighty for donning the witch hat?

I noticed a post on LinkedIn by Jeff Haden  that talks about dressing for the job you want. In the end people make snap judgements, especially in a social  setting where most people are meeting for the first time.

This is where being yourself is really important. It means that you may be vulnerable and putting yourself out there for all to knock down. However, it is the quickest way to build rapport. People build relationships on trust, if you don’t know who you are and what you stand for, it shows and people become suspicious very quickly.

This doesn’t mean that you need to be righteous and obnoxious with you views. Courtesy and politeness are key. Disagreements in the form of an interesting discussion about a subject both parties are interested in makes for a much more entertaining conversation.

As Haggerston Times quoted me when they covered one of our evenings, getting to the deep and meaningful subjects that people are passionate about is much more interesting than talking about the weather. People may not like your views and you theirs, but equally wouldn’t you like to know that early on, if the relationship is going to grow and flourish?

If you are going to introduce that person to someone else you know and trust, it probably makes sense to know a little bit more about them than what they think about the current warm spell we are having.

In the end networking is about making friends and meeting people you can help or who can help others you know. The weather is not going to cut it as a good source of information about their skills, experience and values.

So back to the original dilemma, to fancy dress or not to fancy dress. I am going to go with not. Mainly because I don’t like fancy dress but also because it would mean me not being myself. That is something that I cannot do. Like me or loathe me, I aim to turn up as me and you can take me as you find me, take it or leave it! I won’t hold it against you. I prefer someone to have an opinion about me rather than none at all.

If we were all the same, just think how dull the conversation would be.

Enjoy your trick or treating; fancy dress party; sitting in the house with the blinds down, lights off or just going out! You never know you may meet someone new and hit it off!

Taking stock of a life well lived

Shannon Eastman is the person one of those people that you wish you had met a lot sooner. She has made a career out of giving and not to be too trite, she is the gift that keeps on giving. You can see why we love her at Tech Talkfest. Can you spot the theme?

Shannon Eastman – Teach a Brand to Fish

Shannon describes herself as a slightly crazy, business obsessed, pioneering girl. She equally loves what we are doing at Tech Talkfest as she believes “We are really not meant to do it alone. We’re meant to do it together. I help her, she helps him, he helps you. When we are doing something – the creativity refines, perfects and is easily added to. The energy increases. The ideas play off the other. It’s magic!”

She loves to surround herself with those who have similar values to her, generosity, open-mindedness and fun loving. Or as she puts it PLU – People Like Us! She is always open to new ideas and working partners so if you want to collaborate with her, and you should, check her out.

Marian Stefani, CEO, Flyte Associates, certainly recommends her “Shannon is a really exciting person to work with. Full of life and very capable of articulating her thoughts and ideas into an engaging presentation. She brings her own unique perspective to each topic she is speaking about and combines a practical knowledge of marketing and technology with a sharp, witty sense of humour.”

Shannon founded the company Teach a Brand to Fish that educates Small to Medium sized business on their on PR, Sales and Marketing function. They work with companies so that they can become self sufficient and can transform their purpose into sustainable profit. There are many people out there with gifts, ideas and plans that want and can add some good into this world. Teach a Brand to Fish gives them the business support they need to bring their idea to life in a way that can support their lifestyle and provide their work to expand into even more places.

She is inspiring! She herself is on a journey of self -discovery after a 4 month hiatus due to illness, she was forced to stop and take stock of a life well lived. She has come back with even more focus on her purpose than before.

Finding a chance to meet Shannon to hear her plans for her next endeavour is definitely worth it. You can often see her out and about, just follow her on Twitter @ShannonEastman to see where she pops up next! Give us a mention when you do!

The Power of one

I was lucky enough to attend an event this week where I heard Maggie Philbin say “Never underestimate the power you have to make a difference”. We are often told that change starts with 1 and that 1 is you. Whilst I agree with the statement, it can also lead to making people feel that they have the world on their shoulders and the question of how are they going to be able to change it alone. Sorry if I being to profound on a Wednesday afternoon.

Agreeing with the statement doesn’t mean that I think we can make a difference alone. Anyone who has success in their field has others to thank for the help and support that got them there. If they say otherwise, they will probably find that their success in the future is limited. I read a while back a lovely piece about Desmond Tutu. He thinks that we can tackle global warming in the same way that we dealt with Apartheid. He quoted a lovely word Ubuntu, it means “I am because you are. My successes and my failures are bound up in yours. We are made for each other, for interdependence. Together, we can change the world for the better.”

To think we can do anything impactful alone is perhaps misguided?

The video below, gives a great illustration of how the power of 1 can convert into a movement.  I love this video and I have seen it many times. It is one of the best illustrations of bringing people along on your journey and finding like minded people to help you.

At Tech Talkfest, Zoe and I are no longer the 1 or 2 lone nuts, we have become a movement. Our members are looking at ways that we can make an impact for the better and find our collective sense of purpose. If you are interested in joining us, please let me know! We thrive on giving back, can you help us?

Why network?

“Acquaintances, in sort, represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.” Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

If you work in a profession where you need to close business – as a salesperson, recruitment agent or lawyer, for example – you are probably reading this thinking that you already know why you network. It’s to find a client, or meet someone who might one day introduce you to a client. You will have a good idea of why you network, who you network with and what the benefits are.

If you’re networking in this way, that’s great and you’re definitely a step up from someone who doesn’t network at all, but you’re only getting a fraction of the benefits that you could be getting. For some reason, it seems very clear to us that we need to meet new people in order to get business, but we often don’t realise all the other, less direct, benefits that we could be achieving if we changed our networking style slightly.

These indirect benefits are the reason that you should be networking even if you’re not in a profession in which it is usual to network. In business today, we are used to working in a calculated, rational way. We make plans, set goals and break down our strategic vision into concrete step by step paths that will take us to our ultimate objectives. This is great and I am all for planning, but networking is not something that works like this.

Antifragile – Taleb

Something that we are coming to have a better understanding of is the idea of a complex system. Since the work of the great Mandelbrot in the 1960s, the areas of chaos theory and complexity have come to be more widely studied. My favourite recent book on the subject is Antifragile by the banker Nassim Taleb. Complexity theory best explains my understanding of the effects of networking. By making more and more connections and sending out your actions through these channels, there will be associated reactions. You can better shape the results of networking by choosing which of these to act on, than by aiming for a specific outcome since, like the butterfly flapping its wings, you cannot control the outcome.

To take a simple example, imagine that you are in need of a graphic designer, at a good price because the work that you need done is not yet revenue generating. If you have a small network (and you are not a designer yourself), you will need to get lucky – perhaps someone’s sister is just starting out, or perhaps a friend has recently used a designer that he can recommend. But if you have a network of hundreds or thousands of people, the numbers are large enough that you don’t need to be lucky – someone you know will be able to help you.

Zoe Cunningham

@zoefcunningham

 

Networking with Royalty

I had the opportunity to attend the bootcamp for Pitch@Palace yesterday in readiness for the finalists to pitch on 5th November. Our gracious hosts for the boot camp were MS Ventures at Working Central.

HRH The Duke of York believes that “British prosperity, in all its forms, is central to his work. He wants to recognise and reward the people and organisations working to ensure that we have the workforce, intellectual property and entrepreneurial culture to succeed. He considers it a priority to support young people in developing skills that make them more employable so that they can become economically active…… So growth in job opportunities will come from a more entrepreneurial economy.”

That statement was most visible yesterday with the support he has put in place for the 42 startups that pitched for 1 of 15 places to pitch for the Duke’s ~300 special guests on 5th November at St James Palace. He knows that it is the relationships these people will make with his guests that will help propel them to be successful and secure businesses of the future.

The room also included mentors who gave their time generously to help these teams hone their pitch, increase their reach, expand their business plans and so much more. These mentors came from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to give these teams diverse views and perspectives that they may not have the opportunity to seek I their current situation. I managed to sit next to a very interesting gentleman who has the joyful role of heading up innovation for his company. He regularly creates the same set up for his company in order to be able to help start ups with exposure to suitable partners or collaborators.

I am sure the judges had an extremely difficult task to determine the finalists. All the teams had such innovative ideas to solve a wide variety of problems.

What I saw was a group of people who fully appreciated the time and expertise that they received (and will receive in the future) from their mentors. Many of these teams had already generates revenue or secured investment. What they need is hard for money to buy: They need help facilitating meeting with future partners, they need connections with successful and creative people, sometimes they don’t know what they need until one of these mentors highlight it.

It was a privilege and joy to have the experience. See you on 5th November if you manage to get an invite!