What we’re about
The One-stop shop for SMEs, Start-ups and Scale ups!
We bring people in the Silicon Roundabout together to discuss, share, pitch and network.
In London’s competitive investment climate, entrepreneurs often lack the business connections and brand awareness to get the attention of potential funders, and at the same time many investors don't have a pipeline into early-stage technology and Internet companies.
TechCitizen provides a unique funnel for innovators to interact with a wide range of investors, present their plans, receive expert feedback, bring in strong leadership, and pave the way for them to receive angel and institutional funding.
The focus of the groups is to host events on business and personal development for startups/scale ups. We can also organise events that your members suggest. Also, we place lots of emphasis on Mentoring and face to face meetings.
Examples of our events include – law, finance, accounting, marketing, sales, PR, pitching, mentoring, etc. most of these are free to attend. I would suggest to have a look at our meetup page to see the standards of our events.
Strategic Partner:
London and Partners, TechUK, F6s, DIT, Bloomberg, WeWork, European Expert network, Woto, Radium services, Swiss impulse, Ourfield, Thinkingaroundcorners.
The Mayor's International Business Programme helps high-growth businesses from London’s Technology, Life Sciences and Urban sectors, to expand internationally. Tailored to fit a company’s specific international growth ambitions, the programme provides a bespoke mentoring scheme, delivered by leading entrepreneurs and business leaders; expert advice and workshops; targeted trade missions; and access to live leads and opportunities.
Tech Citizen Entrepreneurship Academy (TCEA)
As we approach our 300th event with this meetup group, our members have requested that we have a framework that will help them to progress up the Entrepreneurship ladder.
This will enable members to see what more they need to do and for the co-hosts to assess the quality and feedback from the events. For this reason, we have designed 10 modules for Entrepreneurship development.
Action plan
You and your team should attend events for all the modules below. You will only get out of this meetup group what you put into it.
Common mistake
Avoid focusing on or spending a disproportionate amount of time just on one or two of the modules; this is a fundamental/fatal mistake. All the 10 modules are important and we suggest you get a good understanding of all their content.
Proactive and preparation
Planning and preparation to create a road map is the key to success. You will need to be proactive and have a plan whereby you have good knowledge of each module, 12 to 18 month before you need it.
Relevant resource
The Number 1 Skill That Entrepreneurs Use in Their Business- Antony Robbins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cORxDp2RqTo
Objective
For startups teams to build their competence and skillset/mindset in all the 10 modules, as early as possible in the business life cycle.
Modules
The modules are listed together with a competence level (/10 for each module) and a time frame for completion. We will reference our events and workshops to each of the 10 modules below:
Description Competence Time frame
1. Managing teams
Module: MT
Content: hiring, training, culture, communication
change, engagement, incentives, team, leadership
2. Marketing & Sales
Module: MS
Content: Growth hacking, CRM, BI, customer, personas,
partnerships, PR, Branding, traction, Go to market
3. Finance & Accounting
Module: MA
Content: Financial management and modelling, margins,
accounting, pricing, cash flow, financial statements, reporting
4. Legal & Compliance
Module: LC
Content: Employment law, IP, Trade marks, regulation,
contracts, privacy, term sheets, stock/shares
5. Market fit
Module: MF
Content: Testing, Market research, Pivot, market size,
competitor analysis, monetisation, value proposition
6. Funding & Investment
Module: FI
Content: Investment, SEIS/EIS, pitching, presentation,
Business plans (SWOT, Goals, vision), milestones
7. Product development
Module: PD
Content: Lean start up, MVP, UX/UI, outsourcing, 10x,
outsourcing, back/front end, iteration/improvements
8. Operations & Logistics
Module: OL
Content: Admin, procedure/process/policy, risks, governance,
suppliers, IT, KPIs, Metrics, Ratios
9. Scale up strategy
Module: SS
Content: Growth, expansion, execution, export
country beach head
10. Personal development
Module: PD
Content: Founders mindset, resilience, persistence,
proactive, performance, time management, discipline
“Investment ready”
Requirements, to be in the top 1 %:
1. 10 slide pitch deck,
2. Pitching practice,
Practice makes perfect.
There is no substitute for practice.
Pitch deck and pitching to Investor
All companies that pitch at the event will use the same pitch deck.
If your company would like to pitch to the investors, then request the
“10 slide pitch deck – 5 min pitch” template.
First, you will have to send me all 7 items/information about your company:
1.description, 2. age, 3. stage, 4. team, 5. investments, 6. Traction, 7. Website.
Investor meeting conduct
You will get to meet with many investors in this meetup group. Follow this code:
1. Primarily, research and read the Investors website, in particular their portfolio. 2. Investigate and check if the VC is a relevant fit for you and your company. 3. Be prepared to spend a percentage of your time on a regular basis to get investment. 4. There are no short/quick fixes to the investment process. 5. You will need to meet with several investors over a long period of time. 6. Do not form a queue in order to talk to a VC, during the networking session. 7. Do not cold approach investors. It is better to get to know them by a warm introduction from a person within their network
Four stages of growth and Investment
Tech investors make Tech investment based on the Tech Milestones that you achieve
These are guidelines for you to follow, when looking for investors/investment:
Stage 1: Idea
Investment size – up to £ 50 k
Risk to investor - Extremely high
Milestones - You have a good idea and are putting together a team.
You will need to form a UK based company.
Stage 2: Seed stage
Investment size – up to £ 150 k (SEIS)
Risk to investor - High
Milestones - You product has been successfully tested and you are about to launch.
You also have a great team.
You will need to register for "HMRC: SEIS Advanced assurance"
Stage 3: Revenue
Investment size – up to £ 250 k
Risk to investor - Medium
Milestones - Your company has recurring UK revenues and significant traction.
Both the quality and the quantity of the revenue/traction is important
Stage 4: Growth
Investment size – over £ 250 k
Risk to investor - Low
Milestones - Everything is in place and your company is looking to expand and scale
Your GPS system
Emphasis is on Growth, Profitability and Scalability_Sustainability
- by using industry best practises.
http://fundersandfounders.com/startup-mistakes/
https://www.cbinsights.com/research-reports/The-20-Reasons-Startups-Fail.pdf
Jason Huertas, author of My Startup Failed, says this is common, writing:
“You think that you know it all. After all, you’re already successful in your mind, so who cares what others have to say? Fight that urge every day…You know nothing.”
Harvard Business School’s Shikhar Ghosh explains the problem like this:
"Start-ups often fail because founders and investors neglect to look before they leap, surging forward with plans without taking the time to realize that the base assumption of the business plan is wrong. They believe they can predict the future, rather than try to create a future with their customers. Entrepreneurs tend to be single-minded with their strategies—wanting the venture to be all about the technology or all about the sales, without taking time to form a balanced plan…failure is the norm."
Top 1 %
Successful Business model is ALL 3:
- high Tech,
- solid Business best practice, &
- disciplined Entrepreneurs
Start up stands for:
S calability
T eam
A real need
R evenue (rule breaker)
T hird party validation
U SP (users)
P rototype (MVP)
Important Cs
***Collaboration***Content***Contacts***Cash flows***Concepts
***Competition***Costs***Connection***Customers***Change
Confidence, Discipline, Motivation, Positivity, Optimism, Communication,
Time management, Leadership, Focus, Health, Self-Esteem, Resilience,
Resourcefulness, Teamwork, Proactive, Initiative, Personality, Passion, Character,
Corporate functions
IT, Finance, H.R., Customer services, Governance, Compliance, Marketing,
Sales, Product dev, Project Mgt, Operations, Enterprise, Export, Risk,
Purchasing and Inventory, Legal, Admin.
Planning and Performance
Forecasting, Monitoring, Metrics, Measurement, Deliverables, Deadlines
Targets/Goals, Achievements
Mentor
Methodology, Execution, Network, Tutor, Organisation, Results
Revenue model
Projection, Forecasts, Metrics, cost of Acquisition, Repeat customers
Markets
Supply, Demand, Risk, Size, Segmentation, Disruption, Market research,
Market data, Market fit, Tracking, Saturation, Maturity, Message, Barriers,
New markets, Adjacent markets, Market niche
Sales
Marketing
Operations
Products/Services
To be in Business, you have to know about Business.
Reasons why startup fail:
https://twitter.com/EC1Capital/status/556393006421790720/photo/1
10 tips to deliver a successful Silicon Valley pitch. Check it out here:
http://www.slideshare.net/MPerruchet/10-t-46776150
Chris O’Donnell of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures offers an inside look at his calendar and activities to display how he spends his time in “What the Heck Does a VC Do All Week Anyway?”
Growth hacking:
https://growthhackers.com/growth-studies/
The open meeting is held on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday and everyone interested in
Business and Personal Development is welcome!
