Blog

Perspectives on the wonderful world of tech

The Lean Startup Virus mutates. This time it’s BIGGER than ever.

Bad news about the Lean Startup Virus. It’s catching…

One of the questions that was asked approximately 250 times in an audience of 530 when we put our Eric Ries Lean Startup talk together in London this January (link to video and Q&A here), went along the lines of, “Yeah, yeah yeah, but this doesn’t actually effect us as we’re too big to be Lean.”

I wish I had read this article by Sukumar Rajagopal, CIO of Cognizant on the Pursuit of Employee Delight before then.

He has taken some of the principles of Eric’s Lean Startup and Geoffrey Moore’s concept of ‘Systems of Engagement’ and ‘Systems of Record’ and how this relates to the consumer/enterprise software IT divide (think Sunday night vs Monday morning…) and applied them pretty successfully in a company of 140,000 people. It probably doesn’t qualify as a startup…

“Sometime in 2010, June to be precise, I became CIO of Cognizant (Nasdaq:CTSH). Soon after starting on the new job, I checked with our top management (CEO, President, Group Chief Executive) on the primary goal of IT (Information Technology) at Cognizant. They unanimously said, IT should strive to produce “associate delight” (we call our employees associates). On behalf of the team, I accepted this goal as a key element of the IT charter – blame it on my newbie naïveté 🙂

“When I checked with other CIOs on this, they were highly skeptical. They said it is impossible for a corporate IT department within a Fortune 500 firm to produce associate delight through software applications. It seemed impossible indeed, but we were not deterred.”

By studying what their associates were doing in their business day, and using the simple example of a complicated time sheet system that took 5 clicks to get to actual time sheet as a proof of concept, Sukumar’s team came up with some big goals:

Read more

Could you be our Marketing Manager?

The Business Leaders Network – where technology and business meet

The BLN produces high quality networking events – from small CEO dinners through to summits for 500 or so people – the movers and shakers in the technology sector. We bring together disruptive entrepreneurs and senior executives, active investors and big-budget buyers to meet, talk and do business in a fun and informative environment.

By being the place where technology and business meet, BLN also produces widely read content about management, emerging trends and running a sustainable profitable business whilst staying sane. We love startups but most of the businesses that come to our events are well on the way to growing up. We think the leaders of businesses that have scaled beyond their startup phase need a thoughtful place to share ideas and meet companies that they can do business with. That’s The BLN.

Our customers love us and we love what we do. Here are just some of the events we run in Cambridge, Londonand Boston, MA: Making it MobileBusiness of SoftwareGrowth ForumCEO Tales.

We want to do more and we know we need some brilliant people to help us achieve our goal of being the place where ambitious, disruptive, technology entrepreneurs meet great people who can help them achieve their aims. We hope you might be able to help us…

We’re hiring.

  • We are looking for ambitious, experienced, competent, motivated individuals to join a small, busy team to help us build an awesome events business. We need to involve some great people with the skills and experience to help us to take our business to another level. We’re happy to work with people who may not be in a position to work full time at the moment because our aim is to work with great people who can play a major part in helping us grow in the medium term.
  • You will get the chance to rub shoulders with inspiring people – entrepreneurs, investors and industry people who can see how technology is changing the world and want to play a part in making that happen. You will have responsibility from the outset, be expected to build your own contacts and will be challenged every day you come into work.
  • We already have a great reputation for producing valuable events for some of the best people in the sectors that we work in. We are looking for people who can help us consolidate and grow our reputation and the reach of our events both in theUKand overseas.
  • We hope you’ll be interested in getting involved and have the right skills, experience and attitude to help us get there.

Job Title: Marketing Manager (part-time)

Main Purpose of the Job: Events may take place at a point in time, but they need momentum months in advance to deliver the best gathering of people in the industry (we don’t settle for anything less). We also want to build a more active community pre- and post-event. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to manage our event marketing campaigns. This involves some very loud, but often subtle, shouting, so no wilting flowers here.

  • Location: The role will be based in our Cambridge office initially to allow you to get up to speed, moving to a mixture of working from home and working from the office (at least one day per week)
  • Payscale: Competitive
  • Hours: This role will be 20 – 25 hours per week with some flexibility in the days worked
  • Reports to: Mark Littlewood, Director
  • Direct reports (if any) None currently

Key responsibilities and deliverables

  • Ensure that our target audience are attending events by managing pre and post event promotion and awareness of the BLN event programme
  • Find the right people for our events and engage with them by developing and executing a plan to build and manage the best opt-in database
  • Maintain and grow the database to allow you to create and issue email campaigns and establish an industry e-newsletter
  • Use your copywriting skills to create effective campaigns to grow the database and increase event bookings
  • Encourage engagement across the BLN by writing quality content for the company’s blog and promoting it in relevant places
  • Build relationships with third party organisations such as sponsors, media partners etc., to promote and support event marketing activity and promote awareness of the events
  • Refine current social media activities to develop an appropriate, relevant and consistent social media strategy for the BLN
  • Engage with the widest possible audience by using video content and delivering maximum impact to our marketing campaigns
  • Take responsibility for organising event marketing literature and event give-aways, working in partnership with event sponsors

Other responsibilities

  • Stand up and be counted – take responsibility for putting forward your own ideas and suggestions to improve upon and develop current ways of working
  • This role will involve some travel within the UK (predominantly London) and could involve some overseas travel

Working relationships: Mark Littlewood, Marcin Zaba, the Events Coordinator, media partners, sponsors, event participants, external web developer and video producer

Major challenges

The principle challenge of this role will be to work in a small office in an entrepreneurial environment and to focus on delivering useful valuable and meaningful events to our target audience. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working within an entrepreneurial environment and have the skills, experience and desire to play a major role in building the organisation over time.

Career progression

This is very much a hands on role which will develop over time for the post holder to have strategic input into the business.  Once established in the role, you may have the opportunity to build and lead a delivery team of people

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications: Degree level education (Desirable).

Knowledge, skills and experience

  • Background in technology or finance (Desirable)
  • IT literacy, literacy, numeracy. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, WordPress, CRM
  • Developing and executing demand generation programs including email and online campaign activity
  • Experience in writing and executing successful marketing campaigns
  • Copywriting for an audience of senior decision makers
  • Experience in delivering successful marketing activity on minimal budgets
  • Experience of InDesign would be a big bonus
  • At least one superpower

Personality, character traits and disposition

  • Enthusiasm for business use of social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter) and an interest in business and technology news
  • Proactive self-starter, taking initiative to get things done without supervision
  • Hands-on, willingness to get involved in multiple tasks as required
  • Creative, highly organised, attention to detail, team player
  • Strong ownership of responsibilities

Miscellaneous:

  • Proof of the right to work in the UK.
  • UK Driving licence. (Desirable)

Excited?

If you’re excited by this role and want to apply, send a covering letter specifying which superpower you possess and how you’d use it in the role, along with a link to your LinkedIn profile or your CV to katherine@thebln.com

If you know someone that might fit and covet the role, please let them know.

No agencies please.

[subscribe2]

Read more

Seeking an Event Co-ordinator at The Business Leaders Network

The Business Leaders Network – where technology and business meet

The BLN produces high quality networking events – from small CEO dinners through to summits for 500 or so people – the movers and shakers in the technology sector. We bring together disruptive entrepreneurs and senior executives, active investors and big-budget buyers to meet, talk and do business in a fun and informative environment.

By being the place where technology and business meet, BLN also produces widely read content about management, emerging trends and running a sustainable profitable business whilst staying sane. We love startups but most of the businesses that come to our events are well on the way to growing up. We think the leaders of businesses that have scaled beyond their startup phase need a thoughtful place to share ideas and meet companies that they can do business with. That’s The BLN.

Our customers love us and we love what we do. Here are just some of the events we run in Cambridge, Londonand Boston, MA: Making it MobileBusiness of SoftwareGrowth ForumCEO Tales. We want to do more and we know we need some brilliant people to help us achieve our goal of being the place where ambitious, disruptive, technology entrepreneurs meet great people who can help them achieve their aims. We hope you might be able to help us…

We’re hiring.

  • We are looking for ambitious, experienced, competent, motivated individuals to join a small, busy team to help us build an awesome events business. We need to involve some great people with the skills and experience to help us to take our business to another level. We’re happy to work with people who may not be in a position to work full time at the moment because our aim is to work with great people who can play a major part in helping us grow in the medium term.
  • You will get the chance to rub shoulders with inspiring people – entrepreneurs, investors and industry people who can see how technology is changing the world and want to play a part in making that happen. You will have responsibility from the outset, be expected to build your own contacts and will be challenged every day you come into work.
  • We already have a great reputation for producing valuable events for some of the best people in the sectors that we work in. We are looking for people who can help us consolidate and grow our reputation and the reach of our events both in theUKand overseas.
  • We hope you’ll be interested in getting involved and have the right skills, experience and attitude to help us get there.

Job Title: Events Co-ordinator (part time)

Main Purpose of the Job: To ensure the smooth running of all the BLN events, co-ordinating and managing all aspects of the events from start to finish.

Location: The role will be based in our Cambridge office initially to allow you to get up to speed, moving to a mixture of working from home and working from the office (at least one day per week)

Payscale: Competitive

Hours: This role will be 20 – 25 hours per week with some flexibility in the days worked

Reports to: Mark Littlewood, the Director

Direct reports (if any): None at present

Key responsibilities and deliverables

  • Responsible for start to finish management of a wide variety of events – dinners, summits, conferences etc.
  • Make sure customers – sponsors, delegates, speakers – love working with us because our events are run smoothly, professionally and attract great people
  • Ensure that all events run smoothly and according to plan by liaising with venues, making catering and AV arrangements, etc.
  • Maintain our excellent reputation for quality events by looking after event participants and speakers and ensuring they are kept informed of everything they need to know about the event
  • Ensure that all aspects of registering event participants run smoothly, including the management and maintenance of the CRM system and the production of attendee lists and participant profiles
  • Take responsibility for pre-event management ensuring that client briefs, budgets, and deadlines are met
  • Carry out post-event follow-ups, working closely with Marketing to deliver excellent customer experience and gather feedback to assist in future event planning
  • Take financial control of projects, including cost control throughout the project ensuring best negotiated rates and delivery of each campaign within budget

Other responsibilities

  • Stand up and be counted – take responsibility for putting forward your own ideas and suggestions to improve upon and develop current ways of working
  • Where appropriate, the Events Co-ordinator may be asked to attend client and supplier meetings and briefings.
  • This role will involve some travel within theUK(predominantlyLondon) and could involve  some overseas travel

Working relationships

Mark Littlewood, Marcin Zaba, the Marketing Manager, sponsors, event participants

Major challenges

The main challenge of this role will be keeping on top of the details of multiple projects while being organised and efficient.  This is a relatively new role so the successful candidate will be challenged by being able to take the role and make it their own.

Career progression

The BLN is a small company.  Career progression is available to people who play a part in growing the business together with developing their own skills and experience.

Person Specification

Knowledge, skills and experience

  • Relevant experience within a marketing/event role
  • Experience running and maintaining CRM systems
  • IT literacy, literacy, numeracy. Excel, Word, PowerPoint
  • Experience in organising a high volume of live events
  • Excellent organiser – must have experience in management multiple events at any one time
  • Strong project manager
  • Background in technology (Desirable).
  • Experience managing a team of people onsite (event volunteers) with ability and authority to troubleshoot while keeping a smile on your face.
  • At least one superpower

Personality, character traits and disposition

  • Strong ownership of responsibility.
  • Good listening and questioning skills.
  • Proactive self-starter, taking initiative to get things done without supervision.
  • Hands-on, willingness to get involved in multiple tasks as required
  • Creative, highly organised, attention to detail, team player.

Miscellaneous:

  • Proof of the right to work in the UK
  • UK Driving licence. (Desirable)

Excited?

If you’re excited by this role and want to apply, send a covering letter specifying which superpower you possess and how you’d use it in the role, along with a link to your LinkedIn profile or your CV to katherine@thebln.com

If you know someone that might fit and covet the role, please let them know.

No agencies please.

[subscribe2]

Read more

Silicon Valley Bank – SVB – may become the UK’s most exclusive technology club

“I’m coming to  the UK to help open our commercial banking activity in the UK. We’re should be up and running in Q3”. So said Oscar Jazdowski in March 2010. Elaborately mustachioed, impeccably dressed, uber networked and unfailingly charming, Oscar reckoned without the tiny process of getting FSA for the new venture and so for the past two years, the UK’s technology companies have had to wait while the fledgling venture navigates its way through Financial Services Authority regulation. (And that remember is with the significant support of the government – George Osborne is quoted in the press release announcement this morning.

Oscar Jazdowski BLN Growth Forum

And now the time has come. Silicon Valley Bank has opened its doors for commercial banking business. There is currently very little real choice for technology companies and entrepreneurial businesses in the UK. The high street banks are without exception incredibly bad at understanding the relatively specialist needs of high growth companies. They are generally structured and managed around revenue with businesses of less than £20million revenue all being lumped together as SMEs. The, ‘Computer says, ‘No!” attitude is the norm and for entrepreneurs, the frustration of meeting a bank manager whose principle objective is to try to sell the account holder a series of standard products is significant.

So how will Silicon Valley Bank be different? (As I understand it anyway)

  • Understands growth: SVB focuses solely on technology customers and therefore understands that a company with £5,000 revenue in year one may actually be a great prospect for a bank if they have the right people behind them, the right investors or a market that is growing fast enough. They are likely to take entrepreneurs seriously.
  • Seeds and builds useful ecosystem Banks, and other service providers, like to see themselves as ‘partners’ of the businesses that they work with. On a local banking level, this might mean that you as a customer get invited to a golf day to meet some of the other customers of the bank. In reality, this might mean a round of golf with a racehorse breeder, a local builder and a couple of farmers. All very pleasant if you are in to that sort of thing. How much more useful would that golf day be if all of the other people you met were running technology businesses or wanted to help you grow your business and happened to know people all round the world that could make it happen?
  • International network As they are so well established in the US, they are likely to be able to make connections for the customers that other banks simply couldn’t. Does the manager of your current bank have access to the founders of Twitter for example?

So why won’t Silicon Valley Bank be right for every entrepreneur?

We think that a specialist technology bank operating in the UK is a great thing but it is also worth pointing out that it will not be right for every company.

The first thing to point out is that banks are not charities, they exist to make money, and SVB are likely to be as careful about who they lend money to, and on what terms, as other banks, even if they have a keener appreciation of the risks involved with lending money in the technology sector than their competitors. SVB have operated a core lending business in the UK for several years so this piece of their business – the provision of ‘venture debt’ alongside a select group of pre-approved venture investors, is not new. It will be interesting to see how their lending profile evolves but if they intend to lend ‘billions’, it is very unlikely to be in the form of a large number of small loans.

The second thing to point out is that banks are not charities – they are unlikely to be able to spend a lot of time speculatively with very early stage companies. They, like many organisations might wish that they could, but the reality is, they have to pay their overheads like any business and investing in early stage startups is hard.

Overall the news SVB are opening their commercial banking in the UK is great news for the best UK technology companies. They will not compete on price, they will likely compete on service and understanding of the sector. For that reason, those banking with SVB will become part of a pretty exclusive club. I can see a day, not far away, when banking at SVB will be a mark of cachet in the same way that having a Coutt’s cheque book was 20 years or so ago.

Here is an edited version of the SVB press release:

The Only Global Bank Dedicated to the Innovation Sector Will Provide Full UK Commercial Banking Services

LONDON and SANTA CLARA, Calif. — June 11, 2012 —Silicon Valley Bank, financial partner to the technology, life science, cleantech, private equity and venture capital industries, opened a full service commercial banking branch in London today to serve both local and international businesses. The first US bank to open a commercial banking branch in the UK in several years, Silicon Valley Bank is offering a full suite of products and services to innovation businesses in the UK, including current and deposit accounts, loans, cash management services, trade finance and foreign exchange.

Having banked some of the most successful and well-known technology brands in the world, including Cisco, Evernote, Mindspeed, Mozilla and Pinterest as well as some of the top investors in the sector including NEA, Sequoia Capital and Silver Lake, Silicon Valley Bank is a crucial part of the innovation ecosystem. For three decades in the US market, it has helped thousands of companies to be successful, from the earliest startups to large public companies. In the US, 50% of the venture capital-backed technology and life science companies work with Silicon Valley Bank.

Phil Cox, Head of UK, Israel and India for Silicon Valley Bank, added: “Silicon Valley Bank’s offering is unique in the UK. As a sector-focused organisation, we are highly specialised in our approach, fast-paced, and consider our deep expertise, dedication to the innovation space and unrivalled network of relationship contacts around the world to be clear differentiators. We have seen a marked shift in recent years in our chosen niche industries’ activity within the UK. The elements of an emerging and effective technology ecosystem are all around us: first class universities, an entrepreneurial and business ownership culture, investors, the emergence of technology clusters and the support for the sector within the UK government are all very positive indicators. Building on our credentials of supporting technology firms in the US, we are excited to be able to help the UK’s entrepreneurs meet and exceed their ambitious goals.”

Silicon Valley Bank has had a presence in the UK since 2004 through its affiliate SVB Financial Group UK Limited, providing access to financing solutions for some of the highest profile and fastest growing UK-based technology companies: The Foundry, Shazam, Icera, Mimecast and Adconion, for example. Top-tier venture firms such as Index Ventures and Balderton Capital have also chosen to work with Silicon Valley Bank in the UK.

Commenting on the launch, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer today said: “The news that Silicon Valley Bank is launching a full banking service in London is yet more proof that the UK is fast becoming the technology centre of Europe. The knowledge, expertise and dedication that Silicon Valley Bank brings to the ecosystem is another important step toward our objective to make the UK the best place to start and grow the great technology companies of the future.”

Visit www.svb.com/uk for more information.

Read more

About last night. Pictures from Ken Segall’s CEO Tales talk, ‘Insanely Simple’

Massive thanks to Ken Segall for putting on such a great CEO Tales talk last night. A wonderful gentleman.

Here are some of the tweets, pictures and videos on Storify.

CEOTales Ken Segall 038

And some pictures from the night. If you were there. You should find yourself somewhere.

Big thanks to Imperial College Business School, Imperial College Incubator and Erevena Executive Search for their support.

Please send any links to blogs and we will post them along with the video when it has been edited.

Read more

Steve Jobs narrates, ‘Here’s to the Crazy Ones’

This is the video Ken Segall referenced in his wonderful CEO Tales talk last night at Imperial College. Steve Jobs did a version of the narration but decided that he shouldn’t be the centre of attention. Richard Dreyfuss did the version that was aired in the advert.

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a fun event and massive thanks to Imperial College Business School and Erevena Executive Search (Especially David Grundy) and the wonderful Ken Segall. A very entertaining and thought provoking evening.

[subscribe2]

Read more

Ken Segall speak on Radio 4 about Steve Jobs the micromanager

Ken Segall was interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday talking about working with Steve Jobs and his style of management.

“Apple’s former creative designer Ken Segall remembers Steve Jobs “going ballistic” when he saw a photo of a keyboard he designed that was in the “wrong blue”.

“However, he does praise Job’s running of the company. “If there is just one thing you could say about Steve is if he sensed that anyone was acting like they were in a big company he would swipe them down very quickly” he told Today business presenter Simon Jack.”

You can listen to a short excerpt here.

[subscribe2]

Read more

CEO Tales with Ken Segall Attendee List | Waiting list.

Below are those who will be joining us on 31st May at Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ.

Brilliant!

Apple White headphones - one of Ken Segall's ideas

Please note, we cannot refund your ticket if you cannot make it but you are welcome to send a replacement at no charge. Send an email to rachel at the bln.com with details and ask them to bring ID on the day.

The event is SOLD OUT but if you would like to put your name on the waiting list, please register your interest here and we will contact you immediately if a place becomes available.

  • Will Addison, Microtest Matrices, Corporate Development
  • Gemma Anderson, Morrison & Foerster, Associate
  • Roger Andrews, EasyAsk EMEA, Managing Director
  • Thomas Anselmino, Skype, Product Marketing Manager
  • Oli Ashness, DFJ Esprit, Analyst
  • Jonathan Attwood, Scoomz, Director
  • Ana Bakalinova, BBC Worldwide, Product Manager
  • Marine Barbaroux, Red Gate Software, Innovator, New Business
  • Karen Barber, Fresh As A Lettuce, Founder/ consultant
  • Tim Barker, DataSift, CMO
  • Sam Barnett, Struq Ltd, CEO
  • Andreas Bauer, HuBCluB Europe LLP, General Partner
  • Bruce Beckloff, ARM Holdings, VP Corporate Business Development
  • Linda Bell, Inca Digital Printers, ex CEO
  • Megan Bingham-Walker, WHEB Venture Partners LLP, Partner
  • Carol Bitter, ?What if! Innovation, Director
  • Peter Black, energysys.com, Managing Director
  • David Blackler, Ecoplay System, Founding Director
  • Toby Blizard, ITV Business, Development Manager
  • Peter Blower, Starbucks, CIO
  • Manfred Bortenschlager, Samsung Electronics, Senior Engineering Manager

Read more