Entrepreneurs and Experts: Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
So you want to start up your own business but just how do you go about getting started and is now the right time to do it? Starting up a business is more than just writing a business plan. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur getting the right advice at the right time from the right people is essential. Whoever you are, whether young or old or if you are experienced in the private or public sector, the new Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship is open to those who want to become an entrepreneur or who have already taken those first tentative steps of their own entrepreneurial journey.
Mark Gerhard, Chief Executive Officer at Jagex Games Studio, speaking at the CfEL's Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in February 2011.
This session focuses on how to prioritise in order to manage business growth and increase the chances of success. Entrepreneurs are usually open to opportunity and ideas but in the process of searching for revenue, funds and business concepts, it is easy to get distracted from key goals. This talk with Mark Gerhard, Chief Executive Officer at Jagex Games Studio, the UK's largest independent games developer and publisher, looks at doing the things that matter.
What can you learn from someone who was co-founder of a £5b company and an entrepreneur, author and media specialist about raising money?
Jamie Urquhart and Margaret Heffernan speak at Enterprise Tuesday on the topic of getting investment but do not rehearse the usual lines of "have a plan, a pitch and the like...". Instead, they talk more about what drives investors, the criteria by which they are judged and assessed; and on what budding entrepreneurs need to do to get the business story line right and so pitch for funding to the right people in the right place at the right time. Jamie Urquhart transitioned from being a successful engineer, to becoming an entrepreneur and then a manager at ARM, a company he helped to found. He is now a business angel, venture capitalist, holds numerous Directorships and we are delighted to have him as one of our Entrepreneurs in Residence at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning. Margaret Heffernan is entrepreneur, CEO, writer and keynote speaker. Her latest book, Wilful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril is now available.
Billy Boyle, Co-Founder and President, Operations, Owlstone, and Cynthia Larby, Biotechnology Entrepreneur, speaking at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in February 2011.
Our speakers look at the need for different team members at different stages of the venture; they offer advice on how you define the dream team for each of these steps; and how you can look for, attract, reward and focus the team so that you deliver the results.
Charles Cotton, Investor, Advisor and Business Angel, and Hermann Hauser, Co-Founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, speaking at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in January 2011.
Charles and Hermann reveal the roller coaster experience of the early stages of starting a business; being lean and mean in terms of managing resources, being highly focused and driven, and minding the cash. They also discuss the importance of generosity towards inbound team members in order to attract talent, sharing information and the detail that enables others (also) to succeed.
Shaun Fitzgerald, Co-Founder and Director of Breathing Buildings Ltd, and Will West, CEO of CellCentric Ltd, speaking on the topic of gathering resources at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in November 2010.
Shaun Fitzgerald of Breathing Buildings addresses how he went about getting the resources he needed to bring the vision of Breathing Buildings to life. He also addresses the issue of how to reward the very talent you need. Will West combines his scientific training as an immunologist and virologist with industry expertise. He is also on a number of industry boards and panels. All this gives him his perspective that when you think of resources you need to think of them on an international basis, because in technology you cannot think about starting on a local basis. Both agree that you have to think on multiple dimensions about resources, so there is not just a single resource element that solves all problems. You have to think about money, equipment, business development expertise, beta trial customers etc. as resources, all of which you need now, in plenty, and for almost no cost! So how do you go about getting all this together to give your company a chance at success?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, OBE, speaking at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in January 2011.
Sir Ranulph has completed many breathtaking adventures but it all started with a dream or vision followed by a lot of very practical steps to bring to reality. The lessons from an adventure driven entrepreneur will provide much food for thought about how to make your own dreams come alive.
Warren Bennett, Co-Director and Founder of A Suit that Fits.com and Alan Barrell, Entrepreneur in Residence at The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, speaking at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in November 2010.
It takes a rare and complex set of energies to turn ideas into a venture. One of these is the ability to tell a story, make sense of and answer difficult questions, in other words to provide a compelling pitch. You will also learn about passion, energy and the down to earth practicalities that enabled two talented engineers to develop a business with a strong social impact, while having fun and dressing well – very well!
Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, founder of Cobra Beer, speaking at the CfEL Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in November 2010.
Entrepreneurs who either spot or create a trend can make it possible for new businesses to be established. They are often thought to be lucky but it is more a matter of being able to know when to do something by being alert to business cycles, trends and timing.
Pamela Hartigan, Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School and Howard Chase, R&D Director, Enval, and Head of the School of Technology, Professor of Biochemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, speaking at the Enterprise Tuesday lecture series in October 2010.
Whose problem are you going to solve? Whose needs are you going to meet? The big challenges are to do with environment and social inclusion. Do these provide opportunities for new ventures and for you?
Pawel Piotrowicz, BSc PhD CPA EPA, Partner at Venner Shipley LLP
Dr Piotrowicz is a Chartered and European Patent Attorney and Partner at Venner Shipley LLP. He is regularly invited by companies and universities to lecture on intellectual property and to hold intellectual property ‘clinics’. In this podcast interview, he talks in depth about the different types of Intellectual Property rights and how they can affect different types of businesses in different ways.
Dorothy Briggs, a marketing consultant with experience of tech companies, encourages entrepreneurs to think from the customers perspective and develop products that customers want or need in order to be successful in the market place and to enable business growth. This talk is part of CfEL’s Entrepreneurs and Experts series.
When is an idea a business opportunity? Dr Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, discusses following his lecture at the CfEL Enterprise Tuesday 2008/2009 series.
Your personal goals need to match your business goals in order for your idea to take off. Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder of Cobra Beer, discusses following his lecture at the CfEL Enterprise Tuesday 2008/2009 series.