Posted in Beta Invites, Roundtable Discussion on 7 September, 2010| 3 Comments »
Imagine if Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were locked in a cage; force-fed haggis; made to watched Braveheart on loop and wore tartan kilts, then the result would be Kiltr.
Kiltr, a social network for Scottish professionals, aims to help Scotland based professionals and overseas Scots to network together.
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 20 November, 2009| 4 Comments »
We often wonder about the habits that lead to entrepreneurial success and as it’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, this is probably a very good time indeed to consider adopting new good habits and identifying/disposing of bad ones!
So this week we are asking “Which good habit do you hope to develop soon in your quest to become a successful entrepreneur?” (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 9 November, 2009| 3 Comments »
It’s about time we posted another Roundtable discussion! This week we are asking: What wacky marketing campaign has amused or annoyed you lately? There are truckloads to choose from, aren’t there?! So let’s begin…
Jess: While Apple and Verizon have gotten flack for recent ads poking fun at their competitors, I must admit I am enjoying the bitchiness. I converted from PC to Mac two years ago after the (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 16 September, 2009| 3 Comments »
We all waited in suspense to get Apple’s verdict on the Spotify app and sighed with relief after it was finally accepted into the iPhone app store last week. Well, some of us were looking forward to a good battle, but it was a nice outcome nonetheless. The decision proved highly popular as Spotify became the top free app in the iTunes store within 48 hours of its release. The catch that it can only be used by subscribers, however, has raised complaints from folks objecting to paying £10 per month (sorry, that’s the going model…). In light of the Spotify/Apple drama and Napster closing down earlier this summer, we ask the question:
How do you currently consume music and how will it change in the future?
Bela: I think I’m slightly behind with the way that I consume music. I watch music channels on TV and I (more…)
Posted in Events, Local News, Roundtable Discussion on 12 September, 2009| Leave a Comment »
The previous week was absolutely packed with tech and business events (Events Menu here for a recap), and unless you completely abandoned all other obligations including sleep, you probably didn’t catch them all. Luckily for you, we were running around spastically to fit in quite a few… So in order to keep you in the loop, we thought we’d each share which event we liked most and what interesting things we took away with us. Our highlights below, but if you had a different favourite, add your thoughts too!
Thomas: Last week, we were lucky to be invited at RunRev’s annual conference, organised this year in Edinburgh at the Dynamic Earth. Three words: what a venue! I went to a number of events there before, but they topped everything (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 1 September, 2009| 6 Comments »
Last week, Network Rail proposed a high speed rail line linking several major UK cities together costing £35 billion. If it goes ahead, the Edinburgh-London journey time would only be 2 hours and 9 minutes! This week, we want to discuss whether the proposed plans will have a significant impact on startups.
Thomas: I can’t wait to see it actually happen. Coming from France, I am of course a supporter of high speed rails links, as I’ve seen them expand across the Channel. The Paris to Lyon link is one of the most profitable routes for the SNCF, the company running trains in France. The route is mostly used by commuters, who travel between the two cities (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 17 July, 2009| 16 Comments »
For this week’s roundtable discussion, we have chosen to answer – when is it appropriate or inappropriate to pitch your business?
Are there hard and fast rules to apply when it comes to pitching/selling? When is it acceptable to talk about your company and when is it not?
Bela: Please don’t pitch to me in lieu of actual conversation! I attend lots of talks and events, and yes they do provide opportunities to network but that doesn’t mean it is appropriate to ‘work the room’ by trying to sell. (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 6 July, 2009| 1 Comment »
This past week, Twitter and Facebook went crazy over Michael Jackson’s death. Of course, we’re not the only ones that noticed – apparently so did the Telegraph, Bloomberg, TechRadar and even the Mirror. We’re constantly being told that social media will replace traditional media as the channel for hearing about news. Considering MJ’s demise was huge news around the world, how did our four bloggers hear about it?
Kate: Contrary to social media predictions, I heard about Michael Jackson’s illness whilst watching Newsnight – and tweeted about it. After that, I did a twitter search on Michael Jackson, and there was easily 1000+ tweets per (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion, tagged discussion, twitter on 15 June, 2009| 3 Comments »
Each week, we will be posing a question, with each of us providing our perspective of things. To kick our first Roundtable feature off, we’re asking the question:
How do you use Twitter?
Thomas: It took me quite a long time before understanding why Twitter would be useful to the non-technical crowd. It is only when the service grew rapidly in the UK at the end of 2008 that a critical mass of my network started using it. Most of the time, I choose to tweet about news items and blog posts I find interesting. I like to see how my contacts react to those. I have also been able to use the platform to communicate with high profile entrepreneurs, which would have been more difficult normally. To me, Twitter is the combination of networking and information platforms. (more…)
Posted in Roundtable Discussion on 7 June, 2009| 11 Comments »
The StartupCafe Team
Welcome to Startup Cafe! We aim to be a fun and humorous place to go to for local startup news. We’ll be offering you an alternative commentary of tech, startup and social media happenings; along with announcements of jobs, events and competitions (all with a dose of silliness). As if that’s not enough, we’ll also be showcasing local startups and giving them a place to shout out their successes. (more…)
StartupCafe 