By Stephen Parkes, CEO of Go Enrol Where to start with the Internet of Things (IoT)? It is massive. The third wave of the Internet. Goldman Sachs have described it as “the next mega-trend” which has the potential to connect 28 billion “things” to the Internet by 2020. Before we take a quick dive into… Read more
By Gareth Lippiatt, Founder of ‘Fan Offers’ There surely could not have been a more appropriate way to complete my 8 months with Accelerate than to hear from Vernon Hill, a man that has built (and sold) a multi-billion dollar company in the US and is now well down the road to doing it again… Read more
If you were to search the meaning of ‘value proposition’ in Google, you would find countless links to sites that give varying definitions of what a ‘value proposition’ is. To our understanding, in a nutshell, the value proposition of a startup (or any company for that matter) is an explanation of what the company does,… Read more
by Marta Teperek How to create 12 exciting business ideas in just 54 hours? Here is a simple recipe – take: 50 passionate entrepreneurs + 10 expert coaches + an efficient organising team, mix them, and get them to work together. How did it work? Friday evening – hit the ground running On Friday evening… Read more
You could stage a fabulously dramatic pitch on any one of the Cambridge Judge Business School staircases. You could…. But we didn’t. In a building famous for the architectural bravura of its public spaces, soaring painted ceilings and massive windows, our pitching workshop actually takes place in the Computer Lab: light enough, but tending to airless… Read more
Isn’t it odd how distant December seems once you’re in January? So last year. But it was only last month, and although there was only one formal mentors day, Accelerate Cambridge coaches and mentors continued their support by email, phone and social media, with some added cheer, reflection and of course seasonal socialising thrown in.… Read more
Last Thursday at Accelerate Cambridge was our first mentor day, where teams could meet with over 20 different mentors to discuss specific aspects of our ideas and businesses. This is where one the biggest benefits of the Accelerate programme lies, we’re able to get advice from people who have done it all before. So far… Read more
“If you were trying to pick Kaye up in a bar, is that really what you’d say?” Hanadi, Accelerate’s Director, asked one of the Acceleratees in amusement. Kaye, our coach, maintained a regal neutrality. The parallel was entertaining, and also clear. The day’s task of creating & delivering a compelling value proposition shared similarities with… Read more
The purpose of the Accelerate Cambridge – Enabling meaningful venture creation – is written on a poster in the coaching room. Hanadi insists on the word meaningful. Last Friday, it was time for each of us to explain the purpose of our own ventures – in one simple sentence. Surely, that’s easy? When you start… Read more
“They all want to eat our lunch” this is the view of Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, about what the major technology groups are planning to do to the banking sector. Innovation in finance is not limited to the likes of Apple and Google though. In 2013, The Economist declared that “an explosion… Read more