Open innovation: The Marriage of Big Brands and Technology

In today’s episode Alex Dunsdon talks about the importance of big brands and companies creating effective partnerships with technology companies.

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The big players like to ‘own’ stuff. And they like to own it 100%. Especially technology and innovation. They like to develop it themselves, which means they own every aspect of it. But it’s slow, difficult in a risk-averse culture, and the chances of success are low. Is there a smarter way, with less risk? Unilver seem to think so.

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Business planning & strategy for startups. Boring or essential?

You’re a founder but now you must become a global CEO. Working at the intersection between ideas and action, Richard Hughes Jones helps startup founders to navigate the complexities of scaling a business.

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In this episode we discuss the less glamorous side of startups, the importance of business planning, strategy and what it takes to move from being a startup founder to a well rounded CEO that can attract investors.

If investing in startups is of interest to you then check out this interview with Alex Dunsdon (Citymapper investor) as well as this interview with Tucker Max (serial investor). Two very different investors with a lot of good insights to share.

You can find Richard’s guest blogs for KPMG here and his company website here.

How to write music for TV ads with producer & composer Will Davies

Will Davies has written for a number of chart topping artists, produced hit after hit for the Japanese market but in this episode we focus on writing for TV advertising as Will has written the ad music for brands such as Pepsi, Christian Dior, Lynx, and Nokia.

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Coming from a very musical background this interview contains quite a bit of in depth detail but gives a great insight into how the industry works and some of the more technical aspects involved with producing the music for a TV ad.

For other music related podcasts we’ve got a great interview with Shuffler.FM’s CMO, Stephen O’Reilly who discusses building apps specifically for the music industry and more.

What’s it like to leave Google and join a startup?

In this episode I caught up with Alex Rose who recently left his role at Google to become the Director of Marketing at Who Can Fix My Car, an innovative startup that acts as a ‘compare the market’ for car servicing.

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I spoke to Alex about all the differences you can expect when you leave a huge global company to join a startup, such as the new found thrill of making key decisions over Skype or Whatsapp and much more. There’s some great insights in the interview but he’s not the only person taking risks. Bee Berrie recently left her job in PR to open her own London bakery.

If you’re a startup owner considering investment, you may be interested in this interview with Citymapper investor Alex Dunsdon.

Some key learnings were:

• Taking a risk can be exhilarating but make sure it’s the right move for you
• Focus your effort on immediate returns and don’t be scared to ditch multiple activities if they’re not working
• Don’t let the ability to do something fast stop you from testing and learning (important if you’re not used to being allowed the freedom of making fast decisions)

‘Passion does not pay the bills’ – startup lessons from AppFog founder Lucas Carlson

Lucas Carlson is an entrepreneur featured in the NYT Bestselling Book, The Lean Entrepreneur. He’s also an author, speaker and leader in the cloud space. He founded the startup AppFog which was acquired by CenturyLink in 2013.

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AppFog has signed up more than 100,000 developers, raised nearly $10M in venture funding and has become an industry leading Platform-as-a-Service. Today we benefit from his entrepreneurial knowledge with insights that include:

 Passion does not pay the bills

Why is ‘money’ the worst motivator for anyone starting their own company

The dangers of falling in love with your business ideas

Why every business owner needs to know their unit cost

How to use visuals and social media to market your brand: Red Bull, Dunkin Donuts and more.

The human brain has been said to process visuals 60,000x faster than text. Web posts with visuals drive up to 180% more engagement than those without. Ekaterina Walter talks about how various brands are using visuals to market themselves whether they have a big budget or no money at all.

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Ekaterina is the author of Think Like Zuck and her new book, The Power of Visual Story Telling. In this interview she offers some invaluable insight into how we can be more creative with our visual marketing.

Some key takeways were:

A messy desk at work? That could be social gold. (Listen out for her story about Intel)

Respect the different social platforms. The audience uses them in different ways, it’s not a one size fits all game

When you marry content with context, you find true relevance

Bee Berrie: PR girl turned baker and business owner

Bee Berrie  studied microbiology at University before embarking into the big bad corporate world. So how did she end up baking personalised treats for a living and is the reality as dreamy as it sounds?

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Turning her back on a career in corporate communications left her trudging the wet London streets trying to find her first clients, and this interview gives a really deep insight into the realities of saying goodbye to the security of a pay cheque to go it alone.

Insights include:

Be careful with your ‘good’ business relationships. Money is still money and every small business needs to be paid!

A good mentor is worth their weight in gold

You’ll have bad days, but lots of people go through the same thing. Take advantage of a support network if it’s available

Tucker Max: Failure, Success and Investing in Flying Cars

He found internet fame writing about his drunken antics which helped put him in the position he’s in today, successful CEO of Story Ark, angel investor in over 20 companies and advisor.

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In this interview, Tucker Max  talks about the mistakes he made with his first company, being a terrible boss and what he looks for when investing in a startup. In between there’s other stories, anecdotes and tips to take on board. If you’re interested in what it takes to be a tech investor here’s an interview with Citymapper investor Alex Dunsdon. If you’re more interested in building your own startup and want some real life lessons then don’t miss out on this interview with AppFog founder Lucas Carlson.

Some key takeaways were:

If you want advice, get it from someone who has both succeeded AND failed

If you hire someone you know is wrong for your business, fire them as quick as you can

The best idea on earth is worthless if you’ve got the wrong team implementing it

You don’t find your passion. You make it

Ashton Kutcher not interested in your startup? Just create a better one.

When Nathan first met Ashton, he saw an opportunity to gain the interest of a well known tech investor. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned, but there was a key lesson to learn and Nathan came back (following a stint on the Obama re-election campaign) with Draft – a tool that’s designed to help people improve their writing.

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In this episode Nathan chats candidly about his failures, the secret art of selling and the importance of keeping a disciplined blogging routine.

Some key takeaways were:

Sometimes people just don’t CARE about what you’re doing. Move past it, or improve the offering

The best way past your competition is to out teach your competition

Beware of the investors. They may expect a fast return of billions…

CampusBoard.io : Connecting startups & entrepreneurs in Campus London

CampusBoard.io has changed the way startups and entrepreneurs connect with each other at Google’s Campus London. It’s a simple improvement of the communal noticeboard, an online destination where people can post jobs, events and opportunities.

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When Anthony Francis started spending time at Google Campus, he was developing his own app which by his own admission was not a great success. It’s always challenging to create an app with no experience and Anthony found himself spending too much money on a development team in China, without any money coming back in. He decided to learn how to code himself, and started working on his CampusBoard idea for fun.

Now Manuel Frigerio has joined forces with  Anthony and the pair of entrepreneurs are working together to make connecting at Google Campus an easier experience for startups and entrepreneurs

Takeaways from the conversation include:

If you’re not disrupting someone you’re probably not doing something worthwhile

Hiring developers from overseas via services like Odesk always carries a small risk. Protect yourself in advance and stay in control. Here’s 7 tips from Anthony

If someone offers to buy you a coffee for your service, you might be able to make actual money!