Local SIE intern and Startupcafe regular, Hilary Singer, passed on details of the upcoming SIE SockCamp. Spun out of the SIE Bootcamp, SockCamp is a nicer, softer, half-day business workshop that makes your ideas leaner, meaner and fitter – FAST. (But hopefully with better food than army rations.)
It’s an Edinburgh wide event, so if you’re interested, please email Hilary at hilary.singer@ed.ac.uk
Posted in Local News | Leave a Comment »
Further to Kate’s recent article about CereProc giving Roger Ebert his voice back, it’s awesome to see them on CBS News. The footage was shown yesterday afternoon, and a couple of us on the 6th floor were drawn into the CereProc office upon hearing their excited reactions. They certainly picked a beautiful spot to show off the city too!
Video 1: Company Restores Roger Ebert's Voice
Posted in Local News | Tagged CBS News, Cereproc, edinburgh, Roger Ebert, voice | 3 Comments »
There’s a new society in town. Arising out of the Business School, the Strategy Society is holding its first public event this week, and they are not starting small. Bringing in the former COO of local drinks giant Scottish & Newcastle sounds like a great start to their activities, and it is open to anyone interested in soaking up some business strategy. Details below provided by David Luger, and we’ll catch up with the Strategy Society team soon for more scoop on what’s to come:
TOM WARD, FORMER COO SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE PLC
WEDNESDAY 3rd MARCH 18:30 – 20:00 LECTURE THEATRE 1, BUSINESS SCHOOL (7 BRISTO SQ)
The Strategy Society is holding a discussion with Tom Ward about the drive of companies to internationalize their business operations. As the former COO of Scottish & Newcastle plc, Mr. Ward was witness to an era of Continue Reading »
Posted in Events, Local News | Tagged Business School, business strategy, Scottish & Newcastle, Strategy Society, Tom Ward | 1 Comment »
Most of the year, talk of prizes and awards means a chance for startups and entrepreneurs to gain recognition. Right now though, the tables are turning. There are many folks in the university community who go above and beyond for all of us, with guidance and advice that rarely gets proper acknowledgement. They give up countless evenings, weekends and lunch hours to organise workshops, listen to your problems, help you with your plan/pitch, and make sure we have all the resources we need (beer, pizza, floor space, tech equipment, market research, business contacts, you name it) to make our dreams come true.
SIE is now giving us the chance to recognise and thank the people who help make starting a business that much easier and smoother. I can think of so many worthy recipients of the following award, and encourage you to take half an hour out of your busy schedule in the next week to nominate someone who has made a difference to you. You have until 9am Monday 8th March (aka Sunday night)… I have posted the application questions below – email your answers to a.ives@sie.ac.uk. Continue Reading »
Posted in Competitions, Local News | Tagged Entrepreneurship Education of the Year, sie, Thank You | Leave a Comment »
E-Club’s biannual pitching competition is tonight, so you can go whoop, cheer, and safely learn from the 6 brave pitchees. You’re sure to recognise some faces – if you’ve ever been to an event in Edinburgh before – and even our own Kate Ho will be stepping into the den. The event kicks off at 6:30pm at the Business School (7 Bristo Square), Lecture Theatre 1, and it is open to anyone in the community.
Judges will be Cameron Thomson of Angel’s Den, Patrick Andrews of ScotSkills, John Hughes of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce (High Growth), and Scott McLennan of Santander. So it could be worth going along if you’ve been wanting to meet any of them…
Prizes are exciting, with £1000 from sponsors Santander going to one lucky contestant, and free Angel’s Den registration (usually costing £799 + VAT) being awarded as well.
So, who’s pitching? Continue Reading »
Posted in Events, Local News | Tagged Angel's Den, Dragon's Den, e-club, ScotSkills | 16 Comments »
By Ian Stevenson, Saltire Fellow
Back in 2008, an e-mail dropped into my inbox advertising the Saltire Foundation Fellowship. It described a combination of business education and practical experience through placements that sounded very appealing to me, and it was funded by the foundation, so I decided to investigate further. At the time, I was CTO of a Scottish software company called CHIL, and I was at a stage of my career where I found myself increasingly making business related decisions I felt unqualified for. This was in contrast to my technical work, where a combination of my undergraduate degree and experience had equipped me pretty well. I had already been looking at a number of MBA programmes, but I hadn’t been terribly motivated by what I had seen. Most of the schools I could afford to go to were focussed on very corporate programmes, and I had spent my whole career around young technology companies. Most of the programmes I found inspiring, I couldn’t afford. Continue Reading »
Posted in Local News | 3 Comments »
Just a quick shout out to anyone that might be interested.
Emma McGrattan, Vice President of Ingres, an open source database company based in the U.S., is in Edinburgh next week (1st-3rd March). The Edinburgh Girl Geeks Dinner team which is bringing her over to speak, is interested in talking to anyone that is interested in meeting with Emma. So if you know of anyone working in or with open source databases in the Central Belt, then drop Bonnie Webber an email.
Posted in Local News | Tagged databases, emma mcgrattan, ingres | Leave a Comment »
Interface3, a startup specialising in multitouch and gestural based software for the retail and retail finance industries, has been shortlisted for the Shell Livewire Grand Ideas award!
Of course, it’s important to hold up the big DISCLOSURE sign here and point out that Interface3 is my own startup, and I’m incredibly pleased that we were shortlisted. At the moment, there is a public vote – and those scores get put in with some judges scores and the top 4 out of 8 businesses get awarded £1000 to spend on their businesses (and they do check that it was for your business!)
If you’re feeling curious or generous, and want to know what Interface3 is doing, you can log onto the Shell Livewire website, onto the “My Business Kit” page, watch the 60 second video pitches and cast your vote. (We’re the video on the top row, third from left)
Incidentally, I’ll be writing about how to apply for the award, and how to generate PR as a result of the award later on next week! 🙂
Posted in Local News | 7 Comments »
According to TechCrunch, Edinburgh-based Internet and SEO agency Bigmouthmedia will merge with LBI International – a global marketing company:
LBi International, the global marketing and technology agency, is to merge with SEO and Internet marketing specialistbigmouthmedia, creating “Europe’s largest digital agency”.
The deal is deal worth around £100m (roughly $150 million),reports Econsultancy, with the two companies combining “to offer clients digital marketing, consulting and technology services wherever they operate, all under one roof.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Local News | Leave a Comment »
Local startup and Appleton Tower resident, CereProc, has been working with world famous film critic, Roger Ebert, in regaining his voice. Ebert lost his voice due to surgery in 2007 for thyroid cancer; CereProc, which has developed technology that can synthesis voices from previous samples, used Ebert’s extensive library of DVD commentary and film archives to reproduce his voice. Continue Reading »
Posted in Local News | Tagged Cereproc, edinburgh, Roger Ebert | 3 Comments »
StartupCafe 