Things have been slightly quieter than usual at Startupcafe recently, so we thought we would give you a bit of an update, so you don’t think we’ve neglected you!
First off, a few of you were caught out by our “real-life cafe” story on the 1st April. Although we deliberately tried to put in a few big clues, we managed to sound convincing enough for a number of our readers to believe it was real. While I attribute part of it to Jessica’s ability to compose prose; a large dose of it was also down to the desperate need for startups for good facilities. Several people have mentioned that this should be an area that Scottish Enterprise should address – but alas, with the expected public funding cuts, I fear that belts will be tightened.
On a brighter note, last week, we met with Guardian blogger – Sarah Hartley! Sarah was involved in the Guardian’s beatblogger experiment which I have mentioned before. I finally got an answer to my longing question – why did the Guardian choose Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds as the three cities to start their beatblogging project with? It turns out, that it’s tied to politics! Edinburgh have the Scottish Parliament, Cardiff – the welsh assembly, and Leeds have interesting political implications. I can’t wait to see how Tom gets on at Edinburgh!
In other fun happenings, we met with Alistair Fleming to chat about the new quarterly business magazine he is bringing to the Scottish scene. Following the success of BQ in the North East (BQ = Business Quarter), the team is getting ready to launch BQ Scotland for the business communities in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We’re thrilled to welcome BQ to the scene, and several of you already got to meet Alistair as we took him for a tour of Appleton Tower startups. We hope to see many of you in their entrepreneurship headline stories, and StartupCafe will also be contributing to their news roundups. Look out for their launch mid-June.
Lastly, we’ve been thinking about kicking off a new and exciting project, to be released in about 2 month’s time. Things are still at an early stage, but if everything goes through – we should have an exciting announcement for you!
Remember, if you have any news related to your startup, then feel free to drop us a line at hello@startupcafe.co.uk!
StartupCafe 
Psst… What’s the secret? Does it have anything to do with cupcakes?
Booo, no real-life Startup Cafe! But that’s okay. Here’s another question: where do entrepreneurial Edinburgh types drag their laptops to work?
My favourites so far (having moved back to the city this week) are the Black Medicine on Marchmont Road, and the comfortable nonconformity of the Forest Cafe. But is there somewhere I really ought to check out?
Hilary – my lips are sealed! I was already accused of leaking info (before I knew it was a secret plan, mwahahah)
Ben – there was a discussion along those lines on 38 minutes, so you can check out Georgia’s post for some other views: http://38minutes.ning.com/group/iphoneapps/forum/topics/mobile-working-iphone-app-in?xg_source=activity
Perhaps not the most atmospheric, but I’m a big fan of Assembly (Bristo Sq) and Grind House (Nicolson) because I can go for hours and not feel guilty – and get affordable snacks if craved… Black Medicine and Forest Cafe are awesome choices tho, you’re doing well!
Black Medicine Bruntsfield is the new place of choice for me.