StartupCafe

Between now and Thursday you can learn how to raise some money, run your business better, gain some techie skills, and communicate – all the while enjoying free coffee, wine, crisps, pizza, beer, and then more drinks. Monday and Wednesday evenings are my top choices, but there’s plenty to catch here so hope you don’t have too many hot dates lined up this week.

Raising Finance for Young Companies: Monday 9th Nov, 6:30pm at Business School LT1 (7 Bristo Sq)

You’ll get the scoop from both the investor’s and entrepreneur’s points of view… enlightening us will be John Waddell, CEO of Archangel Informal Investment (Scotland’s leading angel investor group), along with George Mackintosh, a very successful business builder and seller. Who better to learn from than that pair? Sure to be another great talk from E-Club, this is the second of the Archangel Speaker Series events. Coffee available beforehand and free wine/crisps to follow! No RSVP needed, just show up.

Entrepreneur In Residence Sessions: Tuesday 10th Nov, 9:30am-4:15pm at Business School (7 Bristo Sq)

Organised by E-Club, these sessions give startups and folks wanting to start companies a chance to speak with someone who’s ‘been there, done that.’ The resident expert this month is George Mackintosh, a seasoned entrepreneur turned angel who is making the journey from London for the occasion. This is a book-ahead-of-time deal, but if you didn’t claim a slot this time, you can sign up for the next session with Gavin Don on 18th January.

Market Assessment Night with iCUE: Tuesday 1oth Nov, 7-9pm at Appleton Tower LT1

Join LAUNCH.ed and three top student-entrepreneurs for a practical workshop on market assessment. Guest speakers include Jonathan Millin of Zoomatelo, who recently won £1000 in a pitching competition, Barnaby Lewis, who runs an online custom clothing store, and iCUE’s own Max Dunhill. We’ll have an introduction to the basics, pitches from each of the guest speakers, and an opportunity to win prizes. No need to RSVP, and pizza and beer provided – even better!

Edinburgh Web Design & Development Meetup: Tuesday 10th Nov, 7pm on Chambers St

A meetup group I just came across on meetup.com… surprised I’ve never heard about it, but seemed worth mentioning so join the meetup group to get the address if you are interested. A chance to chat about trends, share experiences, and learn from each other. Seems to be a cozy gathering of 7 or so web folks, and probably a very nice bunch: ‘Whilst the Meetup is largely intended for those relatively well versed in the area of Web Design / Development, newcomers and people with a general interest in the subject are more than welcome.’ Being held in a private home (courtesy of Luke), so best if you can RSVP.

Tech Meetup: Wednesday 11th Nov, 6:30pm at Appleton Tower 8th Floor (11 Chrichton St)

Come get your geek on, you know you want to. A monthly must for anyone in the tech startup scene – developers, programmers, entrepreneurs, students, community members, and curious bystanders. Most importantly, there will be free pizza and beer =). No RSVP or tickets needed, it’s a very open and inviting bunch. Finally a Tech Meetup that has nobody has planned an event to conflict with, I am very excited to return.

Free Drinks for the Ladies and Brave Men: Thursday 12th Nov, 6:30pm at Tigerlily (George St)

Thanks to Accenture‘s recruitment budget, free drinks – and probably canapes – await anyone willing to go through a women’s communication skills workshop this Thursday. As I’m sure they are not allowed to be exclusive (it’s a diversity event after all!), gentlemen after a free beverage could easily argue that they’re attending to understand how the hell women communicate. Convincing? Well we just couldn’t help but peruse the corporate sponsored food and drink calendar (ie. career presentation schedule), and looks like our free drink opportunities are running out – so grab em while you can! Oh yeah and RSVP to edinburghdiversity@accenture.com for this one.

NEoN Digital Arts Festival: Friday 13th – Sunday 15th Nov, Dundee

Organised by Interactive Tayside, NEoN brings together all sorts of digital arts goodness for this 3-day festival across Dundee. Tickets are not cheap (£100/£60 for one-day pass), but the programme is certainly impressive. Speakers include ex Disney pixar legend Bud Luckey, the founder of The Designers Republic Ian Anderson, Father of Grand theft Auto and Lemmings Dave Jones, and a long list of others. You can check out the schedule and ticket info here (click in the cloud at the bottom).

[Rescheduled for 26th Nov!] Dundee Girl Geeks Dinner: Saturday 14th Nov, 6-10pm at WhiteSpace, University of Abertay

Girl Geeks gets the ladies mingling during the NEoN Festival, and at a more affordable £15 (includes dinner and drinks!) this is a good way to catch some of the NEoN spirit. Speakers are top notch as usual, and this time include international artist Gina Czarnecki, Realtime Worlds’ Carol Clark, and Virtuale-e’s Pauline Randall. Also as usual, this event is sold out far ahead of time, but keep an eye out for future Girl Geeks Dinners if you are interested. Gentlemen, you are always welcome too, just get a lady to invite you (comment below if you’d like a future invite).

Still hungry? Get your tickets to more free meals (and cool events!) for the following:

Scottish Open Source Awards: Friday 20th Nov, 6:30-10pm (celebrate contributions to open source software with a free dinner, drinks, keynote from Ian Ritchie, and the awards themselves. Can you believe there are still tickets?)

MIT Workshop on Global Sales Strategies: 20th-21st Nov at Heriot Watt (free for high-growth tech startups with under 250 employees, see details and registration info on the site)

SICSA DemoFest: Tuesday 24th Nov, 5pm (all the hot research and advancements in informatics coming out of Scottish universities).

Winning Through Innovation: Wednesday 25th Nov in Edinburgh, also Tuesday 24th Nov in Glasgow, 9am-1:30pm (a fun Scottish Enterprise conference with a good set of speakers).

TEDx Edinburgh: Thursday 26th Nov, 3pm (Note this TEDx event is not aimed at startups, but with a theme of Local Models of Participation, Inclusion, and Sustainability perhaps it is of interest to some of you).