Lean coffee – meet other founders & budding entrepreneurs

Join us on Friday 18th March for our next Lean Coffee morning, this month themed around finding a co-founder.

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Who's it for?

Do you feel a compulsion to get a new project, product, app or service that you believe in, live and into the real world?

Are you a skilled tech, design or marketing professional attracted to the energy of the startup scene?

Or are you just super energised and excited to help someone bring their vision to the world?

Why are co-founders important?

Working on your own can be lonely and stressful. Everything is on you and there's no one around who understands what you're going through. It needn't be so. While running a business on your own does mean you have full control, it also means the buck stops with you. You're the only one carrying the burden of all the pressure.

However if you were able to share the load it could be less hard... and also even fun.

Finding a Co-founder

Like dating there's no silver bullet. You can't just fill in a profile on a website and then be expected to be matched with your perfect partner. One of the keys to a successful founder relationship is having common values and complimentary skills. But ultimately it's based on trust.

"Often it's better to build relationships with people over years, so that when you do start a company you already have a network of people you really like and trust." Steli Efti and Hiten Shah

Rather than trying to find a co-founder just before you want to launch we suggest starting a lot earlier. Find a network of people you can trust and share your early ideas with people. Look for feedback, learn from other people's experiences and discover who understands what you're trying to achieve and really wants to help.

Luckily Laurence and I have known each other from school and so the trust in our relationship was baked in over many years. We want to help you build your network of trusted people and accelerate your journey from being someone with an idea to a team of people working to build something amazing.

We have a community with a diverse set of skills but aligned in values just waiting to help.

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Our monthly Lean Coffee gatherings encourage energy, inspiration and strong connections between local creatives, entrepreneurs and wannabepreneurs. Together we can help find more meaning in our work and lives... and maybe perhaps even start something together.

We're opening our doors at 9am with coffees, teas and pastries for all, then we'll break off into small groups for knowledge share to the extreme.

Read on...

The Lean Coffee format

Lean coffee is a structured but agenda-less meeting. Participants gather, democratically choose the topic of discussion by vote, then get talking. Simples.

There are dozens of Lean Coffee meetups happening across the world in places like Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto, Stockholm, Edinburgh and now we've put Brighton on the list.

Who usually comes along?

• budding startups
• intrapreneurs
• small business owners
• one man bands
• people with a passion for startups
• ...and anyone who simply wants to learn, or create.

Topics regularly discussed within small groups are:

• productivity hacks

• how to test an idea without having customers

• building a 100% transparent company

• pricing your services effectively

• how to find designers/developers

• how to choose the right product features

• community building hacks

• growth & content marketing

... and this time round we'd like you to share any pipe dreams and visions of businesses you'd like to build. It'll be a time to get some feedback and maybe find supporters.

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